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「ポルトに見える道」 (Boruto ni Mieru Michi)
“The Path That Boruto Can See”
It seems the Nue manifested the interdimensional portal, meaning I no longer know what to make of the electrical reaction from Boruto’s eye last week. It would have been my personal choice for most epic moment in the series so far, which leaves me in a rather troublesome spot. Anyway, while I look forwards to seeing how the series deals with this question, let us put it behind for now and focus on the Ghost Syndrome Arc’s satisfying resolution.
Inter-Dimensional Battles
The fight scenes were brilliant, and we got to see some really fabulous Taijutsu choreography, especially with Boruto’s clones. As I said before, Boruto’s limit of three shadow clones probably forces him to be a lot more creative with his application of the technique, contrasting the brute force approach we were used to seeing from Naruto. You could also tell emotions were running high, since Boruto had very intense expressions throughout the episode.
Mitsuki’s Lightning Snake and Sumire’s Water Pistol were also pretty badass, as was their escalation into a taijutsu skirmish. Moves were put the test, between the trading of blows, and impressed is a complete understatement regarding my feelings about the combat animation sequences this episode. But Boruto’s intervention marked a turning point, and after he took a kunai to the shoulder, I clenched my butt cheeks in anticipation. Anyone could tell the moment had finally arrived…
Talk no Jutsu: Sumire Edition
When Mitsuki said that Boruto’s power could not be explained by ninjutsu or science, that pretty much sums up Talk no Jutsu in a nutshell. Why was it so effective this time? Allow me to explain.
Looking into Sumire’s past, we can see she has mostly been indoctrinated, rather than being innately evil herself. Her anger largely stems from the fact her parents were treated like criminals due their ties with Root, despite the contributions they made during the war. After her mother died from the stress and anxiety of living as outcasts, her father dies sealing the Gozu Tennou into her body. Given our context, revenge is a natural desire. Sumire lost everything, and not enacting vengeance would make parent’s deaths somewhat meaningless.
And this is where the effectiveness of Boruto’s Talk no Jutsu stems from, where he parallels her burden with that of the one she is about to place on the Nue. Another reason why it worked out, was because Sumire genuinely enjoying her time at the academy with with the friends that she made. So in addition to the reality of her burdens, her connections with others was ultimately what enabled the Talk no Jutsu to work, consequently destroying the Gozu Tennou. All in all, I would highly rate this incidence of Talk no Jutsu, since you could clearly see that it had been carefully constructed, hence deriving quite a logical outcome.
Concluding Thoughts
Though we had to say our farewells to the amazing pet that was Nue, all’s well that ends well. But the reason why I have not called the arc conclusion is because next episode’s preview indicates there’s more to come – Sumire may have to transfer away from Konoha. For someone who almost committed an unspeakable act of terrorism, I’d say that that she got off pretty lightly. This response is about as reasonable as it gets. In the event she does leave, which would help explain her lack of appearance in the Boruto movie, her most likely destination would probably be Kirigakure. First in part due to her water release, and the fact that the Water Pistol Jutsu is a hidden jutsu of the village’s Hozuki clan, where Suigetsu and Mangestu hail from.
Even if it would make me a bit sad, I’m already pretty happy with what we got since the Talk no Jutsu basically saved Sumire’s life. Not to mention, I doubt Boruto could make his it work where the matter is now taken upon adult hands. Nonetheless, I’m still holding out for Sumire to stay, and though it’s too early to say for sure, I’m currently on board the S.S. BoruSumi!
ED2 Sequence
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ED2: 「サヨナラムーンタウン」 (Sayonara Moon Town) by Scenarioart
Preview
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Boruto facing off against the Nue was actually legitimately badass. Sure, in that place it was more or less like an incomplete Tailed Beast in terms of power, but he still showed that he was definitely more than the average Academy Student, and in a way that didn’t feel like bullshit. It really highlighted how he’s unlike Naruto who charges in headfirst with a clone zerg rush, and I feel like he operates instead in much the same way Minato and Pre-Sharingan Kakashi did while they were at least Genin.
In other words, we finally have a protagonist who actually fights like a ninja.
That said… the place they warped to. The tree stump. The WOOD. It’s totally another Otsutsuki dimension, and I’m thinking the Nue was just a local animal, and Danzo simply stumbled on a method to summon it. It’ll also explain why Boruto can see traces of it and such, considering his own power is fairly close to Otsutsuki.
That said, I was both surprised and delighted when it turns out that the Proto-Tenseigan can still see chakra lines, and good thing Boruto is half (actually feels like more than half) Hyuuga, since he didn’t have to wonder what he was seeing. I’m hoping it ends up having the same utility as a regular Byakugan. I wanna see Boruto using 8 Triagrams 64 Palms with Purple Lightning at the same time dammit.
I like how Boruto completely took advantage of the moment when the Nue popped up xD
Was a little disappointed he didn’t try to fight off Konoha ninja assuming they’d grab Sumire–sure he’d get his ass kicked against even one of them but it still would’ve been cool. But then Sai just HAD to immediately defuse the situation by playing the “I was the exact same kind of victim too” card.
Really hope Sumire doesn’t end up leaving. She was such a lovable character. At the same time, though, I could see them doing it, because she’s draining a lot of attention away from Sarada (ship jumping notwithstanding), whose own arc should be coming up at some point.
I also loved the ED. I did not expect they’d change it so soon, but I really felt moved with it. And I like how they did it in a style similar to how they did the ED of Boruto the Movie and The Last. I also couldn’t help but feel it was so vastly different from Naruto once again, where in his ED, it highlighted how he was a loser who (thought he) was always alone, while Boruto was surrounded by friends instead.
It’s reminiscent of a time when characters in Naruto didn’t rely almost exclusively on god-level tricks. So n ostalgic. Which is natural, given that these kids don’t know even how to walk on water yet.
In any case, the Nue vs. Boruto fight had excellent animation. Obviously, they wanted to showcase their grand finale for the Ghost arc.
Hey John Peacekeeper! Let me add to the theory about the tree stump being linked to the Otsutsuki, since I didn’t have any space to put it in my original post. Doesn’t that look like the remains of a God Tree that the Otsutsuki use to harvest chakra fruit?
And yeah Mistic. Sarada really needs her own arc to keep S.S. Sumire at bay.
That was a good climax for the arc. And so many talking points!
-I expected the Talk No Jutsu, but not befriending the Nue. In hindisght, I should have expected that too. It’s also a classic Naruto trope. You’re right, Zaiden; the two-pronged attack was the key of TNJ’s success here. She had to care for both her school friends and the Nue for it to work.
-I didn’t like Mitsuki at first, but now he’s among my favourite characters. Throughout all the adventure, he has gone from creepy newcomer you shouldn’t trust to Boruto’s foil, partner in crime and true believer. A completely different dynamic from the Naruto-Sasuke relationship.
-Remember how people were wary of the anime-only characters, believing them to be just filler? Now Sumire has become one of the most interesting, well-developed and famous members of the new generation. A pity we all know Boruto and Mitsuki are going to team up with Sarada, because with Sumire they already have a perfect power trio.
All in all, it’s clever how the plot progressed from slow, almost slice-of-life ninja peace with a “monster of the week” interruption from time to time to sinister conspiracy that threatens to destroy all Konoha. As I’ve always said, Boruto is not groundbreaking in the slightest, and sometimes there have been plot holes and misses, but the writers have been trying to be solid and coherent. With all the background from the original Naruto, plus the Boruto movie, the manga adaptation, manga shorts and the novels, that’s a huge accomplishment.
– what’s funny is that everyone talked about he Nue as if it was some horrible monster due to how it was from a different world and it could suck chakra. But ends up, Nue just wants to cuddle XD
– indeed so. It would have been easy to just make a Sasuke copy, but Kishi went and made a completely different character to serve as MC’s Brother-In-Arms
– with Sai being all “WE are alike!”, maybe she ends up like him and joins Team Konohamaru as a substitute after someone leaves the Team. But seeing as Boruto is the missing nin in the Kawaki flashforward, Team Konohamaru would then become Team Boruto’s Courtesans ;P
-Naruto of all people should know not to jump to conclusions about a beast. Not that I can blame him after hearing “oh, by the way, that Nue can blow itself up and destroy all the city”.
-The lack of rivalry helps. Boruto doesn’t need to be Mitsuki’s rival to feel acknowledged, and I guess Mitsuki hasn’t had enough socialization to understand what a rivalry entails.
-I wonder if Sumire may join some kind of anime-only team, perhaps with Denki and Iwabe. Although there are also Namida (Explosion Girl) and Wasabi (Cat Girl).
I imagine that, if Sumire stays in the village, she will be joining Iwabe’s and Denki’s team. That way all three main AO characters can be together.
Doubt that she would be teamed with those two girls as teams are generally always two males and a female. All-female and all-male teams seem unlikely to me.
For those still wondering, it was confirmed that the arc from Gaiden will start airing in August.
We have more precise info now: judging by ep summaries, the arc will start in ep19
Haven’t all these Kids just started at the Academy?? They’re stronger than most chunin. I can buy that Boruto probably was trained by Naruto so he’d be stronger than Naruto was at that age, but kids shouldn’t have much chakra yet & mastering jutsu is meant to take years no matter how talented you are.
Sumire was raised from youth to be a weapon, so she is above most of her age.
Mitsuki is similar, but also seems to have been artificially created and lacks empathy which makes it easier for him to fight.
But the other kids are generally only good with their family techniques, while they are not as good with general ones. This again makes sense: due to times of peace, their parents are often home and have more time and energy to spend training their children.
Boruto himself is not that strong though: he was taught Shadow Clones by his dad (his family technique), but that’s all he uses. What makes him special is his intelligence, as it allows him to make the best of what he knows.
Let’s not forget Itachi made Jonin before even becoming a teenager, but I try to ignore the Sueness of that.
That said, Boruto is specified to be a genius, not unlike Minato, Kakashi, Neji, and Itachi. By Boruto the Movie he’s already learned three elements legitimately, and his learning rate is insane if he applies himself.
But they needed something to balance him out considering he doesn’t have an endgame power inside of him (a dojutsu is still mainly used for sensing so it doesnt count), even if he’s the closest to the Otsutsuki genetically.
Only in Boruto’s era can weapons of mass destruction on par with Tailed Beasts be used effectively by a mere Academy student! Boruto’s era is our era where anyone can be strong if they have equalizers.
https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%2014%20-%20Large%2029.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%2014%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
Nue is very, very far from being on par with a Tailed Beast though. Nobody is even worried about the Nue itself, they are just worried that it will explode in the city. A Tailed Beast can do more damage than the Nue several times, without dying, and without needing their Chakra replenished.
But chakra techniques were essentially pointless. That’s kinda OP.
Kakashi used Ninjutsu to cut its tail, the barrier stopped it, and Mitsuki almost killed it with lightning, so it isn’t immune to Ninjutsu. The bigger issue is that it could suck the chakra and they knew it’s user would order it to detonate if it sucked up enough of it. If it’s summoner is not suicidal or it is away from urban areas, a few stronger Chunins could have probably taken care of it (well, depending on the strength of its summoner probably… a Jounin plus Nue would probably be an Akatsuki level combo).
Extending off the analogy made below, America’s nukes can’t do rubbish against terrorist attacks. These terrorist attacks seem pretty OP too!
K, I disagree with your points for the following reasons. As Lord Nayrael correctly points out, the concern about the Nue is because of the terrorist threat potential. To use an analogy, we wouldn’t say that Al Qaeda were ever on the level of the US Military. In a direct confrontation, the US military would wipe the floor with Al Qaeda, but Al Qaeda still successfully carried out the devastating 9/11 attack. Would you describe the hijacked planes flown into the twin tower as an equalizer of power? In my opinion, not at all. Al Qaeda still aren’t on equal footing with the US military, if you see where I’m getting at.
I’d say that K is right about the Nue being a great power equalizer in the Naruto world. No matter how impressive their military potential may be, at the end of the day all ninja villages are city-states. A self-sufficient weapon that can level a whole city and can be used by any fresh recruit would have catastrophical effects in any ninja war. It was basically what Pain did to Konoha in the original series, but no OP eye needed.
Danzo must have known that with such a weapon even the weakest village could turn the tables on a stronger ninja power. Imagine it: if Konoha was losing against another village, they could just blow it up and then send the conventional forces to finish the job. Or if Konoha was the attacker, the pre-emptive strike would be devastating. Also, perfect for false flag operations (“Konoha denies any responsibility in the recent events that happened in the smoking crater previously known as Sunagakure”).
Good good, Boruto are about to earn his own Wings
“The Ghost Syndrome Arc reaches its climax, as it draws closer to its conclusion.”
Not trying to be rude but this is the most generic statement ever dude…
That’s some fair criticism. I remember being pretty dissatisfied myself at first, but eventually rolling with it because of laziness. But didn’t want to go for some cheap Talk no Jutsu meme, seeing how that’s been the story of my excerpts for the past one or two weeks.
I’ll see what can be done.