Boruto Episode 61

Boruto Episode 61

Introduction

This week’s episode was titled “The Iron Sand User: Shinki” and featured the chunin exam final match between Boruto Uzumaki, Sarada Uchiha, and Shinki. This episode is the end of the chunin exam arc, and the next episode will start the arc involving Kinshiki and Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki.

Summary

You may recall my complaint about the use of yellow lightning in the Boruto series from last week. Well, this week we got to see three different colors of lightning in the same fight: yellow, blue, and purple.

It seems like the color of lightning is directly correlated to the strength of the jutsu being used, with Purple Lightning being the strongest lightning style jutsu currently known. I wonder if Sasuke is able to use this jutsu, or if it’s just Kakashi?

We also learned that Shinki is a magnetic style user, something I guess I forgot was necessary to use the Iron Sand jutsu. I’m sure it’s been explained in the past (probably in Shippūden), but what combination of chakra natures creates magnetic style?

Is it a combination of two like how ice is a combination of win and water, or something more like the particle style (which I think was just a special variant of earth style). Magnetic style seems like it would simply be a variant of lightning style, but I don’t know how the Naruto universe treats it.

Anyway, the final round of the chunin exam was supposed to be a free-for-all between Boruto, Sarada, and Shinki, but as expected, Boruto and Sarada teamed up. However, Shinki was still strong enough to defeat them both had Boruto not cheated multiple times during the fight.

In the end, Shinki defeated Sarada and then Boruto had to use his Scientific Ninja Tool to bring down Shinki on his own by using Kakashi’s Purple Lightning jutsu. After this, we finally got to see Naruto disqualify Boruto and fire(?) him from being a ninja.

At the very end of the episode, Kinshiki and Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki appeared above the arena.

Boruto Uzumaki using Kakashi Hatake's Purple Lightning jutsu (from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations)
Boruto using Kakashi’s Purple Lightning jutsu

Next Episode

From the Boruto movie, we know that Kinshiki and Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki are planning to extract all the tailed beasts from Naruto and create a second chakra tree. In the next episode we’ll see Naruto and Sasuke briefly take on the Ōtsutsuki pair to protect their children before Naruto gets taken.

I doubt we’ll get to see anything after Naruto is taken away since that seems like a good cliffhanger for the next episode to end off on. Hopefully we’ll get to see the brief scene of Sakura destroying the collapsing roof of the arena with a single fist.

After this next episode we’ll see Naruto, Sasuke, Boruto, and the other four Kage fight against the Ōtsutsuki pair, but I’ll discuss that more at a later time.

While I expect the next episode to be a good one due to what I know happens during this arc from the Boruto movie, there’s an important new character in the series who wasn’t featured in the movie: Urashiki Ōtsutsuki. We know all about the battle with the other two, but where is Urashiki during this fight?

I’m not sure if we’ll actually get to see him doing anything in this next episode; probably just a scene of him commenting on the battle the other two are starting. However, I think that during the real fight between the two Ōtsutsuki and the Kage, we’ll also see a fight involving Urashiki.

While the main fight is going on somewhere far away, or in an alternate dimension (I forget which), I think Urashiki will be fighting against the rest of the major characters who were left behind at the leaf village, probably with the help of someone like Kakashi.

Since Boruto grows as a character due to his part in the fight against Kinshiki and Momoshiki, I think Urashiki will be similar for the rest of the main cast. The Ōtsutsuki clan, and the adults who are able to fight against them toe-to-toe, showcase just how far the kids still have to go.

Sure, Urashiki could be saved for after both Kinshiki and Momoshiki as the next antagonist, but I think it’s more likely that the series will move past the Ōtsutsuki clan, at least for a bit. We need antagonists the main characters can actually fight against, not alien gods.

I can’t wait until we get past the movie arc so that I can truly go into each next episode blind.

My review of the next episode is available here.

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