Naruto Fans Just Discovered A Clever Karin Easter Egg

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations acts as a fantastic way to catch up with much older versions of the ninjas we came to know in the original Naruto series. While the story mostly follows Boruto, Naruto’s son, we get a window in the world of the current ninjas, and sometimes, scenes that audiences had no idea took place. Even Naruto: Shippuden, the direct sequel to Naruto, did something similar by revealing a certain easter egg about the ninja Karin that many fans may have missed.

Twitter User Danbito_ took note that a scene in Naruto: Shippuden showed a young Karin taking place in the same Chunin exams that Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, and the rest of the “Konoha 11” had taken place is, but with Karin as part of the Hidden Grass Village:

Karin acted as the “right hand” to Sasuke when he assembled a new team of ninja to help with his goal of killing his brother Itachi and, eventually, getting back at Konoha for the perceived slights against the Uchiha clan. Originally an “experiment” of the villain Orochimaru, she left his grasp when Sasuke seemingly killed the Konoha raised snake ninja. While her fighting abilities were minimal, her lifeforce and mastery of chakra allowed her to do tremendous acts of healing for herself and her friends.

The Chunin Exams in the original Naruto series were an exam for the students of various villages to take part in to ascend from their lower rank of Genins to the higher ranking of Chunin. The exam saw the fighters first start in a “forest of death” attempting to collect scrolls to advance. Once they had done so, individuals were forced into one on one combat to keep ascending in the ranks and achieve that next level.

In Boruto, Karin is still living in some of Orochomaru’s secret hideouts and is mistakenly thought to be the mother of Sarada, the actual daughter of Sasuke and Sakura, mostly due to their similar appearances. Its discovered by Sarada that Karin was in fact the mid-wife to Sasuke and Sakura, helping to deliver the young ninja who would go on to be friends, and teammates, with Boruto.

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.