Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-3279282-20141007134927/@comment-945885-20141011061545

I don't know why anyone would assume it isn't canon, given what we know about it and Kishimoto's level of involvement (original concept, character design, total editorial supervision). Not to mention all the taglines like "the story beyond the original!", "the last episode!", "the Naruto that only Kishimoto has envisioned until now!", etc. Adamantly classifying it as non-canon at this point frankly strikes me as being intentionally obtuse. In this specific situation, I think it would be more prudent to assume it's canon unless stated otherwise.