It has been announced the official release date of the one-shot manga by Masashi Kishimoto about Naruto’s father, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze.
Minato Namikaze won the worldwide character popularity poll “Narutop99” that was held in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Naruto Franchise early this year. The poll was launched during the Jump Festa 23 sponsorised by Shueisha. Kishimoto would have drawn an original short manga for the winner.
So, according to Anime News Network, the one-shot manga about the worldwide loved Fourth Hokage will be released on July 18th 2023 on 33rd issue of Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine that marks its 55th anniversary.
The short manga will tell “the secret story behind the development of Minato’s technique” and it will be published by Viz Media. It will be released simultaneously in Japan and America.
Naruto’s story ended in 2014, Minato’s special story will be the first one-shot that Kishimoto has drawn in 7 years. Indeed, the last one Naruto Gaiden Michita Tsuki ga Terasu Michi (Naruto Side Story: The Path That the Waxing Moon Illuminates) was published in April 2016.
Naruto has had multiple adaptations: anime series and movies. Despite its end, the fandom is still strong and present. Naruto is still one of the most loved manga and every year it draws the attention of new fans all around the world.
This new story about the so-called “Yellow flash of the Hidden Leaf Village” will be the chance for the old fans to get to know more of their loved character and for the new ones to have something more to discover about Kishimoto’s franchise.