‘Naruto’ And ‘Ninku’ Team Up For New Four-Episode Crossover

Naruto will pay tribute to one of its spiritual successors in a new four-episode Naruto×Ninkū series, announced at New York Comic Con over the weekend alongside a new manga drawn by Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto.

Produced by Studio Pierrot, the crossover will unite Kishimoto’s characters with those of Koji Kiriyama’s Ninku, a ninja manga that helped inspire Naruto. Both creators will supervise the joint project. A teaser and promotional image accompanied the announcement, but a release date has yet to be revealed.

Noriyuki Abe will direct, with Tetsuya Nishio serving as character designer and chief animation director and Nozomi Fukui as assistant director. The music team includes Yasuharu Takanashi, -Yaiba-, and Yusuke Honma.

The crossover gives Kishimoto a chance to revisit an influential work from his formative years. The project grew out of his wish to see a continuation of Ninku, which Pierrot previously adapted into an anime.

Meanwhile, Kishimoto is returning to print with Naruto: Shadow Rising. A brief announcement video offered an early glimpse of the new manga, with further details due at the franchise’s Jump Festa 2027 presentation. Despite the name, the event takes place December 19–20, 2026.

Both projects form part of Project Rasengan, a broader franchise initiative unveiled at the convention. Its roadmap stretches into 2029 and encompasses manga, animation, games, and trading cards, setting up several more years of expansion for the ninja property.