Naruto: Shadow Rising and Project Rasengan: A Collector's Guide to What's Confirmed

Masashi Kishimoto announced a new Naruto manga titled Shadow Rising during the "NARUTO: What's Next?" presentation at New York Comic Con on October 10, 2026, with further details promised at Jump Festa Super Stage 2027. For collectors, the useful news is not the teaser art but the structure around it: Shadow Rising sits inside PROJECT RASENGAN, a franchise-wide push that also includes a Ninku crossover anime and the worldwide launch of the NARUTO CARD GAME in June 2027. That gives you three separate collecting tracks with three separate timelines — and one confirmed date worth circling.

What Is Actually Confirmed About Shadow Rising

Kishimoto is returning to draw the manga himself, announced at the close of the NYCC presentation, which was held on Naruto Uzumaki's birthday and broadcast worldwide through the official Naruto/Boruto YouTube channel (Essential Japan). The teaser illustrations showed the six previous Hokage overlooking the Hidden Leaf Village, the Seventh Hokage monument under construction, Naruto holding a Hokage hat, Sasuke standing alone, Kakashi smiling, Sakura looking affectionately at a baby, and Naruto clashing with Sasuke (Outlook Respawn).

What is not yet known matters just as much. The story, featured characters, publication date, and chapter count have not been revealed, and the official announcement has not confirmed the timeline, despite fan speculation that it sits between The Last: Naruto the Movie and Naruto becoming the Seventh Hokage (Outlook Respawn). Treat any character-design or scale-figure talk as unconfirmed until Jump Festa. Kishimoto has returned to Naruto before — the 2023 one-shot centered on Minato Namikaze, which followed the character's victory in the worldwide NARUTOP99 popularity poll — so there is precedent for a short, focused release rather than a long serialization (Essential Japan).

PROJECT RASENGAN: One Banner, Three Tracks

PROJECT RASENGAN connects the franchise's manga, anime, games, and card game (Outlook Respawn). For a collector, that means your watch list should be split rather than merged. The manga track will likely drive character-focused goods once designs are public. The anime track has its own confirmed production. The card track has the firmest date of all three. Each will be announced and pre-ordered on its own schedule, and a single combined list will cause you to miss windows.

The Ninku Crossover Anime

The panel opened with the world premiere of a trailer for a limited Naruto anime, revealed as a crossover with the classic ninja series Ninku (Essential Japan). Ninku, created by Koji Kiriyama, debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1993 and received a television anime adaptation from Studio Pierrot in 1995; the crossover trailer included a statement from Kishimoto declaring that without Ninku, there would be no Naruto (Essential Japan).

The production details are unusually specific for an announcement this early. It runs four episodes, is supervised by Kishimoto and Ninku creator Koji Kiriyama, with Noriyuki Abe directing and Tetsuya Nishio as character designer and chief animation director. The story follows Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura on a mission assigned by Kakashi; Naruto becomes acting leader before Team 7 gets lost in another world and encounters Fūsuke, a boy with a frog-like face (Outlook Respawn). Release date and episode count beyond the four-episode format are still to be announced. A four-episode limited series is a short promotional runway, so crossover-specific merchandise may be narrower and more time-limited than a full-season wave — worth watching closely rather than assuming a broad line.

The NARUTO CARD GAME: The Firmest Date on the Calendar

The clearest collecting commitment from the presentation is the NARUTO CARD GAME, confirmed for a worldwide launch in June 2027, accompanied by a new teaser trailer (Essential Japan). Three starter decks arrive at launch — Naruto (ST01), Sasuke (ST02), and Gaara (ST03) — alongside the first booster set, "Enter: NARUTO UZUMAKI!," which features new illustrations based on the original Naruto anime and Naruto Shippuden (Essential Japan). In-store demo events begin in early 2027, ahead of the launch (Outlook Respawn).

For collectors who keep sealed product, the starter decks and first booster set are the items with confirmed names and numbers, which makes them the easiest to track and verify against official listings. Sealed first-print booster boxes and starter decks are also straightforward to store and ship, which matters if you keep product long-term. Confirm print runs and reprint plans on the product page before buying — those details are not yet published.

Jump Festa 2027: Your Next Real Checkpoint

Jump Festa 2027 takes place at Makuhari Messe on December 19 and 20, from 9 am to 5 pm. Admission is free, but preregistration through the Jump NAVI app is required for visitors of elementary-school age and older (Outlook Respawn). This is where Shadow Rising details are expected, and it is the point at which character designs, publication timing, and any tie-in merchandise announcements become concrete enough to plan around.

Until then, the honest position is that no Shadow Rising figure, plush, or card line has been named. Rather than speculate on handles and prices, note the date, watch the official Naruto/Boruto YouTube channel for the on-demand NYCC presentation, and check back after Jump Festa. The live-action film is also in production, with director Destin Daniel Cretton stating the team was approaching Kishimoto's characters and relationships "with a lot of care" and would share more information soon (Outlook Respawn).

How to Prepare Without Guessing

Build three separate watch lists — manga, anime, card game — instead of one. For the card game, record the confirmed starter deck codes ST01, ST02, and ST03 and the booster set name now, so you can match them against official listings later. For the crossover, note the four-episode format and the production staff, since limited series often mean limited merchandise. For Shadow Rising, hold your budget until Jump Festa confirms designs and dates.

When items do appear, buy from established Japanese retailers with clear provenance. KADO Japan is an authorised retailer and reseller sourcing from Japanese retailers and shipping from Japan — we are not the IP owner or an official brand channel, and we do not sell replicas or bootlegs. Prices are listed in JPY on each product page, standard tracked shipping runs 7–21 business days and DHL Express 3–7 business days, and import duties and VAT are the buyer's responsibility. Always verify the product page for current price, stock, and shipping before ordering.

Sources

• https://essential-japan.com/news/naruto-to-return-with-new-shadow-rising-manga-from-original-creator-masashi-kishimoto/
• https://respawn.outlookindia.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/kishimoto-reveals-new-naruto-manga-and-franchise-updates