‘Boruto’ Brought Back One ‘Naruto’ Character Out Of Nowhere

Warning! Spoilers for Boruto‘s 23rd episode lie below!

When it comes to Naruto, fans should expect to see unexpected faces appear at the strangest times. Boruto: Naruto Next Generations reminded audiences of that fact recently when its latest episode brought back a familiar face fans didn’t think they would see again.

Boruto released its 23rd episode last week, and the update ended the anime‘s on-going ‘Naruto Gaiden’ arc. After Naruto and Sasuke reached Shin Uchiha’s hideout, Sarada charged in to save her mother Sakura. The entire family reunited and took down Orochimaru’s experiment, but there was a lot to fallout to oversee.

After all, Shin did makes clones of himself, and the children did have a rudimentary version of the Sharingan. Rather than kill them all, Naruto decided it’d be best to bring the kids back to Konoha since he knew the perfect place to put them. And, as fans found out, that place was with Kabuto Yakushi.

Fans watched as Shin’s clones all sat in the Konoha Orphanage as a familiar voice greeted the group. Kabuto explained there were too many of the clones for them to go without name, leaving the grey-haired shinobi with a challenge. Kabuto tells the boys his number one goal is to give them all names since they’re all part of his family, and fans did notice how much better Kabuto is looking these days.

If you haven’t caught up with the ninja post-Naruto, then you should know Kabuto has had an interesting history. The villain was trapped in Itachi’s Izanami during the Fourth Great Ninja War, but he was able to escape once he accepted himself. Kabuto grew a new appreciate for Itachi and even helped Sasuke win his battle against Madara Uchiha.

In the war’s wake, Kabuto went back to Konoha rather than return to Orochimaru. The ninja was not imprisoned for his war crimes and instead sought penance by overseeing Konoha’s orphanage. As fans can imagine, the Internet was stunned to see Kabuto reappear after so long in Boruto and as a good guy none the less. You can check out some of social media’s best reactions to the surprise below!

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Clearly, some fans got very emotional of the reformed villains return. Kabuto may have creeped plenty of fans out in Naruto, but the character’s origin managed to make audiences sympathize with the character. And, now, Boruto is more than welcome to bring Kabuto back into the franchise.

Animanas

If we’re talking Taylor Swift, Boruto‘s take on Kabuto is definitely the singer’s current era while Naruto had the baddie a la “We Are Never Getting Back Together.” You know, except the villain did make up with Konoha after all.

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Kabuto definitely had his uncomfortable moments with Sasuke, but it seems the pair have come to terms now that their ties with Orochimaru have been cut. Sasuke is one of Konoha’s greatest defenders, and Kabuto is raising the other man’s cloned relatives. It’s all very casual and a little unexpected.

Strider Xanthos

Naruto is no stranger to sad origin stories, but Kabuto’s ranks up there as one of the franchise’s saddest. The villain’s first memories were born in an orphanage, and now his reformed self is making new ones with his own family on the outskirts of Konoha.