Warning! Massive spoilers for Boruto‘s 27th episode lie below!
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Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is still finding its footing, but it is safe to say no one thought the show would kill off a kid. In the anime‘s most recent episode, fans could only watch as Shizuma Hoshigaki straight-up murdered one of his younger soldiers.
Yeah, it was pretty brutal.
Boruto‘s 27th episode seemed fairly straightforward when it began. After Denki was kidnapped by Shizuma’s gang, Boruto and the others were desperate to rescue their friends. The Mist Village’s ninjas wanted to get revenge on Boruto for making them look like a fool, but the gang only got humiliated ever worse. The episode saw Boruto, Kagura, Iwabe, and more take down the Mist gang with ease – but their assault was preferred to what Shizuma had in mind.
At the episode’s end, fans watched as Hachiya Tsurushi kneeled before Shizuma to relay what happened. The latter seemed nonplussed by the ordeal if not disappointed, but no one thought Shizuma would raise his sword over the issue. In one moment, Shizuma is shown walking away from Hachiya and the next has the latter with a sword to his throat. The camera itself pans away from showing Hachiya’s decapitation, but Boruto made up for the visual with a little audio and lots of blood.
Boruto has yet to kill off anyone in such a gruesome way, and the tone resonates with a very early arc in Naruto. The original anime saw its Team 7 go on a brutal mission in Water Country and found themselves facing Zabuza Momichi. The rogue ninja was one of the Mist’s Seven Swordsmen, and he took down enemies with terrifying brutality. Shizuma may not belong to the Naruto villain’s clan, but the pair do share an intense blood lust. Naruto almost found himself paralyzed in the face of Zabuza, and it seems the ninja’s son will soon stumble into the same situation. So, here’s to hoping Boruto does not meet the same end Hachiya did.
