'Naruto' Teases the True Villain Goal Behind 'Boruto's Mitsuki Arc

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS!

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations' latest episode, "Infiltrating the Hidden Stone Village", has Naruto fans up in arms, as it revealed that the fan-fav geriatric shinobi leader Lord Onoki is actually the main villain behind the evil forces at work in the anime's "Mitsuki Arc".

Well, in the midst of the massive reaction from Naruto fans over this big twist in Onoki's character is a one big point of consensus: Boruto better have one hell of an explanation for this one! The shock of a reveal is one thing, but actually making such a big character turn stick is quite another - which is why Boruto fans are already connecting the dots for hints as to what 'Evil Onoki's intentions are all about!

Here's what fans on Reddit are coming up with:

"Ironically, Boruto was right when he said Onoki was their only lead. Onoki was behind it all! I was right, Ku is Onoki's son after all. Possibly even Kozuchi's father. Let's see if my theory of them trying to revive Kozuchi actually comes through. 😂" -- ZJLord

"man i really hope that theory is true. i was worried that we would get the generic "world domination" motive or something like that, with lord ku. trying to revive kozuchi is a much better sounding plot and has more emotional weight" --xj23z

"I sh*t I think I found out what's going to happen. They are going to use mitsuki to try to recreate kozuchi as an akuta to be as humanly as they possibly can." --Obility

"It's definitely this. Ku and Ohnoki are probably consumed by grief and Ohnoki wants to see Kozuchi again before he dies" --Jlavi25

"Ku tries to resurrect him using Mitsuki, but it all goes horribly wrong thanks to mitsuki's wacky DNA and the experiment turns into a artificial tailed beast" --N7Greenfire

Most Naruto fans agree that somehow resurrecting Onoki's grandson / Ku's son Kozuchi seems like the most likely motivation for the two Hidden Stone shinobi's drastic actions. Onoki already revealed a deep wound that could easily be poisoned by grief and ambition, when he first met Boruto in episode 71 and recounted the loss of his grandson:

"Even i the Five Great Nations have a strong union... sometimes you cannot protect a life. That is a reality."

It seemed, at the time, as though Onoki had accepted such cruel turns of fate - but clearly the old man's sense of injustice in this supposed time of peace and prosperity in the shinobi world was something he could not reconcile.

The Akuta are an artificial lifeform that can be molded into humanoids like Kokuyo, Sekiei, Kirara and Kako - but their lifespans are not stable or long. However, with Mitsuki and his artificial human brethren, Orochimaru has created the most sophisticated and powerful artificial life we've seen thus far in the Naruto universe, and with that knowledge, Ku and Onoki may be able to indeed bring Kozuchi back from the dead.

However, Boruto fans are pointing out that such an attempt is already being set up to spell a tragic end for Mitsuki:

"The only thing that's problematic about that theory would be the fact that earlier in this arc Orochimaru confirmed that if anyone looks into Mitsuki's body for information, a curse marks within Mitsuki's body will go off and kill him." --KDG_Fries

Catch Boruto streaming weekly on Crunchroll and Hulu - and the English Dub Saturdays on Toonami.