Masashi Kishimoto
For the ninth "Naruto" film, "", Kishimoto was responsible for both the story planning and characters' designs. To promote the film, Kishimoto worked in "Motion Comic Naruto" a DVD that shows scenes from the manga in 3D that was given to the first 1.5 million people who went to the cinema. Regarding "Naruto"s publication Kishimoto told Tetsuya Nishio in July 2012 that the series would take over a year and a half to end. However, Kishimoto admitted that it now appears that the manga will continue beyond that timeframe. In April 2012, it was announced that Kishimoto would publish a one-shot version of his long-postponed mafia manga, "Mario", in "Jump Square", based on the rough, 160-page manuscript he began working on before "Naruto" became serialized.
List of Naruto characters
, the , has been the longest-ruling Hokage, being forced to return to duty after the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze's death. He is a peace-loving leader, preferring nonviolent discussions to his advisers' more militaristic suggestions. Throughout the series, he acts as a source of wisdom to younger generations; and from the start, is one of the few characters to treat Naruto Uzumaki as a person rather than the host of Kurama. He was admired as the God of Shinobi in his prime, and also known as , as he purportedly knew every jutsu in Konohagakure. He is able to use the Summoning Jutsu, which allows him to summon the , who takes the form of a long rod when not summoned. He is also the teacher of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. Orochimaru is his favorite student, and Sarutobi could never bring himself to recognize Orochimaru's evil qualities. When Orochimaru invades Konoha years later, Sarutobi fights him to repent for never prosecuting Orochimaru as he should have. While he is unable to seal Orochimaru with the forbidden Death Seal, Hiruzen still manages to rob Orochimaru of his ability to use Jutsu by sealing his arms, thus bringing an end to the invasion and allowing him to die happily. During the Fourth Great Ninja War, Orochimaru releases Hiruzen's soul from the Death Seal and reanimates him so Sasuke can confirm the events behind the Uchiha Clan Massacre. He later participates in the battle against Obito and Madara alongside the other resurrected Hokage, before being put to rest following Kaguya's defeat. In the Japanese anime, he is voiced by Hidekatsu Shibata, and his English voice actor is Steve Kramer.