Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 261

Kawaki’s Academy Class

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 261 is the start of a filler arc focusing on Kawaki. Kawaki’s mission is to enroll in the Ninja Academy and protect a VIP student from the Land of Bamboo. This is a secret mission, so not even the student he’s protecting can know about it.

Obviously, Kawaki is a bit old to be enrolling in the Academy. In fact, he’s in the same class as Himawari. But, this means we get to meet some characters who are going to make up the next generation of Shinobi.

Ignoring Kawaki and Himawari, we only know 2 other students in their class from earlier in the series. We met Ehō Norimaki and Yuina Itomaki back in Episode 154. They were the only two who participated in the ninja trial session with Himawari. The rest of the students in this episode are brand new.

Aside from Kae, who will get her own section, there are three other new students we get names for. The first is Mimi. We’re not told what her family name is, but it should be pretty obvious by looking at her. She’s a member of the Inuzuka clan.

Next, we have Eiki Fūma, son of Kōtarō Fūma — the head of the Hidden Leaf’s Military Police Force. As the son of a special jōnin-ranked shinobi, Eiki is extremely confident in his own abilities. He even believes he can defeat Kawaki (he can’t).

Finally, there’s Osuka Kamakura, daughter of actors Gongorō and Hibari Kamakura. Gongorō Kamakura is the actor who plays Kagemasa. This is the first time we’re hearing of Hibari Kamakura. I also want to point out that there was a typo on Crunchyroll’s subtitles. They misspelled Osuka’s surname as Kamamura.

Hana-sensei

This Academy class also has a brand new teacher, Hana-sensei. As this is her first class, she’s a bit soft-spoken and isn’t very good at controlling her students. But, Hana-sensei’s personality isn’t what I care about. I care about her lineage. And of the new characters, her lineage is the only one we don’t know anything about.

We know who the Inuzuka clan are. And we know who Kōtarō Fūma and Gongorō Kamakura are. But, Hana’s family name is Kaka. We’ve never met anyone else from this clan before. So, what can we infer about the Kaka clan from Hana?

Unfortunately, not that much. We don’t get to see Hana use any jutsu that could give us a clue as to what her clan specializes in. Hana (花 / はな) means flower, which doesn’t tell us anything about her clan. There’s a Hana in the Inuzuka clan too — Kiba’s sister.

What about the surname Kaka? We don’t know the kanji used for this name. But, kaka (呵呵 / かか) is the onomatopoeia for the sound of laughter. It’s possible this has something to do with her jutsu. That could be interesting since I can’t think of another character with a jutsu that has to do with laughter.

Hana’s appearance is quite interesting, as well. She has black hair that turns red at the ends. And she has red eyes. The fact that her hair turns from black to red is unique. But, where have we seen the black hair and red eyes combination before?

No, I’m not referring to the Uchiha clan. Members of the Uchiha clan have black eyes. Black hair and red eyes are actually traits of the Yūhi clan — as in Kurenai Yūhi, Mirai Sarutobi’s mother. Maybe the Kaka clan is related in some way.

Princess Kae Yukiwari

Kae Yukiwari is a princess of the Land of Bamboo. Her father sent her to the Hidden Leaf Village for her own protection. Someone in the family wants to kill Kae to prevent her from ascending to the throne. But, if she’s in the Hidden Leaf Village, it’ll be hard for an assassin to succeed.

We don’t know exactly where the Land of Bamboo is. But, since it’s a nation allied with the Land of Fire, we can assume it’s nearby. We should also keep in mind that the Hidden Leaf Village is only protecting Kae. It’s not involved in the investigation into who’s after her life.

Now, you’d expect that Kae would have an extensive entourage of bodyguards. But, not even Kae knows the true reason behind her trip to the Hidden Leaf Village. As far as she knows, she’s there to study at the Ninja Academy — nothing more.

Naruto hand-selects Kawaki to be the one assigned to protecting Kae while she’s at the Academy. This is why Kawaki enrolls. But, what’s interesting here is that Kawaki is already a genin. I guess anyone can enroll in the Academy regardless of rank. Though, Kawaki doesn’t wear his forehead protector while there.

Anyway, as part of his mission, Kawaki needs to befriend Kae so that he can stay close to her. He can’t let her know what his mission is, though. And, this puts Kawaki in a bit of an awkward situation — even if he doesn’t realize it.

Kawaki seems like he’s about 15-16 years old. He’s in a class with kids who are probably around 9 at most. And because he’s trying to befriend Kae, the other students think he’s hitting on her. That’s not a great look for Kawaki.

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 261? Which student in Kawaki’s class is your favorite (excluding Kawaki and Himawari)? Do you think Hana-sensei is distantly related to Mirai? And how would you go about befriending an elementary school student? Let me know in the comments.

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