‘Naruto’ Is Setting Boruto up for a Big Battle With Gaara’s Son

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is now full-swing into this new generation of Chunin Exams, and the clear fighter to beat is Gaara’s adopted son, Shinki! The latest episode of Boruto (“Boruto vs. Shikadai”) saw Shinki put the full power of his iron sands jutsu on display, and some new Boruto episode spoilers have revealed that Boruto and co. are about to have an even bigger battle against Shinki!

Shinki just smacked down Cho-Cho almost effortlessly, despite the robust girl putting the full power of her own jutsu on display in their semi-finals match. As you can see above, Shinki will have to face off against Boruto and Sarada! While that’s an exciting prospect on its own, there is an ominous underpinning to this reveal – one that does not bode well Mitsuki.

As you can see in the preview above, the next round of the Chunin Exams will see Sarada taken on the mysterious Araya of the Hidden Sand, while Mitsuki will face Shinki himself. As we now know from these episode spoilers, only one of Boruto’s Team 7 partners will make it out of this next round. Mitsuki’s hidden powers were teased early on in the Chunin Exam Arc, so if Shinki defeats him, it’s either because

1. Shinki’s Iron Sand Justsu is even more powerful than anyone suspects.
2. Mitsuki backs down from revealing his true power, as his “father” Orochimaru instructed.

Either way, Mitsuki’s defeat could be either a serious blow to Boruto’s mindstate, or the inciting incident that makes the young ninja finally step up and truly earn his victory in the Chunin Exams – without resorting to using his Scientific Ninja Tool crutch.

Warning – Potential Spoilers Follow!

Naruto fans who saw the original Boruto movie already know that Boruto’s showdown with Shinki never gets to play out. When Naruto discovers that Boruto is using a cheat to win, he disqualifies his son and deems Shikadai the winner of their match. Soon after, the Otsutsuki Clan members who are hunting the Nine-Tails for their Chakra attack the exams, forcing Boruto, Naruto, Sasuke and even Shinki to battle to protect the all the guests and residents of Hidden Leaf.

Boruto airs new sub episodes weekly on Funimation and Hulu.