Momoshiki’s plan for Boruto has finally come to fruition, resulting in stunning developments that will permanently alter the essence of the manga’s hero.
Warning: includes spoilers for Boruto Chapter 67.
After discovering that Naruto had a kid called Boruto in the last chapter of the epic Naruto manga, fans were ecstatic when the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations successor series was announced. The new comic promises the exploits of another Uzumaki growing up under the guidance of maybe history’s greatest Hokage. However, it became evident within the first few chapters of the new series that Boruto was fundamentally different from his father and had no desire to follow in his father’s path.
Nonetheless, the distinctions between Naruto and Boruto, like as Boruto’s ambition to be a shinobi like his idol Sasuke rather than a Hokage, have not been so pronounced as to exclude the birth of a Naruto-like Boruto… someday. That is, until the last few chapters of the Boruto series, when the newest developments in the younger Uzumaki’s life have likely terminated any hope of his becoming like his father. That is, it is human.
The secret to these alterations may be found in Boruto chapters 9 and 10, when the hero assists his father and Sasuke in defeating Momoshiki Otsutsuki (who sought to kill Naruto and strip him of his chakra to harvest a new God Tree). Despite defeating Momoshiki, he was able to imprint a Kma on Boruto’s palm before ‘dying.’ The Kma’s mission was to unite Momoshiki’s alien spirit with Boruto’s. Furthermore, it was not a fixed link. Rather, the Kma started downloading Momoshiki’s data and switching out Boruto’s genetic material as soon as it was imprinted. The end outcome would be that Momoshiki would one day entirely replace Boruto in a form of ‘death’ by being genetically rewritten.
Despite this somewhat foreboding incident, other plot lines in the manga hinted that someone would discover a method to halt the process before Momoshiki totally took over Boruto. Of course, everything changed when Kawaki killed Boruto in Chapter 66, presumably to prevent Momoshiki from reviving. It was a daring act devised by Kawaki and Boruto himself, and as upsetting as it was, it seemed to settle the Boruto/Momoshiki problem. For some fans, it was even a tantalizing’red herring,’ concealing the actual successor to the Uzumaki throne: Boruto’s younger sister, Himawari.
But, before the dust had cleared surrounding Boruto’s death, it was revealed in Chapter 67 that Boruto had been resuscitated by Momoshiki himself—. Momoshiki had to give up his possibility of being revived in order to complete the accomplishment. The Kma had retrieved over 90% of Momoshiki’s data by this point, with the remaining being utilized to cure and replace Boruto’s organs. While the Kma was unable to totally erase Boruto’s data, the Otsutsuki data was thoroughly removed. In summary, Boruto has genetically become an Otsutsuki, but one who is still psychologically an Uzumaki. The consequences will be far-reaching, both in terms of the general plot and, more significantly, in terms of the core Naruto-Boruto, father-son connection.
