Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto's art for Black Clover's 10th anniversary is the ultimate "bait" for controversy

With the release of the Jump GIGA Summer 2025 magazine inching closer, Shueisha finally unveiled the Black Clover 10th anniversary artworks drawn by the Big 3 anime creators. While Eiichiro Oda's artwork was leaked previously, it is only now that fans have gotten a look at the artworks drawn by Bleach creator Tite Kubo and Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto.

While both the new drawings were well received by the fans, unlike Tite Kubo's drawing, which only featured Zora Idealle, Masashi Kishimoto's 10th anniversary tribute drawing featured Asta and Naruto. To Naruto fans' misfortune, this drawing became the ultimate "bait" for controversy, and Black Clover fans used it wisely.

Masashi Kishimoto's Black Clover drawing sets up Asta to be stronger than Naruto

On Monday, August 4, the official sources of Shueisha finally unveiled the Black Clover 10th anniversary drawings by the Big 3 anime creators. As part of this, Shueisha unveiled the artwork done by Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto.

In what looks like a test of strength, the tribute illustration shows Naruto having created three shadow clones to help himself lift Asta's Demon Slayer Sword.

Naruto and his shadow clones as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

As fans would know, despite Asta's small stature, he has been carrying and wielding the sword since he was 15 years old. Therefore, while the illustration shows a 12-year-old Naruto, Black Clover fans used this opportunity to ragebait Naruto fans, claiming that Asta was over four times stronger than Naruto. As expected, this development saw Naruto fans respond to the same on X (formerly Twitter).

How fans reacted to Masashi Kishimoto's Black Clover 10th anniversary drawing

As one could observe online, Black Clover fans used Masashi Kishimoto's drawing to claim that the Naruto creator had confirmed that his protagonist was weaker than Asta.

Asta wielding the Demon Slayer Sword as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

They knew, considering that Masashi Kishimoto had drawn it, Naruto fans would have a tough time arguing against the illustration. Hence, they doubled down on it.

"Ain't no wayy bro this is officially made by Kishimoto. Asta > Naruto confirmed!" one fan said.

"BC fans going to use this as power scaling device (not credible source) rather than a tribute to Tabata from Kishimoto," another fan said.

"My goat Kishi is washed," another fan added.

"Why you gotta downscale Naruto like this...?" another fan said.

As expected, Naruto fans caught the bait and began reasoning how the illustration was simply a tribute and not a credible source to powerscale the two characters. Some fans even tried to argue that Asta is an adult in the drawing when he was only 15, as per the outfit in the drawing.

Lastly, other fans were disappointed in Masashi Kishimoto and called him "washed". They understood that, as a Shueisha creator, Masashi Kishimoto would want to make a tribute illustration for Yuki Tabata's Black Clover. However, they felt betrayed that the Naruto creator downplayed his protagonist to make Asta look good.

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About the author

Gokul has been an anime writer in Pop Culture division at Sportskeeda since 2022. His love for watching anime and his interest in the ever-growing anime industry inspire Gokul to produce insightful content about the genre on a daily basis. He holds a Master's degree in Communication & Journalism, and has worked for close to 3.5 years in the field.

Gokul likes to thoroughly research about the anime he is writing about and only credits a source after verifying its credibility. He loves the popular Shonen anime, Black Clover, for its memorable characters and their development throughout the story.

When not racking his brain behind his next anime story, Gokul likes to play video games, read manga, and play football.

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Edited by Gokul Chettiyar