NARUTO x NINKU Crossover Anime Announced for Four Episodes, Team 7 Meets Fusuke

NARUTO and NINKU are officially crossing paths in the completely new anime NARUTOxNINKŪ. The project was unveiled during “NARUTO: What’s Next?” at New York Comic Con 2026 alongside its first teaser and collaboration visual.

The anime consists of four episodes and sends the younger Team 7—Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura—into the world of NINKU. Masashi Kishimoto and NINKU creator Koji Kiriyama supervise the entire story, while studio Pierrot handles animation production.

Quick Summary

• Project title: NARUTO-ナルト-×NINKŪ-忍空-
• Global title: NARUTOxNINKŪ
• Latin headline form: NARUTO x NINKU
• Format: completely new animation
• Type: crossover anime
• Episode count: 4
• Status: in production
• Main announcement: October 10, 2026 New York time
• Japan date: October 11, 2026 JST
• Event: New York Comic Con 2026
• Stage: NARUTO: What’s Next?
• Venue: Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York
• Teaser trailer: released
• Collaboration visual: released
• New broadcast date: unannounced
• TV network: not reconfirmed for the new schedule
• Streaming: unannounced
• Episode runtime: unannounced
• Project origin: NARUTO 20th anniversary new anime
• Former launch date: September 3, 2023
• Original plan: four consecutive weeks
• 2023 schedule: postponed
• Reason for postponement: quality improvements
• Story: completely new original story
• Supervision: Masashi Kishimoto
• Supervision: Koji Kiriyama
• NARUTO creator: Masashi Kishimoto
• NINKU creator: Koji Kiriyama
• NARUTO protagonist: Naruto Uzumaki
• NINKU protagonist: Fusuke
• Team 7: Naruto
• Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha
• Team 7: Sakura Haruno
• Kakashi: assigns Team 7 a mission
• Naruto: appointed acting leader
• Crossover trigger: Team 7 enters another world
• First encounter: Naruto and his teammates meet Fusuke
• Naruto era: younger / pre-Shippuden
• Director: Noriyuki Abe
• Character design: Tetsuya Nishio
• Chief animation director: Tetsuya Nishio
• Original concept cooperation: Hinata Sho
• Series composition: Masaya Honda
• Assistant director: Nozomi Fukui
• Art director: Mio Isshiki
• Director of photography: Kazuhiro Yamada
• Art setting: Yuji Ikeda
• CG director: Yutaka Nakajima
• Color design: Tomoe Imamura
• CG asset director: Kazufumi Goto
• Music: Yasuharu Takanashi
• Music: YAIBA
• Music: Yusuke Honma
• Sound director: Yasushi Nagura
• Animation production: studio Pierrot
• Naruto: Junko Takeuchi
• Fusuke: Rica Matsumoto
• Sasuke: Noriaki Sugiyama
• Sakura: Chie Nakamura
• Kakashi: Kazuhiko Inoue
• Aicho: Mitsuaki Madono
• Toji: Jurota Kosugi
• Rihoko: Megumi Hayashibara
• Hiroyuki: Katsumi Suzuki
• Opening: GO!!!
• Opening artist: FLOW
• Ending: Viva★Rock
• Ending artist: FLOW
• NINKU manga debut: 1993
• NINKU TV anime debut: 1995
• NINKU Second Stage: began in 2005
• NINKU Second Stage ended: 2011
• Umbrella project: PROJECT RASENGAN
• Current status: awaiting a new broadcast schedule

NARUTO x NINKU Teaser and Collaboration Visual

Team 7 Enters the World of NINKU

The story begins when Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura receive a mission from Kakashi. With Kakashi occupied elsewhere, Naruto is appointed acting leader of Team 7.

Their journey changes when the trio enters another world and encounters Fusuke, NINKU's distinctive young protagonist. That meeting finally brings the two ninja universes directly together.

A Crossover Built on NINKU's Influence on NARUTO

This project has a deeper connection than a typical franchise crossover.

Kishimoto has openly discussed NINKU's major influence on the creation of NARUTO and even describes Fusuke as Naruto's “shadow mentor.” His long-held wish to place both characters in the same story is now being realized with Kiriyama.

Studio Pierrot and Returning Cast Reunite Two Series

Noriyuki Abe directs, while Tetsuya Nishio handles character design and serves as chief animation director. Studio Pierrot, with long histories on both properties, produces the animation.

Junko Takeuchi returns as Naruto and Rica Matsumoto as Fusuke. Familiar performers also return for Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Aicho, Toji, Rihoko and Hiroyuki.

A New Broadcast Date Has Not Been Announced

The four new NARUTO episodes were originally planned to begin airing on September 3, 2023 as part of the anime's 20th anniversary celebration before being postponed for quality improvements.

The 2026 reveal finally identifies the story as the NARUTO x NINKU crossover. Production is active and a teaser is now public, but the replacement broadcast schedule remains unannounced.

Why This Matters

1) This is more than a short promotional crossover

The project spans four episodes with an original story supervised by both manga creators.

2) NARUTO and NINKU have a long creative connection

Kishimoto has repeatedly acknowledged the major influence Kiriyama's work had on NARUTO.

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3) The younger Team 7 is back together

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura once again take on a mission together before the Shippuden era.

4) The production reconnects two generations of anime

Studio Pierrot and returning voice actors bring both properties together in a single production.

NARUTO x NINKU Anime Information

For now, the additional important information currently known includes:

• the project title is NARUTO-ナルト-×NINKŪ-忍空-
• the English official site uses NARUTOxNINKŪ
• it is described as a completely new animation
• the project contains four episodes
• Masashi Kishimoto and Koji Kiriyama supervise the full story
• the major reveal took place at New York Comic Con 2026
• the stage took place October 10 local time
• the announcement fell on October 11 in Japan
• Junko Takeuchi appeared at the New York Comic Con stage
• Noriaki Sugiyama also appeared
• PIERROT FILMS executive producer Teihiko Tominaga joined the stage
• the official site says roughly 3,000 attendees filled the venue
• the anime teaser received its world premiere
• a collaboration visual was also unveiled
• the story follows the younger Team 7
• Kakashi assigns Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura a mission
• Kakashi cannot accompany them because of another assignment
• Naruto becomes acting leader
• Team 7 enters another world
• Fusuke appears before them
• the NARUTO and NINKU worlds will directly intersect
• the central threat has not yet been announced
• the main villain has not been announced
• individual episode synopses are unavailable
• episode titles remain unannounced
• the premiere date remains unannounced
• the distribution format remains unannounced
• the new Japanese TV schedule remains unannounced
• streaming platforms remain unannounced
• Masashi Kishimoto created NARUTO
• Koji Kiriyama created NINKU
• Kishimoto has described NINKU as a major influence on NARUTO
• Kishimoto stated that NARUTO would not exist without NINKU
• he had long wanted Naruto and Fusuke to meet
• Kiriyama welcomed the crossover proposal
• Kiriyama directly assisted in bringing the project together
• both creators supervise all four episodes
• Noriyuki Abe directs
• Tetsuya Nishio handles character design
• Tetsuya Nishio also serves as chief animation director
• Hinata Sho handles original concept cooperation
• Masaya Honda handles series composition
• Nozomi Fukui serves as assistant director
• Mio Isshiki serves as art director
• Kazuhiro Yamada serves as director of photography
• Yuji Ikeda handles art setting
• Yutaka Nakajima serves as CG director
• Tomoe Imamura handles color design
• Kazufumi Goto serves as CG asset director
• Yasuharu Takanashi composes music
• YAIBA also handles music
• Yusuke Honma also handles music
• Yasushi Nagura serves as sound director
• studio Pierrot handles animation production
• Junko Takeuchi returns as Naruto Uzumaki
• Rica Matsumoto returns as Fusuke
• Noriaki Sugiyama returns as Sasuke Uchiha
• Chie Nakamura returns as Sakura Haruno
• Kazuhiko Inoue returns as Kakashi Hatake
• Mitsuaki Madono voices Aicho
• Jurota Kosugi voices Toji
• Megumi Hayashibara voices Rihoko
• Katsumi Suzuki voices Hiroyuki
• the opening theme is GO!!!
• FLOW performs the opening
• the ending theme is Viva★Rock
• FLOW also performs the ending
• NINKU is a manga created by Koji Kiriyama
• NINKU began serialization in 1993
• its TV anime began in 1995
• NINKU Second Stage began in 2005
• Second Stage concluded in 2011
• the term NINKU combines the concepts of ninjutsu and karate
• the NARUTO manga began in 1999
• the main manga concluded in 2014
• the NARUTO TV anime began in 2002
• these four episodes originated as an anime 20th anniversary project
• the original premiere date was September 3, 2023
• the original plan called for four consecutive weeks
• that schedule was postponed before the premiere
• quality improvement was the official reason for the delay
• no replacement schedule had been announced by the October 2026 reveal
• the crossover is part of the latest PROJECT RASENGAN developments
• main information is available through the NARUTO x NINKU Official Website
• the teaser is available through the Official Teaser PV
• event information is available through the NARUTO Official Site
• anime updates are available through Official Anime X
• broader franchise updates are available through PROJECT RASENGAN

Closing

NARUTO x NINKU finally reveals the identity of the long-awaited four-episode NARUTO project: a full crossover placing the younger Team 7 alongside Fusuke and the world of NINKU.

Production is underway with studio Pierrot, returning cast members and direct supervision from both creators. The biggest remaining question is when the four episodes will actually premiere.