Boruto Episode 174

Boruto Episode 174

The Revival of the Divine Tree

To start off this review of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, I’d like to point out that if you watched the episode on Crunchyroll, there were quite a few spelling and grammatical errors in their subtitles. This is pretty common for Crunchyroll, though.

The reason I wanted to bring that up is mainly that they actually spelled Kaguya’s name wrong and I just wanted to set the record straight for any newer viewers who may not know any better. Kaguya Ōtsutsuki is the one who orchestrated the first (and second) coming of the Divine Tree, not Kagura.

The only somewhat relevant character named Kagura is the aid to the Sixth Mizukage, Kagura Karatachi. Kagura wasn’t even born yet the last time the Divine Tree was on Earth, so it couldn’t have been him who was behind it.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki

What some of you may have forgotten is that this is actually the third time the Divine Tree has appeared on the Earth. The first time it showed up was hundreds (or thousands, I forget) of years earlier when Kaguya was creating an army to fight against the other members of her clan.

The second time the Divine Tree showed up was during the Fourth Great Shinobi War when Madara Uchiha summoned it by collecting all nine of the Tailed Beasts. His plan was to use the Divine Tree to cast a genjutsu known as the Infinite Tsukuyomi to create a dream world.

However, Madara was actually being used by Zetsu to facilitate the revival of Kaguya.

So what goal does Kara have in mind for the Divine Tree this time around? I still think they want to use it to create artificial Ōtsutsuki clan members. But, Deepa’s comment about not being interested in the Chakra Fruit tells us that the current members of Kara aren’t the ones who will be gaining this power.

Orochimaru Joins the Fight!

Moving away from the Divine Tree, Mugino left Konohamaru behind so that he could bring the feudal lord to the Hidden Leaf Village as a witness of the events that have unfolded within the Land of Valleys. He’s then stopped by Victor’s assistant, who I don’t believe has ever been named in the series.

At this point, I was expecting to get some cool fight or at least the setup for it. After all, Mugino hasn’t really had a good fight in a while, and I was interested in seeing what kind of jutsu this woman would use. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

As we saw, Orochimaru (and Mitsuki) shows up and cuts the woman up into dust-sized pieces in a second. So much for seeing what jutsu she’s capable of using. I get that Orochimaru is strong, but you’d think that Victor’s right-hand person would at least be able to last a little longer than that.

Orochimaru from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Orochimaru

As disappointing as it was to see the woman killed so quickly, there is a silver lining. Of course, that silver lining is that Orochimaru is here and it looks like he’ll be joining in on the action. The last time Orochimaru was involved in a fight in this series was way back when Mitsuki and Log teamed up to fight him.

In the preview for the next episode, we’re shown a few different battles that are going to occur. First, Konohamaru is shown to be fighting Victor, which should be a pretty good fight. Second, Boruto and Sarada are shown to be fighting against Deepa, and this will probably be the highlight of the episode.

However, we’re also shown Orochimaru fighting, though we don’t get to see who he’s fighting against. It’s very unlikely that he would also be fighting against Deepa, so perhaps he teams up with Konohamaru. Or, perhaps Victor’s assistant isn’t really dead and Orochimaru fights her for real.

Rematch Versus Deepa

Last week, I predicted that Mitsuki wouldn’t be involved in the rematch against Deepa. At this point, I think that it should be clear to everyone that my prediction is most likely going to be wrong. However, I did notice that Mitsuki wasn’t shown in the preview for the next episode.

I see two primary reasons for this being the case. The one that appears most likely is that Mitsuki does join in on the rematch against Deepa, but simply doesn’t arrive in time for the start of the fight. He might show up right at the end of the episode, or maybe not at all until the following one.

Either way, since Mitsuki is in the Land of Valleys (it seems safe to assume he’s the masked companion of Orochimaru), I think we’ll see him join the fight. Taking down Deepa would also be a great way for the renewed Team 7 to get their confidence back and showcase their improved skills.

Boruto and Sarada vs. Deepa from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Boruto and Sarada vs. Deepa

The other reason why Mitsuki may not have been shown in the preview is that he doesn’t actually join Boruto and Sarada. This might seem odd, but it’s possible that Mitsuki still isn’t in any condition to be fighting. Based on what Orochimaru said in the last episode about the progress of his recovery, this may very well be the case.

If this is the direction that the episode takes, we may see Mitsuki leave Deepa to his teammates and instead escort Mugino back to the Leaf Village himself. As much as I would like to see Mitsuki join up with Boruto and Sarada, I think this is also a viable path to take.

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 174? What purpose do you think Kara has for the Divine Tree? Who do you think Orochimaru will fight against in the next episode? And, do you think Mitsuki will end up joining Boruto and Sarada against Deepa? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

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