Boruto: Naruto Next Generations arc has begun its official take on the Mujina Bandits arc, but unlike what many fans expected when it came to a new manga arc being adapted, this arc has started off with original content not seen in the original story. Boruto and Mitsuki have infiltrated a huge shinobi prison, and have been on a new mission to find a deadly assassin that has been targeting a former member of the Mujina Bandits Gang. After a couple of episodes of investigation, Boruto and Mitsuki discovered that this assassin was one of the prisoners in their cell.
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The last episode of the series ended on a major cliffhanger as Boruto and Mitsuki realized that the assassin was one of the only people who could have stolen a special key from the staff, and the only opportunity to steal such a key is from when Boruto and Mitsuki’s cell was open. Narrowing things down further, they discovered that it had to be one of three fellow inmates, Arai, Kamata, and Kedama.
Narrowing the field even further in Episode 143 of the series, Boruto and Mitsuki interrogate the three and discover that the assassin was Arai, who had accidentally misspoke about how much he had previously known about Kokuri’s ties to the Mujina Gang. After being pressed further, he fell apart and was discovered.
The writers made it too obvious for the audience, majority of the fandom knew who attacked kokuri in the medical ward but I really wanted there to be a twist, maybe someone other than Arai. #Boruto pic.twitter.com/m8E1WoewzH
— Abdul Zoldyck [SASUKE RETSUDEN MOVIE] (@Abdul_S17) February 9, 2020
When the guards begin a full prison sweep of each cell in search of the stolen key, Boruto and Mitsuki press their cell mates as they let on that they know one of them is an assassin. Arai begins to steer the conversation towards the quiet Kedama (who once betrayed another inmate for his own sake) and in this conversation eventually let loose how much he knows about Kokuri.
The series never quite let this mystery sink in, and Arai was too obvious of a suspect given that he’s the one new character that had a ton of speaking lines upon his debut. There was a sense he was manipulating Boruto and Mitsuki from the beginning, but perhaps that’s not the end to the manipulation? With the Mujina Gang so mysterious and deadly, and Boruto and Mitsuki still in prison, there’s still much more to unravel.
But what do you think? Did you see this twist coming? Or was it too obvious? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and other cool things @Valdezology on Twitter!
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.
