Shinobi Striker Developers' Letter #11 Is Here! Momoshiki Otsutsuki Enters the Fray!

It's time to determine the world's greatest ninja in the Ninja World League!
Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker is an online multiplayer game where you go head-to-head with other ninja in fast-paced, acrobatic battles to vie for the honor of being crowned the strongest of them all!!

Greetings to all you ninja out there!
This is the Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker Development Team.
We are so grateful to everyone who has been playing Shinobi Striker.

In our 11th Developers' Letter, we'll be sharing details about the newest character joining the fray, Momoshiki Otsutsuki, along with information on the latest items!

Ninjutsu 1 - Saruiwa

A large-scale rushing Ninjutsu that involves donning a rock in the likeness of a monkey to attack! Charging the attack increases the size and damage of the lunge and follow-up punch, so in clashes involving multiple enemies, it's possible to hit several targets at once. If you accurately judge the distance to an enemy, you'll be able to pull off a surprise attack! You'll gain super armor during the lunge, making you immune to knockback from most attacks, but beware that it will be difficult to avoid Ninjutsu like Wood Style: Silent Strangle Jutsu, which binds the target and removes their super armor.

Ninjutsu 2 - Inukai Takeruno Mikoto

Command a dog-like beast to attack a large area from a great distance with this large-scale ranged type Ninjutsu! The beast attacks in a straight line and passes through obstacles and enemies, so you can unleash it from a safe position behind cover. This is another Ninjutsu that is very useful at catching multiple opponents in chaotic battlefields. After attacking, the beast turns into terrain that both friend and foe can come into contact with and step on. When an ally–including the user–approaches the terrain, they receive a movement speed bonus while enemies trigger an explosion and take damage.

Since the attack becomes terrain and remains on the field, it can serve as a troublesome obstacle for enemies to navigate while also granting allies who run over it a movement speed boost. If you hold down the Ninjutsu button when using the technique you can control where it will go, making it useful in Flag Battles when you want to support an ally trying to escape with the flag.

Secret Technique - Kibitsuhiko no Mikoto

This Secret Technique allows you to transform and unleash a powerful long-range attack with a massive chakra orb by consuming "Pills." The chakra orb passes through terrain, allowing for wide-range attacks from extreme distances. It packs a powerful punch, so aim to take out multiple enemies at once! After firing, healing received is reduced and substitution cooldown is increased. In exchange, your physical abilities will be greatly enhanced, allowing for swift close-range combat like an attack type. Plus, your Ninja Tool will be replaced with one that allows you to absorb any chakra that enemies use for techniques to slightly increase your physical abilities each time, giving you a big advantage over enemy ranged types.

Momoshiki Otsutsuki will be available for use in the free update, so look forward to using him on the battlefield! By purchasing the Special Ninjutsu Training, your avatar will be able to use his Ninjutsu!
You can also acquire the weapon "Momoshiki's Palm Eyes" and the Ninja Tool "Black Sword: Chakra Darts" from the Special Ninjutsu Training rewards! We faithfully recreated Momoshiki, the Otsutsuki who shook the shinobi world, along with his fighting style, so we hope you look forward to adding him to your roster!

Like previous Summoned Animals, there are 3 kinds of Ninja Cats with different effects. How about picking up your own feline friend?

Ninja Cats are scheduled to be added to the game after the late-December maintenance.
Keep an eye on the official X (formerly Twitter) account to get more details on the schedule!
https://x.com/Narutovideogame

Next up, let's take a look at the three new SS+ Items that were added in this update!

Healing Type Weapon - Azure Blade: Heaven Annihilation
This weapon is based off of Momoshiki's appearance when he was in control of Boruto's body! The strong attack fires a Rasendan, a long-range high-velocity projectile attack. You can also charge it to increase the power of the attack and change it to a three-shot burst that penetrates through terrain! This weapon is perfect for any situation with its overwhelming power and speed.

Healing Type Weapon - Ninja Equipment "Deer in Autumn Leaves"
A new SS+ weapon themed after the advisor to the Seventh Hokage, Shikamaru Nara! It allows you to reproduce the secret shadow manipulation techniques of the Nara clan! In addition, using strong attack derivations from normal combos grants you "tactic stacks" which reduce the cooldown of your Ninja Tools! Gaining the maximum number of stacks will allow you to perform an enhanced strong attack too, so make sure to pick it up and see how it works!

Defense Type Weapon - Puppet "Secret Black Technique Compilation"
The puppet wielded by Kankuro, puppet master and bodyguard to the Fifth Kazekage, has been recreated as an SS+ weapon! Pressing and holding the strong attack button will cause you to control the puppet and change up your normal attacks. The puppet can also be raised or lowered using the Ninjutsu buttons, allowing you to attack from a position of relative safety! However, be warned that if you take damage while doing so, your control over the puppet will be lost!

Next up, we'll be covering two main topics: the strengthening of the base game Ninja Masters, and the plan for adjustments in the 2.67 update. This will be a bit of a long conversation, but please bear with us.

・Strengthening Ninja Masters (base game characters)
In this update, we will be improving some Ninja Masters whose normal attacks are not performing up to standard.

We have observed that, compared to more recently released Ninja Masters, those released closer to the game's launch face difficulty landing combos and chasing down fleeing enemies. This difference was especially apparent during the Ninja World Hero Festival.
As part of these adjustments we have made changes to the normal attacks of these Ninja Masters, especially the ranged attacks used to close in on the enemy, and also increased the speed of combos that were easily interrupted by strong attacks from ranged types, allowing them to be chained together more reliably.

We are currently limiting this to small-scale changes aimed at the Ninja World Hero Festival, but we intend to keep a close eye on the battle environment from now on and make additional adjustments where needed to improve Ninja Masters' playability.

・2.67 Update Details
The adjustments we're making for the next update focus on attacks that charge towards the enemy which can be guarded against.

Ninjutsu like Rasengan, Chidori and Lightning Blade are all characterized by having short cooldowns, but in exchange, it is possible to guard against them. However, their usage rates are being overshadowed by other Ninjutsu which have guard-breaking or unblockable effects. This time, we have greatly reduced their cooldown times, increasing their uptime and hopefully making them a more attractive option.

Additionally, we're making a number of other changes such as increasing the effect time of Baryon Mode, increasing the recharge rate of the special Ninja Tools provided by Curse Jutsu: Death Possession Blood, and removing the effect of Crimson Drizzle that prevents Substitution, among others. For the full list of adjustments, please check the notices and in-game patch notes that will be released later!

We plan to continue making additional changes to the role types and Ninjutsu mentioned in this letter as we monitor the impact of these adjustments on the battle environment and user data.
We hope you continue to enjoy fighting in the Ninja World League!

Let's take a look at the new items that were added to the Scroll Appraisal!

SS Costume: Ancient Dance Outfit: Yatsuka
SS Accessories: Ancient Dance Accessory: Masked Cowl & Ancient Dance Accessory: Pulverizing Rage

Introducing a costume that allows you to excel in close combat!
This roguish outfit is specially designed and accented with a spider motif. It grants close-range attack power and attack speed bonuses along with a health recovery effect that activates when an enemy is knocked out! The accessories come with evasion bonuses and more, allowing you to specialize in lightning fast attacks!

Attack Type Weapon - Inuzuka Clan Food Pills & Ninja Hound

Introducing a weapon that allows you to recreate the fighting style of the Inuzuka clan, famed for their use of Ninja Hounds! Players can unleash their Beast Mimicry Ninja Art with the support of their Ninja Hounds and unleash coordinated attacks just like a true Inuzuka clan member!

Healing Type Weapon - Whip Sword "Rainflow"

A sword with blades connected by a wire, allowing it to move like a whip, arrives! Using strong attacks with this weapon allows you to make full use of its reach, striking out at distant enemies and pulling them towards you! This unique weapon boasts a long reach that allows you to put pressure on backline enemies!

Ninja Tool - Quick Scroll "Secret Black Technique: Iron"

A scroll with Sealing Jutsu that makes use of iron sand and Shinki's puppets makes its debut! This Ninja Tool is usable by any shinobi type, and causes puppets to trail the user when activated, granting increased defense and attack tracking. When the user hits a target with an attack, the puppets connect with threads of iron sand and restrain the target after a certain period of time. The iron sand threads will break if the enemy gets too far away. Use this as your opening move when engaging in close combat to prevent your enemy from running away while maintaining your advantage in the fight!

We have various other items planned down the road, so be sure to keep an eye on our official X (formerly Twitter) account for further news!
https://x.com/Narutovideogame

The Battle Road will enter a new season in the next update!
In the upcoming Battle Road, you'll be able to get plenty of items including the "Hidden Leaf Outfit: Second Great Ninja War Ver. (White Rain)", along with over 20 scrolls and more!

Give it your all in the Ninja World League!

In this update, we've enhanced our user experience by allowing you to choose your role and character from the lobby, without having to enter matchmaking. Use this feature to prepare for missions from the lobby menu!

In the previous Developers' Letter, we spoke about our plans to further optimize the game.
We've made progress in data loading at the start of battle during our last update, and have seen a great improvement in stability.

We will continue to focus on optimization in order to facilitate a more enjoyable experience going forward.

Thank you for reading until the end!
This update will go live on 11/20 (JST), and Momoshiki Otsutsuki is set to join the battle on 11/21 (JST), so you only have to wait a little bit longer!

With that, we bid you farewell. Let us meet again in the next Developers' Letter!