Boruto Drops Clever Naruto Easter Egg with Latest Arc Teaser

The latest episode of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations laid the groundwork for a very special original anime arc celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto franchise. Announced a few weeks back, this arc got a lot of attention from fans when it was revealed that Boruto would be going back in time and interacting with the younger version of the Naruto characters. This came to pass in the latest episode as Boruto and Sasuke surprisingly found themselves thrown backward in time as they landed in the Hidden Leaf Village fans might recognize from the original Naruto series.

While it’s to be expected that the time travel arc will be full of plenty of fun nods to the original series, it seems that the Easter Eggs have already started to appear as fans have noticed that Boruto and Sasuke’s initial appearance in the Hidden Leaf Village mirrors some very integral moments of the original series. Check out these comparisons from @Boruto4life on Twitter and PraTheDragon on Reddit.

The final shot of Episode 128 of the series sees Boruto and Sasuke looking over the Hidden Leaf Village much like two iconic moments of Naruto: Shippuden. First is a reference to when Naruto first returned to the village after spending so much time away training, and the second is when Sasuke finally returned to the village as an adult. It was a different moment for the both of them, and emotionally resonant in completely different ways.

This was reflected in the new scene as well as both Boruto and Sasuke end up experiencing the first look at the older Hidden Leaf in a different way. Sasuke’s seeing it from a point in his childhood that he once neglected, and Boruto has never seen the Hidden Leaf this way. With such a major moment already paid tribute, there’s definitely an excitement in seeing what kind of references the rest of this nostalgic arc will bring.

What are you hoping to see with Boruto‘s time travel arc? Do you think Boruto and the younger Naruto will get along? Let us know in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and TV @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.