'Boruto' Debuts a 'Naruto' Dream Team

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations just launched episode 64, which is appropriately titled "Rescue Naruto!", and during that epic rescue mission, we got to see one of the biggest dream teams in the Naruto saga take to the battlefield!

The episode saw Sasuke lead his rescue squad of Boruto and the Five Kages (minus Naruto, of course) into the realm where Momoshiki and Kinshiki Otsutsuki are imprisoning Naruto, while slowly siphoning Nine-Tails chakra from his body. The Sasuke rescue squad makes quite an entrance, warping in via Sasuke's Rinnegan, while Boruto and Gaara cut Naruto free. After an emotional father/son reunion, the full rescue squad (including Naruto) throws down with the Otsutsuki clan.

Boruto is the one who calls out the weakness of Momoshiki: like the scientific ninja tool Boruto used to cheat his way through the Chunin Exams, Momoshiki's chakra absorption are a crutch, masking the lack of training and endurance that shinobi go through to earn their jutsu skills. So while Momoshiki can turn their own justsus against them, there's little the villains can do against the ninjas' brute force attacks. However, just when victory seemed within grasp, Momoshiki and Kinshiki reveal a unique method of Otsutsuki fusion that results in a bigger threat than anyone could've anticipated.

Seeing all five hidden village leaders standing together, along with Sasuke, is a major milestone moment for fans who have been with the Naruto franchise since the beginning. It's an equally exciting prospect to see Boruto stepping up alongside the greatest shinobi around, and still holding his own (so far). For fans who have complained that Naruto's kid is an annoying brat, this could be a major heel-turn moment - one which helps lay foundation for Boruto's transformation into the hardened shinobi we met in the first scene of the series.

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 and profits, coming third in sales and fifth and profits. The anime has been such a success that the Naruto franchise as a whole stills holds a top spot in many anime profits rankings as well. The series even managed to cross 235 million copies of the manga sold worldwide. Boruto: Naruto Next Generations was even given a major bump of approval as it just took over a more familiar timeslot, airing in the same time and day that its predecessor Naruto: Shippuden once did.