Solicit[]
From IDW and VIZ Media, don’t miss this groundbreaking crossover between two of the greatest ninja teams of all time! When Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi receive a mission to escort reporter April O’Neil and the mutation research she’s safeguarding back to her home of Big Apple Village, they aren’t expecting to be attacked by the Foot Clan. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arrive just in time to defeat the Foot’s ambush, but despite their shared enemy, the two teams have a lot to learn about each other if they’re going to get along! While the Turtles introduce Team 7 to their lives under the Big Apple Village, though, the Foot Clan sees another opportunity to steal the secrets of the ooze for themselves…
Appearing in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto issue 2[]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
- Baxter Stockman (flashback only)
- Foot Clan
- Alopex
- Foot Ninja
- Oroku Saki (debut)
- Hamato Yoshi (debut) (flashback only)
- Hinata Hyuga (flashback only)
- Ino Yamanaka (flashback only)
- Kiba Inuzuka (flashback only)
- Nine-Tails
- Shikamaru Nara (flashback only)
Species[]
- Human
- Mutant arctic fox
- Mutant rat
- Mutant turtle
Locations[]
Objects, vehicles, and weapons[]
Synopsis[]
The two groups are surprised that Splinter and Kakashi know each other. Kakashi explains that the Hamato Clan was revered for its dōjō. He saw Hamato Yoshi fight during his travels as a boy. Kakashi tells Splinter that the last he heard he had been betrayed by a rogue student. He then says that Splinter is shorter than Yoshi and he doesn’t remember Yoshi having a tail. Splinter congratulates Kakashi on his excellent observations and acknowledges that he is not Yoshi, who was actually his master. Splinter was in fact, Yoshi’s beloved pet rat.
Sakura puts together April’s research and Stockman’s mutagen ooze to note that their fight really was a misunderstanding. Naruto then realizes that they are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Splinter introduces himself and his sons. Kakashi follows suit and then he shakes hands with Splinter, saying he is sorry to hear about Yoshi. Splinter suggests they move and as they begin walking, Sasuke says he can’t forgive those who would betray their clan. Splinter acknowledges him and as they reach a cave entrance, tells Donatello to proceed. Using his bō, Don presses a hidden control and a pair of doors slide apart. Naruto calls it a secret base, but Don corrects him, saying it’s a lair. The group enters, unaware that Alopex is perched on a tree limb watching their every move.
As they move through a wide tunnel, Leonardo asks April about her journey, which she says was boring until they showed up. She adds that they are welcome for shooting their huge ninja sparring match just now. Raphael says she didn’t exactly try to break it up and that “Cherry Blossom” was ready to pulverize his shell like she did to the boulder. Sakura says she takes that as a compliment. Michelangelo says that he had a blast and tells Naruto that his “doppel-gamer” move was sick. Naruto replies that he’s happy he didn’t actually punch Mike’s head off. Leo observes that you can only get better by facing stronger opponents.
Don announces that they are here and to hold on. He uses his staff to punch in a password on a nearby brick wall and then everyone moves to stand on a round, metal grate bearing the Hamato Clan emblem. Sasuke wonders why the Turtles are all smiling and suddenly, the grate opens, dropping everyone into a large pipe. They all slide from the pipe into the lair, which Naruto pronounces to be like a dream come true. Soon, Michelangelo is showing Naruto a gaming system, Splinter, in his room, serves tea to Kakashi. In the dōjō, Leo and Sasuke meditate together, and Don shows off his giant coffee maker to Naruto. Raph and Sakura work out on a pair of heavy bags while Mike and Naruto try out skateboards, which April films.
Naruto tells Mike that the lair tour was “radical”. Mike is sure Naruto’s place is nicer, but the boy says he grew up alone. He feels lucky though because even though he’s caused trouble, his teachers and friends make him stronger. That’s why he has to pay them back by becoming Hokage and protecting everyone in his village. Splinter asks about the boy and Kakashi tells him the their Fourth Hokage sealed the nine-tailed demon fox inside of Naruto when he was just a baby to save Hidden Leaf Village. Naruto is an orphan forced to bear the villagers’ fear and rejection. This only seems to have motivated Naruto to earn their respect and love. Kakashi hopes that Splinter will keep this secret.
As the group gathers again in the living area, Sasuke states he doesn’t get it. They are a powerful and united clan. They made those Foot Ninja look like punching bags and their fox leader ran away like a coward. He ignores Kakashi’s warning to ask what is really keeping them underground. Splinter tells him it’s not a “what” but a “who” – Oroku Saki.
Splinter begins telling the story. Oroku Saki was a troubled boy reared in Big Apple Village’s criminal underworld. He came to Hamato Yoshi’s dojo claiming to seek a new path. Yoshi tried to help the promising young martial artist, but Saki’s cruelty was clear. He only sought the power he might obtain through Yoshi’s technique. Power that was concealed in a family scroll which Saki stole before leaving the dojo and Yoshi to suffer destruction. Splinter barely escaped and took refuge in the sewers. He wandered in despair for days before he discovered something amazing… four baby turtles covered in a strange ooze. Four boys who needed a father.
The mutagen transformed them and before long the babies were teenagers. Soon, they were ready to seek answers in the world above. At every turn they ran afoul of the Foot and eventually its leader, the man who now rules Big Apple Village’s underworld. The man who tore Splinter’s life to shreds. Oroku Saki. Sakura some it all up, saying it’s like fate. Kurama mutters from within Naruto to tell him he’s the same. In his case, Kurama is the ooze.
April says that as a reporter, she doesn’t know about fate, but this story came together when she met the Turtles. Her story flashes back to Stockman. Nobody wanted to run a story about a disgraced scientist’s bizarre theories, but he kept reaching out after their interview. Stockman told her his mutagenic ooze wasn’t theoretical at all. Though he’d lost his initial batch years ago, he could finally produce more without the university’s scrutiny. Stockman even wanted April to take a copy of his notes. But Stockman’s ego got the better of him. He was so desperate for acknowledgment that his downfall was accepting funding from the Foot Clan to produce more ooze. Saki wants it power for himself.
During the interview, the Foot break into the lab. They stomped Stockman and took everything. April thought that she was next, but instead made some instant friends. The Turtles arrive, having finally found Stockman, the creator of the ooze that mutated them. They saved April and after more research, she left for Hidden Leaf Village to try to learn more about the ooze from the nearest medical jutsu expert.
A sudden growling sound ends her story. Sakura blames Naruto, who protests that he did nothing. Blushing, April admits that it was her stomach growling. Leonardo proposes a food-retrieval mission in the city and Splinter agrees. When Mike asks if they’re thinking what he’s thinking, all four Turtles shout “pizza!” Naruto wants to know what pizza is and Mike tells him to prepare to have his mind blown. As the group leaves, April tells them she and Splinter will hold down the fort until they get back.
April stretches and yawns, commenting that it has been a day. Splinter says she’s earned a moment of respite. Suddenly, his ears perk up and he tells her that rest will have to wait, as they have uninvited guests. Coming towards them is Alopex and a group of Foot Ninja. April quickly wallops one of them with her camera bag, while Splinter begins making short work of several others. He asks if they would dare invade his home and attack his friend. From nearby, his question is answered with a yes. Looking up, Splinter and April see Oroku Saki perched on a ledge above them.
Trivia[]
- In page 10 the videogame console on the tube television resembles a Nintendo Entertainment System.
- Also on page 10, Donatello showing Naruto his automatic coffee machine which begins to malfunction is an homage to a segment of his animated counterpart seen near the end of the opening sequence for the 1987 TV series.