The Divine Will of Shibai Ōtsutsuki and Boruto’s Path to Unlocking the Jougan

Boruto’s Jougan Awakening: Shibai Ōtsutsuki’s Divine Will Revealed

Imagine an immortal Deity who spent centuries devouring planets to become omnipotent. What possible reason could compel such an entity to protect a mortal child from dying? Is it due to the intriguing rebirth of fate or a unique role that can only be fulfilled by a select few? That’s what we are about to discover in Boruto’s divine quest to unlock the Jougan.

After analyzing my previous series on the Purai and how Boruto is supposed to unlock it, I decided to think outside the box. This required me to collect all the main clues hinting at the biggest reveal of the story. The common hints are bridges that I found, connecting Boruto to this unique Dojutsu of Shibai Ōtsutsuki, the god of the Ōtsutsuki. These hints include Toneri’s prophecy, Urashiki’s concern, and the anime’s final episode, which confirms the sign.

We already know that Shibai, the god of the Ōtsutsuki, had his DNA used to upgrade Amado’s cyborg. He must have been pulling all the strings behind the scenes with his omnipotence. In Chapter 13, it becomes clear that Shibai is intervening in Boruto’s life to protect him from being killed, and the Jougan serves as proof of his connection to the prodigy.

You might ask how confident I am that the Jougan is the eye of Shibai if there has been no explicit confirmation. While the Otsutsuki God panel with a clever color palette in the anime isn’t enough to confirm the connection, take a closer look at Eida and Daemon. They are modified with Shibai’s cells, showing crescent and half-moon-shaped eyes, while the Jougan represents the full moon. This could mean that Boruto’s special eye belongs to Shibai and could be regarded as an enhanced Shinjutsu — a one-of-a-kind, divine technique accessible only to the Ōtsutsuki.

Now, we have a major key to the Jougan mystery: a Shinjutsu, a divine power that only the Ōtsutsuki can unlock. For a human to inherit such power, they would need contact with Ōtsutsuki cells, similar to how Kawaki unlocked the Kokugan and Eida received a Rasengan. There must have been a trigger for Boruto’s Jougan awakening. For both Eida and Kawaki, the cells of Shibai and Isshiki served as a trigger for activating their ocular powers. But how could Boruto unlock the Jougan without direct contact with divine material?

He did. During a fight, Mitsuki used the blood of a cyborg to create antibodies, which were later transferred to Boruto. This could have been a deliberate setup to expose Boruto to the DNA of a deity. It’s possible that Boruto was also modified with Shibai’s cells, a detail that must be significant; otherwise, it would be irrelevant. This is a fundamental principle of Chekhov’s gun, which says every element in a story should serve a purpose. Essentially, if a writer introduces a gun in the first scene, it must be used by the end. So, the detail about Boruto’s connection to Shinjutsu and his “death” could be setting up his realization that he has Shibai’s DNA in his body.

While Boruto may not be able to confirm this himself, a source to contact Momoshiki or even his future self could clarify what’s happening inside him. Now that we know Shibai orchestrated Boruto’s attainment of divine DNA, things could take a multiversal turn in unexpected ways. The introduction of the prescience ability has unlocked numerous possibilities for the story’s future. One theory, discussed in an older blog, explores the likelihood of the anime and manga existing in different timelines. But my new theory will subtly support this while merging the two epically.

Remember, Toneri Ōtsutsuki once said Boruto would shoulder the fate of this world, and his eye would guide him to dispel darkness. How exactly was this prophecy conveyed to Boruto? It was likely through prescience — the power to foresee dimensions where various futures unfold. Toneri must have foreseen a future where Boruto uses the Jougan to defeat the main villain. However, the manga’s absence of Toneri and the Jougan makes this confusing. Why wasn’t such a critical plot device revealed in the manga despite being prominent in the anime?

What if Toneri foresaw a future through prescience that takes place in the manga timeline? This would explain how he could tell Boruto about his unique power.

In other words, Toneri from the anime timeline used prescience to see into the manga’s timeline, where Boruto awakens the Jougan at a later point. But here’s a twist: instead of assuming that anime Boruto was already aware of the Jougan (hence why this Dojutsu kept appearing in his right eye now and then), what if the Jougan has its consciousness? This would mean Boruto has this power in the anime and not in the manga because Boruto is the prime source of the Jougan that Toneri saw. Boruto would likely unlock this power once the Shibai cells activate in his body. Still, the anime version of Boruto has this power regardless, which is why he’s seen with this Dojutsu early in the story.

The subconscious attribute of the Pure Eye could also work cleverly. Every Jougan activation in the anime could be this eye working independently, protecting Boruto from situations that don’t occur in other timelines. This explains the anime-only events and why they never appear in the manga — Boruto’s Pure Eye is a guiding force, protecting him from challenges he otherwise couldn’t handle easily. This eye’s unexpected appearance in the anime proves its independent function.

Before we dive into the mechanism behind this living Dojutsu, let’s examine some crucial hints from the manga that support this alternate timeline theory. I’ve already read two dedicated articles on this plot point, so I’ll break it down briefly. To prevent a grandfather paradox in the story, there must be a future version of Boruto who has become entirely self-made, acquiring all-powerful abilities like the Uzuhikoand Flying Thunder God on his own. Kashin Koji peeks into the future to access techniques he then teaches the present-day Boruto, who was meant to learn these abilities in the future.

Let’s apply this same scenario to Toneri and the anime Boruto. Because manga Boruto will eventually unlock the Pure Eye, Toneri was able to prophesy it, which also awakened this eye in the past due to its consciousness. Now that we understand the essence of Toneri’s prophecy and how his absence in Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga makes sense, let’s talk about the actual awakening of this pure power. How will Boruto access this Shinjutsu?

The answer may also lie in the anime. Toneri provoked an emotion in Boruto that caused the eye to appear — hope. By looking at how Amado’s cyborgs unlock their Shinjutsu, the criteria for Shinjutsu’s awakening becomes clear. Essentially, a strong emotion must be aroused in the wielder of Shibai’s cells to manifest the power of the Ōtsutsuki God. For Eida, her love for Kawaki activated her divine Omnipotence, perhaps manifesting as her charm and desire to be truly loved. Daemon’s power may have emerged from a situation where he felt helpless, possibly against a frog that could have harmed his sister, explaining his ability to reflect all attacks and his need to hold someone’s hand to activate this power — a symbol of closure and protection. Kashin Koji also faced a life-threatening moment where he assumed his destiny was ending, only for the Shinjutsu of Prescience to awaken, extending his fate.

The same could happen for Boruto. When he finds himself in an extremely desperate situation, the emotion of hope could manifest as the Jougan in his right eye, thanks to the Shibai cells that Mitsuki transplanted into his body.

Now that we know the Jougan’s awakening in not just one but two different timelines let’s understand the divine will that has guided Boruto so far. As I mentioned, Shibai Ōtsutsuki must have a hidden motive or secret purpose behind protecting a “man-child” like Boruto. He’s keeping him around for a greater purpose; this is where the Jougan could again play a major role. It’s as if Shibai chose Boruto to wield this power, and my explanation is quite logical.

Remember how Kashin Koji said whether a cyborg unlocks a divine power is purely based on luck? But what if it’s not luck but rather Shibai himself? That’s right — the Ōtsutsuki god is connected to the entire universe through chakra. Since his corpse was a vital part of his life as a mortal, he would know how his essence was being used. Assuming he needs to preserve Boruto until the end for a greater purpose, I believe he placed all the cyborgs in specific situations so that their activation of a certain Shinjutsu would create a ripple effect, ultimately impacting Boruto’s life meaningfully.

This theory explains why the cyborgs unlock their respective Shinjutsu and why none would be compatible with each other’s divine powers. It was all part of Shibai Ōtsutsuki’s plan — he kept the main Shinjutsu, the Jougan, reserved for Boruto. As for how the concept of the conscious eye could play out in Boruto and Shibai’s relationship, the Jougan might be the only benevolent element in Boruto’s life, enabling him to transcend the misery of his destiny. Think of it as Shibai helping Borutowithout revealing that he’s the Ōtsutsuki god, similar to how Kashin Kojicovertly influences Koji’s actions.

The setup of Shibai and the Jougan has already been teased in subtle ways, and it would be fascinating to see how the story eventually reaches this point. If this power, as predicted by Toneri, actually guides Boruto in dispelling the upcoming darkness, it could connect him directly to Shibai Ōtsutsuki’s thoughts. Given the Jougan’s potential connection to ultimate consciousness, it wouldn’t be surprising if it sent Boruto signals from Shibai, directing him on what he should do next.

Before concluding, here’s an interesting perspective on how the Shibai plot could unfold: imagine this Ōtsutsuki god as a “Sixth Path” for Boruto, someone who might soon provide his essence to the prodigy, awakening the Pure Eye. This would be similar to how Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki appeared before Sasuke, summoning him through Indra’s essence to impart the Six Paths Chakra, which gave Sasuke the unique Ōtsutsuki power of the Rinnegan.