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.
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Rebecca Silverman of "Anime News Network" ("ANN") said "Boruto" appealed to her despite never having gotten into the "Naruto" manga. She praised how the writers dealt with Boruto's angst without it coming across as "teen whining" and the way Sasuke decides to train him. Amy McNulty of "ANN" regarded the manga as appealing to fans of the original "Naruto" series, adding that while Mitsuki has a small role in the story, his side-story helps to expand his origins. Nik Freeman of the same website criticised Boruto's lack of development in comparison with his introduction in "Naruto"s finale; Freeman also said there are differences between the reasons both the young Naruto and Boruto vandalised their village. Nevertheless, Freeman liked Mitsuki's backstory as he did not feel it retold older stories. Reviewing the first chapter online, Chris Beveridge of "The Fandom Post" was more negative, complaining about the sharp focus on Naruto and Boruto's poor relationship and the retelling of elements from "Boruto: Naruto the Movie"; Beveridge also criticised the adaptation of Kishimoto's artwork, but he praised the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke as well as the foreshadowing of a fight involving an older Boruto.