Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 271

Step 1: Reduce Searching Capabilities

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 271 was an alright episode. My main takeaway from the episode is that Sōsha’s an annoying character. All she does is make things worse by spreading rumors. Has she ever had a positive impact on anything?

Anyway, in this episode, Hana-sensei takes her class to a deserted island for “training.” Her real intention is to carry out the assassination of Kae away from prying eyes. And bringing Kae to a deserted island is a good start. But, there’s still the issue of the other students.

So, once on the island, Hana-sensei gets to work. First, she needs to reduce the searching capabilities of the students. There are 3 students she needs to look out for: Mimi, Neon, and Harika. Mimi has her dog Kikuchiyo, Neon has her drone, and Harika has her insects.

Luckily for Hana-sensei, she knows the abilities of all her students. So, she knows that Harika isn’t really going to be an issue. She can’t yet use her insects to search a wide area the way Shino can. That leaves just Mimi and Neon.

As soon as the class makes it to the island, Hana-sensei takes out Kikuchiyo. She sets a trap and uses Kikuchiyo’s food as bait. With his (her?) leg injured, Kikuchiyo will be out of commission for the rest of the trip.

Next up, Hana-sensei needs to eliminate Neon’s drone. To do this, she gets rid of all the food the students brought and then sends a team into the forest to forage. Neon is part of this team, and Hana-sensei destroys the drone when Neon uses it.

The one thing I don’t understand is why they needed food. It’s an overnight trip, not a week.

Step 2: Isolate the Target

After dealing with the class’s searching capabilities, Hana-sensei needs to isolate Kae. She could kill Kae right in front of all the other students. But, that would blow her cover. And although Kae’s assassination is her current mission, it’s not her only mission.

Remember, Hana came to the leaf village around the same time Kae was born. She didn’t go there specifically to assassinate Kae. She went there because she’s an agent of the Land of Bamboo. Having her cover blown would mean she can’t perform missions in the Leaf Village in the future.

So, how does Hana-sensei isolate Kae? Earlier in the episode, Kae made a floral arrangement for Hana-sensei to wear. Hana-sensei then conveniently loses it and asks Kae to help her look for it in the forest. If Kae never gave her the floral arrangement, she would have made up some other excuse to go into the forest.

My main issue with Hana-sensei’s plan here is that Kawaki still exists. What did she expect to happen after killing Kae? Did she think nobody would suspect her? She’s obviously going to be the prime suspect when she was alone with Kae when Kae died.

Does she think Kawaki will accept that Kae died in an accident? Or that some rumored rogue shinobi on the island killed her? Kawaki already doesn’t believe the rumors about the rogue shinobi. And he also has a feeling that the assassin is still out there.

One thing I did like about the rogue shinobi angle is that it’s based on reality. After World War II, Japanese soldiers isolated on Pacific islands continued fighting. The final holdouts surrendered 29 years after Japan’s surrender. A holdout from the 4th Great Shinobi War is possible.

Step 3: Get Caught Red-Handed

As I just stated, I don’t see a way for Hana-sensei to assassinate Kae on the island without blowing her cover. But, her cover was blown even before she carried out the assassination. Kawaki was able to determine that she was the assassin.

After viewing the recording from Neon’s drone, he noticed something at the end of the footage. In the top left corner, you can see the Wind Style flower petal jutsu that destroyed the drone. And who do we know who uses a jutsu like that? Hana-sensei.

Kawaki and Himawari then go searching for Hana-sensei and Kae in the forest. And when confronted, Dark Hana reveals herself. She grabs Kae and attempts to make her escape. But, again, I’m not sure what she’s trying to accomplish here. Running away with Kae and killing Kae on the spot have the same result.

At this point, if Hana-sensei wants to keep her cover intact, she needs to kill Kawaki and Himawari. They now know about Dark Hana. There’s no real way around this. But, it’s also unlikely that Hana-sensei would be able to defeat Kawaki. He’s pretty strong for a Genin.

Okay, Kawaki’s not particularly strong when it comes to jutsu. He can make a Shadow Clone. That’s nothing compared to what other Genin like Boruto and Mitsuki can do. But, we also need to keep in mind that Kawaki has far more combat experience than the other Genin.

Do you remember Kawaki’s introduction? He mercilessly killed the Outer sent after him by Kara.

At the end of the episode, it seems like Hana-sensei realizes she can’t keep running away. And so, she kills Kae right in front of Kawaki and Himawari. Or, did she? I’m not convinced Kae is dead.

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 271? Which of Himawari’s classmates is your least favorite? Should Kae have been helping the other students instead of picking flowers? And do you think Kae is actually dead? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 272 is available now.