Boruto Episode 206

Boruto Episode 206

Boro’s Chakra Natures

Although Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 206 wasn’t an amazing episode, I was still looking forward to writing about it the whole time I was watching it. Any time we get to see characters’ abilities revealed, I’m excited.

In today’s episode, we got to see what Boro is capable of. So, let’s start off the discussion of Boro’s abilities by looking at his chakra natures. As of right now, he’s confirmed to have four: Water, Fire, Earth, and Lava.

We only actually saw him use Water and Lava styles in this fight. But, Lava is a kekkei genkai that combines the Fire and Earth styles. And, it’s important to keep in mind that only certain people have kekkei genkai. Not everyone who can use Fire and Earth can also use Lava.

Boro talking to Boruto from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Boro talking to Boruto

If I had to guess, I’d say that Boro is originally from the Land of Stone. But, we’ve seen people with Lava release come from all over, including the Stone, Cloud, and Mist villages just to name a few. And, the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumī, even used the same acid-type Lava jutsu as Boro.

Aside from his chakra styles, we’ve seen that Boro has two other tricks up his sleeves. He cultivates a virus within his body which he can spread into the air at will, and he has regenerative abilities that effectively make him immortal.

I’ll discuss these two abilities later on in this review. But for now, let me just say that I believe the two of them are actually connected to an extent. The virus is thanks to a scientific ninja tool, and his “immortality” is what allows him to make use of this bioweapon.

Limits of the Karma

Something else we learned in this episode is that the Karma’s absorption ability has a limit. This isn’t a limit on how much it can absorb. I believe we’ve already seen that there’s either not a limit on that, or the limit is so great it won’t realistically be reached.

Instead, this limit is on what the Karma can absorb. It can only absorb jutsu that are made of chakra. This makes sense, but I don’t think it was ever really explained before now. Basically, there are two ways to use ninjutsu, and the Karma can only absorb one of them.

Ninjutsu that are made of chakra include things like the Fireball jutsu. The fire that makes up this jutsu is simply the user’s chakra that’s undergone a nature transformation. So, effectively, the Fireball jutsu is just a ball of Fire-natured chakra. That’s what the Karma can absorb.

A demonstration of how chakra creates jutsu from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
A demonstration of how chakra creates jutsu

What the Karma can’t absorb are ninjutsu that utilize chakra to manipulate physical matter. For example, the Mud Wall jutsu, a common Earth-style jutsu, doesn’t create mud out of chakra. Instead, the user infuses their chakra into the ground and molds the earth into a wall.

The example that was given in the episode used Water-style jutsu to illustrate this difference. If someone uses a jutsu that sprays water out of their mouth, it’s a chakra nature transformation. If they use a jutsu that controls nearby water, it’s controlling physical matter.

Why this mattered in this fight is because it allowed Team 7 to determine that Boro’s black mist wasn’t a jutsu made of chakra. He was simply using a jutsu to manipulate existing matter, which in this case turned out to be a debilitating virus.

But, even if the Karma’s absorption ability has this limit, I still don’t like it. It’s okay for a big enemy like an Ōtsutsuki to be able to negate ninjutsu. But having both Boruto and Kawaki be able to do that as well feels cheap.

Boro’s Immortality

Now, here’s the part of the review where we start getting into my theories a bit more. I don’t think that Boro is truly immortal in the same way that Hidan was. Hidan was actually immortal. Boro is probably using a jutsu to simulate immortality, much like Kakuzu was.

So, what evidence is there for this being the case? Well, we know that Boro has extreme regenerative abilities. However, he didn’t immediately recover from the poisonous snake bite he received from Mitsuki. He used a jutsu, after which the wound immediately healed.

With that in mind, we can then look at the jutsu he was continuously using during this fight. Remember how Sarada noticed that he was weaving hand signs, but couldn’t figure out what jutsu he was using? Those were the same hand signs that he used when he healed the poison.

Boro from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Boro

What does all of this mean, though? Well, my theory is that Boro repeatedly uses a powerful healing jutsu on himself. And, there are two primary results of this repeated use. The most immediately obvious is that it allows him to instantly heal off any damage he receives.

But, the second result of this healing is possibly more important for Boro in most cases. It allows him to continuously heal himself of the virus that he spreads. The reason Boro was weaving those hands signs in battle is that if he didn’t, he too would have fallen victim to the virus.

Even with this knowledge, though, how can Team 7 beat him? He’ll just heal off any damage they deal, right? Not exactly. Because Boro kept using the jutsu, it probably has a low up-time. If they can prevent him from weaving the hand signs, they should be able to take him down for good.

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 206? Do you think Boro will be revealed to use any additional chakra natures? Is the Karma too overpowered? And will Team 7 take out Boro here, or will he live to fight another day? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 207 is available.

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