Boruto Episode 167

Team 7’s Defeat

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 167 was surprisingly good. I thought it was just going to be the “cool-down” episode at the end of the arc, but it turned out to be much more than that. This was the episode in which our heroes learned just how weak they really are and decided to do something about it.

So let’s talk about Team 7’s defeat a little before moving on to the juicier parts of the review. Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki were completely defeated by Deepa. The only reason they’re alive is that Mitsuki used his sage mode to carry the other two to Dr. Yubina’s office in the middle of nowhere.

Their defeat itself and Boruto and Sarada’s injuries aren’t surprising given their opponent. What is surprising is what happens to Mitsuki as a result of using his sage mode. Apparently, his body can’t handle it very well and has begun to break down at the cellular level. And because of this, he’s been sent to Orochimaru for treatment.

Remember the first time Mitsuki revealed his sage mode back during the Ōtsutsuki attack during the chunin exams? When he used it back then to fend off Urashiki, he mentioned that Orochimaru had told him not to reveal that ability to others.

While Orochimaru likely said this in part to hide his work on biologically engineering sage mode, there was probably another reason as well. Orochimaru knew that Mitsuki’s body couldn’t handle it, so this was his way of preventing Mitsuki from destroying his own body.

Orochimaru probably concluded that telling Mitsuki to keep it a secret would be more effective than telling him it’s dangerous to his own wellbeing.

Konohamaru and Mugino

The middle portion of the episode is when I think things really start to get good. There are references to earlier parts of the Naruto series, some in-your-face foreshadowing, and even a tie-in to one of the major themes of the arc that just concluded.

Starting with the reference, Konohamaru’s secret mission to infiltrate the Land of Valleys in order to gather intel is very similar to Jiraiya’s mission to do the same in the Hidden Rain Village. It’s our protagonist’s teacher going on a highly dangerous mission into the heart of enemy territory alone.

Then, when Mugino meets the turtle saleswoman, she mentions that “the shadow of death follows a close friend” of his. This friend is obviously Konohamaru since we don’t know of any other of Mugino’s friends. And the implication here is that Konohamaru is going to die during this mission just like Jiraiya did.

However, I think it’s pretty safe to say that Konohamaru won’t be dying on this mission despite this foreshadowing. The reason being that it’s not actually his death being foreshadowed, but Mugino’s instead.

Why does Mugino decide to join Konohamaru on this dangerous mission? Most likely because of what the turtle saleswoman told him. He wants to protect Konohamaru. But also, what was one of the core themes of the arc that just concluded? Dying for the sake of your mission.

Mugino isn’t just going to die in Konohamaru’s place during this mission. He’s going to sacrifice himself so that Konohamaru can complete the mission by successfully escaping and returning to the Leaf Village with whatever information they’ve uncovered.

It’s a perfect conclusion to Mugino’s character arc. And Mugino’s death will probably push Boruto to become even stronger.

The Training Arc Begins

Now that Boruto and Sarada have decided that they need to train more so that they won’t need to rely on Mitsuki in the future, the training arc can officially begin. The only problem is that I’m not actually sure how this training arc is going to happen.

We’re obviously going to see at least some of it over the next few episodes (or maybe only next episode), but then what? Is there going to be a time skip? I think there might be, but at the same time that wouldn’t make much sense.

Yes, there would probably need to be a time skip in order for Boruto and Sarada to actually get significantly stronger. And maybe Mitsuki needs a lot of time to recover from his injuries. But, I’m assuming that the training arc will conclude when Konohamaru returns, and I don’t see him being gone for years. So, is a time skip really going to happen?

As for what the training arc is going to entail, I think it’s safe to say that only Boruto and Sarada will be training. Mitsuki will probably train with Orochimaru or Log a bit, but I think the majority of any new jutsu he returns with will be the result of Orochimaru’s bioengineering.

We know Sarada is going to train with Sasuke and Boruto is going to train with Kakashi. As we saw, Boruto will be training with Kakashi for two reasons. First, Sarada beat him to Sasuke. And second, Sasuke can’t help him improve his Rasengan any further.

I actually forgot that Kakashi could use the Rasengan.

What I’m most interested in is how Sasuke is going to train Sarada’s Sharingan. That’s the one thing Sarada wants to train, and Sasuke is the best person to help her with that. Though, technically Kakashi could as well.

The part that I don’t really understand is how Sasuke is going to improve Sarada’s Sharingan. Simply training shouldn’t cause it to evolve into a double-tomoe variant. She needs some sort of extreme emotion — usually trauma — for that to happen. However, it’s possible that the joy from having her father train her personally will cause her Sharingan to upgrade.

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 167? Do you think this was a good way to conclude the arc? Do you think Konohamaru or Mugino is going to die? And do you think there’s going to be a time skip soon? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.