Naruto Teases Boruto’s Reunion With His Top Rival

Boruto is looking to bring back one of the Hokage’s son’s most powerful rivals in the form of the Sand Village’s Shinki. As we’ve seen with many of this new generation, the younger sons and daughters of the characters we grew to know in Naruto usually have the powers of their parents, or a variation or amalgamation of them. Such is the case with Shinki, though he happens to be the adopted son of Gaara, the current Kazakage of the Sand Village, and not his biological son. All the same, the rival to Boruto hit the scene with a unique ninja jutsu and is looking to make his presence known once again!

Twitter User Organic Dinosaur shared the scan, and subsequent translation of, the Uzumaki Report #96, which is a Japanese publication that gives sneak peeks at the upcoming stories of Boruto:

Shinki’s jutsu is an amazing one and makes for quite the stylish look at the same time. Having the ability to control and manipulate the “Iron Sand”, Shinki wears his weapon like a coat, keeping it with him at all times much like Gaara did with his gourd of sand. Though he has this in common with Gaara, it certainly does lead one to think more about the mystery of Shinki’s actual parentage as he has a lot in common with his adopted father to be sure, including his basic stoic demeanor.

The Sand Village has always been something of a mystery, though in recent years it has been an ally to Konoha, it always feels like they’re “dancing on the edge of a knife” when it comes to whether or not they’ll always stay on the “up and up”. Whether or not they’ll remain “heroes” is yet to be seen though Gaara has continued his benevolent reign as the Kazekage since taking the “crown”.

What do you think of this upcoming meeting between Boruto and his rival, Shinki? Who do you believe may be the true parents of the young son of the current Kazekage? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the hidden villages of both the leaf and the sand!

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.