Naruto/Boruto Griefing Thread

[Chilson]

The fact that he modelled after his wife (while modelling Naruto after himself), depicted her the way she is and had him end up with another girl has me pondering over the implications behind all of this.

Pretty sure that only happened because the ship was easily the most popular in the fandom and his editors probably told him to get them together or else.

 

[TerminalTryHard]

I can explain it: Retcon. We were shown that the office of the Hokage was busy but never that busy. He is shown to be busier at peace than one is at war. Kishi wanted to write Boruto as someone who needs his parent's attention but it was hard as he was not an orphan. Thus, he made the office of Hokage be far busier than it ever was in previous adorations. He can't seem to write a child that is not basically an orphan.

I get the meta reason of Kishi sloppily working backwards from the story he wanted to write, but what's the actual narrative reason?

Going by optics, Naruto and Hinata makes more sense she's the only one who didn't shun him from the very beginning. Going by actual story though, he has more chemistry with Sakura. Heck, Sakura has more chemistry with him than Sasuke

I'll disagree, Naruto and Sakura only seem to have chemistry because they have more interactions than any other male-female pair.
We don't get many interactions between Ino and Sai
We don't get many interactions between Choji and the cloud ninja chick
We don't get many interactions between Kakashi and Guy with any female characters (just sayin)
We don't get many interactions between Asuma and Kurenai
We don't get many interactions between Naruto and Hinata
The only other pair we get any on screen interactions between are Shikamaru and Temari, and we probably get the most chemistry we can get between a 12 year old and a 16 year old.

Naruto and Sakura just looks stronger by the sheer quantity of interactions.

 

[Incecticyder]

I get the meta reason of Kishi sloppily working backwards from the story he wanted to write, but what's the actual narrative reason?

How to explain this? The story does not provide an in-universe explanation as to why he is far busier than any other Hokage before. He just is. Kishi wanted to have him be busy to create conflict between him and his son and that is it.

I'll disagree, Naruto and Sakura only seem to have chemistry because they have more interactions than any other male-female pair.
We don't get many interactions between Ino and Sai
We don't get many interactions between Choji and the cloud ninja chick
We don't get many interactions between Kakashi and Guy with any female characters (just sayin)
We don't get many interactions between Asuma and Kurenai
We don't get many interactions between Naruto and Hinata
The only other pair we get any on screen interactions between are Shikamaru and Temari, and we probably get the most chemistry we can get between a 12 year old and a 16 year old.

Naruto and Sakura just looks stronger by the sheer quantity of interactions.

That is true. There is barely any canon interactions between the couples apart from Shikamaru and Temari. I get that it is the Naruto show but still. A side couple should not be getting more screen time than the main couple.

 

[Party Hat Wurmple]

The fact that he modelled after his wife (while modelling Naruto after himself), depicted her the way she is and had him end up with another girl has me pondering over the implications behind all of this.

....So you're telling me Kishimoto modeling Sasuke after his brother? And modeled Sakura after his wife? And not only does he depict Sakura beating him, but he goes for another woman? And he puts his wife with his BROTHER?!

What did Kishimoto mean by this...

 

[Tinnitus]

....So you're telling me Kishimoto modeling Sasuke after his brother? And modeled Sakura after his wife? And not only does he depict Sakura beating him, but he goes for another woman? And he puts his wife with his BROTHER?!

What did C.Kishimoto Chandler mean by this...

Props to him at making his brother fuck his wife and go out for milk & cigarettes.

But isn't it been confirmed that Hinata is modeled after his wife?

 

[Incecticyder]

....So you're telling me Kishimoto modeling Sasuke after his brother? And modeled Sakura after his wife? And not only does he depict Sakura beating him, but he goes for another woman? And he puts his wife with his BROTHER?!

What did Kishimoto mean by this...

Props to him at making his brother fuck his wife and go out for milk & cigarettes.

But isn't it been confirmed that Hinata is modeled after his wife?

I think that both Hinata and Sakura are based on his wife. Then again, Kishi is consistently inconsistent.

 

[Party Hat Wurmple]

I think that both Hinata and Sakura are based on his wife. Then again, Kishi is consistently inconsistent.

It's funnier to think he's just a cuck.

 

[Incecticyder]

It's funnier to think he's just a cuck.

True, but that would require suspension of disbelief on his narrative skills. Much of the second half of Naruto could be summed up with two words: Unintended Implications. Who knows, maybe NaruSaku was the original plan but early his editor told him to change it. I presume it was changed around the Hinata vs Negi fight rather than any later date. That was around the time his original editor was giving him ideas. Maybe he told him that Sakura would not be a good wife to a neglected orphan like Naruto and he switched her for Hinata.

 

[Gorillion others]

True, but that would require suspension of disbelief on his narrative skills. Much of the second half of Naruto could be summed up with two words: Unintended Implications. Who knows, maybe NaruSaku was the original plan but early his editor told him to change it. I presume it was changed around the Hinata vs Negi fight rather than any later date. That was around the time his original editor was giving him ideas. Maybe he told him that Sakura would not be a good wife to a neglected orphan like Naruto and he switched her for Hinata.

Yeah, that crack she made on him being an orphan was...

 

[Incecticyder]

Yeah, that crack she made on him being an orphan was...

It truly was. I think that there is good argument for the editor catching it early that Sakura was not love interest material for Naruto (and later for anyone). If true, it was a very progressive move as such slapstick was still the norm for future couples during that time. It does not help that Naruto, while he can be rather forward (read: annoying) with his crush, he was never the pervert this slapstick was intended for. Shame that Sakura never became a good character. Shame also for the fact that Naruto and Hinata were not allowed to develop as a couple in a good manner.

 

[Gorillion others]

https://ww2.mangafreak.me/Read1_Boruto_Two_Blue_Vortex_21

I feel like I want to cry, and not out of happiness.

 

[TerminalTryHard]

I think Hinata was the original plan as her and Naruto's backstories work well together. You have a Naruto an orphan and outcast who is looked down on for being weak, and Hinata the Hyuga princess. They should be complete opposites with nothing in common but due to Hinata being an outcast in her own family for her perceived weakness of not being very good at the gentle fist style, they have more in common than any other characters. This is in comparison to Sakura who doesn't really have a backstory.

Than Kishi did nothing with it. Hinata just disappears from the story after the Chunin exam and doesn't show back up until Pain starts wrecking shit.

Yeah, that crack she made on him being an orphan was...

I feel like this could've been fixed if we just had a scene where Sakura apologized to Naruto for how she treated him. It didn't even need to be to deep, just have her start apologizing and than Naruto cuts her off and call it done. I think Naruto getting over his crush on Sakura should have been more part of his character development, much like him realizing that being Hokage is more than just being the most awesomest ninja.

 

[Incecticyder]

I think Hinata was the original plan as her and Naruto's backstories work well together. You have a Naruto an orphan and outcast who is looked down on for being weak, and Hinata the Hyuga princess. They should be complete opposites with nothing in common but due to Hinata being an outcast in her own family for her perceived weakness of not being very good at the gentle fist style, they have more in common than any other characters. This is in comparison to Sakura who doesn't really have a backstory.

Than Kishi did nothing with it. Hinata just disappears from the story after the Chunin exam and doesn't show back up until Pain starts wrecking shit.

Something, something, wasted potential, something, something, missed opportunities. We give this story more love than Kishi did.

I feel like this could've been fixed if we just had a scene where Sakura apologized to Naruto for how she treated him. It didn't even need to be to deep, just have her start apologizing and than Naruto cuts her off and call it done. I think Naruto getting over his crush on Sakura should have been more part of his character development, much like him realizing that being Hokage is more than just being the most awesomest ninja.

Instead we got Naruto introducing Sakura as his girlfriend to his father. Talk about taking a joke so far it hurts character development.

 

[Party Hat Wurmple]

I feel like I want to cry, and not out of happiness.

Yeah that new chapter was pretty shite.

Boruto TBV 21

Our cover art this time is Sarada and she'll be the focus for most of the chapter. It's fine...I guess. Her head is at a bit of a weird angle. I think the heavy coat she has makes drawing a full page of her slightly difficult. The coat is so big, it's easy to misproportion or place her body awkwardly so it looks off model. Its something you'll only notice if you stare at it for too long.

We start out the chapter with several flashbacks of Sarada. The first is her and Cho-Cho back when they were kids and she was saying how she wants to be a Hokage like Naruto. Her awful original design is back too. I still do not like it and I forgot how much I hated it. The next flashback is her and Boruto when he tells her that he wants to be like her Dad, Sasuke and be her right hand man to protect her as Hokage. She blushes at this. Next we have Sumire asking her if it bothers her that other girls like Boruto, because it does bother her. Then Naruto saying how all the people in the village are his family. She runs through the streets saying that she's not an extraordinary ninja like Naruto or Sasuke so she doesn't have time to focus on anything but becoming Hokage. The next flashback is from the end of Boruto, with Boruto saving her from Kawaki's attack, scarring his eye in the process. Then we cut to Shikamaru saying Naruto might be dead by Boruto's hands and Mitsuki frothing at the mouth to kill Boruto. Then Sasuke saying Boruto might've killed Naruto and Hinata. This would all be after Omnipotence happened. Sarada remembers how distressed she was, feeling confused and helpless and not understanding what was going on. Our next flashback is Sumire explaining how she thinks a Shinjutsu from Eida is responsible for everyone who was trying to hunt and kill Kawaki to suddenly switching to hunting down Boruto in order to save Kawaki. Sarada cries, thinking this is too cruel and how Boruto can't ever get a break.

I have to give a little context to the OG Boruto manga because this all seems pretty ridiculous without it. Boruto is constantly facing death in the manga. Whether it's from Momoshiki inside of him, his Karma, Kara, or otherwise, Boruto is always staring death in the face at a moment's notice and there's nothing he or anyone else can do about it. He's a complete victim of circumstances beyond his control. Narratively the kid is effectively a terminal cancer patient and he knows he's on borrowed time. At any moment his body can be overtaken, or Kara can hunt him down, or Code, or whatever. All this stress does eventually get to him and starts effecting him mentally. I'd say Boruto even gets a bit of a death complex. His death is already a foregone conclusion in his mind so he has no problem constantly throwing himself into dangerous situations without any regard for his own life and well-being. There's a particular scene where Naruto offers Boruto some pills that Amado made to suppress his Karma, but they're experimental and the side effects could be extremely dangerous. Boruto doesn't even hesitate and just snatches them from Naruto and takes them, not caring whether they could kill him or not, much to Naruto's shock. So when Sarada says Boruto can't get a break, this is what she's referring to. The manga should've spent more time on her attitude towards this back then, but they just didn't for whatever reason.

Next we cut to Sasuke and Boruto? I'm assuming this is after they fled together. Sasuke explains the Mangekyo Sharingan to him. He tells him in activates in extreme psychological distress. She insisted everyone was being duped by Eida's Omnipotence and seeing Sarada awakens the Mangekyo is what convinced Sasuke that she was right. Sasuke says she's not aware she's awakened it yet, similar to Kakashi. He says someday it will be of great help and she'll instinctively understand what she's truly capable of. Which is code words for she's going to be instantly an expert in whatever abilities are, despite it taking Sasuke a little while to control Amaterasu. On a side note, who's having this flashback anyway? How does Sarada remember something she wasn't there for? It's not Boruto's flashback. We haven't seen him this chapter yet. Who's doing the flashbacking here?

We finally cut back to Sarada and co. fighting Ryu in the present day. Everyone is staring at the orb she created and at her eyes. Ryu tries attacking her but the orb just absorbs all the sand. She tells Mitsuki to protect the others and that she already knows what the Mangekyo can do. Ryu tries to attack her by striking from a direction that forces her between the sand and black orb but another orb absorbs it before he can land a hit. There are now four orbs and Ryu begins to float off the ground. Sarada begins to float as well. Ryu tries to anchor himself to the ground to prevent floating away with his sand, but to no avail. Mitsuki says it looks like this is gravitational powers, to which he's correct. Sarada's orbs alter and control gravity. She's able to pick what it applies to though. Sarada said she's felt powerless this entire time and that her goal to be Hokage felt very out of reach so decided to turn away from her feelings to Boruto and jealousy to Sumire. She's also been unconsciously rejecting the power inside of her by disregarding all of those emotions as weaknesses. Ryu tries to attack her again, saying she's a psycho and gets pinned against a black orb that's growing larger. She says she's done looking away from herself anymore while Ryu tries to summon a claw grime to escape but the gravity is too much for it. She says she needs to accept herself. We get an admittedly decent looking full page spread of her floating, surrounded by orbs as she says the name of her ability is Ohirume. The gravity gets so intense it blows up Ryu. She passed out immediately and falls, Mitsuki catching her. He spots the Thorn Bulb from Ryu.

Elsewhere, Eida confirms that Sarada's new power has taken out Ryu to Koji. He's glad to hear it, as that was one of the most important things they needed to happen. Eida mentions it's a shame about Yodo though but Koji insists her sacrifice couldn't be avoided. Boruto, finally puts two and two together and asks Koji if there was any chance of awakening her Mangekyo without Yodo dying. Koji refuses to answer and says Boruto going to help would guarantee it wouldn't have awakened. Boruto's rightfully pissed at this saying he knew Yodo would die and chose not to say anything. Koji decides to make everything worse and admits he chose not to tell him and their current conversation proves that was the right choice. Boruto asks if Konohamaru stands a chance against Matsuri. Koji proves his ineptitude and how bad he is at this by refusing to answer. He tells Boruto that Jura will appear and instantly kill him if he goes to help. He's seen several futures of this and they all end the same if Boruto goes to help.

We cut to Konohamaru and Matsuri who are deadlocked. Boruto instantly appears and kills Matsuri in one hit. Koji shouts that he's ruining everything and Jura instantly picks up on Boruto's presence to end the chapter.

Now I don't know if both of them will stay dead. I'd be pretty pissed we wasted all of this time getting to give these villains development when Boruto is just going to one shot them. If you're going to have a story where loved ones are taken over and become enemies, you have to give it time to develop and killing Matsuri here is such a waste. I can't stand how frustrating it is when these guys get destroyed in one hit. Kashin Koji can see hundreds of futures but can't see that keeping information from Boruto is a bad idea. I don't understand how he thought this wouldn't completely backfire on him. I don't know in what reality damaging the trust Boruto has for him would lead to anything good. So what timeline does the end of the world fall on Koji being dumb? You can't tell me a character can see the future, and do something this dumb and say they didn't see it coming. I know they say Yodo is dead but I don't buy that she's really dead. Sarada's powers are OP but they're also not really fleshed out yet either. Picking and choosing targets is weird bullshit. I'm glad it's name an alternative name for Amaterasu because I'm sure by the end of the series it will be useless as Amaterasu. I'll have more to nitpick though when we get a better explanation of what she can really do.

 

[Gorillion others]

stay dead

That's a definitive no.

 

[Incecticyder]

Our cover art this time is Sarada and she'll be the focus for most of the chapter. It's fine...I guess. Her head is at a bit of a weird angle. I think the heavy coat she has makes drawing a full page of her slightly difficult. The coat is so big, it's easy to misproportion or place her body awkwardly so it looks off model. Its something you'll only notice if you stare at it for too long.

Standard Boruto art.

We start out the chapter with several flashbacks of Sarada. The first is her and Cho-Cho back when they were kids and she was saying how she wants to be a Hokage like Naruto. Her awful original design is back too. I still do not like it and I forgot how much I hated it. The next flashback is her and Boruto when he tells her that he wants to be like her Dad, Sasuke and be her right hand man to protect her as Hokage. She blushes at this. Next we have Sumire asking her if it bothers her that other girls like Boruto, because it does bother her. Then Naruto saying how all the people in the village are his family. She runs through the streets saying that she's not an extraordinary ninja like Naruto or Sasuke so she doesn't have time to focus on anything but becoming Hokage. The next flashback is from the end of Boruto, with Boruto saving her from Kawaki's attack, scarring his eye in the process. Then we cut to Shikamaru saying Naruto might be dead by Boruto's hands and Mitsuki frothing at the mouth to kill Boruto. Then Sasuke saying Boruto might've killed Naruto and Hinata. This would all be after Omnipotence happened. Sarada remembers how distressed she was, feeling confused and helpless and not understanding what was going on. Our next flashback is Sumire explaining how she thinks a Shinjutsu from Eida is responsible for everyone who was trying to hunt and kill Kawaki to suddenly switching to hunting down Boruto in order to save Kawaki. Sarada cries, thinking this is too cruel and how Boruto can't ever get a break.

Kinda reads like a soap opera, does it not?

I have to give a little context to the OG Boruto manga because this all seems pretty ridiculous without it. Boruto is constantly facing death in the manga. Whether it's from Momoshiki inside of him, his Karma, Kara, or otherwise, Boruto is always staring death in the face at a moment's notice and there's nothing he or anyone else can do about it. He's a complete victim of circumstances beyond his control. Narratively the kid is effectively a terminal cancer patient and he knows he's on borrowed time. At any moment his body can be overtaken, or Kara can hunt him down, or Code, or whatever. All this stress does eventually get to him and starts effecting him mentally. I'd say Boruto even gets a bit of a death complex. His death is already a foregone conclusion in his mind so he has no problem constantly throwing himself into dangerous situations without any regard for his own life and well-being. There's a particular scene where Naruto offers Boruto some pills that Amado made to suppress his Karma, but they're experimental and the side effects could be extremely dangerous. Boruto doesn't even hesitate and just snatches them from Naruto and takes them, not caring whether they could kill him or not, much to Naruto's shock. So when Sarada says Boruto can't get a break, this is what she's referring to. The manga should've spent more time on her attitude towards this back then, but they just didn't for whatever reason.

A good point of this part of Boruto is that it gives him legit reasons to complain about. Better than his father being busy.

Next we cut to Sasuke and Boruto? I'm assuming this is after they fled together. Sasuke explains the Mangekyo Sharingan to him. He tells him in activates in extreme psychological distress. She insisted everyone was being duped by Eida's Omnipotence and seeing Sarada awakens the Mangekyo is what convinced Sasuke that she was right. Sasuke says she's not aware she's awakened it yet, similar to Kakashi. He says someday it will be of great help and she'll instinctively understand what she's truly capable of. Which is code words for she's going to be instantly an expert in whatever abilities are, despite it taking Sasuke a little while to control Amaterasu. On a side note, who's having this flashback anyway? How does Sarada remember something she wasn't there for? It's not Boruto's flashback. We haven't seen him this chapter yet. Who's doing the flashbacking here?

It is more of an exposition flashback rather than a character remembering stuff. Think Turn Back The Pendulum. But yes, you are correct in the sense that MS was supposed to have a learning curve. Well, such things are inconvenient so retcon it is.

We finally cut back to Sarada and co. fighting Ryu in the present day. Everyone is staring at the orb she created and at her eyes. Ryu tries attacking her but the orb just absorbs all the sand. She tells Mitsuki to protect the others and that she already knows what the Mangekyo can do. Ryu tries to attack her by striking from a direction that forces her between the sand and black orb but another orb absorbs it before he can land a hit. There are now four orbs and Ryu begins to float off the ground. Sarada begins to float as well. Ryu tries to anchor himself to the ground to prevent floating away with his sand, but to no avail. Mitsuki says it looks like this is gravitational powers, to which he's correct. Sarada's orbs alter and control gravity. She's able to pick what it applies to though. Sarada said she's felt powerless this entire time and that her goal to be Hokage felt very out of reach so decided to turn away from her feelings to Boruto and jealousy to Sumire. She's also been unconsciously rejecting the power inside of her by disregarding all of those emotions as weaknesses. Ryu tries to attack her again, saying she's a psycho and gets pinned against a black orb that's growing larger. She says she's done looking away from herself anymore while Ryu tries to summon a claw grime to escape but the gravity is too much for it. She says she needs to accept herself. We get an admittedly decent looking full page spread of her floating, surrounded by orbs as she says the name of her ability is Ohirume. The gravity gets so intense it blows up Ryu. She passed out immediately and falls, Mitsuki catching her. He spots the Thorn Bulb from Ryu.

This feels hollow. Instant victory the very first time the power activates might be a power fantasy but it sucks when we are supposed to take the villains seriously.

Elsewhere, Eida confirms that Sarada's new power has taken out Ryu to Koji. He's glad to hear it, as that was one of the most important things they needed to happen. Eida mentions it's a shame about Yodo though but Koji insists her sacrifice couldn't be avoided. Boruto, finally puts two and two together and asks Koji if there was any chance of awakening her Mangekyo without Yodo dying. Koji refuses to answer and says Boruto going to help would guarantee it wouldn't have awakened. Boruto's rightfully pissed at this saying he knew Yodo would die and chose not to say anything. Koji decides to make everything worse and admits he chose not to tell him and their current conversation proves that was the right choice. Boruto asks if Konohamaru stands a chance against Matsuri. Koji proves his ineptitude and how bad he is at this by refusing to answer. He tells Boruto that Jura will appear and instantly kill him if he goes to help. He's seen several futures of this and they all end the same if Boruto goes to help.

This is bad characterisation. Koji should have said something along the lines of "I saw so many futures where kids were dying and I picked the path that allowed for the least bloodshed. It was not easy for me to decide who to allow to die and I have said tears for everyone of them." and it would make it clear it is not easy for him either. As it stands now, both Boruto and Koji look like idiots. Boruto is a reckless idiot and Koji is callous one.

We cut to Konohamaru and Matsuri who are deadlocked. Boruto instantly appears and kills Matsuri in one hit. Koji shouts that he's ruining everything and Jura instantly picks up on Boruto's presence to end the chapter.

A clear idiot plot.

Now I don't know if both of them will stay dead. I'd be pretty pissed we wasted all of this time getting to give these villains development when Boruto is just going to one shot them. If you're going to have a story where loved ones are taken over and become enemies, you have to give it time to develop and killing Matsuri here is such a waste. I can't stand how frustrating it is when these guys get destroyed in one hit. Kashin Koji can see hundreds of futures but can't see that keeping information from Boruto is a bad idea. I don't understand how he thought this wouldn't completely backfire on him. I don't know in what reality damaging the trust Boruto has for him would lead to anything good. So what timeline does the end of the world fall on Koji being dumb? You can't tell me a character can see the future, and do something this dumb and say they didn't see it coming. I know they say Yodo is dead but I don't buy that she's really dead. Sarada's powers are OP but they're also not really fleshed out yet either. Picking and choosing targets is weird bullshit. I'm glad it's name an alternative name for Amaterasu because I'm sure by the end of the series it will be useless as Amaterasu. I'll have more to nitpick though when we get a better explanation of what she can really do.

The tradition of wasted potential is in good hands. Ike is Kishi-light As far as Amaterasu being useless goes, fire was always weak in Naruto.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Re : NarutoXHinata vs NarutoXSakura.

I do want to point out if it hasn't been, during Hinata vs Neji, Hinata kind of became the first (hidden leaf) person that he inspired to be better, which is one of the things the 3rd Hokage did.

Now I would say that was completely accidental because I don't think Kishi meant for it to be that way..but its still a thing that happened.

 

[Incecticyder]

Now I would say that was completely accidental because I don't think Kishi meant for it to be that way..but its still a thing that happened.

It was not accidental. Kishi still had his best editor helping him back then. That guy ironed out a lot of the flaws of the early story. The entire first part was was almost co-written by him up until the Tsunade arc and even afterwards he had seen and approved the blueprints for everything until the Sasuke retrieval arc.

 

[Party Hat Wurmple]

This is bad characterisation. Koji should have said something along the lines of "I saw so many futures where kids were dying and I picked the path that allowed for the least bloodshed. It was not easy for me to decide who to allow to die and I have said tears for everyone of them." and it would make it clear it is not easy for him either. As it stands now, both Boruto and Koji look like idiots. Boruto is a reckless idiot and Koji is callous one.

The other thing is, Ryu offered to let them go for information on Boruto. Yodo even told Sarada to give him what he wanted. Sarada simply didn't have anything. Boruto didn't tell them anything on Koji's request. Boruto and Koji really aren't that different from each other, but in the worst ways. Boruto tries to shoulder everything himself and it constantly makes everything worse without any regards to his friends or family. His attitude towards death rubs off on Kawaki who's fine dying and vanishing once his goal is accomplished. Koji is clearly willing to do anything to accomplish his goals. At one point, Kawaki even kills Boruto to bait out Momoshiki, much to Naruto's horror. It's ironic Boruto does nothing but try to shoulder everything himself, even though he's Sasuke's protege and that was a lesson both he and Itachi learned the hard way.

A better writer would use this and eventually call Boruto out on his shit since it's a constant narrative through line in both mangas. Ikemoto likely will not.

 

[Incecticyder]

The other thing is, Ryu offered to let them go for information on Boruto. Yodo even told Sarada to give him what he wanted. Sarada simply didn't have anything. Boruto didn't tell them anything on Koji's request. Boruto and Koji really aren't that different from each other, but in the worst ways. Boruto tries to shoulder everything himself and it constantly makes everything worse without any regards to his friends or family. His attitude towards death rubs off on Kawaki who's fine dying and vanishing once his goal is accomplished. Koji is clearly willing to do anything to accomplish his goals. At one point, Kawaki even kills Boruto to bait out Momoshiki, much to Naruto's horror. It's ironic Boruto does nothing but try to shoulder everything himself, even though he's Sasuke's protege and that was a lesson both he and Itachi learned the hard way.

A better writer would use this and eventually call Boruto out on his shit since it's a constant narrative through line in both mangas. Ikemoto likely will not.

The problem is that everyone is going through an idiot plot: a plot that happens because people are acting like bigger idiots than they are. Boruto was with Koji for a while now. He should have explained to him that some people will die no matter what path they take and that there is no scenario in which there will not be some painful casualties. I get that Boruto is a teen but he is supposed to be a soldier too. Koji should stop trying to be the trickster mentor and be straight with Boruto.

Ikemoto has inherited all the flaws of Kishimoto but none of the strengths.