Boruto Episode 161

The Castle of Nightmares

I don’t actually know if the current arc is in the manga or not, but I’m pretty sure it’s an anime-only arc that’s leading into the next manga arc. It seems very similar to the Hozuki Castle arc that led into the arc in which we first learned that the organization known as Kara exists.

I’m betting there are many of you who feel the same way, but I’ll still explain my reasoning for those who don’t. Basically nothing in this arc is all that important, but it’s introducing characters and concepts that are.

For example, the Land of Silence and the Hashirama Cell aren’t that important in this arc (though overall the importance of the Hashirama Cell could be argued). And on the other side, the introduction of the pharmaceutical company that works with Kara, the Kara member we see in this episode, and what Kara is ultimately up to are important.

Anyway, the main portion of this episode takes place within Fushuu Castle, which is the residence of Lady Sakuya. The fact that there’s a large castle like this within the middle of the Land of Silence seems to point to this land not always being in a state of lawlessness. This was probably once the residence of the daimyō.

And, it was probably the last daimyō who allowed the Land of Silence to decline towards its current state. My guess is that they were an ineffective ruler who stopped paying the shinobi for their missions because of his own sense of greed. This would have led to the shinobi of the land becoming mercenaries, and from there, the rest of the land became a lawless zone.

This makes sense if Lady Sakuya is the last remaining member of that ruling family. She lives in the castle, we know she has extensive riches, and we know that the castle has a boundary set up around it to keep thieves out.

Lady Sakuya

I know I just said it was probably the previous daimyō who sent the country into a downward spiral, but it could have been any of the previous daimyō. We don’t actually know how long the Land of Silence has been like this for, but I get the feeling it hasn’t been that long since no other countries have stepped in.

Though, two weeks ago, I did explain the possible reason why none of the Five Great Nations have gotten involved.

But, I think it’s safe to say that Lady Sakuya isn’t the one who turned the country into a lawless state. Sure, she clearly doesn’t care about the people of the land, but she doesn’t seem to care about money or power either. The only thing Lady Sakuya cares about is her appearance, which alone isn’t enough to destroy the entire country.

If Lady Sakuya was the one in charge before the Land of Silence was a land known for its criminals and black market, I don’t think the country would be in this bad of a shape. It would have been no worse off than many other nations with daimyō who only care about themselves, but who still finance the hidden villages within their respective domains.

So, with all that said, why is Lady Sakuya getting involved with the Hashirama Cell? She believes that it can be used to regress her age and make her young and beautiful once again. However, this idea comes from a misunderstanding about how the Hashirama Cell actually works.

The Hashirama Cell cannot reverse the aging process. Instead, its regenerative capabilities can be used to prolong life — which is very different. We’ve previously seen this at work with Madara Uchiha.

Deepa and the Quadruplets

I don’t remember if the leader of Kara was named in any of the episodes he was shown in. But assuming his name wasn’t revealed, Deepa is the first named Kara member we know of. Unfortunately, that, and the fact that he has the Roman numeral “II” tattooed under his left eye are the only things we know about him.

His full character design wasn’t even revealed — only being shown in silhouette. But, even just knowing the number he has tattooed under his eye and the shape of his silhouette is enough for me to go on for now. Because you see, I actually went back through the OP and found that nobody resembling him is featured in it.

So what does this tell us? Either Deepa is a “filler” member of Kara or he’s not going to be important in this arc. I’m leaning toward the latter being the case. Since he has a number tattooed on his face, I think we can assume he’s an important member of the Kara organization and not just a “filler” villain.

But if he is an important character, why wasn’t he shown with the other Kara members whose designs were revealed in the OP? My prediction is that he’ll be in the next OP when he’s actually a main antagonist. I think he’ll be fully revealed at the end of this arc, but I don’t see him playing a major role until the next arc or even the one after that.

From what I can tell, the quadruplets who stole the Hashirama Cell from Lady Sakuya aren’t working for Deepa, the pharmaceutical company, or Kara at large. If they were, then we wouldn’t have gotten that scene in which Deepa was revealed.

So I think we’re going to see Deepa swoop in, kill at least one of the quadruplets, and take the Hashirama Cell before the Leaf shinobi can get it in their possession. This act will then put the Leaf shinobi on a collision course with Deepa in the near future — probably after a separate “filler” arc or round of filler episodes.

Conclusion

What do you think about Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 161? Do you think Deepa is going to play a major role in this arc? And do you think Lady Sakuya and her butler are actually dead? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.