The latest chapter of the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations manga is no doubt a major milestone moment in the series. Leaks about Boruto chapter 43 revealed that Boruto would debut some kind of new form – but Naruto fans had no idea just how significant that new form would be. As it turns out, the massive power that Boruto manifests during his latest battle is not at all his own: instead, it turns out that Boruto – like his new friend Kawaki – is actually just a vessel for the power of the Otsutsuki. And with that reveal, everything that we thought we knew about Boruto just got changed, big time!
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Warning: Boruto Chapter 43 SPOILERS Follow!
The latest chapter of Boruto picks up with Team 7’s brutal fight with Boro, the hulking enforcer of the Kara organization’s inner circle. Kawaki and Team 7 succeeded in their strategy to remove the power core of Boro’s scientific ninja tool augments, but that only sent Boro’s body into full Akira mode, transforming him into a disgusting body-horror nightmare. Akira-Boro beats Team 7 nearly to death, but at the last moment, Boruto’s Karma seal takes over his body, transforminig him entirely.
…But that’s not all.
Not only does Karma transform Boruto’s body – it takes over his mind, as well. And, while it is not explicitly spelled out, the voice that comes speaking through Boruto’s mouth is definitely recognizable to anyone who has followed this series: it’s none other than Momoshiki Otsutsuki!
With Momoshiki’s knowledge and Boruto’s form (plus some chakra stolen from Naruto), Boro gets annihilated by a massive Rasengen. After the battle is over, Momoshiki’s form and influence melt away, leaving Boruto with no memory of what happened. Momoshiki once again warns that the day
What this chapter basically reveals is what truly happened when Boruto destroyed Momoshiki in that milestone battle. Momoshiki appeared to Boruto in a vision and left behind the Karma seal, along with an ominous warning that one day Bortuo’s unique powers (Karma, Jogan) would cost him everything. Now we know why. Boruto didn’t truly destroy Momoshiki for good, as the Otsutsuki’s method of using “vessel” bodies provided Momoshiki with the perfect pathway to resurrection through Boruto’s body.
That reveal does no less than change everything we thought we knew was coming for Boruto – like that opening flash-forward sequence, for starters.
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.
