Boruto Teases Next Arc with Sneaky Naruto Easter Egg

When it comes to Naruto, fans should always be on the lookout for easter eggs, and that goes doubly so for Boruto. The sequel has had a rocky relationship with anime fans given its original arcs, but the manga has kept readers glued with its stories and cheeky throwbacks. At last, it seems the anime is ready to adapt one of the manga's best arcs, and the show is leaning into its own easter eggs which fans noticed this week.

After all, a brand-new episode of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations went live, and it was there fans noticed a lil' detail they would have passed over if they had not read the manga. The easter egg gave a clear heads up about the anime's next arc, and it involves a ninja whom fans first met in Naruto so long ago.

For those who did not notice the little nod, you will want to go back and watch Boruto's most recent episode. The release saw fans reunite with the ninja a good while after his stint at Hozuki Castle. With the Mujina Bandits out of his mind, Boruto is busy contemplating the seal on his hand which he got some Momoshiki. However, he cannot linger on it for long as he's shortly assigned a mission to guard the son of the Fire Country's leader.

As fans learned, the boy Tento is obsessed with the Ninja Trading Card game, and he has so many rare pulls. He decides to show Boruto his haul, and it was there manga fans noticed something out of the corner of their eye. One of the cards next to Sai happens to be of Ao, a high-ranking ninja of the Water Village. And manga readers will know the next arc coming after this will be the Ao Arc.

While we will not get into the particulars of that arc, fans of Naruto will be excited to know a familiar face plans to join this sequel. The last time fans saw Ao was during the Great Ninja War. Ao acted as one of the Mizukage's guards during that time, and he was a bit grumpy towards Naruto and any other outsider. So if you want to take a guess at what Ao has to do with this sequel, it is time you made it now!

Did any of you manga readers notice this little nod? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!