The 'NARUTO: What's Next?' panel at New York Comic Con unveiled NARUTO×NINKŪ, a four-episode 'TV Anime Limited Series' from Studio Pierrot with an original story. Per the synopsis reported by Variety and Anime Trending, Kakashi sends Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura on a mission, appoints Naruto acting leader because he cannot join, and the trio then becomes lost in another world — where they meet a frog-faced boy named Fūsuke. Junko Takeuchi reprises Naruto, with Rica Matsumoto returning as Fūsuke, and Noriaki Sugiyama, Chie Nakamura and Kazuhiko Inoue also aboard, per Anime Trending.

Of the eight slots on the newly revealed Project Rasengan roadmap, this is the one fans are talking about, and it is steeped in franchise history. Polygon reports that Ninku is the martial arts shonen series that inspired Kishimoto to create Naruto, making the crossover a kind of origin-story homage. According to Anime Trending, Ninku ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1993 to 1995 and spawned a 55-episode Pierrot TV anime — the same studio now producing the crossover more than three decades later.

The panel closed its crossover reveal with a teaser trailer and key visual, and the credits are a fan-pleasing homecoming. Hypebeast reports that Noriyuki Abe — who directed the original 1995-96 Ninku anime and served as Boruto chief director — directs, while Tetsuya Nishio handles both character design and chief animation direction, reconciling the two manga art styles. Music is split between Yasuharu Takanashi and -Yaiba- (Shippuden) and Yusuke Honma (Ninku), with Kishimoto and Ninku creator Koji Kiriyama supervising.

The panel's final reveal, per Anime News Network, was Naruto Shadow Rising, a brand-new Naruto manga from Masashi Kishimoto himself, announced with a teaser video. Hypebeast notes Kishimoto drawing it personally makes it his most hands-on Naruto manga project since the original run ended in 2014, though plot, characters and a serialization date were withheld. Details are set for Jump Festa 2027 on December 19–20, the same event Anime News Network flags for more news.

Both projects sit inside Project Rasengan, a roadmap running through 2029 that Polygon says promises at least eight Naruto releases. Also teased: the Naruto Card Game with a simultaneous worldwide release of the base set and first booster pack in June 2027 (with in-store demos next February and March), and a worldwide release of Naruto Mobile, a Bandai Namco game China-exclusive since 2016, with more news promised at Jump Festa 2027. The live-action film remains in the works, with director Destin Daniel Cretton sharing a panel message about Naruto's 'incredible heart.'

No release date has been set for NARUTO×NINKU, and the roadmap still leaves four of its eight slots unidentified, per Hypebeast. Jump Festa 2027 on December 19–20 is now the date to watch for Shadow Rising details and the Naruto Mobile rollout. For a franchise celebrating its 25th anniversary after years of quiet, the surprise is that Naruto's next chapter begins by reaching back to the series that started it all.