Summary

• Konoha's Story: The Steam Ninja Scrolls is a delightful Naruto spinoff focusing on Mirai Sarutobi, Kakashi Hatake, and Might Guy.
• The first volume of Konoha's Story: The Steam Ninja Scrolls arrives on July 9, 2024, from VIZ Media.
• The story is filled with fanservice, including references to famous moments from the original Naruto series and appearances by fan-favorite characters.

Naruto features plenty of colorful characters in its cast, with occasional glimpses at their backstories. Some spinoffs published after the end of the series focus entirely on the ing cast. Konoha's Story: The Steam Ninja Scrolls has finally received an English release courtesy of VIZ Media. Taking place well after the Fourth Great Ninja War, with Kakashi no longer serving as Sixth Hokage, he and Might Guy get a chance for a vacation in the Land of Steam's hot springs. In the process, they enlist the aid of Mirai Sarutobi as their guard, the granddaughter of Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Mirai Sarutobi is the story's focus as it explores her heritage and personal path to becoming a ninja she can be proud of. The journey brings other surprising appearances, but one of the best parts of this Naruto side story is having Kakashi and Guy together for the duration.

In Konoha's Story: The Steam Ninja Scrolls volume #1, Kakashi and Guy give Mirai the space to determine her future in the Naruto universe.

Konoha's Story Gives Kakashi and Guy a Much-Needed Vacation

The Two Elite Shinobi Bicker Like a Married Couple

It's no surprise that fans should be excited to check out this Naruto story, mainly since it features Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy, some of Kakashi fulfilling his lifelong dream to track down a tree featured in the film adaptation of his favorite adult novel, "Make-Out Paradise," and a wheelchair-bound Guy showing he's still got his youth.

Konoha's Story adapts Sho Hinata's light novel written tly with Masashi Kishimoto, with art by Natsuo Sai. For Boruto fans, this arc is a side story featured in episodes #106-111 of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.

Konoha's Story: The Steam Ninja Scrolls will be available on July 9, 2024, courtesy of VIZ Media, based on the Konoha Shinden: Steam Ninja Scrolls light novel released in 2016. This collected edition was previously only available in Japan in 2022. Now, Naruto fans in North America will see Kakashi and Guy's stories bridging the gap between Naruto's epilogue and Boruto. While they're certainly a major draw to the story, the main character is incredibly compelling, with Mirai Sarutobi showcasing her talents and facing her insecurities in this Naruto spinoff.

Mirai Sarutobi Faces Pressures of an Elite Legacy

She May Need the Vacation More Than Kakashi or Guy

Mirai Sarutobi comes from a line of elite shinobi, with her father, Asuma, being one of the Twelve Guardian Shinobi, her grandfather, Hiruzen, being the Third Hokage, and her mother, Kurenai Sarutobi, an elite Jonin and leader of Team 8. Despite being a gifted shinobi, Mirai is continuously looked upon as Asuma's daughter or Hiruzen's granddaughter, which weighs on her throughout the story. In Konoha's Story: The Steam Ninja Scrolls volume #1, she can leave Konoha and her guard duties serving Naruto on her escort mission to escape this pressure.

Due to this, despite Mirai being a gifted genjutsu like her mother, Kurenai, she is often trapped in her thoughts, eventually charging recklessly into danger, as foreshadowed by Shikamaru's words in chapter #1. However, in chapter #2, she reflects on her heritage, questioning her sense of agency and seeing herself as "a leaf carried by the wind" before departing to protect the Sixth Hokage on a secret mission. The mission is a boondoggle, as Mirai can let loose in the Land of Steam in this Naruto spinoff.

Mirai Sarutobi's Naruto Spinoff Is Delightful Fanservice

Kakashi and Guy Help the Young Ninja Lower Her Guard

Between Shikamaru's sage advice to the young chunin in chapter #2 and the reminder to readers that the Land of Steam was home to Hidan, Asuma's killer in Naruto, there's plenty of trivia to enjoy. Konoha's Story: The Steam Ninja Scrolls volume #1 features the first six chapters of the fifteen-chapter limited series and takes plenty of time to please longtime Naruto readers. Perhaps the most entertaining instances include Mirai being discouraged from reading "Make-Out Paradise" despite wishing to know more, due to being "too young". At the same time, Might Guy reveals his characteristically absurd exercise book.

For fans wondering what Guy's up to after using the Eight Gates to fight Madara Uchiha landed him in a wheelchair, one of his ventures includes his self-edited Leap Out Youth! Twenty-Four Hours of Hot-Blooded Exercises! training book.

But the subtle tearjerker of this moment is how Mirai realizes that if her father were alive, he'd be enjoying himself with Kakashi and Guy, too. The story reminds readers that Mirai is like her parents, bearing Kurenai's red eyes and genjutsu, Asuma's Fire Release abilities and mannerisms while playing shogi, and more. Kakashi sees these traits in Mirai's behavior in chapter #4 and invites her to loosen up, although this isn't the end of the story in this Naruto spinoff.

An Adorable Romance Features in Konoha's Story

The Land of Cats and Dogs

One of the prevailing topics in Konoha's Story: The Steam Ninja Scrolls volume #1 is the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Steam, with a line drawn through the village streets separating two distinct hot springs. One is symbolized by dogs, and the other by cats in this Naruto spinoff, which sparks the surprise appearance of Kiba Inuzuka and his lover, Tamaki. The two in the village's heated yet childish debate about whether cats or dogs are better, while Mirai resorts to brokering peace.

Mirai does so by blending her mother and father's talents endearingly. Still, it's for naught as Guy interprets it as a genuine threat, attacking it and inadvertently breaking down barriers between the two hot springs. Still, Kiba and Tamaki stand to gain the most from this, as the unexpected tension during their couple's getaway is assuaged, with this unexpected pair reconciling their differences. However, as the last chapters indicate, the story is far from over in this volume.

Naruto Spinoff Teases the Second Coming of a Classic Villain

A Deadly Cult's Shadow Looms Over the Land of Steam

In Konoha's Story: The Steam Ninja Scrolls volume #1, the true action is yet to begin, but it teases the appearance of other Jashin worshipers, a deadly cult. For those who may recall, Hidan, a member of Akatsuki who killed Asuma, was a Jashin cultist, and this Naruto spinoff teases an answer to the long-standing mystery of Hidan's immortality powers. The villain, only teased for now, leads a cult of his own, but it'll be an emotional and cathartic confrontation for Mirai Sarutobi.

Given that there are still nine chapters left, collectors will undoubtedly be pleased that they can get additional volumes in this limited Naruto spinoff series soon. Konoha's Story: The Steam Ninja Scrolls is a delightful series with no shortage of fanservice, but it's also a substantial examination of the complicated character of Mirai Sarutobi in the Naruto universe.