Canon Art Resurfaces of Naruto and One Piece's Luffy as Besties

An official illustration depicting Naruto Uzumaki and Monkey D. Luffy as best friends by One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda has resurfaced online.

Naruto Uzumaki and Monkey D. Luffy, two of the most famous Shonen Jump heroes, are illustrated as best friends in this resurfaced artwork by One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda.

A social media X (formerly Twitter) user recently uploaded the official Naruto x One Piece crossover illustration by Oda online, whose canonical artwork was done by Oda in 2014 for an issue of Weekly Shonen Jump (according to ComicBook.com). In the sketch, Naruto and Luffy are amicably chatting as they stuff themselves with ramen. Instead of his usual pirate attire, Luffy is decked out in ninja gear and wearing a giant shuriken on his back.

While Luffy still has his iconic straw hat on in the drawing, he also has the signature Naruto ninja headband all over it. Both Naruto and Luffy are drawn as slightly super-deformed versions of their traditional selves. Oda has often talked about his friendly rivalry with Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto when the original Naruto series and One Piece were serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump. Both men strove to best each other, while simultaneously inspiring one another and their respective works.

The creation of Shiryu from One Piece, for example, was based on a Water Style jutsu in Naruto that turned a character invisible. Sanji, the Straw Hat Pirates’ romantic cook, was originally going to be named Naruto. However, Oda decided against this, as he didn’t want readers to confuse the cook with the ramen-eating ninja. In celebration of Chapter 700, the final chapter of the Naruto manga, the cover art for Chapter 766 of One Piece featured various visual nods to Kishimoto’s series. Kishimoto returned the favor by illustrating the Jolly Roger of the Straw Hat Pirates on a Hokage Rock sculpture in Chapter 700 of his own series.

Although the original Naruto manga series came to an end in 2014, the franchise continues with Naruto’s son, Boruto. One Piece is now likewise setting course for its final destination but still has lots of adventures planned out before bowing out. Anticipation for the anime adaptation of the “Egghead” story arc is so strong that a post from the official One Piece account is going viral for unintentionally demanding that fans watch it when it goes live on Netflix on Jan. 13.