Boruto vs. Shinki: A Clash of Two Children of Hokage at Sand Village

A Battle for Redemption and Responsibility

We’re going to look at why the Sand Village being attacked and Konoha sending other shinobi as backup might be the start of something even larger for Boruto’s character and why, narratively, there are unintended consequences if this is the path the story is choosing to go down. This will be a monumental moment for Boruto’s character in a way that I don’t see enough people talking about.

So, getting right into it, the consensus is that while Konoha will send backup to the Sand Village now that they’ve officially requested assistance, most of us believe that will involve Sarada and Kawaki to a degree. However, we need to flip the table around and look at why there stands a high chance that Boruto is going to be headed there as well. This has far more meaning and significance than you might originally think, so allow me to explain exactly what I mean.

Boruto knew that going into Konoha the first time wouldn’t just mean Konoha would be in trouble if he didn’t stop Code during his invasion and destroy the Ten-Tails. When the chapters first came out, there was a common consensus that Boruto was desperate to tell Code to let him know where the Ten-Tails were. He was even trying to reason with him at times. For all that hard-edged talk that Boruto gave Code, he was still trying to give him an out. Eventually, it became clear that not only was Boruto fed up with trying to reason with Code, but he was also shifting gears towards choosing violence as his option.

Yet, when he used the Rasengan Uzuhiko, for as overpowered as the attack was, given how composed Boruto looked and how quickly he gathered the chakra for the attack, it became clear that Boruto was still holding back. This cemented his scaling in the minds of many—Boruto had become a Daemon-level power following the time skip. Even after leaving Code clearly at his limits, needing only one attack to do so much damage, Boruto was still not going for the kill, despite everything he said about killing Code. He was still trying to reason with him.

That was our sign that Boruto’s words about the Ten-Tailswere different. It wasn’t just what he told Code about them harvesting a chakra fruit, but his warning that he changed the nature of the Ten-Tailsran deeper than we saw. The Ten-Tails were now seeking out anything that had chakra to devour, and by anything, I mean anything, because one wanted to eat Chocho—not because she had some extra meat on the bones, but because of her chakra.

It was one of the few times in Boruto: Two Blue Vortex where Boruto’s desperation truly shined through. This time, it would be a moment where Boruto could not fail. The story took it a step further, showing us that Boruto, despite his words in chapter 80 of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, where he said he settled things with Kawaki later on, wasn’t focused on fighting Kawaki, even when Kawaki made it clear he was planning to kill Boruto. His priority had never left Code and getting to the Ten-Tails, leaving a cryptic warning to Kawaki that he didn’t mind dying in Konoha, but that day wouldn’t be today.

Now that we know about the 10 Directions Shinjutsu, we understand that Boruto and his team were headed down the worst possible path, where everyone would die, which is why Boruto was so desperate to ask Code for help despite knowing that Code was someone who, in several possible timelines that Kashin Koji saw, successfully created a chakra fruit or indirectly led to the harvesting of a chakra fruit due to Code’s actions. It showed just how desperate Boruto was in hindsight, so we can’t ignore what happened in the Sand Village regarding Boruto’s character.

Boruto, if we assume when he teleported away, went back to the hideout he shares with Kashin Koji is now back inside the Land of Wind, which makes him the fastest possible person to respond to the damage done to Sunagakure. There’s no way that Kashin Koji didn’t have any intel on what was happening in the Land of Wind, particularly the Hidden Sand Village, not when Matsuri was specifically looking for the person they believed was helping Boruto. Boruto is more likely than not going to make it a point to head there, likely using the same method of having toads infiltrate.

The Hidden Sand Village, and then teleporting afterward to observe what was happening there, is not crazy to think. Boruto is an Otsutsuki; he can mask his chakra, and we’ve seen that when he wants to, Boruto can do it very well. He just chose not to do so when he arrived in Konoha for the first time, which, looking back, is an all-time Boruto flex move—returning to an area that was looking for him and on high alert so soon after he escaped Konoha.

It is more likely than not that Boruto will take the precaution of hiding his chakra to investigate what happened, if for no other reason than to both not draw attention to himself and avoid the Shinjuthat out looking for him. Kashin Koji has likely foreseen all this with his 10 Directions Shinjutsu. He’s going to have seen Shinkiturn into this Shinju called Ryu, and he’s going to know that Boruto will want to survey the damage to see if there are any more possible Shinju they need to worry about.

At this point, it’s almost a moral obligation because Boruto appears to have assumed that everything falls on him to handle the threat. The only question is: Will Kashin Koji let him do so? And if he does, what strategic advantage does Kashin Koji see to sign off on this?

Which brings me to Boruto and Shinki. There are many things we don’t know about the Shinju, particularly those made out of chakra from those who were bitten to become Shinju. We know that the people were all affected by Omnipotence, so in their minds, Boruto is the outsider, and Kawaki is the Hokage’s son. Yet, with the awakened Shinju, we’ve seen no indication that this applies to them. When you look at Jura, you know the opposite. Notice how Jura referred to Boruto about Otsutsuki. Still, when he slapped Kawaki away from the village—literally slapping him across the town—he also refused to call Kawaki by the name Kawaki Uzumaki. He called him Otsutsuki.

That is an intentional choice by the narrator not to tip their hand. The question is whether the Shinju know the truth or not about Omnipotence or if they’re even affected by it. Think about it: Jura knew all the names of the people in Konoha, and he was reading all these books in his hideout—books that contained information about the ninja world, literal data books. Since he flipped through one of the books and found information on Shikadai, I believe there’s a chance that the narrative is hiding this reveal until we see how Shinki reacts to Boruto. Shinki, a former rival to Boruto, had unfinished business with him the last time we saw him in the manga. Shinki was annoyed that Boruto had helped the Hokage, including Shinki’s father, the Kazekage, fight against Momoshiki. He wanted to fight Boruto and meet him again.

Boruto being Shinki’s target—or rather, Ryu’s target—could get interesting because of what that means. On a certain level, they retain some instinctual information, but as we saw, each grows at different rates. If Shinki targets Kawaki, then we know that the effects of Omnipotence, which manipulates the chakras in people’s brains and alters their memories, carry over to Shinju. This makes sense, as they are all made from said people’s chakra.

It also explains why Jura, the Ten-Tails itself, seemingly is implied to know who is who in that regard when it comes to Boruto and Kawaki. If he targets Boruto, we know that all the Shinju see the difference between Omnipotence and reality, implying that Jura is mindful of things.

Things could get dicey very quickly, and I don’t think it’s a mistake that we saw the Shinki Shinju reveal in the same chapter with Kashin Koji’s potential future and in the same chapter where Boruto is told that if he chooses to save Sasuke, it will be a pivotal moment.

The possible timeline they’re currently following is the worst possible future, and it’s the one that Boruto is trying to save and change. Boruto is supposed to die in the future, and there might be more in all of this. Running back Boruto versus Shinki has potential from a narrative perspective, particularly when you consider this being a clash of two children of Hokage—though one isn’t recognized as the child of Hokage anymore, and the other has no memory of being a child of Hokage anymore.

It’s worth noting that Boruto and Shinki never fought in the manga; that was anime-only. However, Shinki is fascinated with Boruto in the manga, and many more layers could emerge as a result of this fight. These layers will be important to Boruto’s character, so let’s go deeper.

When Omnipotence first took place, Sasuke told Boruto that if he’s going to prove himself as Naruto’s son and overcome all the bad cards dealt to him regarding Omnipotence, Boruto would have to overcome the hatred he is facing—similar to how Naruto did. Sasuke was telling us, the audience, that when Boruto asked Naruto at the end of the Momoshiki fight to tell him more of his story whenever Naruto had time, Boruto is now going to be forced to relive and learn some of those lessons that Naruto did.

One of those lessons was looking a fellow monster in the face and confronting his darkest demon. For Naruto, that was Gaara. Naruto saw how easily he and Gaara could have ended up on different paths had their lives been swapped. Whereas Gaara had a father who tried to kill him multiple times, which led to Gaara being betrayed by love, Naruto was left isolated and very slowly established bonds to fill the hole in his heart. Naruto was eventually able to meet Gaara in the middle and reach him. Just like the Naruto vs. Gaara fight between two children of Hokage, now Boruto vs. Shinki could become a similar battle.

This battle allows Boruto to stare down Shinki, a fellow child of Hokage, much like how Naruto faced Gaara, a fellow child of Hokage. However, while Naruto has to overcome hate by showing compassion and mercy to someone filled with hatred (Gaara), Boruto has to unleash his darker side to take down Shinki’s Shinju clone. Boruto owes it to Shinki, if for no other reason than the fact that he failed to destroy the Ten-Tails, which in turn caused Shinki to become a Ten-Tails Shinju.

This battle is needed so Boruto can face his actions’ consequences. This is different from battling Hidari, the Shinju made from Sasuke’s chakra because that fight happened when Boruto was too weak to stand and fight beside his sensei. That battle represented Boruto overcoming his shame and trying to right the wrong caused by that shame. However, this battle is about Boruto taking full responsibility for his failure. Unlike when Sasuke was defeated, Boruto had the power to prevent this—he just got to the Ten-Tails too late. He is physically strong enough to have destroyed the Ten-Tails but failed to strike it down.

Matsuri then went to the Land of Wind, looking for Boruto and the person helping him. Matsuri, in turn, ended up attacking the Sand Village. Based on our information, Boruto deserves the payoff of defeating Shinki here, or at the very least, playing a direct role in it. His character needs some wins. He’s had a lot of near victories, but near victories are not victories. He nearly pulled off a heist by using Code as a puppet to get to the Ten-Tails and destroy it, but he failed. He almost managed to save Sasukeby using a full-power Rasengan Uzuhiko on Hidari, but he failed to secure the Thorn Soul Bulb required to save Sasuke.

Close isn’t victory. Close is merely good enough for moral victories, but for someone in Boruto’s situation, there is no “close.” There are no moral victories. You either succeed or you fail—there’s no in-between here. The situation is way too dire.

While there’s a chance that Boruto still fails to defeat Shinki, something that seems increasingly likely given that Boruto appears destined to have all these close victories but no clear, outright victories, I do think this is the moment for Boruto to get a clearly defined victory if the story allows it. Just as the tale permitted Boruto to save Himawari from Jura, which was his only real clear victory in part two (though you could add in him saving Sarada, but that’s debatable since she helped him fight afterward), the idea of saving someone who is considered a rival to him has a poetic feel to it.