Is Naruto Gone Forever? Will We Witness The End of Him?

Ever since Boruto’s first episode aired, the fans have been contemplating the worst-case scenario─ Naruto’s death. It was a known fact that he will die at some point, but nobody is ready for it or ever will be.

If we follow the shounen logic as the protagonist, either one or both of Boruto’s parents need to die, or else he won’t shine or be legendary.

Naruto has already raised one death flag if we consider the protagonist’s logic. Besides, the show itself made it clear that he is bound to leave us.

And boy, if that time is right now, I am certainly not ready, so I read the manga to satisfy my curiosity. The article will explain what I learned, and I am devastated.

The possessed Jigen overpowers Naruto and Sasuke in the later chapters of the manga.

This dangerous situation renders Naruto helpless, so he orders Sasuke to flee the scene. Jigen later traps Naruto with the help of rods and seals him in a capsule-like coffin inside another spatial dimension.

1. Does Naruto Escape the Limbo?

Who would have thought the leader of Kara was the last boss. Moreover, the man wasn’t alone; he was revealed to be a vessel of Isshiki Otsutsuki.

So it took me off guard when he defeated Sasuke and trapped Naruto with rods that reduced his chakra.

 And it turns out Isshiki was messing around with them; he never intended to go for Naruto. Instead, his ultimate goal was Boruto and his karma! Ask the other manga readers how anxious they were when Kawaki’s hand fell off.

I almost thought we lost him, but my questions were soon answered when his prosthetic arm started glowing, indicating Naruto is alive.

Kawaki could sense his chakra, and with Boruto’s help, he created a portal by combing their karma. Despite Shikimaru’s attempt to stop them, Team 7 (Sarada, Mitsuki, Boruto, and Kawaki) left through the portal to save their Hokage.

If only things were easier in shounen anime, the characters wouldn’t have to suffer; Team 7 walked on a similar path.

First, they met Boro, whose overbearing powers shook them. Boro revealed that force opening the capsule couldn’t guarantee Naruto’s safety, so to save Naruto, they had to defeat Boro first.

It would be a difficult task considering Boro is a monster with regenerative abilities. By monster, I mean quite literally he started deforming into a mutant at some point.

So Kawaki and Boruto combined their karma to create a portal that would connect them to the inside of the capsule. Fortunately, Naruto was alive in that coffin, but he was unconscious.

2. What Is Baryon Mode?

If you think the chaos is over, then take a seat because stuff is about to go down for real this time. Unfortunately, Naruto hasn’t passed the ‘not the time to die’ vibe.

His life is still in jeopardy; Naruto will lose something very important in this arc. So grab the tissues you guys need to brace yourselves for this one.

2.1 Naruto’s Sacrifice

From years of watching Naruto and Boruto, we have had tons of power-crazed villains who, for a matter of fact, were almost unbeatable. Isshiki Otsutsuki was no different, a sadistic psychopath with a mission.

The man is undoubtedly giving a hard time to our leads. The minute you think the heroes will win, Isshiki outsmarts them. Not even the holy trinity combination of Naruto, Sasuke, and Boruto could win against Isshiki.

In such a dire situation, Kurama proposed the idea of utilizing the Baryon mode. However, there is a catch, Baryon mode will grant Naruto enhanced abilities and deplete the opponents’ life force, but it will also affect the user.

To shorten the opponent’s life span, the user will pay the price with their own life. Naruto chooses to sacrifice himself in exchange for a new transformation that eventually defeats Isshiki.

2.2 Kurama’s Goodbye

The later events of this battle saddened me to the core, and I’m still not over it. Naruto, Kurama, and the audience have always shared a love-hate relationship, and we have to say goodbye to it now.

The original sacrifice was never Naruto; it was Kurama. Considering Naruto’s personality, he would have never agreed to use Baryon mode.

Kurama tricked him in a roundabout way. Although I do not wish to believe it, Kurama is gone forever.

Naruto is not dying yet, but we can’t speculate anything as Masashi Kishimoto has officially taken over Boruto. So maybe Naruto wouldn’t die. We can only hope for it. Kurama’s death is already enough for me; I can’t deal with Naruto’s as well.

4. Where To Watch

5. About Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is written and illustrated by Mikio Ikemoto, and supervised by Masashi Kishimoto. It came into serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in June 2016.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is the series that follows the exploits of Naruto’s son, Boruto, during his academy days and further on.

The series follows the character development of Boruto and the looming evil that challenges the fate of him and his loved ones.