Naruto Sees Boruto Revive Rivalry With Gaara’s Son

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations‘ latest arc has brought back the focus to the fallout from the Chunin Exams arc. Not only has it seen a return of characters like Sasuke and even Urashiki Otsutsuki to the anime series, it means that Boruto will have to come face to face with his cheating during the exam. While the immediate fallout had him briefly lose his position as a Genin, the anime never really got around to exploring how Shinki felt considering that Boruto’s cheating was pushed aside when the Otsutsuki Clan attacked.

The latest episode of the series reignites this rivalry between Boruto and Gaara’s son Shinki as it appears that Shinki is very much still carrying resentment for Boruto’s actions during the exam. As they now have to work together to protect Shukaku, there’s going to be some rough patches to iron out.

When Gaara pins down Urashiki briefly, he orders Boruto, Shinki, and Kankuro to head to the Hidden Leaf Village to get Shukaku under Naruto’s protection. Shinki refuses to work with Boruto, but Boruto is necessary for this plan as he’s the only one that knows the layout of the Hidden Leaf Village. Shinki still doesn’t buy this, and constantly questions whether or not Boruto can keep up or even follow through properly on this mission.

Boruto’s trying to argue otherwise, but it’s honestly hard to see his point of view considering the last time these two were face to face Boruto cheated in a fight against him. It’s going to be a major hurdle to overcome in order to win Shinki’s respect, or to have him even see Boruto as a rival. The way Shinki is now, he sees Boruto as a liability. Shinki hasn’t seen the growth Boruto has gone through in the last few arcs, but it’s not like Boruto acts like he’s grown either.

Seeing Shinki reverts Boruto to his whiny primary state, and the only reason Shinki is pushing through this mission is because he’s supposed too. Gaara argues that Boruto has something that Shinki doesn’t, which he hopes Shinki will realize through this mission, but it’s going to take quite a bit of work.

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.