List of Naruto: Shippuden episodes  "" is an anime series adapted from Part II of Masashi Kishimoto's manga series, with exactly 500 episodes. It is set two and a half years after Part I in the "Naruto" universe, following the ninja teenager Naruto Uzumaki and his allies. The series is directed by Hayato Date, and produced by Pierrot and TV Tokyo. It began broadcasting on February 15, 2007 on TV Tokyo, and concluded on March 23, 2017. On January 2, 2009, Viz Media and Crunchyroll provided eight uncut English subtitled "Naruto: Shippuden" episodes on the official "Naruto" website. Later on January 15, Viz began providing subtitled versions of the latest "Naruto: Shippuden" episodes a week after they first air in Japan, with a new episode being added to the "Naruto" website each subsequent Thursday. The English dub of "Naruto: Shippuden" made its US premiere on Disney XD on October 28, 2009. On July 24, 2009, Viz Media announced that the series would be released on the iTunes Store. The first DVD release of the series in North America was released on September 29, 2009. "Naruto: Shippuden" was cancelled on Disney XD on November 5, 2011 after 98 episodes, in which the network cited more frequent violence that was shown in later episodes. DVD box sets generally containing thirteen dubbed episodes from episode 1 onward are being released quarterly in their uncut format. The English dub was streamed on the Neon Alley web channel from its launch in October 2012, and beginning December 29, 2012 with episode 99, dubbed episodes premiered every week uncut until March 25, 2016, about a month before Neon Alley's closure. Adult Swim's Toonami programming block began airing the anime from the beginning on January 5, 2014 in an uncut format and as of 2020 it is still running on a weekly basis. Toonami co-creator and current block runner Jason DeMarco has commented that the plan is to broadcast the anime in its entirety until 2024. In four regions, episodes from the series have been released on DVD and Blu-ray by single volumes and box sets. In North America, twelve single volumes and thirty eight box sets have been released. In the United Kingdom, twenty eight single volumes and six box sets have been released. In Japan, twenty six sets of volumes have been released based on which arc it represents. In Australia and New Zealand, twenty-eight collections have been released.