Naruto x Boruto Storm Connections v1.70: Nanashi Guard Guide

Version 1.70 Changes the Rhythm of Guard Pressure

For much of Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS, the central online question has been brutally simple: how quickly can a team turn one guarded approach into a Guard Break? Version 1.70, released on 20 August 2026, rewires that exchange. Guard Durability has increased, making guards more resilient against ninjutsu and similar attacks, while Ninja Dash, Chakra Dash, and Charge Chakra Dash now inflict more Guard damage to keep dash-driven break pressure relevant.

That is a smarter change than it first sounds. Constant projectile pressure should no longer chew through a guard as cheaply, but a player who lets an opponent repeatedly establish dash contact is still in danger. The result is a more deliberate neutral game: less passive blocking at mid-range, more careful spacing, and more reason to rotate a sidestep, substitution, support call, or evasive movement before the guard bar becomes a crisis.

Nanashi Uchiha arrives in the middle of that recalibration. She is free, fully playable after being confined to Special Story Mode, and comes with the kind of Uchiha/Mangekyō Sharingan presentation built to make an opponent regret a sloppy defensive choice. Her arrival is tied to the DLC Pack 5 era of support, but she is not a paid DLC Pack 5 character. Install the free 1.70 update and she joins the roster without a separate purchase.

Version 1.70 at a Glance

Feature	What Version 1.70 Adds or Changes	What It Means in Matches
Release date	20 August 2026	A free gameplay and progression update rather than a paid character pack.
Playable character	Nanashi Uchiha, including her costumes	A new Uchiha-style pressure and punish character to lab immediately.
Guard Durability	Increased	Guarding ninjutsu and similar attacks is less likely to cause a Guard Break.
Dash Guard damage	Ninja Dash, Chakra Dash, and Charge Chakra Dash Guard damage increased	Dash pressure remains a real Guard Break route when contact is earned.
Character-specific changes	Kabuto, Kankuro variants, Chiyo, and Sasori receive adjustments	Several old support and post-dash habits need retesting.
Progression	Proficiency cap raised to 130	More room for online progression alongside new events and challenges.
Online content	Wanted Players, Special Challenges, regular events, items, and titles	New reasons to take a refined team into Ninja Battle.
Platforms listed for the update	PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch	Console players receive the patch through the standard game update process.

Nanashi Uchiha Is the First Character to Put Under the Microscope

Nanashi has always carried more narrative weight than the usual roster addition. In the game’s Special Story Mode, she is the Uchiha-linked figure buried in the clan’s darkness and tied to the conflict engulfing the ninja world. Until now, that identity lived outside the usual Versus and online character-selection routine. Version 1.70 finally makes her a practical team-building option.

Her trailer material leans into forward-moving strings, multi-hit offense, Mangekyō Sharingan techniques, and large cinematic jutsu. The exact frame data, Guard damage values, and safe routes have not been published, so declaring her top tier on day one would be the usual fighting-game nonsense. What is clear is that her kit deserves testing in the spaces that matter after 1.70: the outer edge of dash range, the corner, and the moment an opponent has already absorbed a few guarded hits.

The sensible Nanashi game plan starts with restraint. Do not treat every flashy jutsu as a pressure tool. Her big visual attacks look much more valuable as whiff-punish and committed-movement punish tools, especially after forcing an opponent to respect her advancing strings. Against a player holding guard from full screen, the new durability rules reduce the value of mindlessly feeding chakra attacks into block. Close the distance cleanly first; then make the guard work.

The Best First Labs at Proficiency 130

The Proficiency cap rising to 130 expands progression, but it does not come with a published combat-stat upgrade or a secret “level 130 meta” multiplier. Treat it as the point where committed Ninja Battle players should be refining teams through the new events, Wanted Players, and Special Challenges — not as proof that a high number alone makes a build stronger.

Character or Team Type	Why It Needs Testing in 1.70	First Thing to Lab
Nanashi Uchiha	She is the free new character and arrives alongside the guard and dash revisions.	Blockstrings, corner pressure, Chakra Dash approach, and jutsu punishes after evasive movement.
Sasuke Uchiha forms	Established Uchiha pressure makes them ideal control characters for comparing pre- and post-patch guard behavior.	Familiar dash routes into guarded strings; identify where spacing is now unsafe.
Itachi Uchiha	His threatening jutsu sequences are useful for checking how durable guards feel against high-impact offense.	Blockstring-to-jutsu pressure versus a defender who guards briefly, then sidesteps.
Madara Uchiha	Strong pressure and high-threat techniques make him a natural benchmark for guard-cracking team shells.	Whether prior pressure sequences still produce reliable break situations without overcommitting.
Boruto Uzumaki + Nanashi	The pair has obvious story relevance, while Nanashi supplies a fresh offensive variable for team experimentation.	Support timing that covers Nanashi after a blocked approach or interrupted string.
Fast dash-focused characters	Dash Guard damage changed system-wide, so old approach habits may no longer be optimal.	Dash distance, recovery after block, and escape routes after the defender uses a substitution or support.
Zoning and defensive teams	Higher Guard Durability could give them more time to weather ninjutsu pressure before repositioning.	How reliably they can create space against Nanashi and other close-range Uchiha teams.

Guarding Is Stronger, but Holding Guard Is Still a Bad Habit

The important distinction in 1.70 is between durable defense and passive defense. Guard Durability is higher, which helps when absorbing ninjutsu and comparable attacks. Yet the patch also increases the Guard damage caused by Ninja Dash, Chakra Dash, and Charge Chakra Dash. A player who remains stationary and allows repeated dash contact can still have their defensive resources stripped away.

That makes short guard holds more valuable than extended panic blocking. Block the actual contact, then create a new decision point. Step away. Sidestep a predictable follow-up. Use a support to interrupt the attacker’s rhythm. Spend a substitution when the alternative is being pinned in the corner behind a depleted guard. The strongest defenders in Storm have always made the attacker prove every layer of pressure; 1.70 gives that philosophy more mechanical backing.

Spacing needs the same reset. The old temptation is to dash from a familiar mid-range distance because it worked often enough before the patch. That distance must be rechecked. Since dash behavior has been adjusted without published startup, recovery, and block-advantage data, the clean practical answer is training-mode repetition: set an opponent to guard, test the exact approach range for each main character, and record what happens after a blocked dash rather than assuming legacy muscle memory remains safe.

A Practical 1.70 Match Plan

• At long range: stop trying to win exclusively by making opponents block ninjutsu. Higher Guard Durability blunts that plan. Use projectiles and jutsu to force movement, then take the space they give up.
• At mid-range: measure dash distance again. This is where the patch matters most, because dash Guard damage has been raised specifically to preserve Guard Break effectiveness.
• At close range: vary between one short string, a pause, a throw threat, and a retreat. Repeating the same blockstring is an invitation for a sidestep, support escape, or substitution response.
• When defending: guard the hit that matters, then break the sequence before the next dash layer. A guard bar is a resource, not a bunker wall.
• With Nanashi: use her forward momentum to establish threat, but keep high-commitment jutsu for confirmed punishes and obvious movement rather than throwing them into a ready guard.

Character Adjustments Matter More Than Their Short Patch-Note Lines Suggest

The system changes will get most of the attention, but 1.70 also quietly reins in a few extremely familiar options. Kabuto Yakushi (Sage Mode) has reduced support recovery speed on both Ninjutsu 2, Snake Confinement, and Ninjutsu 1, Sage Art: Scattering Rage Jutsu. That means less automatic comfort from cycling those assists in extended pressure or defensive reset situations.

Kankuro (Part 1), Chiyo, Sasori, Kankuro, and Kankuro (BORUTO) can no longer immediately follow a guarded Chakra Dash with Throw or Shuriken. Chiyo, Sasori, Kankuro, and Kankuro (BORUTO) also receive increased Throw damage. The adjustment is a clean anti-autopilot measure: a blocked Chakra Dash should no longer flow straight into the same easy post-block check for those puppet-focused characters. Their throw reward is better, but earning the opening takes a more considered sequence.

This is exactly why patch-day team selection deserves more than copying Nanashi into the first empty slot. A support character that covered a familiar dash route may now be slower to return. A puppet character may need a different stagger after the defender blocks. A team that relied on raw ninjutsu chip needs a stronger movement plan. Version 1.70 is asking players to make choices rather than recycle one pressure script until the guard finally pops.

Installing the Patch and Finding Nanashi

On PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, version 1.70 arrives through the normal title-update process. An internet connection is required to download it. There is no separate store item, redemption code, or “DLC Pack 5 – Nanashi Uchiha” download required for the character. Once the patch is installed, Nanashi and the balance changes are part of the game.

That distinction matters because the DLC Pack 5 label can make the rollout sound like paid content. It is contextual branding around the game’s ongoing post-launch support. Nanashi herself, her availability as a playable fighter, the Guard Durability update, the dash tuning, and the Proficiency 130 cap belong to the free 1.70 patch.