Boruto Episode 170

Mangekyō Sharingan

Two weeks ago, in episode 168, Sasuke explained to Sarada that there are different levels of the Sharingan and what the requirements are to upgrade it. However, back then, he didn’t mention any of the higher-tier upgrades such as the Mangekyō, Eternal Mangekyō, or various forms of the Rinnegan.

At the time, I said that the reason he left out that information was that it wasn’t applicable to Sarada and would have simply made things more complex than they needed to be. But, in this episode, Sarada is the one who brings up the Mangekyō and we’re given another reason why Sasuke didn’t mention it before.

Sasuke doesn’t want his daughter to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan because it will mean that she’s experienced an extremely traumatic event.

In this episode, it’s stated that in order to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, Sarada would have to lose someone precious to her. That’s not entirely accurate. She would actually have to witness the death of someone precious to her, which would most likely be one or both of her parents.

While this isn’t a list of all the Mangekyō users we know of, these are some of the Mangekyō awakenings that we got to see throughout the series:

• Sasuke awakened his after witnessing the death of his brother Itachi.
• Itachi awakened his after witnessing his best friend Shisui’s suicide.
• Madara and Izuna awakened theirs after each murdering another clan member they were close to.
• Kakashi and Obito awakened theirs after witnessing their teammate Rin’s death at the hand of Kakashi.

I’m still not convinced that Sarada will awaken it, though. I think she’s going to go down a different path from her father.

A New Rasengan

Although we haven’t gotten to see what Boruto’s new Rasengan looks like, I think it’s fairly obvious what it’s going to be. From the very beginning of his training with Shikadai, it was clear to me that Boruto’s new Rasengan is going to be a compressed Rasengan.

He needs a jutsu that can punch a hole in defenses no matter how tough they are. And the best way to punch a hole in something is to focus the force on a single point. This is exactly what the Chidori jutsu does, while the Rasengan is more about distributing force over a wider area.

So, by compressing his Rasengan into a smaller size while still maintaining the same amount of chakra in it, Boruto can create a version of it that deals more piercing damage. But, since this is still a Rasengan, once it’s pierced through the outer shell, it will likely deal massive internal damage.

The idea that this will be Boruto’s new Rasengan was only reinforced by Shikdadai bringing up how carbon becomes diamond when compressed. And, we even got to see Boruto closing his hand into a fist as a way to visualize how he would achieve this with a Rasengan.

This does bring up some big questions for me, though. What will Sarada’s new jutsu look like? Will she even have a new jutsu or just a better handle on how to use her Sharingan?

Typically, you would think that Sarada would learn Chidori after mastering her Sharingan. But if Boruto’s Rasengan can already do piercing damage like Chidori, will Sarada have something else? Perhaps she’ll combine her father’s Chidori with her mother’s immense strength to create a more destructive version.

Unethical Use of Prisoners

After developing his new jutsu, Boruto is eager to show it off to Kakashi. But, Kakashi isn’t really interested in seeing Boruto unleash this jutsu on a rock — probably because he’s already seen Boruto do that from the shadows. Instead, he sets up an exhibition match for Boruto to test out his new jutsu in.

If you’re like me, you probably thought two things before Boruto’s opponent was finally revealed. The first thing I thought was that Ibiki Morino was going to be the opponent. And the second thing I thought was that it’s strange for Ibiki to be the opponent.

Ibiki has been in the series since episode 21 of the original Naruto. He’s not some new supporting character that we don’t know much about. We know a lot about Ibiki. So, considering that we know he specializes in both physical and psychological torture, it would be odd for Boruto to fight him in this circumstance.

Of course, it’s then revealed that Boruto’s opponent isn’t Ibiki, but is actually Shojoji — the villain from the arc in which the existence of Kara was first hinted at.

So, why was Shojoji selected as Boruto’s opponent? First of all, Shojoji probably wanted revenge on Boruto, so he agreed to this fight. Second of all, Boruto only defeated Shojoji thanks to the power of teamwork. This means that if Boruto can defeat him by himself this time around, it’s proof that he’s become stronger.

However, you have to feel a little bad for Shojoji in this situation. Sure, he’s a convicted murderer and is definitely strong. But at the same time, he’s already serving his sentence and now he’s been selected to effectively be a live test subject for a new weapon.

Boruto’s new Rasengan has been confirmed to be able to pierce defenses and blow things up from the inside. And now Shojoji is going to be on the receiving end of that so they can see what this new Rasengan does to the human body.

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 170? Do you think Boruto’s new Rasengan is going to be something other than what I said? Do you think Sarada is going to eventually awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan? And, do you think Shojoji deserves to be a human test subject? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤️ down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of the next episode is available here.