Musashi Kishimoto's original "Naruto" manga ended in 2014, but the series is going strong with a continuation titled "Boruto: Naruto The Next Generation," which is slated to begin this month.
We've known several details about the series for quite some time ever since a miniseries centered on the main characters was serialized last year. We knew that the main characters would be Boruto, son of Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga; Sarada, daughter of Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno; and Mitsuki, who was later revealed to be the son of Orochimaru. What we lacked, however, was any semblance of a storyline - or at least that was the case until now.
Ahead of the first chapter for the new manga series, a few teaser pages were included in the latest issue of Shuisesha's Jump magazine which brings new levels of expectation to the upcoming series while doing away with some old ones. The pages depict a confrontation between a character identified as Kawaki, the Mohawk guy seen in a previou Boruto hype poster and Boruto himself.
Kawaki has a tattoo that covers his left arm and extends all the way up to his left eye. Furthermore, he is apparently a villain and apparently a really powerful one at that. Not only has he apparently turned the entirety of Konoha into a wasteland (a feat once accomplished by Pain in the original series), but he is also seen wielding the same black rod reserved for those who awaken one of the powers of the Sage of the Six Paths.
Boruto, on the other hand, is sporting the same tattoo on his right arm and has a scar across his right eye.
In the text translated by a Reddit user named OrganicDinosaur, and later confirmed in a full translation, Kawaki states that it's the end of the era of the ninja, to which Boruto responds that even if that's the case, then he's still a ninja. While saying this, Boruto's tattoo turns blue, ties Sasuke's old headband on and activates the Byakugan. The two then clash, and we go to a scene with a younger Boruto where the story truly starts.
One would think that the most interesting part about this confrontation would be an alleged new villian and the destruction of Konoha. However, the true highlight of the teaser portion of the chapter is Kawaki proclaiming that he would send Boruto off to where Naruto is.
The statement leaves much to the imagination, so it's difficult to know exactly what Naruto's fate is. The immediate assumption would be that Naruto died somehow, but knowing how strong Naruto is at this point, as well as the nature of the series, anything is possible.
Either way, this teaser has increased the excitement for the Boruto manga in a big way. At first it seemed like "Boruto" would just be piggybacking off the original's success without really offering much of its own. That preconception has now been thrown out the window, as the manga now looks like it can stand on its own.
"Boruto" will release once a month in Shueisha's "Weekly Shonen Jump."
