“I never thought you’d make it this far, Kawaki!”, it says Boruto in the first episode of the anime that bears the name of the son of Naruto. In response, Kawaki threatens the main character saying, “I’m going to send him to the same place I sent the Seventh Hokage, Boruto. “
This tiny dialogue was enough for fans all over the world to reach the not-so-surreal conclusion that Kawaki, the new villain, killed Naruto. However, the manga’s most recent chapter gives us a hint that this opening actually served only to confuse viewers. Spoilers from the manga below.
We know that Kawaki’s development in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, for now, indicates that the apparent final antagonist of the series loves Naruto like a father. He always refers to the Seventh Hokage with great respect and admiration, putting the Konoha leader’s safety above life itself.
After all, what sort of event could distort that devotion to the point where Kawaki killed Boruto’s father? Our theory is that it will never happen at all. The supposed villain will actually become overprotective and will likely end up sealing Naruto for “his own good”.
The title of chapter 61 of Boruto, “Madness”, is intriguing to say the least. Whose madness? What character is so out of it? Could it be Code, who wants to avenge the death of an Otsutsuki, people he considers divine? Could it be Amado, who could be up to something terrible? Or… Was it Kawaki?
During a dialogue between Amado and Shikamaru, the scientist even says that Kawaki surprised him. He didn’t expect the boy to get so close to Naruto. The beloved himself goes so far as to say, “This is human love. From another perspective… It sounds crazy. In fact, there is no clear line separating the two.
Shikamaru doesn’t take Amado’s reflection very seriously. However, Amado does not appear to be lying. If it’s true and Kawaki is freaking out under the pressure of not knowing when Code will arrive in Konoha to kill Naruto, since the Hokage is everything to him, maybe that will lead the future antagonist to face Naruto to protect him.
In the manga, Kawaki had already said that he still had a secret weapon to protect the Seventh Hokage. However, there was never any explanation as to what this letter in the manga would be. Many may think that he meant accepting Karma back, but perhaps it goes beyond that.
Considering that Kawaki knows he doesn’t stand a chance against Code, it doesn’t make sense that he ran away from Vila da Folha to face the last member of Kara. Assuming the two meet in the next chapter of the manga, which is extremely likely, there are two possible outcomes: Kawaki will be beaten or Kawaki will pretend to change sides.
If Kawaki is convincing enough, he can attack Konoha along with Code and fight Naruto in place of the story’s villain. Thus, he will be able to seal Naruto in another dimension (something that happens frequently in history) and avoid any damage to the Seventh Hokage. If Konoha’s destruction is the price to pay, Kawaki probably won’t care. He loves Naruto more than anything else.
Distorted love seems a more plausible path to Kawaki’s transformation into an antagonist than any genuine hatred for Boruto’s father. And even if he doesn’t join Code in the next chapter, something bad is likely to happen. Perhaps a resounding defeat at Code’s hands will cause Kawaki to accept Karma back and put him on the wrong path forever. We have no way of knowing, for now.
To read the Boruto chapters in real time, download Manga Plus on your cell phone or access it on your computer. It is an official Shueisha app, with translation from Japanese to English, Spanish and Portuguese (in some specific cases). The next chapter of Boruto will be released on September 18th.
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