Dattebayo! Nine years after finally achieving his Hokage dream on the small screen, Naruto is back for another outing. At the Naruto panel during New York Comic-Con (NYCC) 2026, creator Masashi Kishimoto unveiled two projects in the works – the Shadow Rising manga and a new anime crossover series.
Details about the former, including story specifics and a release date, remain under lock and key, but the new show will serve as a full-on crossover between the best-selling work and Ninku, the popular 90s series written and illustrated by Koji Kiriyama. According to the official announcement post on X/Twitter, both Kishimoto and Kiriyama are fully supervising the series directed by Noriyuki Abe, with Tetsuya Nishio listed as character designer and chief animation director.
The description for the crossover reads, “Team 7 members Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are given a mission by Kakashi. Since Kakashi cannot participate himself, Naruto is appointed acting leader. As a result of this decision, Naruto is fully motivated to make the mission a success. However, on the way, Team 7 finds themselves lost in another world. What appears before the bewildered trio is a boy with a face resembling a frog’s, named Fūsuke. What awaits them in this strange new world?”
Also shown at the presentation was a message from Destin Daniel Cretton, helmer of the upcoming live-action Naruto film adaptation, expressing “what an honour it is to bring Kishimoto-sensei’s incredible world and characters to life.”
“What I’ve always loved about Naruto is that he’s the character who might normally get sidelined as a sidekick. He’s excitable, he tries too hard, and people underestimate him. But he has an incredible heart. No matter how many times he fails or gets knocked down, he never stops believing in himself or fighting for the people he loves. That spirit is at the heart of the story we’re telling,” added the filmmaker.
“These characters mean so much to so many people, myself included, and I carry that with me as we make this film. We’re approaching the world, relationships, and journeys Kishimoto-sensei created with a lot of care, and we want to capture what makes Naruto so special.
More details for Naruto: Shadow Rising will be shared at the Naruto Super Stage at Jump Festa 2027, taking place from 19 to 20 December. As for the live-action project, a global casting call for the main trio of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura kicked off in July, and it’s unclear whether it will stay faithful to the source material or follow a new storyline altogether. Cretton is also co-producing and writing, while Avi Arad, Ari Arad, Emmy Yu, and Jeremy Latcham produce.
Widely regarded as one of the manga/anime heavyweights of all time, Naruto ran in Japan’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from 1999 to 2014, selling over 250 million copies in more than 60 countries and territories during that time. After debuting in 2002, the anime adaptation was succeeded by Naruto Shippuden from 2007 to 2017, before Boruto: Naruto Next Generations shifted the focus to Boruto, Naruto’s son. The first 13 volumes of the sequel were written by Ukyo Kodachi and Mikio Ikemoto, with Kishimoto taking over as writer in 2020 after the former stepped down.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
