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.
Sasuke Uchiha
Kishimoto had read a variety of manga to obtain ideas for the creation of an effective rivalry between two characters, which he incorporated into Naruto and Sasuke's relationship. He was also inspired by his relationship with his twin brother, Seishi Kishimoto; since childhood, Masashi had worried about Seishi when he faced failure and had tried to help him. To contrast Sasuke with Naruto, Kishimoto made him less emotional and depicted him as a "cool genius"; he felt he had created an ideal rivalry in the pair, and when one character progressed he ensured the other did as well. Kishimoto wanted Naruto and Sasuke to seem like brothers and rivals, building on a mutual experience of childhood loneliness. Although Sasuke does not regard Naruto as a worthy opponent at first, he is surprised by Naruto's growth and becomes fiercely competitive. In the Part I finale, their rivalry leads to a fight and they grow further apart. Kishimoto said he did not want Sasuke to recognize Naruto as an equal until later in Part II.