Warning: Spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto #1Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesmeetsNarutoin an epic crossover that combines their lore in groundbreaking fashion, as Kakashi Hatake hints at a secret connection between him and Master Splinter. Naruto and the ninja turtles' mentors have a shared backstory with one another in this shocking rewrite that upends their original histories.
InTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto#1 by Caleb Goellne, Hendry Prasetya, Raúl Angulo, and Ed Dukeshire, theoriginal Team 7- Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and their teacher Kakashi - face off against the ninja turtles after they unexpectedly cross paths. However, once the clash takes a momentary pause, Kakashi harnesses thepower of his Sharinganto remove the mutants' masks and expose their true faces.
With his opponents unveiled, Kakashi says,“It’s good to see you again…Hamato Yoshi.“His usage of Splinter’s human name alludes to a familiarity between the two, in an intriguing twist to their classic lore that shows how their stories have merged.
Kakashi Hatake Recognizes Splinter From His Past, Rewriting TMNT and Naruto Lore
Naruto and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Teachers Know Each Other
Kakashi’s knowledgeof Splinter’s old self from before his mutant transformation suggests that they’ve crossed paths before. This revelation marks a fascinating new development in this hybrid universe, and poses the question of how exactly the two ninjas first met.During the ninja turtles' battle against the students of Team 7, Kakashi contends with Splinter and comments on how his moves are familiar.There’s a strong likelihood, then, that the two have fought in the past. InNarutolore, Kakashitrained at the Academy in Konohato become a ninja, so it’s possible that Hamato Yoshi attended as well before his rat mutation.
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Regardless of how Splinter and Kakashi know each other, their familiarity proves that this story doesn’t involve two worlds “crossing over” in the traditional sense. Instead,Naruto and the ninja turtles' worlds have fused into one cohesive universe, and Splinter is the bridge between them. He presumably got his start in this continuity as an ordinary ninja likeKakashi and Team 7prior to his mutation, and now he aligns with his turtle sons as their own “clan”. Learning Splinter’s updated origin will undoubtedly help make sense of where the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fit as they’re integrated intoNarutolore.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Naruto Officially Share a Universe
Iconic TMNT Characters Join Naruto’s World in This Ambitious Crossover
Splinter and Kakashi’s mysterious connection is just one example of how the ninja turtles' world has been embedded into Naruto’s. For instance, rather than being a reporter in New York City, April O’Neil appears as a reporter from “Big Apple Village” who’s investigating classicTMNTfoe Baxter Stockman’s plot to create mutant ninjas. Furthermore, theFoot Clan being enemy ninjasto the Hidden Leaf indicates that Shredder also exists in this amalgamated continuity. The approach taken to this crossover allowsTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtleslore to be redefined as part ofNaruto’s world, bringing these beloved ninja franchises together in an innovative way.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto#1is available now from IDW Publishing.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) is a multi-media franchise that began with Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s comics in the 1980s. Throughout the years, their comic books expanded to movies, TV shows, video games, and toys. Most notably, the animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ran for nearly a decade and has become a nostalgic staple of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Several other movies have featured the four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael), including the trilogy of live-action films in the ‘90s and the more recent movies Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
Naruto
Naruto is a franchise spawned from the manga series penned by Masashi Kishimoto that began in 1999. Generating several tv series, games, movies, and more, Naruto follows the exploits of a young outcast ninja harboring the spirit of a demon fox who seeks to become the Hokage, the leader of his ninja village, to break the stigma against him. Upon the conclusion of the initial series, Naruto expanded into Boruto, following many series protagonists' children and returning faces.
