Naruto is going back to manga, and it is going back to its original author. During the “NARUTO: What’s Next?” panel at New York Comic Con, organizer Viz Media announced that Masashi Kishimoto, who created the series, will launch a new Naruto manga. A teaser video pointed to the title Naruto: Shadow Rising, and the franchise’s Japanese X account later confirmed that name.
That is the whole of what has been announced. The panel offered a title and nothing else: no story outline, no launch date and no artist credit beyond Kishimoto himself. Full details are set for Jump Festa ’27, which runs December 19 and 20.
What we actually know
The teaser was shown to a panel audience on Naruto Uzumaki’s birthday, and the title was the only concrete piece of information in it. Viz did not say whether the new manga is a sequel, a spinoff or a retelling, and it did not confirm which magazine or platform will carry it. Until Jump Festa, the honest summary is that Kishimoto is drawing Naruto again and we do not yet know what it is about.
Why a new Kishimoto manga is a big deal
Kishimoto ran the original Naruto manga in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump from 1999 to November 2014. That series became one of the defining shonen titles of its era and went on to generate the Naruto and Naruto Shippūden anime, films, OVAs, novels, stage plays and games.
The sequel, Boruto, started differently. Storywriter Ukyō Kodachi and artist Mikio Ikemoto launched it in Weekly Shonen Jump in May 2016, and it later moved to V Jump in July 2019. Kishimoto stepped in as storywriter in November 2020, beginning with chapter 52. The manga went on hiatus in April 2023 and returned in August 2023 as Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, which is still running.
So Kishimoto has not been absent from the franchise. What is different about Shadow Rising is that it appears to be a Kishimoto-led Naruto manga rather than a Boruto continuation, which is the first time that has been proposed since the original series ended.
The rest of the panel
The new manga was one of several announcements from the same stage. The panel also confirmed a four-episode Naruto x Ninkū crossover anime, introduced PROJECT RASENGAN as a multiyear franchise initiative, set a June 2027 worldwide launch for the NARUTO CARD GAME and confirmed worldwide plans for the Naruto mobile game.
Read together, that lineup explains why a new manga was teased rather than fully announced here. The panel was built to show the breadth of what is coming, and the manga is being saved for a dedicated reveal at Jump Festa.
Why it matters
Announcing a title and holding everything else is a deliberate choice. It keeps the conversation on Kishimoto’s return to Naruto without overpromising a date the team cannot meet. For readers, the practical takeaway is simple: mark December 19 and 20, because that is when the story, the schedule and the format should land.
Source: Anime News Network
Featured image: Teaser still for the new Naruto manga Naruto: Shadow Rising, via the Naruto franchise’s official channels / Anime News Network.
