New 'Boruto' Preview Sets up a 'Naruto' Kage's Death

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is finally coming to the end of its lengthy "Mitsuki Disappearance Arc", and the preview for the storyline's finale is teasing some truly dire events that have yet to play out.

As you can see, the above preview for Boruto episode 91, "Onoki's Will", is setting the stage for a couple harrowing developments in this final showdown with evil artificial human, Lord Ku - including the potential death of a major Kage from the Naruto saga.

If you've been following the "Mitsuki Disappearance Arc" closely into its final phase detailing the 'Rise of the Fabrications,' then you've probably been expecting what this preview is once again teasing: that Onoki probably won't make it out of this arc alive!

The foreshadowing has been on the wall ever since Boruto was stranded alone with Onoki, so many episodes ago. The entire theme of the Hidden Stone arc has been the idea of discovering one's "will," aka the clarity of identity and purpose that helps a shinobi develop his/her power and technique as a warrior. What to fight for, or why, or who you love that inspires you to fight, have all been ideas this arc has explored in different ways, and at the center of it all, has been Onoki.

When it was first revealed that Onoki was the "villain" at the heart of the Fabrications plot, fans were in an uproar, but the tragic backstory of what pushed Onoki down this path, and his connection to Ku, has made the old Kage much more of a complicated figure in the larger Naruto saga. After seeing how Onoki is struggling with the idea of the new generation of Shinobi facing the threats of the world, it seems almost poetically ordained that he himself will die having to acknowledge that those youth can and will step up; and that old men like himself can no longer change the world or insulate the young people from darkness. After seeing the horrific destruction that Ku has unleashed upon Hidden Stone in the name of Onoki's vision, it would be hard for him *not* to learn that lesson.

If anything, it seems that Ku unleashing some Particle Style jutsu will force Onoki to counter that destructive attack - likely taking out himself and Ku in the process. The final episodes of this Mitsuki Arc have been littered with dramatic deaths, and we expect this final chapter will be no different.

Of course, it's not a must that Onoki die: the main themes of the Mitsuki arc still work just fine if the old master must destroy his "son" Ku, and learn a hard lesson in the process. The progression of Boruto, Mitsuki, and Hidden Stone genin Sekki in this latter part of the arc would prove to Onoki that the new generation of Shinobi is indeed ready to face dark times.