Why Boruto Doesn’t Have the Powers of Fused Momoshiki – Dark Secrets Of Momoshiki’s Horn

Boruto became an Ōtsutsuki through the Shinjutsu known as Karma. This allowed him to attain powers and abilities unique to the body of an Ōtsutsuki. However, one thing he hasn’t awakened is the ability to produce his own horn. This is very significant, as every Ōtsutsuki we’ve seen so far has possessed a horn design unique to themselves. This uniqueness is seemingly used to rank these entities on the Ōtsutsuki Tablet.

As pointed out by Boruto, to read and use the Planet Chemist, it also seems as if the number of horns an Ōtsutsuki possesses depends on whether they have a Rinnegan. This is shown by the fact that Kaguya, Shibai, Momoshiki, and Urashiki all possess the ability to use the Rinnegan, which coincides with them possessing two horns. Then you have Isshiki and Kinshiki, who do not have the ability to use the Rinnegan and only possess a singular horn.

This somewhat implies that the power and abilities of an Ōtsutsuki are also tied to the horns they possess. This also raises an important question: why doesn’t Boruto possess the abilities of Momoshiki, nor has it been confirmed whether Boruto has the strength of Fused Momoshiki or Base Momoshiki?

I believe I’ve found the answer to both of these questions, as they are somewhat intertwined. In any story or medium, there’s always a source from which a character draws their power. Better yet, there’s always a place where that power is stored. Generally, that place would be the body itself, which means destroying the body would also destroy the source of that power.

As we’ve seen in Naruto, losing a body part can weaken you to some degree. This is because chakra is generated by combining mental and physical energy gained from every cell in the body. So, what if the Ōtsutsuki also abide by that concept to some degree, where the power they receive is stored in their horns?

I came to this conclusion after noticing a consistent pattern: the Ōtsutsuki’s horns grow bigger as they attain more power. This was first seen when Kaguya consumed the Chakra Fruit. Initially, Kaguya lacked the power to defend herself and didn’t have any horns, displaying abilities only through her Byakugan. After consuming the mature Chakra Fruit—a combination of the Ten-Tails’ power, planetary chakra, and the sacrificed Ōtsutsuki—she gained two horns and the ability to use the Rinnesharingan.

We saw something similar with Urashiki. After consuming his own Rinnegan, his horns also extended, similar to Kaguya’s. This reinforces the idea that power is stored in different sections of the body. This makes sense because, as explained in Naruto, the Rinnegan supplies chakra and power to its user. This was confirmed by Obito during the Fourth Great Ninja War.

In essence, Urashiki consumed the power stored within his own Rinnegan, along with the genetic data it carried, resulting in a sudden rush of energy throughout his body and causing his evolution. This shows that the Rinnegan stores power that isn’t found elsewhere in the body. The same applies to the Sharingan and Byakugan, which not only grant unique abilities but also offer varying levels of chakra boosts depending on their evolution stages.

For example:

• Shisui stated that using the Mangekyō Sharingan provides significantly more chakra than a regular Sharingan.
• Sasuke noted feeling Itachi’s power flowing into him after implanting his eyes.

This means that even if a dōjutsu is part of your body, the power you can draw from it depends on the active level. It’s similar to how Goku transitions between Super Saiyan 1, 2, and 3 to access different levels of power stored within himself.

Now, returning to Momoshiki, a similar transformation occurred when he consumed Kinshiki’s genetic data and power. His horns grew exponentially in both character iterations. This correlation suggests that increased power leads to increased horn size. However, this doesn’t mean Fused Momoshiki is stronger than Isshiki simply because his horns are bigger. Instead, it highlights the individual correlation between horn size and power levels.

This leads to three possibilities:

1. Horn size increase is purely aesthetic and has no meaning in the story.
2. Horn size grows with power, but the power isn’t stored in the horn.
3. Horn size grows with power, and the power is stored in the horn itself.

I believe the third option is correct, based on evidence and Momoshiki’s death. As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog, it makes perfect sense for Boruto Uzumaki to possess the powers and abilities of Fused Momoshiki since the Karma seal allows Ōtsutsuki to transfer both their consciousness and accumulated power into a new vessel. This allows for resurrection while retaining their strength.

This was confirmed in Chapter 75 of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, where it’s revealed that Shibai Ōtsutsuki underwent multiple Karmic Resurrections and became so powerful he likely ascended to a higher plane of existence. This proves that power is retained and transferred to the new vessel, which should have been the case for Boruto.

However, my hypothesis is that Fused Momoshiki’s power and abilities weren’t transferred because his horns were destroyed before he implanted the Karma seal. In the anime continuity, his horns are vaporized before he implants Karma. Similarly, in the Boruto manga, his body is erased before the Karma implantation scene occurs.

Now, you could actually argue that Momoshiki implanted the Karma seed before dying but chose to present himself to Boruto at that point in time. This would be plausible since, as shown in the anime, he only did it after his horns were destroyed. So, what if this is the actual reason why Momoshiki appears in his base form post-death?

Although we didn’t see it on screen, what if, in that instant before implanting the Karma seal, Momoshiki reverted back to his base form after his horns were destroyed, thus causing him to lose the amplification gained from Kinshiki’s power? This would explain why Momoshiki’s horns are shown as destroyed post-death. His horns grew because of the power increase he received from Kinshiki, so when Boruto’s Rasengan vaporized those extended horns, it also damaged the original.

Since the Ōtsutsuki seal is essentially a backup of the Ōtsutsuki, it can only take a “screenshot” of what is currently there—not what was there before. Thus, the version of Momoshiki copied over was the one with the damaged horns, reverted back to his base form.

Now, a possible counter to this—because I like to propose counters to my arguments and then discuss them—is that Momoshiki appears in his base form because that is his true spiritual essence. While Boruto may have the genetic power of Fused Momoshiki, his spirit would still present itself in its original state.

While this does make sense, there’s one problem: this version of Momoshiki displayed the damaged horns from the fight against Boruto. As you, the reader, know, base Momoshiki’s true form shows two medium-sized horns that protrude and curl toward his face. The new, spiritual form of Momoshiki shows the top half of these horns destroyed, which lines up with what happened when he was hit with Boruto’s Rasengan.

If post-death Momoshiki was just his true form, why would he have the destroyed horns and not the original ones? It doesn’t make sense. Now, you could argue that the destroyed horns Momoshiki is the original, but considering the scene showing the horns being reduced to that level pre-death, and then him emerging with those changes post-death, the more likely interpretation is that this isn’t Momoshiki’s true spiritual form. Rather, it’s the form he took before dying.

Some might still say this is Fused Momoshiki, but that doesn’t make sense either since he looks nothing like Fused Momoshiki. For instance:

• His horns have reverted to the base Momoshiki design.
• His Byakugans are no longer golden, neither in his spiritual form nor when he takes over Boruto’s body.
• He doesn’t have the black markings on his skin.
• Even his clothing reverted to the base Momoshiki design.

There’s also the argument about Momoshiki’s hair. Some believe that since his hair is long, he must be Fused Momoshiki. However, Momoshiki always had long hair—it was just held up by clips. Post-death, he simply doesn’t have those clips anymore. It’s similar to how Goku merges with Vegeta and gains new clothing, but once they separate, their original clothing returns. Likewise, when Madara absorbed the Ten-Tails and gained new “drip,” he lost it once the power was removed.

Everything points to Momoshiki not having the power he had before. The only explanation that makes sense is if the horns theory is correct.

Another interesting scene that supplements this theory is when Momoshiki said, “Wait! No! Don’t do it!” Why was Momoshiki so terrified at the prospect of Boruto breaking off his horn? It’s not just about him regaining control of his body; it also seems like it would negatively affect him in some way.

As you can see, the horns never returned. Again, it seems that the power is concentrated in that area to some degree. What’s also weird is that, before Boruto broke the horn, he said he felt like it would help. Why would Boruto feel that way? It’s almost as if he subconsciously sensed the power concentrated in that area.

Now, you might be wondering why Boruto’s horn looks different from Fused Momoshiki’s or base Momoshiki’s. One possible explanation is that Boruto’s horn design was influenced by Shibai’s DNA. It could also be that Toneri did something to Boruto, as mentioned in the novels. Alternatively, it could be because Boruto is Shibai’s reincarnation, as explained, or a combination of all the Ōtsutsuki DNA within his body—Kaguya, Momoshiki, and Kinshiki.

Lastly, I found one more interesting observation that supplements this theory. Kinshiki’s power and speed seemingly decreased after losing a piece of his horn to Sasuke. Before this, he casually used lightning release to amplify his speed and strength in a fight. However, after losing a portion of his horn, he no longer used this technique, even though it was mentioned in the novels that he could amplify the strength of his mos fibers to greatly increase his speed and strength.

Kinshiki was also furious at Sasuke for breaking his horn, which may imply its importance. While this may seem contrived, we can’t just ignore all the evidence pointing to this theory, no matter how ridiculous it might seem. Yes, if this is true, it would make the Ōtsutsuki very vulnerable to losing the power they acquired. However, it also makes sense, as there must be some consequence to acquiring such immense power.

Perhaps it’s just a biological defect where the Ōtsutsuki can only back up what is currently present.

So, how did Isshiki resurrect in his full form after implanting a Karma seal when his lower half was destroyed? The answer is somewhat simple. As explained by Amado, the Karma seal works by first converting the Ōtsutsuki into data, replicating them, and implanting that data into a host body.

In Isshiki’s case, he wasn’t strong enough to implant the Karma seal into Jigen initially, which is why he fed off Jigen’s nutrients until he had enough energy. It’s likely that Isshiki created a Karma seal before his lower half was destroyed but lacked the energy to take over a body. Hence, he used Jigen as a vessel until he could fully implant Karma.

A counterargument to this is that Isshiki should’ve been able to create a full copy of himself, even with a destroyed body, based on the memory within his DNA. However, we know this isn’t the case because Momoshiki’s full horn never returned post-death. Thus, the Karma seal only backs up the data present at the time of its creation.

In conclusion, Boruto doesn’t have the powers or abilities of Fused Momoshiki because Momoshiki lost that power before he was able to back up the data into Karma and implant it into Boruto. In contrast, Kawaki has access to Isshiki’s full abilities because Isshiki implanted his Karma and extracted his data before dying.