'Naruto' Reveals Kawaki's Horrifying Origins

Unfortunately, shonen manga is not the place to go if you are looking for happy, healthy childhoods. Over the years, the medium has learned to hit its young leads with an angst stick, and it seems Boruto is continuing the trend with one unlucky character.

So, if you were hoping Kawaki had a happier origin story than expected, it is time you gave up that dream.

Thanks to Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, fans got a big update on Kawaki thanks to its manga. The series has a brand-new chapter coming out, and reports have gone live on the issue. As it turns out, Kawaki shares a big piece of his past with Boruto Uzumaki in chapter 27, and it is far from happy.

After a terse argument, Kawaki offers up a piece of his past when Boruto questions the boy on how he got his Kama mark. A flashback proceeds, and it sees Kawaki stripped naked as he floats in a container high above a laboratory. Below the boy, he can see several failed experiments surrounded by a dark liquid, and Kara members like Jigen are going around the area.

As it turns out, each of the experiments which failed were once a person. Kara is doing human experiments to create a vessel for some unknown power, and Kawaki has become one of those human guinea pigs. To his horror, he watches as Jigen activates his own Kama seal to test a boy floating next to him, and Kawaki watches the boy die helplessly.

"After that, it was my turn," the boy explains. "Pain ran throughout my entire body, and while my consciousness was fading, I resigned myself to death. But for some reason, I survived. When I opened my eyes, this 'Kama' thingn had been engraved on to me."

As Kawaki goes on to explain, his main goal in life is to rid himself of the mark Jigen bestowed upon him. For the boy, such a removal will give him freedom from his past and Kara's control over him. Still, Jigen will not be so easily convinced to leave his organization's vessel to the Leaf Village, so Kawaki knows it is only a matter of time before he's forced to confront his history once more.

So, did you expect this kind of history to be following Kawaki around? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump for 700 chapters. The story follows 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.