Boruto Reveals Important New Info on Naruto and Hinata

The Naruto Saga literally and figuratively entered a new era with the debut of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex. The second volume of the Boruto manga took us on a timeskip of three years into the future, after the moment Boruto and Sasuke were forced to go on the run. Naturally, Naruto fans have been keenly interested in the big shifts like new series framework and major character designs for the young adolescents now in their full teenage years – but what about Naruto himself? 

The major twist during the climax of Boruto Vol. 1 saw Kawaki – Naruto's surrogate second son and a former Otsutsuki vessel – use the inherited powers of Isshiki Otsutsuki's Sukunahikona and Daikokuten to trap Naruto and his wife Hinata in the same pocket dimension of space where the Isshiki used to store his arsenal of shrunken objects. The end of Boruto Vol. 1 had so many further twists and turns (like all of reality being rewritten) that Naruto and Hinata's status seemed like a secondary concern. Boruto: Two Blue Vortex definitely doesn't make that answer a priority, but Chapter 1 of the manga does make a little bit stop to let us know how Naruto and Hinata are doing... 

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex – What Happened to Naruto and Hinata Explained

There are only two pages (and one panel) dedicated to Naruto and Hinata – but it speaks volumes. Kawaki is seen visiting the Daikokuten dimension, observing Naruto and Hinata, who are floating around in a state of coma-style stasis. That one scene confirms that Naruto and Hinata have been sidelined for this three-year timeskip – and are not awake searching for an escape from that other dimension. It also tracks that they wouldn't be conscious; Isshiki's ability to summon, enlarge, and use any object stored in that dimension suggests that the object itself would be just hovering around, waiting to be "activated" by Isshiki's summons. 

One panel isn't enough to also answer the question of how Naruto and Hinata have/have not aged in the three years that have passed. Any number of sci-fi stories would suggest that going to stasis sleep would also halt Naruto's aging (along with every other bodily function). That would be a majorly weird change to Naruto's life and world if he (inevitably) comes back – not to mention all the other weirdness he'll have to deal with. 

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex manga can be read online.