The beginning of the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations manga teased Naruto Uzumaki’s death but the most recent chapter may point to a different outcome and it includes Naruto’s bestie Sasuke Uchiha.
The most recent chapter, which released on Tuesday, was a warm-up to the biggest fight the series has ever seen. Jigen, the major bad guy of the series went to Konoha village to try and take his vessel, Kawaki, who is also his son… kind of. Suffice to say, it’s a strange relationship.
Naruto won’t have any of it. His main motto is to protect the village and he sees Kawaki as one of his own. Kawaki protests this with the emotional but foreboding line: “I’d rather be his prisoner again than lose you”. When it seems like Naruto won’t back down, Jigen tries to get Naruto out of the picture by sending him to another dimension. Jigen tries to abandon Naruto in this unknown dimension but Sasuke shows up to save him (his Rinnegan grants him a similar dimension traveling ability).
What ensues is basically the beginning of a UFC match. The three combatants test each other out, trying to find weaknesses and discover abilities. Sasuke does just that and figures out Jigen is pretty much Ant-Man with the ability to shrink. This discovery impresses Jigen and he declares Sasuke to be the stronger opponent, therefore, he must die first.
All of this points to deviate from original expectations. It’s easy to take the Boruto opening at face value and infer that Naruto will die. It seems more likely now, as many fans have speculated on Reddit, that Sasuke will be the one to bit the dust.
In the manga opening, Kawaki says he will send Boruto to the same place he sent his father (now why Kawaki is saying this is still a mystery). It’s much more likely, based on the word “sent”, that Naruto is not dead but trapped in a different dimension. It’s also logical to assume that Kawaki has a similar dimension traveling ability as Jigen or that Jigen successfully used Kawaki as a vessel. Whatever the method, Naruto is trapped.
The sad part is that Sasuke has to be out of the picture because he can easily travel through dimensions and save Naruto, which leads to Jigen’s declaration being true – he will kill Sasuke. This all makes sense when you go to the anime and watch the opening scene because Boruto is clearly wearing Sasuke’s cloak and using his sword. It also makes sense from a story perspective. Sasuke is training Boruto so it’s understandable for Sasuke to die and Boruto to take on his role -much like Jiriah and Naruto in Naruto: Shippuden.
Lastly, it will present the opportunity to take the two most powerful characters out of the picture. Right now Naruto and Sasuke are overshadowing the kids on the show, who are supposed to be the heroes. This is understandable since many of us spent 12 years with Naruto and Sasuke.
If the theory is correct, then it will finally be the kids time to shine. It will be a sad ending to a fan-favorite character but the signs point to it. We will just have to continue speculating until the next chapter comes out on September 20.
