NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS finally makes Uchiha Nanashi playable in free Update 1.70

Almost three years after becoming one of the defining characters of NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS’ original story, Uchiha Nanashi has finally entered the playable roster. Bandai Namco and CyberConnect2 released Nanashi as part of the completely free Version 1.70 update on August 20, bringing the game-exclusive Uchiha into normal battles with a moveset built around the clan’s signature fire techniques and the extraordinary Mangekyō Sharingan powers that made her so dangerous during the Special Story Mode. The accompanying Uchiha Nanashi Trailer gives players their first proper look at what happens when one of CONNECTIONS’ most important narrative characters is allowed to fight outside the campaign.

The release is notable not simply because another fighter has been added to what was already the largest playable roster in Ultimate Ninja STORM history. Nanashi was created specifically for CONNECTIONS and occupies a central role in the Boruto-focused original storyline that distinguishes the game from a conventional compilation of Naruto and Sasuke’s greatest battles. Bandai Namco originally introduced her as the mysterious navigator Boruto meets inside the popular virtual game Ninja Heroes, where their increasingly close relationship becomes entangled with a conspiracy threatening to trigger another major conflict across the shinobi world.

Version 1.70 also turns out to be considerably larger than a one-character update. Guard durability has been adjusted, several puppet fighters receive targeted balance changes, Ninja World Face-Off and Proficiency Events are becoming recurring activities, Wanted Poster Players are being incorporated into Face-Off, a new Special Challenge system has been added, the maximum Proficiency Level increases to 130 and Bandai Namco is already teasing further free updates for winter 2026 and spring 2027.

Nanashi was one of CONNECTIONS’ most important characters but could not actually be selected

The unusual part of Nanashi’s arrival is that players have known her since NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS launched in November 2023. Unlike a later manga or anime character adapted through DLC, she was created specifically for the game’s Special Story Mode and appeared throughout the original campaign from the beginning. Bandai Namco described that mode before launch as a new Boruto-centered storyline featuring two original characters, Nanashi and Merz, with the threat of a Fifth Great Ninja War developing around them.

Boruto first encounters Nanashi inside Ninja Heroes, an online game within the story. She initially presents herself as its navigator, creating a relationship that begins through the virtual world before gradually becoming far more important to the larger conflict. Bandai Namco specifically emphasized the bond developing between Boruto and Nanashi when marketing CONNECTIONS, making her one of the central emotional pillars of the new campaign rather than a minor supporting NPC.

That made her absence from the playable roster particularly conspicuous. CONNECTIONS launched with more than 130 characters and subsequently expanded through a Season Pass that added Hagoromo Otsutsuki, Isshiki Otsutsuki, Kurenai Yuhi, Kawaki (Karma Progression) and Boruto Uzumaki (Karma Progression). Yet the character created specifically for its headline original story remained restricted to that narrative content.

The August 20 update finally resolves that contradiction. Nanashi is now a normal playable fighter with accompanying costumes rather than a character whose abilities players can only experience through scripted story encounters.

The trailer finally turns Nanashi’s Mangekyō Sharingan into a playable moveset

Bandai Namco’s new trailer emphasizes exactly what players would expect from an Uchiha fighter: Fire Style, ocular techniques and the Mangekyō Sharingan. The publisher’s announcement explicitly invites players to unleash the power of both the Uchiha clan and Nanashi’s Mangekyō, positioning her advanced dōjutsu as the defining element of the playable version.

That gives CyberConnect2 considerable material to work with because Nanashi’s Special Story abilities go far beyond conventional Sharingan techniques. CONNECTIONS introduced several powers specifically around her Mangekyō, most importantly Yachihoko and Engraved Tsukuyomi. Those techniques were fundamental to the original story’s conflict and helped establish Nanashi as an Uchiha whose ocular abilities could operate on a massive scale.

Yachihoko is particularly important to understanding why Nanashi is not simply another Fireball Jutsu user occupying a slightly different character slot. In CONNECTIONS’ lore, the technique allows her to manipulate chakra through people affected by her Engraved Tsukuyomi branding, giving her Mangekyō a highly specialized identity rather than simply reproducing the abilities associated with Itachi, Sasuke, Obito or Madara.

The playable moveset naturally condenses that narrative-scale power into STORM’s fast arena-fighting format. What matters is that Nanashi now has enough distinctive source material for CyberConnect2 to build her around the specific Uchiha introduced in CONNECTIONS rather than merely assembling another generic Sharingan character.

Nanashi expands an already enormous collection of Uchiha fighters

The Ultimate Ninja STORM series has never been short of Uchihas. Depending on transformation and timeline, CONNECTIONS already includes multiple versions of Sasuke, Madara, Obito and Itachi alongside characters such as Shisui and Indra Otsutsuki, whose relationship to the clan’s lineage forms an important part of Naruto’s mythology. The game’s enormous roster has always treated different eras and power states as distinct combat possibilities rather than attempting to reduce every character to one definitive version.

Nanashi nevertheless occupies an unusual place inside that collection because she is not simply another version of an existing manga character. CyberConnect2 could design her abilities around CONNECTIONS itself, giving the studio freedom to create an Uchiha specifically for the mechanics and storytelling of the game.

That is particularly valuable in a roster already exceeding 130 fighters. Adding another Naruto, Sasuke or Boruto form can provide important abilities and fan-favorite transformations, but an entirely original combatant creates a different type of novelty. Nanashi has her own visual identity, her own relationship with Boruto and Mangekyō techniques that were constructed specifically around the Special Story’s plot.

Her release consequently strengthens the one area where CONNECTIONS can claim something no previous STORM game possesses: its own original branch of Naruto game history.

Making Nanashi free is considerably different from the original Season Pass model

The other major surprise is the price: there is none.

Nanashi is not DLC Pack 6, the beginning of a second paid Season Pass or an additional premium character purchase. Bandai Namco has released her through a free game update, meaning existing owners can access the new fighter after installing Version 1.70. The publisher specifically marketed the August 20 release as a free update rather than another extension of the original paid DLC schedule.

That contrasts with CONNECTIONS’ first post-launch character cycle. The original Season Pass contained five paid packs, beginning with Hagoromo and eventually concluding with Boruto Uzumaki (Karma Progression). Individual packs typically combined the playable character with extras such as costumes, matching voices, Ninja Info Card images or Combination Secret Techniques.

Nanashi therefore represents a different phase of support. She arrives well after the original Season Pass concluded and does so without another purchase requirement.

For players who left CONNECTIONS after completing its story or after the first DLC cycle ended, that makes Version 1.70 a much easier reason to reinstall. There is no need to decide whether one additional character justifies a separate transaction; anyone who already owns the game can simply test the new fighter.

Version 1.70 also changes the fundamentals of blocking

Nanashi understandably dominates the trailer, but the accompanying patch contains a notable universal combat adjustment: Guard Durability has been increased. The objective is to make guards somewhat harder to break when defending against Ninjutsu and similar offensive pressure.

CyberConnect2 has simultaneously increased the guard damage produced by Ninja Dash, Chakra Dash and Charged Chakra Dash so that their relative effectiveness at breaking defense remains closer to the previous balance. In other words, the studio is not simply strengthening blocking across every interaction. It is changing how different sources of pressure contribute to Guard Break while preserving dashes as meaningful tools for applying that pressure.

That distinction is important in STORM’s combat system. Chakra Dash is one of the fundamental ways players close distance, extend offense and challenge an opponent’s defensive decisions. If overall guard durability increased without compensating dash damage, defensive play could become substantially harder to crack. Raising both values lets CyberConnect2 make Ninjutsu-based guard pressure slightly less oppressive without stripping one of the game’s core approach mechanics of its purpose.

The effect will need to be judged through competitive play, but the intention is more nuanced than a simple universal defensive buff.

Puppet characters receive some of the update’s most targeted balance changes

Version 1.70 also focuses heavily on Kankuro, Chiyo and Sasori, three characters whose puppet-based playstyles create interactions quite different from conventional close-range fighters. The patch alters what several of them can do immediately after their Chakra Dash is blocked, preventing rapid access to Throws, Shuriken and similar follow-ups in situations where they previously retained unusually strong pressure.

Kankuro, Chiyo, Sasori and Kankuro (BORUTO) also receive increased Throw damage, while Kankuro (Part I) receives the Chakra Dash follow-up restriction without the same confirmed Throw-damage increase in the published notes.

Kabuto Yakushi (Sage Mode) is another targeted character. His support versions of Sage Art: Scattershot and Snake Encirclement receive increased recovery time, reducing how quickly those tools become available again when he is being used as a support character.

These are highly specific adjustments compared with the universal guard changes, suggesting CyberConnect2 is continuing the balance approach seen in Version 1.60 rather than attempting a wholesale combat-system redesign. That previous patch similarly adjusted individual Ninjutsu, throws, support recovery and character defense values while preserving the overall STORM framework.

Ninja World Face-Off is becoming part of the game’s recurring event structure

The update also expands CONNECTIONS beyond ordinary Ranked, Casual and Custom Matches by making Ninja World Face-Off and Proficiency Events recurring in-game activities.

That matters because CyberConnect2 had already been experimenting with limited and event-based multiplayer content after launch. Version 1.20 introduced Ninja Battle as a new in-game event framework, demonstrating that the studio wanted CONNECTIONS’ online environment to contain more than a static set of matchmaking queues.

Version 1.70 extends that philosophy instead of abandoning it after the Season Pass. Ninja World Face-Off will now appear periodically, and Wanted Poster Players are being incorporated into the mode. The latter creates additional named targets for participants to pursue during Face-Off rather than reducing the activity to another standard sequence of anonymous matches.

For a game released in 2023, recurring events arriving in August 2026 are arguably as significant as the new fighter. They show Bandai Namco and CyberConnect2 attempting to reactivate the existing player base rather than merely dropping one nostalgic character and moving on.

Special Challenges add another progression target outside standard matchmaking

Version 1.70 also introduces Special Challenges, allowing players to complete specific objectives in exchange for titles. The update simultaneously increases the maximum Proficiency Level to 130, adds new items and expands the available title collection.

Proficiency gives players a reason to spend time with individual characters beyond simply increasing Ranked standings. Raising the cap therefore matters particularly in a game with an enormous roster because dedicated players can continue developing characters they may already have used extensively since launch.

Special Challenges add another layer on top of that system by defining more focused objectives. Bandai Namco has not presented the feature as a completely new single-player campaign; it is better understood as additional structured progression within CONNECTIONS’ existing modes.

The combination fits Nanashi’s arrival well. A newly playable fighter naturally creates another character to level through Proficiency, while returning players also gain fresh objectives that are not dependent on buying her separately.

The update gives players another reason to revisit CONNECTIONS’ Special Story Mode

Nanashi’s release also makes the Special Story significantly more relevant for anyone who originally skipped it.

CONNECTIONS contains two very different narrative components. History Mode condenses selected highlights from Naruto and Sasuke’s long rivalry, using anime footage and reconstructed battles to move from Naruto’s childhood toward their final confrontation. Special Story Mode, by contrast, was created specifically for CONNECTIONS and follows Boruto through an entirely new crisis involving Ninja Heroes, Nanashi and Merz.

Anyone selecting Nanashi now without playing that campaign will therefore be using a character whose abilities, personality and importance are tied almost entirely to game-original material.

That makes her unusually different from most of the roster. Players already know why Naruto uses Rasengan, why Sasuke possesses Amaterasu or why Pain controls the Six Paths even if they have never touched CONNECTIONS’ story. Nanashi’s context lives primarily inside this game.

For returning players, replaying or completing the Special Story now provides the narrative explanation behind the moveset they can finally use in Free Battle and online competition.

Her addition is especially significant because CONNECTIONS seemed largely finished

The timing is arguably the most surprising part of the announcement. CONNECTIONS launched in November 2023, completed its original five-character Season Pass during 2024 and received Version 1.60 in February 2025. That patch contained balance changes, bug fixes and anti-cheat work, but for a long period afterward there was little indication that another major playable character was about to arrive.

Then, in August 2026, Bandai Namco unexpectedly announced Nanashi.

Community reaction has consequently focused heavily on the fact that players waited almost three years for the Special Story character to become selectable. Some fans argue she logically should have been playable at launch because of how central she was to CONNECTIONS’ unique campaign, while others simply welcome the fact that CyberConnect2 returned to the game at all.

The free release softens that delay considerably. Nanashi may have arrived later than many expected, but Bandai Namco is not asking existing players to purchase a character built around story content they already owned.

More importantly, she no longer appears to be a one-off farewell update.

Bandai Namco is already teasing more free content for winter and spring

The official Naruto Video Games account has confirmed that players should expect additional updates during winter 2026 and spring 2027. Bandai Namco has not yet revealed exactly what those updates contain, so assumptions about specific characters, a second Season Pass or particular story additions remain speculative.

What is confirmed is that Version 1.70 is not being presented as the final patch.

That changes how Nanashi’s release should be interpreted. If Bandai Namco had simply added her after years of requests and stopped there, the update could be viewed as a final piece of unfinished CONNECTIONS business. Announcing two further update windows instead suggests a renewed support roadmap extending well into the game’s fourth calendar year.

The obvious question is whether CyberConnect2 will continue drawing from the Special Story’s original cast or return to characters from the wider Naruto and Boruto franchise. Merz is an especially natural subject for speculation because he shares Nanashi’s campaign, but Bandai Namco has not officially confirmed him or any other future fighter.

For now, the more important development is that CONNECTIONS is active again.

Nanashi strengthens the one part of CONNECTIONS that belongs entirely to this game

NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS was always an unusual entry in the series. Much of its value came from consolidation: more than 130 characters, selected battles spanning Naruto and Sasuke’s history and the accumulated combat systems CyberConnect2 had refined across previous STORM titles.

The Special Story was the exception.

Nanashi, Merz and the Ninja Heroes storyline gave CONNECTIONS something that could not simply be traced back to an earlier game or famous anime episode. Bandai Namco specifically marketed the mode as an exclusive original story and used Nanashi extensively enough that even the game’s original preorder collaboration with Shinobi Striker included a Nanashi T-shirt.

Making Nanashi playable therefore strengthens the most distinctive part of the package. CONNECTIONS is no longer merely telling players about its original Uchiha and then sending them back to fight with the established manga roster. The character can finally participate in the same Free Battle, online and progression systems as Naruto, Sasuke, Madara, Itachi and the rest of the cast.

For an arena fighter whose primary attraction is assembling impossible Naruto matchups, that is where she arguably belonged from the beginning.

Uchiha Nanashi is finally free from the Special Story

The Uchiha Nanashi Trailer represents something CONNECTIONS players had been requesting since the game arrived: the ability to take its most important original character into normal battles.

The free August 20 update finally delivers it. Nanashi joins the roster with her costumes and Mangekyō Sharingan-based combat identity, while Version 1.70 simultaneously strengthens guard durability, rebalances several characters, expands recurring events, introduces Special Challenges, raises the Proficiency cap to 130 and adds further customization rewards.

Her addition also creates an unusually strong reason to revisit the Special Story. What looked in 2023 like a self-contained Boruto campaign now feeds directly back into CONNECTIONS’ primary fighting-game roster, allowing players to use one of its central characters outside the narrative for the first time.

Most importantly, Bandai Namco is not treating August 20 as the end. Further updates are already promised for winter and next spring, although their contents remain undisclosed.

For now, one long-standing omission has finally been corrected.

The girl Boruto first met as the mysterious navigator of Ninja Heroes is no longer confined to story cinematics.

Uchiha Nanashi is playable now, and her Mangekyō Sharingan has finally entered the main STORM battlefield.