Naruto and Ninku Crossover Leads Project Rasengan as Kishimoto Unveils Shadow Rising Manga

Four episodes bring Team 7 into the world that inspired Naruto

Masashi Kishimoto and Koji Kiriyama will supervise all four episodes of NARUTO × NINKU, a new crossover anime announced on October 10, 2026, at New York Comic Con. The project sends Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura into Ninku's world and reunites creative staff whose work connects the two franchises.

The announcement came during the Naruto: What's Next? panel at the Jacob Javits Convention Center's Empire Stage in New York. Around 3,000 people attended the event, held on Naruto's birthday, with a worldwide YouTube livestream extending the presentation beyond the venue.

The official Naruto announcement confirms that the crossover is in production and features a completely original story. It also reveals a new manga drawn by Kishimoto, NARUTO SHADOW RISING, alongside a worldwide card game launch in June 2027 and plans to distribute Hokage Ninja MOBILE internationally.

These projects form part of PROJECT RASENGAN, an initiative covering the future of Naruto and Boruto across manga, animation, games and related products. The announcements have different levels of certainty: the card game has a launch month, while the crossover anime, mobile game and new manga have no announced release dates.

Voice actors Junko Takeuchi and Noriaki Sugiyama, who play Naruto and Sasuke, attended the panel with Pierrot Films executive producer Yoshihiro Tominaga. Teaser footage, a collaboration visual and illustrations by both manga creators accompanied the anime reveal. The central idea is unusually personal for a franchise crossover: Kishimoto is bringing Naruto face to face with a character he credits with helping inspire his own series.

Naruto takes command before the mission goes wrong

The crossover returns to Naruto's childhood and the original Team 7 arrangement. Kakashi assigns Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura a mission but cannot accompany them because he has another commitment. He appoints Naruto acting leader, leaving the young ninja eager to prove that he can make the assignment a success.

During the journey, the three accidentally enter another world. There they encounter Fusuke, Ninku's young protagonist, whose face resembles a frog's. The introduction establishes the meeting but does not reveal how Team 7 crosses between worlds, what their mission involves or which enemies they will face.

Takeuchi's comments confirm that the anime uses the period when Sasuke is still Naruto's teammate. She described returning to missions with Sasuke and Sakura as an emotional experience and said familiar Ninku techniques and expressions would appear. That places the appeal in the interaction between the two groups, rather than simply presenting Naruto in an unfamiliar setting.

The announced format is a four episode television limited series. No broadcaster, premiere date or international streaming arrangement has been confirmed in the announcements described here. Its appearance near 2027 on the PROJECT RASENGAN roadmap has prompted expectations of a release that year, but the teaser does not establish that timing.

Kishimoto turns a creative debt into a new story

Kishimoto, Naruto's creator, explained that his wish to read more Ninku helped drive him to begin drawing Naruto. In an English translation of his statement, he described the connection directly:

Without NINKŪ, Naruto would not exist. In other words, Fūsuke is Naruto’s secret mentor.

Kishimoto said he eventually wanted to turn that hidden relationship into an actual story. He approached Kiriyama, whom he also regards as a mentor, and received both permission and practical cooperation. The two creators met directly, and both are supervising every episode rather than merely approving the use of their characters.

Kiriyama's statement credits Kishimoto's proposal and support with making the collaboration possible. He expressed excitement about the two worlds meeting and said he was honored by Kishimoto's understanding of Ninku.

That history distinguishes the project from a crossover based only on shared popularity. Naruto's creator is revisiting a specific artistic influence, while Ninku's creator is participating in the resulting adventure. The stated aim is a new encounter between the characters, not a remake of Ninku or an adaptation of an existing Naruto manga chapter.

The returning staff and voices connect both series

Noriyuki Abe directs the crossover. He directed Ninku's original television anime and its films, and later served as chief director on the early portion of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Tetsuya Nishio, another veteran of both franchises, is character designer and chief animation director.

The character designer determines how the cast is drawn for animation, while the chief animation director helps keep those drawings consistent across scenes and episodes. Having Nishio in both roles gives the production a direct connection to the visual history of the two series.

Production listings identify Studio Pierrot as the animation studio, Nozomi Fukui as assistant director and Masaya Honda as responsible for series composition. Hinatasho is credited with story or original concept cooperation, depending on the listing. Yasuharu Takanashi, Yaiba and Yusuke Honma are credited for music, with Honma also returning from Ninku's television anime and films.

Takeuchi returns as Naruto, and Rica Matsumoto reprises Fusuke. Other announced cast listings include Sugiyama as Sasuke, Chie Nakamura as Sakura, Kazuhiko Inoue as Kakashi, Mitsuaki Madono as Aicho, Jurota Kosugi as Toji, Megumi Hayashibara as Rihoko and Katsumi Suzuki as Hiroyuki. Theme song listings name FLOW's GO!!! as the opening and FLOW's Viva★Rock as the ending.

Reports differ on how much production information had been announced. One account says the studio and cast were still undisclosed, while other production listings name them. The official Naruto announcement itself includes comments from Takeuchi and Matsumoto, confirming their involvement. Matsumoto described returning to Fusuke and reuniting with the original cast roughly 30 years after Ninku began on television.

Why Ninku is more than an unfamiliar crossover partner

Kiriyama's Ninku manga ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from June 1993 to September 1995 and was collected in nine volumes. Studio Pierrot's television adaptation followed with 55 episodes, airing from January 1995 to February 1996. Animated films were released in 1994 and 1995.

The story follows Fusuke, a former member of the Ninku Corps, in a world troubled by war and its aftermath. He searches for his abducted mother while encountering enemies who target surviving Ninku fighters. Ninku itself is a martial art combining ninjutsu and karate.

The franchise continued with Ninku Second Stage, serialized in Ultra Jump from September 2005 to September 2011 and collected in 12 volumes. Those dates help explain Kishimoto's desire for a continuation: Ninku predates Naruto's September 1999 manga debut, and its original television run ended years before Naruto reached animation.

The scale of the two television franchises is also different. Ninku's original anime had 55 episodes, compared with 220 for Naruto and 500 for Naruto Shippuden, a combined 720. The crossover's four episodes therefore offer a compact introduction to a series that many Naruto viewers may not know. Studio Pierrot is making Ninku's first five episodes available free on YouTube ahead of the new production.

The connection to the delayed 2023 anime is disputed

The four episode format recalls Naruto's unfinished anniversary plans. A new anime project was announced in March 2023 to mark the television series' 20th anniversary. It was scheduled to air on TV Tokyo over four consecutive weeks beginning September 3, 2023.

In August 2023, shortly before the planned premiere, the episodes were postponed so the production team could improve their quality. More than three years then passed without a major update before the New York Comic Con announcement.

Reports disagree about whether NARUTO × NINKU is that same project. Some describe the crossover as the eventual reveal of the delayed anniversary anime. Another says the relationship remains unclear. The official statements confirm a new original story and four episodes, but do not explicitly explain whether the crossover replaces, continues or is separate from the 2023 production.

The key dates show what has been announced without treating that uncertain connection as settled:

• March 2023: A new Naruto anniversary anime project is announced.
• August 2023: Its planned September broadcast is postponed for quality improvements.
• October 10, 2026: NARUTO × NINKU and PROJECT RASENGAN are unveiled in New York.
• December 19–20, 2026: Further franchise announcements are scheduled at Jump Festa 2027.

Shadow Rising brings Kishimoto back to a new Naruto manga

The panel's closing teaser revealed NARUTO SHADOW RISING, a new manga drawn by Kishimoto. The footage showed manga planning pages, including six completed Hokage faces overlooking the Hidden Leaf Village and a seventh face under construction. The Hokage is the village's leader, whose predecessors are commemorated on the mountainside.

Other images showed Naruto raising a Hokage hat, Kakashi smiling, Sasuke standing solemnly and Sakura looking affectionately at a baby. The teaser also depicted Naruto and Sasuke clashing. These are concrete clues to the characters and imagery involved, but they do not establish the complete plot or exact place in the Naruto timeline.

No publication date, magazine, chapter count or serialization format has been announced. The official confirmation is narrower: Kishimoto is drawing a new Naruto manga, its title is Shadow Rising, and further details are planned for the Naruto Jump Super Stage at Jump Festa 2027.

The event takes place on December 19 and 20, 2026, at Makuhari Messe's International Exhibition Halls in Chiba, Japan. Despite the 2027 name, Jump Festa is being held in December 2026. It is also the next announced occasion for updates on PROJECT RASENGAN and the mobile game.

Games have a firmer schedule, with regional limits

The Naruto Card Game, developed under BANDAI CARD GAMES, is scheduled for a simultaneous worldwide release in June 2027. Launch plans include starter decks centered on Naruto, Sasuke and Gaara, along with the first booster pack. Starter decks provide a ready selection of cards for play, while booster packs add cards for building or changing a deck.

TV Tokyo says demonstrations and limited edition products will begin in February 2027, followed by a large demo deck distribution campaign in spring. More detailed event schedules list selected store demonstrations from February 5–19 and February 19–March 5, followed by a wider store event from March 5–31.

This is a new card game rather than an announced continuation of Bandai's Naruto Collectible Card Game, which ran from 2006 to 2013. The February and March demonstrations are the earliest dated opportunities to try the newly announced game before its June launch.

Hokage Ninja MOBILE has a different starting point. The smartphone fighting game launched in mainland China in 2016, making its proposed international expansion a new distribution phase for an existing game. Players choose ninja from across the series, assemble teams and fight using animated techniques and special attacks while revisiting Naruto's story.

Bandai Namco Entertainment has confirmed plans for worldwide distribution but has not announced a launch date. Both official statements warn that availability and supported languages will vary by country and region, and some locations may not receive the game. The worldwide description should therefore not be read as a promise of access everywhere.

Project Rasengan extends beyond anime and manga

In its Project Rasengan statement, dated October 11, TV Tokyo describes the initiative as a coordinated effort with the Naruto anime production committee and related companies to strengthen the franchise's global business over the medium and long term.

The roadmap shown at the panel runs from 2027 through 2029. Reports interpret it as containing at least eight project positions, with the crossover, card game, mobile expansion and Kishimoto manga among the first disclosed entries. Several positions remain unnamed, so the roadmap should not be treated as eight fully announced releases with fixed dates.

The franchise already has substantial international reach. Reported figures put Naruto manga circulation above 250 million copies and the television anime's distribution at more than 145 countries and regions. Those figures describe circulation and distribution, not the number of active readers or viewers.

TV Tokyo expects the new initiative to have only a minor effect on its current consolidated financial results. It sees potential for increased anime and licensing revenue over a longer period. That distinction matters: a broad creative announcement does not necessarily translate into an immediate financial gain.

The panel also confirmed that the Naruto Shippuden Symphonic Experience is coming to the United States. Separately, a performance without spoken dialogue is planned for Kyoto's Minamiza Theater from February to June 2027. These stage projects add to the franchise's expansion, but neither provides a release date for the crossover anime.

The Hollywood film update focuses on Naruto's character

Destin Daniel Cretton, director of Lionsgate's Hollywood Naruto adaptation, sent a message that was read during the panel. A global search for actors to play Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had been announced on July 10. No new casting confirmation or film release date accompanied the Comic Con message.

Cretton explained that Naruto's persistence and care for others sit at the center of the adaptation. Describing the character's determination, he said:

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.

He said the team was working with care on Kishimoto's world, relationships and character journeys, and hoped to share more soon. His remarks indicate continuing work on the film but do not establish that principal photography has started or provide a production timetable.

Charles Melton has been described as being in final negotiations to play Kakashi, which is not the same as a confirmed casting announcement. Cretton is also producing through Hisako with Jeyun Munford. Other listed producers include Avi Arad, Ari Arad, Emmy Yu and Jeremy Latcham.

The next firm information milestone across the wider franchise is Jump Festa on December 19–20. Until then, the distinction is straightforward: production and development are confirmed for several projects, but only the card game has a stated worldwide launch month.

Key Points

• NARUTO × NINKU is a four episode original anime supervised throughout by Masashi Kishimoto and Koji Kiriyama.
• The story follows young Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura into Fusuke's world after Naruto becomes acting Team 7 leader.
• Noriyuki Abe directs, and Tetsuya Nishio handles character design and chief animation direction.
• No crossover premiere date is announced, and its relationship to the delayed 2023 anniversary project is disputed.
• Kishimoto's new manga is NARUTO SHADOW RISING, with more details due at Jump Festa on December 19–20, 2026.
• The Naruto Card Game launches worldwide in June 2027, following demonstrations beginning in February.
• Hokage Ninja MOBILE has no international release date, and availability will vary by region.
• The Hollywood film remains in development, with no new confirmed casting or release date announced at the panel.