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The Naruto franchise has been starving for content outside of Boruto, and while fans wait for the promised exciting new episodes that will hopefully come out soon, a new seasonal illustration of one of the most heartwarming scenes has been revealed. The series has been consistently receiving these types of illustrations for years, but this great tradition has unfortunately been discontinued ever since the Boruto anime went into hiatus, so this is a great return to the beloved fan service.
A new illustration has been posted by the official X (formerly Twitter) account of the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations anime to welcome the summer season, and it looks stunning, to say the least. It depicts an excited Hashirama offering sake (Japanese rice wine) to a Madara who is drinking it on top of a cherry blossom tree. Behind them is a disapproving Tobirama who is glaring at Madara, totally in character for the future Second Hokage. The illustration hides a subtle but beautiful detail that is sure to tug at the heartstrings of long-time fans and those aware of the tragedy of these two characters.
Naruto’s 2025 Summer Illustration Has Been Unveiled
Sitting in the house, barely noticeable, are Hashirama and Madara’s younger brothers, enjoying a meal and drink together. In canon, Hashirama’s brothers, except Tobirama, died, and Madara was worse off, as all his siblings died. A major point of the two characters is moving past the days when their clans fought each in war constantly, and their brother dying due to this. Vowing to end the practice of sending children to their deaths at war, they formed an alliance and built the Hidden Leaf village. It was hard and a grudge was held particularly by Madara, whose family all died, but they moved past it. Unfortunately, the two fought each other again due to ideological differences, ending their friendship, but they made up again after the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
The illustrator, Ishizaki, confirmed the feelings and thoughts he poured into the illustration, and he tried his best to depict as much context into Hashirama and Madara’s relationship as carefully as possible. Although it is unfortunate that this will be his last seasonal illustration, this summer illustration was a great way to go out, and is even more beautiful than any he had created. Hopefully, when the anime returns, we can see their return to the project and bless fans with even more illustrations.
