This article contains spoilers from the Naruto series.
Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto the series is absolutely incredible when it comes to character writing and fans have seen that to be the case for several characters over the years. Kishimoto is a brilliant writer of compelling characters, and some of his most incredible writing has come whenever he's touched the Uchihas of Naruto series.
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Among the powerful Uchihas, Itachi is a character that fans have always loved immensely. Although initially seen as a villain, Itachi's true noble goals were revealed to the fans at the end and that is exactly what makes everyone love him so much more. Although Itachi was absolutely brilliant, the most unfortunate thing about his character was the fact that he did not survive long. Itachi was taken out of the plot pretty early onand the fans felt unhappy about this. Now it seems Itachi is set to make a comebackif Kishimoto's own words are to be believed.
Masashi Kishimoto wants to bring back Itachi Uchiha in a new side story
Ever since Naruto ended, Masashi Kishimoto has been involved in quite a few exciting projects. He has written a miniseries called Naruto Gaiden right after the Naruto series, and he continues to oversee Boruto to this day. However, the most interesting project that Kishimoto undertook came more recently, in 2023, and it was a Minato once after the Naruto Global Popularity Poll.
Each of us lives, dependent and bound by our individual knowledge and awareness. All that is what we call “reality”. But both knowledge and awareness are ambiguous. One's reality may be another's illusion. We all live in our own fantasies. — Itachi Uchiha
Last year, Kishimoto was specifically asked to write more one-shots, and it seems he wants to do one on Itachi Uchiha. Given that Itachi is a character that most fans of the series love, Kishimoto bringing him back would be absolutely brilliant for the franchise.
It must be noted that when Kishimoto made the comments, he had not yet decided what exactly he wanted to do with Itachi's character in the future. But he was probably already thinking about it, and fans may eventually get to see this legendary Uchiha return via a new oneshot.
Here's what Kishimoto had to say about Itachi's return:
Yes, I would like to do others, but I will take time to think about it. In fact, I based myself on a ranking of characters made among readers. Minato was the first. The other is Itachi… I say that half jokingly, but you never know. —Masashi Kishimoto
Kishimoto will eventually draw new stories
Aside from Itachi Uchiha, Kishimoto still wants to do more stories. He has already expressed his desire to continue writing manga, whether it be a continuation of Naruto via a sequel or a prequel series, or an entirely new manga altogether.
His plan was to make another long-running manga, but that fell through with Samurai 8. Since then, Kishimoto has spent a lot of time with his family. He previously mentioned that he wanted to return to drawing manga, but he did not give fans a concrete date.
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At this point, all fans hope so Kishimoto returns to the Naruto series in a way that doesn't touch on the Boruto series, which most fans consider a failure. There is still a lot of potential in the Naruto series, especially when you consider the blank period between the end of Naruto and the beginning of Boruto.
Itachi Uchiha's story will breathe new life into the Naruto franchise
For now it seems Kishimoto plans to do some one-shots on a few select characters, such as Itachi Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki and even Sasuke Uchiha.
Appearances and preconceived notions will tell you nothing. You assume that I am very patient and underestimate me. The clan … the clan … You keep harping on it, mistaking the size of that ship and underestimating the size of mine. That's why you're here now, hugging. — Itachi Uchiha, Naruto
There is a possibility that these characters will be fleshed out again in greater detail than ever before, if Kishimoto keeps his word. Again, there is no confirmation of that he will write one-shots on all the characters in the top 10 of the popularity poll.
At least, Itachi's side story looks like it will happen sometime in the future. When that happens, it will breathe new life into the Naruto series, which has been sucked out by the Boruto series. Most fans agree that Naruto is in desperate need of a reset, and the Itachi one-shot could pave the way for just that.
Boruto: Two Blue Vortex is the sequel to the original Boruto series, written by Mikio Ikemoto and supervised by Masashi Kishimoto. The series follows Boruto Uzumaki's journey, 3 years after the events of Omnipotence hit the story. Boruto must now work to save the world from the dangers it faces as he deals with his brother Kawaki. Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 29 is set for its official release on December 18, 2025. The release time for the chapter is 10:00 AM EST/3:00 PM UTC. As always, fans can read the chapter officially for free on the Manga Plus and Shonen Jump apps.
