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Summary, Release Dates Revealed for New Naruto Shinden Novels

The official website for Shueisha's Jump J Books label of novels has revealed the release dates for the two new Shinden novels in Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto franchise that the company revealed last month.

Shueisha will release the Itachi Shinden (The True Legend of Itachi) novel in two parts: the first part, Itachi Shinden: Kōmyō-hen (The True Legend of Itachi: Glory Volume) will ship on September 4, and the Itachi Shinden: Anya-hen (The True Legend of Itachi: Dark Night Volume) will ship in October. Sasuke Shinden (The True Legend of Sasuke) will ship in November.

The Amazon listing for the Itachi Shinden: Kōmyō-hen novel describes the story:

Itachi Uchiha, age four. After seeing what occurs on the battlefield up close, he makes a certain decision. He decided that he would change the world. The dream that Itachi aimed for. His dream: A Hokage from the Uchiha clan, and a future where those he loved could live in peace. His time in the ninja academy, his meeting with Shisui, becoming a Genin, Chunin, and finally a member of the Anbu... Itachi ran straight down a path of glory, not knowing that a cruel darkness was spreading...
This is the story of the glory, frustration, and determination of the ninja called a genius.

Itachi Shinden and Sasuke Shinden will be the first two installments in the Naruto Shinden (Naruto True Legend) novel series.

Akira Higashiyama's Naruto: Dojunjō Ninden (Naruto: The Tale of the Utterly Purehearted Shinobi) novel will ship on August 4. The novel will tell the origin of the character Jiraiya's "novel" Icha Icha Paradise (Make-Out Paradise). In the youth novel's story, two people move towards a battlefield while pursuing true happiness. The story depicts an extraordinary and naive battle between a man and a woman who are not used to being upfront with each other.

In the Naruto franchise, Icha Icha Paradise is the first in Jiraiya's Icha Icha erotic novel series. Jiraiya also wrote another novel with a similar name to Naruto: Dojunjō Ninden — Dokonjō Ninden (The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi) — whose protagonist is named Naruto. The Naruto franchise's title character, Naruto Uzumaki, is named after the character because his father liked Jiraiya's book.

Shueisha previously published six Naruto epilogue novels earlier this year: Kakashi Hiden, Shikamaru Hiden, Akatsuki Hiden, Gaara Hiden, Sakura Hiden, and Konoha Hiden.

Viz Media has licensed the first three epilogue novels — Kakashi Hiden, Shikamaru Hiden, and Sakura Hiden — for English release in North America.