Interesting. I actually didn't think about that.

However, this does spark another question. If I recall correctly, the game did have a copyright issue in which they had to plan on reskinning PB! Sasuke, Sailor Sakura, and a few other characters I can't remember off the top of my head right now.

This makes me believe that the issue is with the Naruto movies and spinoffs rather than the canon. Is this actually the case?

Second question. Some of the ninjas that OP and myself referred to, such as the pre-Shippuden Sasuke during his fight with Gaara (the Chidori one) and Team Dosu of course, already appear in the game as enemies. Do the devs still need permission to make them playable if they're already in the game like this? In my rational mind this doesn't make sense; why would you be freely allowed to put in a character in as a non player character or enemy, but need the copyright holders' permission to add them as a playable character? I feel like the devs would already have permission to use at least some of the characters that they have already used in the game without asking for permission.

Is this true? Am I completely mistaken? Am I just misunderstanding the game industry? Is this sensitive material? I don't know... I don't know...

There are many things I don't know... (I'm vaguely paraphrasing a Dosu quote btw :3)