Masashi Kishimoto
Following the conclusion of "Naruto", Kishimoto became involved in the "Start of a New Era Project" commemorating the manga's conclusion and 15th anniversary. On the last page of the final chapter, "Weekly Shonen Jump" announced that a spin-off miniseries, also authored by Kishimoto, would be released in 2015. The series, "", ran from April to July 2015. Beyond this, Kishimoto was also heavily involved with two canonical movies, "" and "", as he personally supervised both movies, and illustrated several light novels. When asked by Boruto Uzumaki's voice actress Yūko Sanpei to continue making "Naruto" movies, Kishimoto stated that he was taking a break and could not physically do so.
Lars Alexandersson
Lars' inclusion in "Naruto Shipuuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2" was initially conceived of by CyberConnect2 CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama. In 2009, Matsuyama read in a "Weekly Shōnen Jump" magazine that Lars' third costume had been designed by Kishimoto and thought he should be included in "Ultimate Ninja Storm 2". As a result, Matsuyama approached "Tekken 6" producer Suguru Sasaki and his team and asked them to include Lars in the game using Kishimoto's outfit. Once this was approved, the "Tekken" staff started assisting CyberConnect2 to adjust Lars' moves to fit the other characters in the "Naruto" game. When the work was concluded, Matsuyama was surprised at how well Lars fitted in with the game's cast.