Naruto Returns: Kishimoto Announces “Shadow Rising” Manga and Ninku Crossover Anime

Masashi Kishimoto is returning to his own ninja saga with a new manga, “Naruto: Shadow Rising,” and the franchise will get a limited anime that sends Team 7 into another series’ world. The announcements came Saturday at the “NARUTO: What’s Next?” panel at New York Comic Con.

The panel ended with a teaser for the manga, which promised more details at Jump Festa 2027 in December. That event runs Dec. 19-20. Kishimoto is set to draw the project himself. Sketches in the teaser reportedly showed Naruto’s face being carved into the Hokage Rock, Sakura holding a baby, and Naruto clashing with Sasuke. One report says the story may cover the period before Naruto becomes the Seventh Hokage. Nothing official confirms that.

The anime came first on the bill. “NARUTOxNINKŪ” crosses the series with Koji Kiriyama’s manga “NINKŪ,” and both creators are supervising it. In the setup, Kakashi cannot join a mission, so Naruto leads Sasuke and Sakura. They end up lost in another world, where they meet a frog-faced boy named Fūsuke. Noriyuki Abe directs, with Tetsuya Nishio as chief animation director and character designer. The anime is a four-episode collaboration.

The panel also laid out wider plans. A three-year “Project Rasengan” roadmap covers the series’ near future, including a mobile game. Junko Takeuchi and Noriaki Sugiyama, the Japanese voices of Naruto and Sasuke, attended as special guests.

The franchise has stayed active since its original run ended. Kishimoto launched “Naruto” in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999 and finished it in November 2014. Studio Pierrot’s anime ran 220 episodes from 2002, followed by 500 episodes of “Shippuden.” The sequel manga “Boruto: Two Blue Vortex” has run since August 2023 and continues. The “Boruto” anime has been on a break since March 2023.

Many fans will welcome a Kishimoto-drawn story, though the sparse teaser leaves the manga’s scope, schedule and place in the canon unanswered. Release dates for both projects remain unannounced. Jump Festa should settle some of those questions.

Tags: Shadow Rising