Naruto's 2026 Anniversary Special: The GTA VI of Anime Delays

It feels like Grand Theft Auto VI is the game that will never arrive, and, in the world of anime, the same can be said for Naruto's four-episode anniversary special. Both these projects, though otherwise unrelated, are slated to arrive in 2026. However, after years of delays and a frustrating lack of information, it's become hard to believe that this will be the case. It's perfectly possible that both GTA VI and the Naruto revival will be tossed into 2027 or beyond.

GTA VI is meant to follow up on GTA V, which was released way back in 2013. However, Rockstar Games spent the next handful of years dancing around the subject. Following GTA VI's official confirmation in 2022, the game was tentatively scheduled for a late 2025 release. This was pushed back to spring of 2026 and is now expected to finally hit shelves on November 19, 2026. At this point, however, who can say? It's a very similar story to the Naruto special.

Naruto's 4 New Episodes Were Announced In March 2023

Back in March 2023, Studio Pierrot announced that, in addition to Boruto's second season (Two Blue Vortex), another special project was in the works. "In celebration of the Naruto anime's 20th anniversary, a brand new Naruto project is set to start!" Pierrot further teased that this would be a four-episode anime special, and it would be arriving near the end of the year. Later, a September 2023 release window was set.

Of course, this never happened. Just a month before Naruto fans expected the four episodes to arrive, Pierrot announced that the project had been delayed. The explanation was vague, and there was no word about when the episodes would actually come.

Various social media posts, citing leaked information, claimed that production on those four Naruto episodes was complete and that, though no definitive date had been set, the 20th anniversary revival (now well past the Naruto anime's 20th anniversary in 2022) would arrive sometime in 2026.

Why Naruto's New Episodes Haven't Been Released Yet

When Studio Pierrot announced the delay of the Naruto special, the only reason given was "quality." Viewers had been promised an exceptional experience that would raise the bar compared to the episodes we fell in love with back in 2002. It sounded as if Pierrot had somewhat oversold itself, and, for some reason or another, it couldn't yet follow through on those promises.

As frustrating as delays are, Pierrot was essentially damned if it did and damned if it did not. After so much buildup and anticipation, a poorly animated four-episode Naruto special would have been even more disappointing than a delay. Still, more transparency from the company and animators would have been nice. When the end of 2023 passed and Pierrot announced the delay, it was a couple of years before the project was ever mentioned again. By that point, the Naruto community was abuzz with speculation.

Naruto's Anime Return Has Led To Years Of Speculation

Naturally, the most prevalent theory in those years without news was that Pierrot had given up the idea entirely. There have been plenty who said and continue to say that these four episodes will never see the light of day. Or else, if they do, they will be nothing spectacular. On the other hand, there has been speculation that the delay resulted from Pierrot further expanding the project. Rather than just four episodes, people began to hope that there was a full Naruto remake in the works.

The tentative news that the new Naruto project would arrive in 2026 inspired further speculation, since this happens to be the year that two other major shonen projects are set to return. The live-action One Piece series will premiere its sophomore season on March 10, 2026, and an animated film is confirmed to be on the way as well (with a hopeful release in late 2026). Then there is Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity, which will premiere in July 2026.

Since Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach were basically the three horsemen of shonen anime, it would make sense that these new installments would be timed to go public within the same window. A massive event like this would undoubtedly be exciting, but, given all the previous disappointments, it may be best not to get our hopes up.

What Will Naruto's 4 New Episodes Be About?

Despite speculation that the four-part Naruto special has expanded into something larger, the best bet is to assume that Pierott's original confirmation remains accurate. In 2023, it was announced that the new series would revolve around the classic Team 7 and be set before the events of Naruto: Shippuden​​. Beyond this, we can only guess.

This new series may be a single four-episode arc, taking viewers through a mission Team 7 faced that didn't make it into Naruto. These may also be four individual stories set at different points in Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke's time together under Kakashi's leadership. Regardless, after such a long wait, we can certainly expect something visually stunning, deeply nostalgic, and, most importantly, absolutely worth it.