2026 just might be a great year for Naruto fans, and one thing that’s helping in that regard is the fact that Naruto itself is bringing back the original young incarnations of its characters before everything that happened in Naruto: Shippuden. Helping to spark the fact that this revival just might be coming this year is a special illustration from the anime’s official character designer, Tetsuya Nishio, that brings back Naruto and Iruka to ring in 2026 in style. Check it out below.
What to Know for Naruto’s New Anime
Courtesy of Shueisha
It’s especially great seeing this younger version of Naruto Uzumaki again as this design is at the center of its new anime project. As part of the 20th anniversary, Naruto had announced a new four episode special anime project that focuses on Naruto and the rest of Team 7 before the events of Naruto: Shippuden. It was originally scheduled to make its debut in Fall 2023 before it was hit by a huge delay, and fans have been curious about the state of these new episodes ever since. But it could finally be coming this year.
This special illustration just might be our clue that Naruto’s revival project is indeed coming this year, but there’s still very little information about what to actually expect. It will feature FLOW returning to perform a new version of their classic opening for the series, “GO!!!” along with a cover of ORANGE RANGE’s famous ending theme, “Viva★Rock.” But very little of the new episodes have actually been revealed to the public despite how long its been in production at this point.
Is This All For Naruto?
Courtesy of Shueisha
If Naruto does make its return with new episodes this year, it’s going to be a plenty nostalgic year for anime fans overall. It will be the first time that One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach (who formed Shonen Jump’s legendary Big Three) will be airing new episodes at the same time in quite a long time. It’s going to be a legendary year if Naruto indeed returns, but at least there are still new entries in the Boruto sequel to enjoy either way with new chapters of the series coming each month.
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is also in the works on its own anime comeback as the series has also been on hiatus for the past few years, so any forward momentum on this project could be a huge move as well. It wouldn’t be received as well as a proper return from Naruto, unfortunately, but it would still be some brand new anime material. Any move on that front overall would just feel huge after all these years of inactivity.
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