Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 273

Dark Hana’s Jutsu

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 273 concludes the Kawaki Academy arc. Next week, we’ll be going on an adventure with Boruto and Sasuke. So, that’s pretty neat. I didn’t mind this arc. But, I’m glad to be moving on to something else.

Anyway, in this episode, we got to see Dark Hana use some of her jutsu. And not only that, but we also got the names of these jutsu. The first one is Fire Style: Chaotic Petals. This is the jutsu we previously saw her use in her fight against Kawaki as the assassin.

Back in the Episode 269 review, I predicted that this would be a Fire Style jutsu. The hand signs used for the jutsu are d Tiger-Dog-Snake-Tiger. And jutsu that end with the Tiger sign tend to be Fire Style. It also looked like it was Fire Style.

The other jutsu Dark Hana uses in Episode 273 is Wind Style: Obscuring Paper. This is a pretty simple jutsu. It creates a dome of paper to obscure the vision of anyone inside. The fireballs that shoot at those inside the dome are not part of this jutsu. Those are from the Chaotic Petal jutsu.

There have been 993 episodes of Naruto, Shippūden, and Boruto so far. So, I may be forgetting someone. But, as far as I can remember, Hana is only the second character to use a paper-type jutsu. The other is Konan of the Akatsuki.

Now, that doesn’t mean Hana and Konan have any relation. Technically, we don’t know what nation the Hidden Rain Village is in. So, it could be the Land of Bamboo. But, that seems unlikely and there’s no evidence for it being the case. Unrelated characters can have similar jutsu.

Himawari Saves the Day

In the Episode 272 review, I mentioned that I was sure Himawari would be useful to Kawaki in this fight. Her Byakugan is a very powerful ability. There’s not really an instance in which having a Byakugan user on your side wouldn’t be a benefit.

In this case, Himawari uses her Byakugan to see through the Obscuring Paper jutsu. Once she locates Dark Hana, she then uses her Gentle Fist technique to punch a hole through the barrier. With the barrier destroyed, Kawaki is able to hit Dark Hana with an attack.

Himawari’s use of the Byakugan also highlighted its near 360-degree field of view. She wasn’t scanning the barrier trying to find Dark Hana. She was able to locate her by standing still in the center of the barrier. I don’t know if that aspect of the Byakugan was ever explained in Boruto.

Let’s jump to the end of the episode for a moment. After everything’s over, Himawari says that she’s still not sure if she wants to be a shinobi. She enjoys her time at the academy. But, she’s still not sure if being a shinobi is right for her.

I’m pretty confident that she’ll become a shinobi. But, the fact that she brought this up was interesting for a few reasons. First, there’s never been any indication that there’s another school in the Hidden Leaf. So, I guess children who don’t enroll in the Ninja Academy are homeschooled.

And second, as far as I know, we’ve never seen someone graduate from the academy and then not be a shinobi. Sure, Sumire joined the Scientific Ninja Weapons Team. But, even she was an active Genin before that. Every academy graduate we know of was a shinobi at some point.

The Power of Friendship!

As expected, the whole Dark Hana saga ends with Dark Hana sealed inside Hana-sensei. But, it was curious that Shikamaru mentioned offering to eliminate Dark Hana altogether. How exactly does that work? Would Ibiki Morino torture the Dark Hana personality out of Hana-sensei?

Anyway, the part of the episode after the fight with Dark Hana was the worst. It might have been the worst part of the entire arc. We literally had the power of friendship coming in at the end to make everything better. Thanks to her students cheering her on, Hana-sensei was able to overcome Dark Hana.

It would have been so much better if that didn’t happen. Instead, Sai and other members of the Anbu could have shown up and used a sealing jutsu on her. That would have made way more sense. They could have sealed her and taken her away.

Something else I want to mention is that Sai says the Anbu captured Dark Hana’s allies. When he says this, we see 4 Leaf shinobi capturing 5 men on a boat. These 4 leaf shinobi are Hōki, Renga, and Hako of Team 25 and another female shinobi.

Technically, Hōki is a member of the Anbu. Renga and Hako, however, are not. They’re both standard Genin-ranked shinobi. And while the other female shinobi with them looks familiar, I can’t think of who she is. She’s wearing black pants, an orange shirt, and a hat, and has her forehead protector around her neck.

According to Dark Hana, these 5 men captured on the boat are Jonin-level combatants. So, it’s pretty impressive that Hōki’s team was able to capture them. They’re outranked and outnumbered. And I have to assume Dark Hana’s allies are able to use at least some jutsu.

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 273? Do you think Hana is somehow related to Konan? Do you expect Himawari to become a shinobi post-graduation? And how do you feel about the power of friendship coming to the rescue in the end? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server to discuss anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 274 is available now.