Naruto Fans Need This Sasuke and Jiraiya Moment in Boruto's Time Travel Arc

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations' latest anime arc has taken Boruto and Sasuke back into the past era of Hidden Leaf, at a very vulnerable time in Young Naruto's life (just before Naruto: Shippuden begins). Boruto and Sasuke are trying to stop the threat of Urashiki Otsutsuki, who has traveled back to the past to steal the Nine-Tails chakra from Naruto, before he masters its power. Along the way, Boruto and Sasuke have had to follow Back to the Future rules and avoid messing up the timeline - but that ship may have just sailed, now that Jiraiya has figured out who Sasuke and Boruto really are.

Now that Jiraiya is in on the secret, the next few episodes of Boruto's Time Travel Arc are going to be especially exciting for longtime Naruto fans. Fan threads are full of speculation about how these big changes to Hidden Leaf's history will play out - but there's one point of consensus about one moment that Naruto fans need to see between Sasuke and Jiraiya, before the arc is done:

The big question Boruto set up in its episode 132 cliff hanger (Jiraiya calling out Adult Sasuke) is how Jiraiya will react to the confirmation that Adult Sasuke and Boruto are from the future - specifically what questions he may ask. In having Jiraiya pursue an inquiry about the future, Boruto has the opportunity to give longtime Naruto fans some very powerful moments, that will no doubt have viewers crying all of the tears:

1. Obviously a character like Jiraiya may want to know if his efforts shepherding Naruto ultimately work out. Sasuke telling him that Naruto indeed becomes the Hokage would fill Jiraiya with a more pride than we've ever seen in the Toad Sage, knowing his efforts with Naruto will not be in vain.
2. Jiraiya inquiring about Sasuke and how his future turns out. If Sasuke is with Boruto and coming back to the past to help Naruto, Jiraiya will quickly surmise that Sasuke and Naruto eventually reconcile and stay close. That would be powerful for Jiraiya and his pride in Naruto and Sasuke's friendship might move Sasuke, as well.
3. Jiraiya questioning his own place in the future. Whether Sasuke tells him that tragic story or not, Jiraiya will likely get the sense that the future is not kind to him.

It's this latter point that really has the potential to be one of the most powerful, gut wrenching moments in the entire Naruto saga. If Jiraiya figures out that he dies and never makes it to see Naruto become Hokage, there's very good change we won't get a time travel twist of Jiraiya getting a new fate, as that change could ruin Naruto's destiny and even threaten the world. Instead, the more likely scenario is that Jiraiya avoids hearing how he dies, and instead just accepts that an early death is his fate. More importantly, its a sacrifice he has to make in order for Naruto to reach his destiny.

If Jiraiya accepts his twisted fate in Boruto's Time Travel arc, it will only make that Pain Arc in Naruto: Shippuden and Jiraiya's death that much more powerful upon rewatch.

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.