Warning: Spoilers Ahead for Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter #34!

In the final hours of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Naruto Uzumaki and the rest of Team 7 narrowly defeated Kaguya Otsutsuki, preventing their world from meeting a horrific fate under the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Their victory soon initiated a long period of peace and progress touted by the five great shinobi nations and their particular villages. But the Otsutsuki threat and the menacing power of the Ten-Tails never quite disappeared entirely, with entirely new, insidious dangers lurking around by the time of Naruto’s latest sequel, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex.

Faced with the Otsutsuki and bizarre truths about their alien origins, Boruto Uzumaki and his generation of young shinobi have frequently joined forces with Konoha’s greatest, but this hasn’t guaranteed victory against their greatest foes yet. Sasuke Uchiha was infamously captured by the final remaining Inner of Kara, Code, with the aid of his Claw Grimes, twisting themselves into adapting his chakra template into a sentient Divine Tree, Hidari. While the task was always simply to defeat Hidari, retrieve his Thorn Soul Bulb, and free Sasuke from his imprisonment, a dark new development in Boruto: Two Blue Vortex genuinely puts Sasuke’s life in danger.

Naruto’s Most Controversial Teammate Is In Danger In The Next Boruto Anime

Sasuke quickly explored dark territory in his quest for vengeance, from Itachi, to Danzo Shimura, to eventually all of Konoha, until Naruto finally got through to him in the end. He’s controversial in terms of his callous disregard for even his teammates’ life in the case of Karin Uzumaki, and his horrible treatment of Sakura Haruno in the past. While certain side stories have demonstrated Sasuke’s growth as a surprisingly charming romantic partner, Boruto did a lot of heavy lifting in rehabilitating his image as Naruto’s Supporting Shadow. But now, as Boruto: Two Blue Vortex reveals that Thorn Soul Bulbs eventually rot once exposed, Sasuke’s redemption may not stop a cruel fate.

This is seen in Boruto: Two Blue Vortex chapter #34, where Boruto and the team have acquired Mamushi’s Thorn Soul Bulb, and Boruto confirms to Kawaki that even a few minutes without either freeing Bug or the Divine Trees recovering it, the Bulb will rot. It means whoever that Divine Tree is modeled on will die. Naturally, Sasuke is among the first characters captured, being the template for Hidari. It creates a much more dangerous undertone to the time Hidari was destroyed, leaving his Thorn Soul Bulb behind; if too much time had passed before its retrieval, Sasuke would have died. Instead, Hidari was restored in chapter #13, but this might not be what happens next time.

This added twist to the Thorn Soul Bulb means that defeating Hidari, and indeed any other emerging Divine Trees, has to be handled with absolute care, with the immediate freedom of Sasuke and others hypothetically trapped being the top priority. Given Code’s appearance near Bug’s captive body, Boruto bided his time, callously allowing Bug to die once the Thorn Soul Bulb rotted away from too much time passing. But even given Sasuke’s highly controversial past to Konoha, he now has a wife and daughter; letting him die simply isn’t an option for his protégé, Boruto, especially after he has the image of Bug’s soul burning out freshly-seared into his brain.

Saving Sasuke Will Need Careful Strategy Once Again

If Boruto: Two Blue Vortex’s most recent chapters have proven anything, it’s that Mikio Ikemoto and Masashi Kishimoto have been great at implementing the strategic aspects of Naruto into the new sequel. The new Boruto manga has now presented the most tangible manifestation of a human soul, with the horrifying notion of them expiring if exposed for too long. But these same Thorn Soul Bulbs are introduced to a cast of characters increasingly equipped to solve this problem.

One approach is rather simplistic, in that Boruto can use his Flying Raijin Technique to reach Sasuke once he gets Hidari’s Thorn Soul Bulb. Given Boruto’s hasty retreat only to reappear at Sasuke’s incapacitated body in Boruto: Two Blue Vortex chapter #4, there’s a strong possibility one of his marked metal objects is at or near this site. This would allow for a quick unsealing of Sasuke once the opportunity arises.

Another solution propelled by fan theories would make use of an underexposed technique in the Boruto world: Kawaki’s Daikokuten, which operates outside the boundaries of time. This would hypothetically allow Sasuke’s soul not to expire until it’s safe to bring out again. This scenario is unlikely, but technically a logical answer to a real problem facing Boruto’s allies.

A third solution in freeing Sasuke, while perhaps less appealing in the long term but more immediately satisfying for the fans, is to dispatch all enemies, including Code, Jura, and Hidari, removing all obstacles to safely freeing Sasuke. This is obviously the least likely scenario, especially since the latest developments have proven that the unique problem-solving used even by Inojin Yamanaka is the answer to defeating some truly unpredictable enemies. But with Sasuke’s life now firmly in danger in Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, it’s also entirely reasonable for its stars to begin getting desperate, unless Koji’s Prescience leads to a truly unprecedented solution.

• 

  First Film

  Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow

  Latest Film

  Boruto: Naruto the Movie

  First TV Show

  Naruto

  Latest TV Show

  Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

  First Episode Air Date

  
  October 3, 2002
  

  Cast

  Junko Takeuchi, Maile Flanagan, Noriaki Sugiyama, Chie Nakamura, Kazuhiko Inoue, Nana Mizuki, Hideo Ishikawa, Yûko Sanpei

  Naruto is a franchise spawned from the manga series penned by Masashi Kishimoto that began in 1999. Generating several tv series, games, movies, and more, Naruto follows the exploits of a young outcast ninja harboring the spirit of a demon fox who seeks to become the Hokage, the leader of his ninja village, to break the stigma against him. Upon the conclusion of the initial series, Naruto expanded into Boruto, following many series protagonists’ children and returning faces.

  
  

• 

  Writer

  Masashi Kishimoto

  Writers

  Masashi Kishimoto

  Penciler(s)

  Mikio Ikemoto

  Inker(s)

  Mikio Ikemoto

  Colorist(s)

  Mikio Ikemoto

  Publisher(s)

  Viz Media

  Years after fleeing his village with Sasuke, Boruto returns to confront the dark changes that have occurred. With memories altered and Kawaki now seen as the hero, Boruto faces a world where he is the outcast. The two rivals must settle their differences as their Otsutsuki powers grow more dangerous.