‘Boruto’ Animator Pens Orochimaru’s Family Photo

The most recent episode of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations revealed a great deal about Mitsuki’s past and unconventional family with Orochimaru. The story received such a positive response from fans that even those who were working on the episode celebrated these reveals.

Episode 39 of the series revealed how deep Mitsuki’s familial ties with Orochimaru run, and one Boruto animator took to Twitter to cap off their family tie with an imagined family photo.

Twitter user @tagu_eri012607, who also happens to be an official animator for the series, took to Twitter to show off some art depicting a smiling Mitsuki, Suigetsu, and an Orochimaru who seems to be elated to be a part of the scene.

Episode 39 of the anime adapted one of the last Naruto stories Kishimoto wrote himself, Naruto Gaiden: The Road Illuminated by the Full Moon. This story was published in Shuiesha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 2016 and focused on Mitsuki’s origins.

The one-shot introduced Mitsuki as the child awakes under Orochimaru‘s care. Having lost his memories, the synthetically created ninja is tasked with finding a man named Log as he stole Mitsuki’s memories.

The story winds up pitting Mitsuki up against a tough decision as he must decide to either follow Log, Orochimaru, or forge his own destiny. In the end, Mitsuki chooses the latter and escapes to the Leaf Village. However, the boy left not knowing his ultimate decision was what Orochimaru had actually been hoping for.

The anime was notable in its adaptation for its well animated fight sequence between Orochimaru and Log, the debut and revelation of Mitsuki’s sage mode, and the weirdest bit of censorship in the series to the date as TV Tokyo deleted Log’s cigarette from the final release.

For those unfamiliar with Naruto, it has quite a storied history. Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto, the series ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump for 700 chapters. The story follows Naruto, a young ninja with a sealed demon within him that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and featuring the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.