Love Naruto? Shonen Jump Has a Perfect Successor (And It’s Not Boruto)

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Despite how much support Naruto’s official sequel has gotten since it first debuted, it’s still very much within the shadow of Naruto itself. That franchise was such a massive hit that even series creator Kishimoto himself has yet to find a way to capture that same ninja spirit that fans got to enjoy each week with every new chapter. Thankfully, Shonen Jump has a series that scratches that very itch as Shinobi Undercover has been providing nonstop ninja action since it first began and needs a lot more support from fans.

What Is Shinobi Undercover?

Courtesy of Shueisha

Written by Ippon Takegushi and illustrated by Santa Mitarashi, Shinobi Undercover first made the pages of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine last year, and has made a lot of stride ever since it began. It’s only been a little over a year and a little under 60 chapters as of the time of this writing, but there’s just so much potential packed within it. The series introduces fans to a covert world of shinobi where there are multiple teams with powerful individuals taking on deadly missions around Japan. And one of the standouts is the prodigy Yodaka, who appears to be a stone cold killer.

When given the assignment to protect a young girl named Aoi Mukai, who has been the target of various shinobi her entire life, Yodaka ends up enrolling in high school and becoming much more involved with her life than he had ever expected to. But while he might be a great ninja with deadly skills, it turns out that he has a serve anxiety disorder that makes having to deal with Aoi very difficult. Flipping his entire life around, Yodaka faces off against a roster of increasingly tough foes with wild skills.

Shinobi Undercover might not be drawing in a lot of readers right now, but it’s currently held in high regard by Shueisha as one of their future pillars. This is the right move as it’s capturing all of the flavor that we used to get with Naruto. It takes elements from more modern Shonen Jump works like Sakamoto Days as its characters have a more grounded skill set, but it uses that to a greater deal than you’d expect as there is a lot of flexibility in its physicality.

Why Shinobi Undercover Should Be Shonen Jump’s Next Naruto

Courtesy of Shueisha

Fights range across huge set pieces, and become massive spectacles that are still being hidden from the public. The latest arc started to introduce a ninja technique that only certain bloodlines can use, and it has started to open up the kinds of fights that we’ll see moving forward. It’s expanded from the hand to hand action seen before to introduce numerous elements and abilities to make it all the more fantastical. It’s starting to shift at just the right time, and it’s the perfect chance to jump into the series as it prepares for its next year.

Shinobi Undercover is still technically within the danger range of cancellation as Shueisha has cut two series just this year that were already a year into their own runs, so there’s definitely a worry that this ninja series will be cut short as well. But Shonen Jump has been looking for a new Naruto since that series ended, and this ninja series might be what the magazine is looking for. Especially now as the series begins to ramp up with a whole new mess of complications for Yodaka as his bodyguard mission starts to get more complicated with romantic feelings.

It’s not entirely like Naruto with a grand war unfolding across multiple deaths and generations, but Shinobi Undercover is a weekly dose of fun ninja action that helps to make it stand out from the rest of the magazine. It’s bringing up all those nostalgic feelings of reading Naruto every week, and that’s something that Boruto‘s monthly release just can’t stack up too. Let’s just hope Shinobi Undercover gets the time to really go all out without getting cancelled too early.

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