Boruto Reveals Big Karma Downfall

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations‘ latest arc has seen Kawaki train with Boruto and Naruto in order to better understand the powers of the Karma mark. Though it gives the two of them a major power and speed boost, which was especially good for Kawaki given he couldn’t use chakra before, but it’s revealed in the latest chapter for the series that this increase in Karma mastery has come back around to bite them with an unexpected drawback.

Although it initially seemed like Boruto and Kawaki were the ones with full control of how their Karma power activated, it’s revealed in Chapter 36 that they are not in control at all. Given the connection between all of the Karma mark powers, it appears that Jigen can forcibly activate these powers to and use Kawaki or Boruto as a warping point.

In Chapter 36 of the series, Boruto realizes that his Karma mark had begun to activate without his realizing. At this point in the series he can’t activate it of his own free will, and it usually activates either in battle or when he’s around Kawaki. But neither is the case in the latest chapter, so it definitely worries him. It turns out he was worried for the right reason as Kawaki’s Karma is activated soon after.

As a sinister chakra engulfs the area, Kawaki’s arm is rendered immobile as his Karma mark begins to spread and activate. Soon enough, a black aura emerges from his palm and Jigen himself steps right through. This was a technique it seems Jigen has been able to use all along, so it makes his earlier plans with Kara in the series seem all the more strange.

When Boruto and Kawaki were training with Karma before, it was implied that the power connects them. But it was never outright stated that their power was connected to every person with the Karma mark, and this of course includes Jigen. With the Otsutsuki Clan’s connection to the mysterious Karma power, and Jigen’s mysterious ties with the clan, there are still more mysteries about Karma to be solved. So even if Boruto and Kawaki grow to master it, they’re still in the literal palm of Jigen’s hand.

Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, Naruto follows a young ninja, with a sealed demon within him, that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The series ran for 700 chapters overall, and was adapted into an anime series by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex that ran from 2002 to 2017. The series was popular enough to warrant a sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations which is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and features the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.