no naruto shippuden is when they are (you were right) 3yrs older than they were in naruto. it is not a branch-off series because naruto will eventually lead into naruto shippuden. because (i think) in the last episode of naruto, jiraya takes him away from konoha to train him in an atempt to help him against the akatsuki because he knows they will come after him. and after 3ysr of trining naruto comes back. hopes that helps

Naruto was merely the beginning of the saga of the Konoha residents who all back Naruto 100% on his goal of being the greatest Hokage ever. Shippuden is a continuation of the storyline with a 3 year time skip of all of the characters, and new villans who threaten the very existence of Konoha and its allies. Age (characters are older, and more responsible), and villans are stronger and more powerful, just like the main characters.

in naruto shippendu naruto is older than in naruto

from what i've read so far, Shipuden deals more with the Akatsuki and it explains alot of stuff about the past before the Nine Tailed Fox attacked Konoha

Naruto ends when he leaves for his training with Jiraya. Before that happens, there is quite a bit of filler episodes. Naruto Shippuuden starts when Naruto returns to the village after 3 years and the original storyline picks up again. So, the Naruto storyline leads into Naruto Shippuuden.

Naruto Shipuuden, quite simply, is just the second season of Naruto after the time skip. It's the same canonical storyline. "Naruto" itself, is just the first season. So just think of it as a continuation of the events that went on in the first season. It's like Lost Season 1 and Lost Season 2.

Naruto Shippuden takes place two and a half years after the original series, with Naruto still chasing after Sasuke. Go to onemanga dot com for the manga (I read it, and it's much farther ahead than the anime) or animecrazy dot net for the anime.

naruto will end up leading into shippuden...Shippuden takes place 2 and half years after naruto leaves for training, shippuden deals more with them looking for sasuke....and will lead up to the the fights and the plans of the akatsuki thats all i got for now