Naruto Sets Up Biggest Asuma Revival Cliffhanger Yet

Resurrections aren’t something new to the Naruto franchise, we’ve had plenty of characters that were thought dead, only to return later to either help or hurt the ninjas of Konoha. Orochimaru, for example, has “died” more times than we can count. The ninja Asuma however suffered a heart wrenching death at the hands of a member of the Akatsuki, leaving a pregnant Kuranai to watch over their daughter. The recent events of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations however have been heavily hinting that Asuma’s return may be imminent.

The recent story arc of Boruto has seen Kakashi, Gai, and Mirai travelling across the “Hot Water Country” in search of hot springs to relax. While Mirai has been acting as something of a “bodyguard” to these two older ninja, she has also discovered a spring that may in fact bring the dead back to life. After meeting a character named Tatsumi who was attempting to make contact with her dead mother, Mirai travels with her to this spring that may hold the secrets to resurrection.

Now this wouldn’t be the first time that Asuma has been resurrected, though the first time was for much more sinister ends. During the “Ninja World War” in Naruto Shippuden, Orochimaru used a forbidden ninja technique to bring nearly all of the dead back to life as his soldiers. Asuma happened to be one of these resurrected dead, forced to fight his former Konoha team of Choji, Shikimaru, and Ino.

Eventually, the dead were defeated and laid back to rest, with Asuma returning to the grave, once again leaving his daughter without a father. Mirai managed to turn out all right though, ascending the ranks of Konoha’s ninja. When she heard about this new mysterious hot spring with resurrection properties, she joined Tatsumi as her bodyguard to see for herself and potentially get some time with her father.

The owner of the spring, Ryuki, even mentions the forbidden technique that Orochimaru used during the Ninja World War and how the springs were different, not “disgracing the dead” this time around. Whether or not Ryuki is on the level will be revealed, we’re sure, but the details of Asuma’s “resurrection” should be interesting none the less.

What do you think of the possibility of Asuma coming back to life? How have you enjoyed this recent arc of Boruto? Let us know in the comments or feel free to hit me up directly to talk all things comics and anime.

Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, Naruto follows a young ninja, with a sealed demon within him, that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The series ran for 700 chapters overall, and was adapted into an anime series by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex that ran from 2002 to 2017. The series was popular enough to warrant a sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations which is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and features the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.