Naruto: How Masashi Kishimoto secretly resided in the realm of his own manga, explored

Naruto mangaka Masashi Kishimoto is a global icon due to the franchise he built since 1999. While it has been decades since the manga’s first chapter came out, there are still several secrets hidden in the manga as one easter egg revealed how the mangaka has always secretly resided in the realm of his own franchise.

Naruto follows the story of the titular character as he gets shunned by society for having the Nine-tailed beast sealed within him. To make sure that everyone accepts him, he dreams of becoming the Hidden Leaf Village’s Hokage. Thus, the series follows his journey from a ninja to one day becoming his village’s leader.

Masashi Kishimoto’s existence in Naruto manga was hinted at in chapter 3

Naruto Uzumaki as seen in the manga's third chapter (Image via Shueisha) — Naruto Uzumaki as seen in the manga’s third chapter (Image via Shueisha)

Naruto manga’s third chapter was focused on the introduction of the series deuteragonist, Sasuke Uchiha. However, it also introduced fans to two other characters – Sakura Haruno and Kakashi Hatake. The chapter saw the titular character getting ready for his first day as a Shinobi, as he was set to assemble in his class to be assigned to his three-man team.

After he got ready and was off to Shinobi school, the manga showed a panel of the Hidden Leaf Village filled with buildings. The entire panel was very detailed as it helped bring out the atmosphere of the village. However, while gazing at that fantastic art, fans may have missed out on an easter egg left by the mangaka Masashi Kishimoto.

Masashi Kishimoto's billboard in the manga's 3rd chapter (Image via Shueisha) — Masashi Kishimoto’s billboard in the manga’s 3rd chapter (Image via Shueisha)

One of the billboards that were placed in the illustration had an artwork of the mangaka in the manga’s style, with text spelling out Masashi Kishimoto‘s name. While the easter egg might have been added just for fun, with this, it has been confirmed that the manga’s creator does canonically exist within its universe.

While the chances of the character himself appearing in the series seem next to nothing, this small easter egg has left fans to wonder what other easter eggs they missed during the course of their reading.

Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Following this, many fans might want to read the manga again to spot other such easter eggs. That said, this could also be a good opportunity to catch up with the series as fans wait for the special Naruto episodes, set to be released in September 2023.

Where to read the Naruto manga?

Fans can read Masashi Kishimoto’s manga on Shueisha‘s MANGA Plus app and VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump app.

A battle scene from the anime(Image via Studio Pierrot)

The library of chapters in the MANGA Plus app is currently going on a revamp, thus all chapters of the series are not available. That said, the ones that are available, will only be available for reading once. This means that one can only view the chapter once, thus one must stay vigilant of closing the chapter or the app.

As for VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump app and website, otakus can read the first and latest three chapters of a manga series as many times as they want.