Crunchyroll’s New Naruto Replacement Is Delivering What Took Naruto Hundreds of Episodes to Build Up
Crunchyroll‘s hottest new shonen anime of 2026, Black Torch, which has emerged as a sort of replacement for Naruto, is set to feature an intriguing fight that took Naruto hundreds of episodes to deliver. Black Torch first proved itself as a Naruto replacement through its main character, Jiro Azuma, who comes from a ninja family but with a modern twist. The first episode also gives him the power of a demon within him, further establishing the similarities to Naruto. However, as the episodes progressed, the series solidified this notion with more nuances, including its main trio resembling Team 7.
While Jiro is sort of the Naruto of the group, Ichika has emerged as a better Sakura with a more solid goal, fixing Sakura’s characterization in Naruto. Reiji, the other male character in the team, occupies a position very similar to Sasuke. In Naruto, Sasuke’s main goal at the start was to find his brother and confront him for massacring his clan. Reiji is in a similar situation, as his past revealed that his brother killed his family after acquiring a new power, while sparing him. Ever since then, Reiji has been on a secret quest to confront his brother, and the latest episode of the series has already set up this confrontation, something Naruto took hundreds of episodes to deliver.
Black Torch Is Set to Deliver the Fight Naruto Took Hundreds of Episodes to Build Up to
The latest episode of the series featured Team Black Torch entering an area where three Mononoke had arrived to trap humans and collect their vital energy. However, it was revealed that there was a fourth one as well, protecting the Mononoke who had cast the spell that created the entrapment area. As the team scattered around to confront everyone at the same time, Reiji arrived at the location of the Mononoke who had cast the veil, only to discover that its protector was none other than his brother, Shinji, wielding the Mononoke blade he had used to kill their family.
This makes it clear that the next episode of the series is going to continue this fight, with fans finally getting to see an epic confrontation while learning why Shinji killed his family and left Reiji all alone. There could be multiple reasons behind this dynamic, and there is no doubt that the next episode is going to reveal some striking details, especially because Black Torch‘s narrative is very short and won’t last more than 13 episodes. Perhaps Shinji’s purpose is similar to Itachi’s, as his family bestowed the strongest warrior with the Mononoke swords, which he interpreted as being dangerous if someone with bad intentions ever acquired them. Therefore, he could be planning to eradicate them himself while positioning Reiji with a revenge motive so that he can ultimately deliver the final blow, along with eradicating the Mononoke’s power.
This is feasible, and it would make for a compelling story, especially since Black Torch has been taking a lot from Naruto. While this dynamic is nowhere near as iconic as Sasuke and Itachi’s, Black Torch has been employing classic Naruto events in its own way. For this reason, Black Torch has emerged as a perfect and short replacement for Naruto in a modern setting, making it clearly one of the best new shonen anime on Crunchyroll.
