Fortnite is hosting its first-ever anime and manga-related crossover event, and it is a wild one, bringing the massive Naruto franchise into Fortnite Season 8. The event includes everything from the Naruto characters in the game to the actual Fortnite Hidden Leaf Village area and more. 

This is an extensive crossover. It only makes it more surprising that this is mainly focusing only on cosmetic items. Few crossovers of this ilk have had such ramifications on the current season, noting just how important this one is and the potential for what’s to come in the future. 

By the time you read this, the Naruto and Fortnite Hidden Leaf Village crossover event will have already begun. It is not currently known how long the entire event will stick around, but parts of it will remain in the battle royale game until the end of Season 8. 

The most important part of the Fortnite Hidden Leaf Village Naruto event is that you can now purchase some of your favorite characters from the series in the item shop. Only available in the item shop, you will not get them as part of the battle pass or any challenges.

Thankfully, the event is not focusing only on Naruto himself but is making sure to show some love to a few other members of the main cast of the long-running franchise. However, it is worth noting that this focuses only on Naruto Shippuden and not on anything else in the series. 

This effectively means that there are no Boruto characters in this release, so you will not be able to find the latest characters from the ongoing sequel series at this time in Fortnite battle royale. However, if this is successful enough, we presume that it will not be long until that changes. 

In the meantime, there are four Naruto character skins that you can pick up in the item shop for Fortnite Season 8. Naruto is, of course, here, but he is accompanied by the rest of the Ninja Team 7 group members, including fan-favorite leader Kakashi Hatake, Naruto’s best friend and rival Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno.

With the arrival of the Fortnite Naruto event release date, all four of these characters are available in the item shop right now for players to pick up and start using in battle royale matches online to show their love for the Naruto franchise. Interestingly enough, each of the four ninja characters has their extra goodie that comes with the purchase. 

For Naruto and two of the other members of Team 7, this means that you will get the skin and a special variant style to go along with it. In the case of Naruto, you get the Shippuden outfit style for the character plus the Seventh Hokage variant style that comes from Boruto.

In the case of Sasuke, he is the only character not to get a second variant style, which is rather interesting, but instead, he receives the Snake Sword pickaxe item for you to equip. In the case of Sakura, she gets her own Boruto style outfit version with the Sakura Uchiha variant. 

And last but not least, Kakashi receives the Black Ops variant and the usual style that he has. Other items are themed around the Naruto series that you can purchase separately in the item shop, starting with a round of back blings.

The themed items include the Pakkun back bling, the Demon Wind Shuriken back bling, the Hidden Leaf Cloak, and the Scroll. On the pickaxe side, there is the Snake Sword, the Black Ops Sword, the Kunai pickaxe (that comes with a black variant style), and the Hidan’s Scythe. 

A few gliders and emotes, too, including the Kurama glider that pays great homage to the nine-tailed beast and partner of Naruto that gets the Shinobi Teamwork loading screen as a bonus. The Summoning Jutsu emote and Ramen Break emote, both of which should be fun to use in battle royale matches. 

Some of these items will be available in bundles, including the Naruto and Kakashi bundle and the Sasuke and Sakura one. Buying these bundles will grant you all the items regarding those specific characters and some exclusives, including the Pizza Eating Jutsu loading screen for the first bundle and the Team 7 loading screen for the second one. 

This event is not just dealing with cosmetic items, though, as there are actual gameplay additions to Fortnite in a couple of different places. For starters, Kakashi arrived on the island as a new NPC that you can visit and complete missions for. 

He is a hidden area somewhere on the island, hiding there until the current season. If you complete the missions that he has for you, you will earn some rewards and hang out with one of the characters on the island itself. 

Kakashi will also be offering a brand new weapon in the game with the Paper Bomb Kunai weapon, a throwable weapon that you can send out to deal some damage to your opponents. You can buy it from Kakashi or find it in chests and loot llamas. 

Then there is the Fortnite Hidden Leaf Village that you will be able to visit in the game. Konohagakure has been recreated for Fortnite and is available as the new featured hub in Creative mode. You can explore the Fortnite Hidden Leaf Village and it looks quite good. 

You will be able to visit iconic locations in the Fortnite Hidden Leaf Village, including the Hokage Residences and Ichiraku. There is more, though, such as the Hidden Leaf Village Adventure Map in the Discovery tab. As you complete various missions, you will have quests and an expanding world to explore, unlocking new areas. 

Unfortunately, both the Fortnite Hidden Leaf Village and the Adventure Map are only sticking around for a limited time. The featured hub will be until November 23, while the Adventure Map will last until November 29. Presumably, the Naruto characters will stick around a little longer than that, though, but we do not know that for sure. That is why you must grab them now if you want any of them, while you still can.