Of the four chapter reviews I’m working on; I’d be willing to bet this one might be coming last. I was about to say “First,” but I just thought about how I do these and– yeah; the full one will probably be the last. I don’t know what I’ll put out first- I can only hope it’s one of the weeklies. I pray it is because the art in both of them is top notch this week; one of which consistently and the other impressively due to the mangaka’s recent problems. Though that could also be said of the other guy, looking at it. Topics for other posts. No, no; we’re here to talk about the Underdog series- “Boruto.” I am genuinely surprised with how much I am enjoying this series; if you had asked me if I was reading the “Boruto” manga back when it came out, I’d likely tell you “No,” and then go into why it’s a pointless continuation to a completed product. I wanna go back and kick myself in teeth when I think about that– for saying that, amongst other things. I……….. I like this manga. I like…………………… some of these characters. This world building and how it recontextualizes the ending of the original series; watching the Ashura/Indra flashback on Adult Swim’s Toonami, I actually learned that “Omnipotence” as an ability has always existed. At least when it came to the Ohtsusuki; Kaguya used to manipulate people’s memories all the time!! You might even be able to argue that Black Zetsu is something like a “Living Karma Mark-” Kaguya’s “Will” given form and her “data” being stored within him until he found the right “vessel” in which to revive her. He can absorb chakra and everything!!

I even like the idea of there being Androids in this world; with all these scientific achievements all we’re missing is a Rogue AI and this’ll be a regular Terminator. Hopefully more in line with the first 2, but…………… probably not. I don’t think there’s just time in this story for a Rogue AI to show up. Maybe in a light novel or something. But yeah; this is a really good manga. Just wish it was handled better. Though it’s been pretty good despite all those problems! Um………….. gah, dag it. Let’s begin! Boruto- Two Blue Vortex Chapter 6: “Three Years.” Still can’t think about lead ins to the topic………….

Overview

Shikamaru is meeting with the Elder’s of Konoha, discussing Boruto’s recent return to the village. Despite the help he gave them in dealing with that nobody Code, the Feudal Lords of the land are getting upset with the village- they’ve allowed the boy who killed the beloved Seventh Hokage escape again. It doesn’t inspire faith in the Leaf from the “Higher Ups.” So Shikamaru decides to leave and tend to the problem. But they stop him, and remind him that the “Time Limit” he proposed is up– They want to officially make him the Eighth Hokage already. But he still refuses the position- for several reasons we’re already aware of. Hokage Office: Ino brings him the Mission Logs he asked for, perplexed by what he hopes to find looking through those old files. He tells her to leave, but she gets the message- and establishes a mental link. But before Shikamaru can talk about this with her, he needs her word that this’ll be “off the records-” no one will ever know this conversation ever happened. Ino reluctantly complies……………

Eida’s House: Eida and Daemon inform Kawaki of the recent “development” with the Ten Tails, starting with the fact that Code is no longer in control of the situation and ending with Jura’s Target. She tries to talk further, but he immediately refuses to let the Divine Tree’s get anywhere near Naruto. Just completely ignores that Eida just told her her lifes in danger. So protective little bro Daemon pulls the conversation back to reality by reminding Kawaki that Boruto and Sasuke already know about Naruto’s true fate. “Now no one believes them ’cause they’re seen as Criminals” he continues, “if those Divine Tree things coming looking for the Hokage- people are going to ask questions.” Though he ALSO reminds him that he does not care what happens to Kawaki- unlike his sister. So Kawaki takes his leave, telling Eida to “peer in” if she’s that curious about where he’s going. 

He exits to find Mitsuki waiting for him out the door, reminding him that Shikamaru tasked him with protecting Kawaki and Eida. Though Kawaki calls it an “excuse.” That tree from last chapter: Awkward moment; Boruto- “Hokage Slayer” is suppressing his chakra to avoid detection. But he and Kawaki have that “resonance” bit going, so even THEN he’s quite limited. But more importantly: Sarada can’t believe she just did that. It was so sudden she doesn’t actually know where to go at this point. Sumire feels similarly, but staying quiet like this won’t get them anywhere. So she starts the conversation by saying it’s good to see Boruto is healthy. Boruto feels the same way, though he didn’t expect Sarada’s “Surprise.” She says that was due to being worried about him, but……………. ah, well; it’s sort of both. Boruto once again expresses the same feeling, but reminds them he doesn’t have all the time in the world at the moment, and cuts to the chase: “Sasuke Sensei Was Absorbed By The Ten Tails.” 

True enough, that would be the moment that Kawaki catches his signature. It’s on. Boruto continues by explaining that Sasuke got taken out protecting him. Sumire asks why people are being eaten by Ten Tails like this. Boruto explains that the purpose of Ten Tails is “Devouring Chakra-” Ohtsusuki or not. And when they find one, they become a Divine Tree……….. or so the script goes. But then Code went and “modified” it with him d@mned Blank Karma; despite lacking Ohtsusuki abilties like Chakra absorption, that mark is still spawned of Isshiki- there’s still some Ohtsusuki essence in there, and it’s affecting his chakra- which is effecting the Ten Tails. At least; that’s the theory Boruto proposes. Hokage Office: Mitsuki gets in contact with Shikamaru- after having knocked out Kawaki. He asks for Shikamaru to get Boruto’s specific location from Eida so he can go over and murk em. He complies, and Mitsuki is off. 

Boruto’s Group: Shikmaru has Ino open a direct channel to Boruto for an Off The Records Conversation. Boruto is skeptical with trusting “Mr Eighth Hokage,” but Shikamaru doesn’t have time for the whole “trust building” bit- Mitsuki arrives in Sage mode, and is out for BLOOD. He launches an assault from underground, but Boruto starts flying(yet another thing he’s coming into the second half of his story with), and vows to Sarada to save Sasuke- along with everyone who’s become a tree. And someone ELSE(most likely Naruto), but he realizes he can’t say all of this here and now. He flies off- not realizing that Mitsuki managed to plant a tracking snake on him. As he flies off, he tells Shikamaru off for the “interruption” he allowed to happen. But Shikamaru explains that the Leaf- as well as the Entire Land Of Fire is out to get him right now; he can’t stop Mitsuki without causing a problem. He continues to say that he wants to support Boruto- using his status as “Acting Hokage” to aid him in secret- and wants Boruto’s help in dealing with the issue Code created. 

Because He Knows That He’s “Boruto Uzumaki.“

Though he doesn’t fully accept that reality himself, at the moment. Nor does the phone Ino Yamanaka. But Amado bringing up the “inconsistencies” in Kawaki- Shikamaru took a long look, and finally saw how their positions would look in reverse. But Boruto doesn’t have the time to confirm this to Shikamaru– he’s got a Snake Problem that needs his full attention. Boruto- Two Blue Vortex Chapter 6 END!! Flying Raijin- Uzuhiko- Flight– man; Boruto sure has some powerful jutsu coming into Part 2 of HIS story. I wonder why Jiriya never tried teaching Naruto advanced techniques like this…………….

REVIEW 

SO. Picking up this post again Monday, January 29, 2024, at 5:03 pm. Been about a week since I touched this post at all. Just finished the recent Dragon Ball Super review at the time of my writing this, yeah? These posts are just “Back-To-Back” for me, guys; some times I gotta stop 1 just to do another. Thankfully, though; I’ve started making notes of what I want to talk about- so that I don’t forget all the points that I want to make. Though even using those as a reference, I still end up going on little tangents every now and then. And one of those things I wrote down regards Shikamaru and his feelings towards the position of Hokage. It goes beyond the job just being a “drag” at this point; there’s a lot more reason there beyond him just being a “laid back” type of guy. He’s the Acting head of the Leaf Village- because there’s no other choice. I mean, they COULD do what they did with Hiruzen and have Kakashi step back into the role until they find a replacement, but in the same breath I’ll say that Shikamaru is the most Logical choice. 1)See how Hiruzen’s story ended, and the tragic similarities between his and Kakashi’s stories. What with their “Prodigal Students” both being Traitors that have tried to destroy the Leaf, and Sasuke now becoming that criminal again for Sarada and Boruto’s sakes. 

And 2)He’s right f*ckin’ there, vs Tsunade and Kakashi who…………… are just plain absent from the manga for WHATEVER F*CKIN’ REASON. You know he’ll at least do the job right, if nothing else. Not to mention- being the previous Hokage’s Advisor– is already up-to-date on everything going on in the Village. Not a bad choice. But he:

1. Doesn’t want this responsibility, but respects what Naruto did too much to refuse to protect the Village his friend once saved. 
2. Doesn’t just want it “handed” to him; if he’s to take the position, then he’ll get it the Right way. 
3. He might believe that Naruto is still alive, and is trying to prove it. 

Amado and Shikamaru are extremely “Logical” characters- Amado more so than Shikamaru. But he’s not blind; he sees that some things with Kawaki don’t add up- between Isshiki’s Karma, the modifications, and more than that his behavior don’t align with his own memories. So until he’s hold Naruto’s body in his hands, I don’t think he’s ready to give up on his friend just yet. And come the end of the chapter, we now know that’s he’s ready to listen to Boruto’s story after all this time. But then, he’s not the type to let himself get locked into one line of thinking; he wouldn’t be getting in contact with Boruto if he did. He’ll look for all the little “inconsistencies” in what Boruto says, and keep those cards close to his chest in case of emergency. “Logical” but “Trusting-” “Laid Back” but “Serious-” “Brilliant” but “Lazy-“ THAT’S Shikamaru Nara. 

Speaking of “Kawaki’s Behavior:” Eida’s starting to rethink who her “Shining Prince” should be. Kawaki’s behavior is so obsessive and violent it’s a wonder she’s kept trying with him these past 3 years. Everything about his is focused on either “Protect Lord Seventh” or “Kill Ohtsusuki;” he didn’t even bother to continue to listen when she told him her life was in danger. “Ironic?” “The One Person She Wants To Care About Her Won’t Even Bother To Hear Her Out, In A World Where People Are Willing To Throw Away Their Lives For Her At  The Drop Of A Hat?” Something Poetic Like that? However you wanna think about it; the point is that her “Prince Charming” is to enthralled in his own hang ups to participate in her “Love Story.” But she wants to make this work– it’s her only chance at a proper “Love life;” Boruto’s 4 years younger than her, and she couldn’t get a Proper Ohtsusuki even if she wanted to. Which she DOESN’T. But……….. is dealing with Kawaki REALLY the “Right” choice. He’s certainly the ONLY choice, but……….. would you want someone who’s either too obsessed with Genocide against his enemies at worst and Puts His Loved One’s In Stasis in An Alternate Dimension ’til he’s done committing GENOCIDE? I don’t think this is a good idea, girl. 

Though I’ll say again that Kawaki’s Obsessive Nature comes from Love at the end of the day; it’s not that he doesn’t care about Naruto and Boruto- it’s that this is the only solution he has at the moment. I had another idea in my head that Kawaki’s quest is more about “Revenge” then he wants to admit, considering what Isshiki put him through. And in that way, he continues to be Sasuke’s “parallel-“ a man so consumed with Revenge that he makes the choice to kill his closest friend. And a girl who’s more or less combatively Useless– but makes herself Useful in other ways(PAUSE)- who’s “in love” with him, but doesn’t fully understand what “love” is to say that. But while Sakura did learn what it meant to love Sasuke- through their time in Team 7 and trying to bring him back to “the light-” I don’t think Eida’s going to get her wish. And that might be Okay, because even though she’ll never experience the “Romantic” type of love she’s after- she IS genuinely loved by Daemon, Boruto, Sarada, and Sumire. Or, well- by Daemon; she’s a “Valued Friend” for the other 3. And a “tool” for Kawaki. It’s not that they “love” her or anything; it’s the fact that their feelings for her are genuine. And maybe that’s all she needs, but because she’s so young, she’s conflating “love” and “romance” as the same thing. She’s 19 by now, so……….. she’ll be figuring everything out soon, I guess…………….

I also wrote in my notes that Daemon is a lot more perceptive than he seems, beyond just his combat abilities; he’s seeing that Eida’s “heart” is breaking, and seeing that Kawaki does not give a flying f*ck about her. That’s his sister– the only family he’s got. He certainly feels like he can deal with whatever Bug’s Tree can throw at him, so he probably isn’t worried about that at all. No, no; I think he’s about ready to kick Kawaki’s @$$. Because his blatant disregard for her safety is Probably getting on his nerves. He’s NOT going to let his sister end up with someone who doesn’t care about her- especially when they aren’t strong enough to protect her. Which, compared to him- NO ONE is. So if it comes down to it, he might have to fight Kawaki- either to “knock some sense into him,” or because he ultimate breaks Eida’s heart. Or, you know, if she’s deemed a threat to Naruto, Kawaki might just take it upon himself to kill her. He’ll have to get passed Daemon, so……………. He’ll have to think very carefully before he tries it. 

Then there’s Boruto’s speculation about the Divine Trees. Code’s Karma mark is……………. Unique. I feel like Isshiki would have made a bigger deal of Code with it were something “new,” so every now and then, I imagine that a few Ohtsusuki have encountered a White Karma mark before. PROBLEM: Isshiki couldn’t kill Boruto because he needed to feed him to Ten Tails to make the Chakra Fruit. Same reason Momo won’t try to kill Kawaki. Neither of them ever considered using Code as a sacrifice- even though Isshiki probably could have said “Die For Me” and Code would have stabbed himself with his own claws without much thought. Not that Code not thinking is anything surprising. But this means that they probably didn’t know how Code’s blank Karma would effect the development of the tree. If Boruto’s theory is correct- this. Whether an Ohtsusuki has done this in the past or not is a whole other matter for another time. But if Boruto is correct and Code’s karma is what created these Sentient Trees, then…………….. What happened? 

My Best Guess: Code’s Karma- is still a Karma mark at the end of the day; he still gets the benefits of “Combat Data,” but nothing else. But the fact that he gets anything means that there’s still some of the Ohtsusuki “Essence” in there; it might be somewhat accurate to say that he has “Blank DNA” now- a “Brand New” Ohtsusuki/ A “New Born.” Code is an “Original” Ohtsusuki or however you want to think about; something uniquely “Him(Ironic since he has no unique goals unto himself).” Perhaps……….. Code’s Ohtsusukified chakra was absorbed by the Ten Tails when he started making the Claw Grimes. And that was enough for it to mutate, but…………. only so much. Maybe……………. rather than becoming the Divine Tree, it was just going to mutate into a Giant Variant of the Claw Grimes; something like that state the other one took after the Allied Shinobi Forces tried immobilizing it. But then he squished it into about a thousand copies. And the involvement of “blank” Ohtsusuki chakra allowed those copies to………………….. “imprint” various Chakra from the Earth. Jura told us the rest during their debut: All things past and present have their genetic code and chakra stored into the Earth. They put that DNA and chakra into their make up where the “blank” piece Code created were, becoming…………… more or less Clones.

That’s at least how I think it all shook down; I’m not entirely sure what the goal is for this series right now- Code’s “a drift” as a Villain; there are a lot of factions working against each other internally; and Kawaki’s just……………… a mess. I can’t say what the goal is with the Divine Trees, Code, or Eida. We know where Kawaki will be ending up; I just can’t tell you how………….. 

Conclusion

And That Makes 4. And 4 consecutive days of posting! I take pride in stuff like that; I remember once I had a post every day for a month straight. I here that a total “vacation” doesn’t do well to keep you in the minds of your audience, so………… gotta make some posts while I’m out. That said; I don’t think you’ll be seeing me again for about a week- at least not until the next chapter of “Dead Rock,” which– following the pattern– would be some time next week. Wonder what Mashima has in store for us next month? I could talk more about things like “Boruto vs Mitsuki,” but- in all honesty– I don’t think there’ll be much of a “shock” to what’s going on. Who will win? I want to say Boruto because of how he came back from the time skip, but in all honesty I don’t know fully what Mitsuki is packing with that Sage mode. I saw on twitter the idea that Mitsuki’s sage mode is something like Baryon Mode– a state where his chakra and the nature energy he absorbs are broken down and “merged” into a “new” type of energy. But LIKE with Baryon mode; both of the “Catalyst” burn until………………. one or even both give out. And I get the feeling Mitsuki will run out way quicker than the nature energy he’s taking in…………………

Alright, that’s the last of it. I had the screen of the theory I was talking about, but finding it on my phone and getting it over to my computer was………………. a Hastle in a handbasket. I originally said “Half Shell,” but then I saw it written out and was like “Who was THAT for?” I don’t know how many Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans I have out there reading(I know everybody’s encountered the series before- in one form or another- but whether or not you liked it isn’t known to me at the moment), but a reference like that might have gone over a lot of people’s heads. But yeah; difficult finding the screenshot. I email myself images I get off of twitter and facebook from my phone to use- sometimes in posts; sometimes on Social media to try and get people over to the site. Anything I can to get people reading. If you want to help, then please share this around with anyone you know who reads “Boruto.” There’s not a lot of them sadly, but I’m hoping I can change that. 

That’s all I got for the lot of ya today, boys and girls. ‘Til next time, all; Stay Safe- Stay Healthy- Stay Magic. Later, Gators!!