'Naruto' Just Introduced a Game-Changing New Rasengan

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations' latest episode, "Father and Child" brought the Momoshiki Otsutsuki story arc to a close, with an epic battle between the villain, Naruto, Sasuke, The Five Kages, and of course, Boruto himself. During the battle, it quickly became clear that Momoshiki's new fused form was more powerful than the combined might of the Five Kages, and even Naruto and Sasuke's best combined attacks. And when Momoshiki gets a big power boost thanks to the idiocy of Katasuke Tono and his Scientific Ninja Tool, it forces Boruto to step up and unleash a bold new type of Rasengan technique!

Early on in Boruto's "Chunin Exam Arc," we see Boruto getting his first Rasengan training from his new mentor, Sasuke. However, the lack of power behind Boruto's Rasengan is part of what led him to lean on the crutch of Katasuke Tono's Scientific Ninja Tool, and ultimately disgrace himself in the Chunin Exams; however, there was something about Boruto's Rasengan that only Sasuke realized.

During the final battle, when Momoshiki's power is boosted by Katasuke's interference, Naruto, Sasuke, and The Five Kages find themselves immobilized by Momoshiki's version of the Shadow Imitation Technique, which leaves only Boruto free to strike at Momoshiki. At Sasuke's urging, Boruto summons his small Rasengan - so small in fact, that it seemingly dissipates before it can even reach the villain. As Momoshiki laughs at Boruto's weakness, he's suddenly struck right in the face by Boruto's attack.

Sasuke eventually reveals that he's known a secret all along: Boruto has developed a new type of jutsu - a "Vanishing Rasengan" that may disappear from sight, but still hits with the same impact. Because Momoshiki can't see the chakra in the attack, there's no way he can absorb it.

This "Vanishing Rasengan" is a game-changer in that it reveals for the first instance of Boruto showing his unique potential to change the entire way that shinobi jutsu techniques work. Not only does "Father and Child" show how Boruto's emerging abilities alter normal jutsu in significant ways, the episode also reminds us of the young Uzumaki's other unqiue form of dojutsu: the Jogan eye, which only Boruto possesses (at this point).

These breadcrumbs are forming the trail that will eventually lead us back to the beginning of the series, in which we meet an older Boruto, when he's finally become a shinobi of unequaled power. The epilogue of "Father and Child" already teases the next step in that evolution, as the dying Momoshiki passes on a powerful keepsake to Boruto, to commemorate his victory over a god.

If you've been waiting for Boruto to undergo so much-needed growth, that arc has now officially begun, and will continue with next week's episode: "My Story!"

You can catch the new episode of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu.