The “NARUTO: What’s Next?” panel at New York Comic Con on Saturday unveiled full details on the new “limited” television anime series that had been teased last month. The project is officially titled NARUTO×NINKŪ — a crossover between the Naruto franchise and Koji Kiriyama‘s ninja manga Ninku.
A Creative Debt Repaid
Panel organizers explained that Ninku was a direct inspiration for Masashi Kishimoto when he created Naruto. A teaser video quoted Kishimoto as saying: “Without Ninku, there would be no Naruto. I wanted to read more of Ninku, so I started drawing Naruto.”
Story and Staff
Both Kishimoto and Kiriyama are supervising the completely original story. In the crossover, Naruto steps up as acting captain of Team 7 after Kakashi is unable to join the mission — and Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura accidentally stumble into the world of Ninku.
Noriyuki Abe, who served as chief director on Boruto: Naruto Next Generations and previously directed the Ninku anime, is helming the crossover. Tetsuya Nishio, a veteran of both the Naruto and Ninku anime productions, serves as character designer and chief animation director.
Panel Appearances
The event also debuted a collaboration key visual and celebratory illustrations from both manga creators. Voice actors Junko Takeuchi (Naruto) and Noriaki Sugiyama (Sasuke) appeared at the panel alongside Pierrot Films executive producer Yoshihiro Tominaga.
About Ninku
Kiriyama’s Ninku manga ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1993 to 1995 and was collected in nine volumes. Studio Pierrot adapted it into a 55-episode television anime in 1995–1996. The Ninku Knife no Bohyō film debuted in 1994, followed by Ninku the Movie in 1995. A sequel manga, Ninku Second Stage: Eto Nin-Hen, ran in Shueisha’s Ultra Jump from 2005 to 2011 across 12 volumes. To build anticipation ahead of the crossover, Studio Pierrot is now streaming the first five episodes of the original Ninku anime for free on its YouTube channel.
What About Those Four Delayed Episodes?
In 2023, the Naruto anime announced four special episodes to mark the series’ 20th anniversary, scheduled to air weekly from September 2023. They were delayed just one week before their planned debut for quality improvements, and no further updates have been issued since August 2023. It remains unclear whether the newly announced crossover is connected to that delayed project.
The Naruto Franchise and the Hollywood Film
Kishimoto’s original Naruto manga launched in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999 and concluded in November 2014, spawning two television anime series, OVAs, films, spinoff manga, the Boruto sequel series, novels, stage plays, and video games.
On the live-action front, Lionsgate is producing a Hollywood adaptation. As of July 10, the franchise’s official website announced a global casting search for Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Charles Melton (Riverdale, Beef) is in final negotiations to play Kakashi Hatake, while Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: Brand New Day) is directing and co-producing through his company Hisako alongside Jeyun Munford. Avi Arad, Ari Arad, and Emmy Yu of Arad Productions, as well as Jeremy Latcham, are also attached as producers.
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