*SPOILERS FOR BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS MANGA CHAPTER 78*
Naruto‘s sequel manga finally delivered a dark twist that Boruto foreshadowed since its opening, but not without providing another disappointing Sasuke moment where he should have shined. The Boruto manga continues to release chapters every month centered around the journey of Naruto’s son and his peers, who must battle against other ninjas, androids, and aliens to keep their loved ones and the world safe. While the series has transitioned into something different from what readers of Naruto Shippiduen expected, it continues to find new ways to ignore the abilities, and essential lessons characters of the series have learned, especially Sasuke.
Readers have called the events in the latest Boruto chapters an insult to Hinata, but that pales in comparison to how badly the series handles Sasuke. In Chapter 78, Kawaki confronts Boruto after locking Naruto and his wife away in a time-locked prison. He did this in pursuit of his goal to wipe out every trace of the Ōtsutsuki, including the one that lives inside Boruto. The scuffle involved Sarada, whom Boruto lost his right eye protecting. Sasuke and Shikamaru arrive afterward, and Kawaki escapes. Besides lacking the ability to arrive in time to save his daughter and Boruto’s eye, Sasuke’s experience dealing with hate also seem absent from the current story.
Sasuke’s Wisdom And Experience Is What Kawaki Needs To Hear
The final Uchiha’s past is filled with tragedy, fueling his heart with hate at a very young age. Throughout Naruto, Sasuke’s epic journey sees him achieve his goal of revenge before he sets out to murder whomever he needed to in order to establish what he believed to be peace. This journey not so subtlety mirrors Kawaki’s current mission of killing off all that remains of the extraterrestrial Ōtsutsuki clan. Besides ignoring the earthshaking power and mind-melting genjutsu once at Sasuke’s disposal, the story has missed the main theme of Naruto that Sasuke learned in the series climax, a lesson that Kawaki desperately needs to learn.
Boruto Ignores The Lessons Sasuke Learned At Naruto’s Climax
After helping save the world from Madara and Kaguya, Sasuke aimed to destroy the current social structure that led to the many Great Ninja Wars. To do this, he was prepared to murder every village leader and Jinchūriki hosting tailed beast charka to prevent such events from happening again. After one of anime’s best fights ever, Naruto finally got through to Sasuke that he wasn’t alone in his grief and that he didn’t need to tackle all of the world’s issues by himself. That realization had a significant impact on him and seemingly broke a long-standing trend of war-fueled hatred that lasted centuries.
The Boruto series has introduced many new abilities and scientific advances that overshadow the fascinating variety of ninja abilities the Naruto series introduced. The story made this grossly apparent during the climax of the Kawaki arc, which saw both Naruto and Sasuke lose some of their abilities. Understandably, a series must downplay characters of the past if it wishes to focus on growing newer characters. Still, it’s disappointing that the Boruto series isn’t only nerfing Sasuke’s abilities, but also the insight he gained from his and Naruto’s life-changing battle. An understanding that is precisely what Kawaki needs at this point in the series.