‘Boruto’ Just Paid Homage to a Fan-Favorite Sasuke Fight

Last week, the Leaf Village saw its next generation of ninjas pair off into teams, but Boruto took a break from the gang with its latest update. Today, the series debuted its 39th episode, and the release had one subtle throwback to a favorite Sasuke battle.

So, if you really loved the Uchiha’s fight with Killer Bee, then you better re-watch the episode.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations saw its latest episode follow a younger Mitsuki before the boy came to the Leaf Village. Fans watched as Mitsuki was trained by his father Orochimaru after losing his memories, and the pair did go to retrieve them from a mysterious ninja named Log.

When Orochimaru and Mitsuki encounter the armored ninja, the Sannin took charge. Log and Orochimaru showed off some very fancy swordsmanship as they fought, and the sequence’s choreography was mostly lifted from Sasuke’s fight with Killer Bee.

As you can see here, the reel of Orochimaru’s fight lines up very well with the above GIF showcasing Sasuke’s battle. Both scenes pan over a static background, and its fighters exchange blows in a flat motion. Both battles share similar flips and acrobatics – and that doesn’t even factor in the wayward swords which get tossed into the air.

Naruto fans were pleasantly surprised to see the fight go down, but they are not surprised. The animator who was in-charge of this Boruto battle was the one oversaw Sasuke’s battle. Cheng Xi Huang teased fans about his latest animation on Twitter, and he even said it was familiar to the Naruto fight. Now, fans can see Huang’s comments were on-point, and many are looking forward to the animator’s future work on Boruto.

How would you rate Boruto’s latest battle? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!