With Bleach on its final arc, and One Piece is already halfway on the series, Masashi Kishimoto, author of the ever popular ninja manga Naruto, stated that the "series is rising towards its climax."
In an interview in the Saturday evening edition of the Asahi Shimbun paper, Kishimoto also stated that "the story's ending has already been set in his mind, so the story is just 'racing headlong in that direction.'"
The Naruto manga is already in its 590th chapter, and compiled chapters released on Volume 60: “Kurama” last May 2nd. It's 9th feature film, “Road to Ninja”will premier on July 28th.
Source: Anime News Network
