Masashi Kishimoto's message and illustration for the NARUTO CARD GAME

The NARUTO CARD GAME was revealed on June 18, 2026, with a press release datelined Los Angeles at 10:00 ET. Buried in it, and given a whole section of its own on the game's homepage, was the shortest and most quoted part of the announcement: three sentences from the man who drew the manga.

The message

Bandai prints it under the heading "A message from Kishimoto Masashi Sensei", surname first, and introduces it in the body copy as a "special message and illustration from Masashi Kishimoto Sensei, the author of NARUTO". The text reads:

NARUTO CARD GAME!

I'm glad to see the world of NARUTO grow larger once again.

I truly hope these cards find their way to both your hands and your hearts.

The same three sentences appear verbatim in the press release. Two and a half months later, nothing has been added to them. No interview, no design commentary, no second statement.

It is worth reading what the message does not claim. It does not say Kishimoto designed the game, chose its mechanics, or drew its cards. "I'm glad to see" is the sentence of someone being shown something, and "these cards" are given as objects that will pass into other people's hands. It is a blessing, not a credit.

The illustration

The drawing is a hand coloured piece split down the middle into two vertical halves.

On the left, on an orange field with a broad swirl behind him, is Naruto: blond spiky hair, blue eyes, whisker marks, the Konoha forehead protector, the orange and black jacket of the Shippuden years. On the right, on a deep red field broken by jagged black lines, is Sasuke: black hair falling across one eye, red eyes, a white top.

Both are drawn from the chest up, and both hold a card up beside the face, turned so the reader sees only the back: a pale grey card carrying the NARUTO logo with its spiral. The gesture is close to the one-handed seal the series uses constantly, which is presumably the joke. Kishimoto's signature sits in the lower right corner, and a copyright line for Masashi Kishimoto and Shueisha runs along the bottom left.

Bandai has not published a title or a caption for the piece beyond calling it a commemorative illustration. The press release refers to it and to a separate newly drawn key visual delivered with the announcement.

What the announcement said around it

The rest of the June 18 release is the frame the message sits in. BANDAI CARD GAMES announced a strategy focused trading card game based on Masashi Kishimoto's NARUTO, for worldwide release in 2027; the game's own site puts that as Summer 2027, simultaneous worldwide. The world debut was set for Gen Con 2026 in Indianapolis, July 30 to August 2, with free beginner friendly tutorial sessions and demo decks, and further card designs and gameplay details promised for July 29. The release notes that the NARUTO manga ran from 1999 to 2014 and has exceeded 250 million copies worldwide, and that BANDAI CARD GAMES operates in more than 50 regions.

The card artwork question is left open on purpose. Bandai's About page says the game "features a wide variety of cards with unique artwork" and points to "original illustrations created by various artists, as well as artwork from the anime and manga series". None of those artists is named.

For what has been announced since, the events page tracks every confirmed date, release date tracks the road to Summer 2027, and rules covers the mechanics Bandai has actually published.