If you have not read the latest chapter, I recommend you skip this article to avoid spoilers.
Now Boruto chapter 54 just released and it's titled "Bro". It's one of the few chapters that I've been highly anticipating. There were plenty of shocking moments in this chapter so let's get to it.
Sasuke's Quick Recovery
Now I was skeptical about Sasuke losing his Rinnegan. I thought he would use a substitution justu, or anything similar, but he didn't. Momoshiki confirms that his Rinnegan is no longer functional for time-space ninjutsu. Sasuke might get his rinnegan back but that's unexplored territory and something that shocked me was his approach to this battle as he was unfazed about his eye. His approach of the situation and his willingness to kill (as promised) his student, Boruto, if the situation got uncontrollable (which already has) is written decently to put it mildly.
Sasuke using his Amaterasu from his right eye is quite inexplicable because it's been noted that he activates it from his left eye. Despite the "out of chakra" Sasuke memes, his chakra is actually near depletion in this chapter. This battle started from the hidden leaf where he still had to teleport himself and Naruto to the dimension where Boruto teleported to with Isshiki. In this fight against Borushiki, he is trying to use as little chakra as possible and trying to gather as much information as possible on how to defeat Momoshiki without killing Boruto (of course that's still an option). Sasuke's shrewdness about Momoshiki being unable to absorb chakra becomes true, more on that in the Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki section. However, was this battle enough to redeem Sasuke? or is he still nerfed?
Kawaki Uzumaki?
It seems that Kawaki has learned the art of "Talk no Jutsu" as he tries to get Boruto to wake up. The two have truly developed quite a bond and later in the chapter Kawaki has flashbacks to when Boruto called him his brother and when he told him that they were going to defeat Isshiki together. Kawaki even goes as far as to kill himself with fire release to prevent Momoshiki from teleporting with him and inevitably destroying the shinobi world after feeding him to Juubi for a chakra fruit. Throughout the chapter, Kawaki consistently checks up on his new father (Naruto) and this emphasizes the strong bond that Kawaki feels towards Naruto.
Kawaki's scientific abilities were unexpected, I genuinely thought they were somehow linked to his karma mark. I referred back to older chapters and it came to my attention that Amado modified his original body. Moving forward though, there's a frame in the chapter where Momoshiki talks about "the extraction" and murmuring about something that "should work". This is later explained in the chapter and it's revealed that technically Kawaki and Boruto have partial Ōtsutsuki data but what does 80% imply? Can they use some Ōtsutsuki abilities without being vessels? That's what readers will have to find out a bit later but there's also a catch...(more on that in my Concluding Thoughts). As confirmed in this chapter, Kawaki (just like Boruto) is 80% god and 20% human. One missing piece though, will Kawaki ever feel fulfilled? Nonetheless, his character has plenty of potential.
Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki
Momoshiki is still by far the most interesting villain in Boruto, in my opinion. This is the second time he makes his appearance as "Borushiki" and a quick note here is that whenever Boruto goes unconscious (usually by having his chakra nearly depleted) it's the only time Momoshiki comes out. In the previous chapter, Momoshiki clearly states that Isshiki was a nuisance and now he wants the chakra fruit for himself (albeit small). One thing that's clear is that between Kaguya, Isshiki, and Momoshiki no one wants to be the sacrificial lamb. He needs Kawaki alive because he is the only sacrifice available to the ten tails (this takes place when Kawaki tries to kill himself). This could mean one of two things. Momoshiki is a lower-ranked member compared to other surviving Ōtsutsuki members or he is the last standing Ōtsutsuki member.
If you refer back to chapter 43, this was the first time Borushiki was revealed. He absorbed enough chakra from Naruto to perform an Chōchōōdama Rasengan to obliterate Boro and there was plenty of chakra left for Boruto to wake up. So the logic would be if there's enough chakra Boruto can wake up right? The only theoretical conclusion is that there's enough chakra to keep Boruto alive. It's like when people are sleeping, they aren't necessarily dead and their bodies still have enough energy to keep it functional (and some sleepwalk).
I think there are a couple of things in this chapter that could be considered plotholes and that is Momoshiki using abilities such as; healing Boruto's wounds, using the vanishing rasengan, the shadow clone justu and time-space ninjutsu without waking up Boruto. Time-space ninjutsu requires quite some chakra which Momoshiki should be avoiding at all cost but he seems to have used at the end of the chapter (either it was time-space or something else). He would have teleported with Kawaki to another dimension and leave Sasuke stuck with Naruto. He's also seen showing knowledge of the Amaterasu (because he's inside Boruto's body, he can still hear and see everything) and avoid it using a single shadow clone (something that does not require that much chakra). He uses an extremely weak vanishing rasengan against Sasuke's vital organs, using little chakra and applying enough damage. The only explanation to the other plothole like healing Boruto's wounds is that it really would not require that much chakra (it's possible that Boruto's wounds were not as fatal). Nobody knows exactly how much chakra it would take to wake up Boruto, all of this is just a theory.
Naruto Uzumaki, Nanadaime Hokage
Now, this chapter definitely left most manga readers on a major cliffhanger, as per usual. This is the first time (and probably the last time) Naruto sees Momoshiki take over Boruto's consciousness. His frames in this chapter were relatively short but the next chapter should focus more on Naruto, as I would like to believe. His body is as soft, and weak, as lead. Now Sasuke assumes that this is a side effect of the Baryon mode (which it is). It seems here that the Baryon mode was possibly still active but not in its appearance or physical state (kinda like how Sasuke couldn't turn off his rinnegan...remember that? good times). Sasuke notices later that something is not right with Naruto after waking up Boruto. Is Naruto dead or did he just faint? nobody knows except for what the writer (Kishimoto).
Concluding thoughts and predictions.
This chapter definitely made me feel uneasy with what Borushiki said because technically speaking Kawaki and Boruto, albeit brothers, have Ōtsutsuki data in them. How will they become enemies and be able to use their karma? we will have to wait for the next few chapters. In the first chapter, Kawaki and Boruto don't have horns and this could mean that they will be fighting in their base state (possibly).
The next chapter might continue from the dimension or Konoha and while I do believe that predicting the Boruto series is pointless since you'll believe that one thing will happen but another thing takes place, it's still fun to predict what will happen. Boruto and Kawaki might have control over their karma without the need of an Ōtsutsuki. Here's the catch though, unlike Isshiki, Momoshiki is still alive but not a separate entity.
The numerous information Momoshiki knows about Boruto is concerning and how dangerous he is. What we do know is that Boruto and Momoshiki cannot be active at the same time and that the extraction is incomplete, which answers a begged question "Why doesn't Momoshiki just take over Boruto's body?". Karma's abilities still work without the Ōtsutsuki taking control of the body and one thing I've been thinking about is Boruto's Jougan acting like a protection device (or antivirus if you will). Boruto removing Momoshiki's horn is the only way to get rid of Momoshiki as far as readers know.
The first time Borushiki appeared, Boruto had no idea that his consciousness was taken over. This is reminiscent of the time Naruto went beserk as 1 tailed Kuruma.
The next chapter comes out next month on February 19th, see everyone then. Now there is still a lot that can happen but this was a really good chapter (at least 7 out of 10 from me). It also does not make sense that Kawaki killed Jigen and did not attempt to implant another karma for he has killed a god. There might be a time skip pretty soon but do feel free to share your own thoughts on this chapter.
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