Boruto Episode 210

Boruto Episode 210

Cult of the Tsukuyomi

Now, maybe I’m misremembering since it’s been a few years since my last Naruto: Shippūden rewatch, but I thought the Infinite Tsukuyomi covered the entire known world. I guess it actually only extended over the battlefield during the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

Why do I bring this up? Because it seems like none of Boro’s followers have actually experienced the Tsukuyomi for themselves despite many of them being old enough to have remembered it. Akari probably would have been too young, but the same isn’t true for the high-ranking members of the cult.

So the only explanation that makes sense to me is that none of them were present on the battlefield. And from what we’ve seen, that makes sense. Other than Boro, none of the cult members are combatants.

Akari, a follower of Boro from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Akari, a follower of Boro

But, if Boro was on the battlefield when the Infinite Tsukuyomi was used, that must mean he was part of the Allied Shinobi Forces. He definitely wasn’t a member of Kara at that point, because his experience within the Tsukuyomi is what caused him to join.

It’s pretty surprising that there weren’t more people who were influenced by the Infinite Tsukuyomi, to be honest. I can’t remember who else there was, but I’m certain we had another villain (probably in a “filler” arc) say they were influenced by it.

However, you’d think that Boro would have followers who are like him — previous shinobi who want to bring the Tsukuyomi back. The fact that there are none of them among his followers is slightly odd. Though, maybe they wouldn’t have agreed with his methods.

After all, he was using his followers as a source of bodies for Isshiki’s next vessel.

The Truth Revealed

One of my favorite things about this episode was all of the facial expressions. Sure, there wasn’t much flashy animation — though you could argue Delta’s attack at the end counts. But there were a lot of great facial expressions, especially whenever Konohamaru and Sai revealed the truth about Boro.

Now, the fact that Boro has been using his own followers as a source of potential vessels is quite telling about his character. From what we saw of him, it seems abundantly clear that he truly believed the Infinite Tsukuyomi was a form of salvation.

And according to his followers, the crimes that Boro is accused of having committed, even against them, are forgivable because they served to further their goal. But, I don’t think Boro viewed the sacrifice of his followers the same way his followers did.

Akari learning of her brother's death from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Akari learning of her brother’s death

Boro wanted to create another Infinite Tsukuyomi. That’s not up for debate. But he didn’t want to save everyone with it. He simply wanted to save himself. How do I know this? Because of how he gained new followers for his cult and used them.

It would be one thing if, as I mentioned, most of Boro’s followers were other former shinobi who experienced the Tsukuyomi before. But that’s not the case. His followers were all tricked into joining his cult by him spreading and then curing diseases.

At the end of the day, Boro is a conman. The only way he was able to gain followers was by deceiving them. And then once they joined, the deception didn’t stop. He then didn’t tell them what was really happening when they went to “serve the gods.”

It’s clear from all of this that while some of his followers may have inevitably benefitted from the Tsukuyomi, that wasn’t his goal. His goal was simply to use them so that he could benefit from the Tsukuyomi.

Lord Boro is Dead

Something about this episode that I found interesting was that nobody really doubted what Konohamaru and Sai said about Boro. It’s as if they all knew that Boro was a criminal, but were refusing to accept the truth because they wanted to be saved so badly.

When Konohamaru and Sai told Tsuzumi that there was a rumor Boro had been killed by Leaf shinobi, he took it seriously. Sure, he attempted to contact Boro just to make sure. But his immediate thought wasn’t that it must be fake because Boro has demonstrated his immortality.

That seems to imply that Tsuzumi was aware that Boro wasn’t really immortal. Perhaps he knew that it was a scientific ninja tool allowing Boro’s body to regenerate. Regardless, this shows that even Boro’s top followers knew he wasn’t all that he appeared to be.

Inori, one of Boro's most loyal followers from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Inori, one of Boro’s most loyal followers

Also, when it was revealed to Boro’s followers that he had been experimenting and killing their missing followers, they didn’t really push back and say it wasn’t true. Instead, they attempted to rationalize his actions and claimed it was all for the furtherance of their salvation.

But, in the end, it seems like they didn’t truly believe that either. When Inori and some of the other followers decide not to evacuate the building as Delta destroyed it, I took that as them accepting responsibility for what they had done.

I didn’t get the feeling that they were staying behind because they truly believed Boro would return — Inori believed Boro had died.

To me, it seemed more like they couldn’t continue living now that they knew the truth. The Infinite Tsukuyomi wasn’t coming to save them. They followed the person who destroyed their villages, friends, and families. And they looked the other way when more of their own went missing for their “god.”

Conclusion

What do you think about Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 210? I actually thought it was quite a good episode. I’m glad we got this resolution for Boro’s cult now that he’s out of the picture. But, unfortunately, next week’s episode seems like it’s not going to be so good — Chouchou is in it.

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My review of Episode 211 is available now.

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