'Boruto' Reveals Its Own Terminator Villain

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations may have only made Team 7 official for a few episodes in the anime series as of now, but the manga version of the series is knee deep in major shinobi battles.

It's been leading further and further into the next arc of the series with a major villainous group waiting in the wings, and their use of dangerous ninja technology to make them an even more fierce threat. Especially when it comes to Ao, who's become more ninja technology than man. Boruto's take on a Terminator, basically.

The previous chapter of the manga had Konohamaru, Boruto, Sarada, Mitsuki, and Katasuke hiding out in a cave from ninja tool robots as Ao, a ninja who lost many of his limbs in the previous Ninja War, held them at gunpoint with a gatling gun. He held them down with a hail of gunfire until Konohamaru and Katasuke were able to take him by surprise and destroy it.

But Ao remains unfased, and reveals two small cannons he has built into his chest. Vowing to kill all of them since they will not reveal the information Konohamaru is holding onto, he would have been successful if not for a last ditch, sacrificial effort from Mugino. This wasn't originally meant to be a life sacrificing attack, as Mugino meant to just hold him down, but Ao revealed a chakra sword that he had built into his arm.

Though this pierces Mugino's chest, Mugino uses his jutsu to cause a cave-in and this allows Konohamaru and Team 7 to escape. But because Ao is mostly made of machinery at this point, he manages to rise out of the caved in rubble unscathed.

At the end of the chapter, Boruto and the rest of Team 7 vow to fight Ao again, but this time utilizing specialized ninja tools such as the chakra sword. Whether or not this will be any more effective against the mostly mechanical Ao is still in question, but fans are hopeful.

For those unfamiliar with Boruto's predecessor Naruto, it has quite a storied history. Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto, the series ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump for 700 chapters. The story follows Naruto, a young ninja with a sealed demon within him that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and featuring the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.