Did the creator of Naruto die? Debunking the rumor making rounds on the internet

Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto has been subjected to rumors on the internet claiming that he is no more, and the fandom has gone berserk over this supposition.

The anime community online has occasionally been flooded with outrageous rumors, and the supposed death of Naruto creator Kishimoto is certainly one such instance. To settle the debate once and for all, it must clearly be stated that the manga legend Kishimoto is alive and well.

---

Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto is alive and working on his projects

Rumors of his demise have been circulated several times, the genesis of which still remains unknown. In 2014, he updated his health in an interview for Da Vinci magazine and confirmed that he is alive and well. Despite him putting the debate to rest, the rumors have failed to subside completely, with many claiming that he had died in a car accident or had committed suicide.

It is quite possible that fans confused Kishimoto with illustrator Osamu Kobayashi, one of the directors of the Naruto Shippuden anime who sadly passed away in 2021. Kobayashi directed episodes 480 to 483 of the anime. He was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2019 and died at the age of 57 due to the relapse of a colon infection. His connection to the series may have triggered the rumors of Kishimoto dying.

Kishimoto began his career as a mangaka with Karakuri, or Mechanism, his first successful manga, which he had submitted to Shueisha in 1995. The manga, unfortunately, got canceled after a while due to declining readership. He had worked on seinen projects like Mario, Magic Mushroom, and Baseball King before finally releasing Naruto in September 1999.

After the groundbreaking success of the Uzumaki boy's story, Kishimoto has kept himself busy with new productions. In Jump Festa 2018, he confirmed that he was working on a new science fiction adventure manga, the title of which was revealed a year later in Jump Festa 2019.

The series, Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru was officially serialized from May 13, 2019, to March 23, 2020, and is currently compiled in five tankobon volumes.

During the Jump Festa 2019, Naruto’s voice actor Junko Takeuchi read a comment from Kishimoto regarding the new manga, stating his love for science fiction and his fascination for new technology, which he wanted to fuse with Japanese culture and aesthetic.

Kishimoto also played the role of a supervisor for Boruto. We do not know if he will grace us with any new content, nor should we hold our breath for it. He is deemed a contemporary legend for his titanic contributions to manga history, and his magnum opus will remain evergreen in the industry.