'Boruto' Has Jokes About How Long the 'Naruto' Series Is

The latest episode of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations saw Boruto team up with Sasuke and an elite team of the Five Kages to storm the lair of Momoshiki and Kinshiki Otsutsuki, in order to rescue Naruto from capture. That mission resulted in an emotional reunion between Naruto and Boruto, as both father and son had gained important insight into where they went wrong in developing the proper father/son bond.

In taking responsibility for failing to be the best father he could be, Naruto listens to Boruto's request for how to fix things, going forward. The young Uzumaki wants his father to share stories of his own past follies and failures when Boruto screws up, rather than lecture him. Upon hearing that request, Naruto gives the following response, which pokes fun at the entire Naruto saga:

"Boruto: When you have time, instead of lecturing me, I want you to tell me stories from your past.

Naruto: Okay. But are you sure about that?

Bourto: Huh?

Naruto: It's a really long story!"

[Both Laugh]

In case you don't get the joke: When you count Naruto vol. I (the Naruto anime), Naruto vol. II (Naruto: Shippuden), Boruto, and all of the movies / auxiliary content, the total Naruto saga is indeed one of the longer stories in the anime/mana genres. It stars when Naruto Uzumaki is just a rascally little boy with dreams of becoming the Hokage, and follows him through his maturation to adult, and finally achieving that dream. Along the way, Naruto takes a winding path through forging lifelong friendsips, learning techniques that will make him one of the most powerful ninjas alive - and of course, fighting in a bloody and harrowing Shinobi World War, or two.

If Naruto were to sit down and just tell Boruto the tales of his misdeeds and screw ups, the young shinobi would still be sittling there listening more than a week later! If anything, this moment in Boruto opens the door for a possiblity that would be a cool right of passage for Naruto:

In the Naruto series, the hero's very name comes from a character in the novel series written by his mentor Jiraiya, titled "Tales of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi". The stories of that book helped inspire Naruto to become the heroic shinobi that he is, and given his own travels and feats of heroism, it would be fitting if Naruto wrote his own adventures and life lessons into a sereis of books, as well. Jiraiya's work still affected the world and inspired ninja after his death, so if (when?) we get to the tragic loss of Naruto in Boruto's story, a series of novels by Naruto would be a cool way for father and son to still connect, and for Naruto to fulfill the promise we see him make to Boruto in this latest episode.

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. The series recently made TV Tokyo's list of Top 5 Anime in sales. Overall, the Naruto saga has managed to cross 235 million copies of the manga sold worldwide.

The next episode of Boruto will be delayed a bit, but then the series should be airing regularly on Crunchyroll and Hulu.