Summary
Boruto: Two Blue Vortex shows improved combat but faces criticism for predictable battles. Characters like Sarada and Himawari show promise, hinting at exciting battles to come. It's too early to compare Boruto's battles to Naruto's, as the series has the potential to grow.
Boruto: Two Blue Tornadoes has been an exciting return to the Naruto franchise, but there are still some troubling issues, particularly in the battles, that hold it back from its predecessor. Four years after the Omnipotence incident, Boruto Uzumaki returns to Konoha as Code sets out to seduce the young ninja. But along the way, Boruto shows off his increasingly proficient fighting prowess, outperforming many of his fellow ninja, showing that Naruto may still have the best fights.
Boruto: Two Blue Vortex began airing on August 20, 2023, with the promise of showing the new generation of Konoha shinobi as mature, developed shinobi who can protect their village. Dissatisfied with their current trajectory, Masashi Kishimoto and Mikio Ikemoto appear to be creating new threats to rival the Konoha ninja.
Custom image by JR Waugh
But the series has struggled to appeal to Naruto fans, and while the first few chapters of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex are fun, it still struggles to keep up with the hype surrounding Naruto's battles.
Boruto: The two Blue Vortex battles have Boruto in them too much
The main character has the potential to become too powerful.
Boruto: Two Blue Vortex sees the protagonist return to Konoha and demonstrate his heavily honed talents to the point where he is shown to be perhaps too strong for his own good. Comparing Boruto to its predecessor, Naruto Part 2, this becomes even more apparent as Naruto returns to his friends with much greater skill under Jiraiya's training, he still has much to grow. One possible explanation for this is that Boruto Uzumaki's Genius Status Compared to His Fatherespecially under the guidance of his admitted mentor, Sasuke Uchiha, who was similarly popular in the previous series.
In this sense, Boruto's extremely unbalanced power, as shown throughout the chapters of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, parallels Sasuke's development at a similar age.
Compared to Naruto, Sasuke's abilities were honed to a new lethal level by Orochimaru, making him frighteningly stronger than his peers, especially during the Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission Arc when he reunited with Naruto. In this sense, Boruto's extremely unbalanced power, as shown throughout the chapters of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, parallels Sasuke's development at a similar age. Even with the help of his team, Hebi, and later Taka, Sasuke was recognized as being on a higher level as a shinobi, just like Boruto is now, demonstrated by his superior fighting prowess and wielding Sasuke's sword Kusanagi.
Other Boruto characters deserve more attention
The people besides the Hokage's sons have also grown up.
Right from chapter #1 of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, Several of the main characters have received impressive training while showing considerable promise in future battles.. Such cases include Sarada Uchiha, who, despite still being a genin, has a strong grasp and early development of her Mangekyo Sharingan and Chidori techniques. Also included is Himawari Uzumaki, who, although her actual fight begins and ends too quickly after awakening her connection to the resurrected Kurama, shows a lot of promise for future fights in Boruto: Two Blue Vortex. There's also a whole world of ninjas ready to fight in the future.
Many of the most promising characters introduce new traits in existing Naruto characters, such as Sarada, an Uchiha who remains loyal to the main character this time around, and Himawari, a Nine-Tails jinchuriki who wields the Byakugan. There are many powerful characters whose talents are only just beginning to show up so far.
This was the case in Naruto Shippuden and will increasingly be the case in Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, with battles becoming more complex and supporting casts likely to gain opportunities to advance. This is especially true with Boruto's most recent escapes. But it's already happening in Boruto, with hints of Team 10's unique Ino-Shika-Cho formation being enhanced by unique elements like Inojin's drawing, inherited from his father, potentially serving as a vehicle for his sensor-type Yamanaka abilities. The characters in Boruto have special potential to have great battles like in Naruto.
Boruto's Best Future Fights Won't Feature The Main Character
One of the best features of Naruto is the introduction of side characters.
While much of Naruto Part 1 featured the young protagonist rising to the occasion and shocking his friends with his immense chakra potential, much of Part 2, or Shippuden, is devoted to the supporting characters. This includes the first major battle in Naruto Shippuden, when Sakura joins Chiyo to fight Sasori; Shikamaru's plan to take down Hidan and Kakuzu; and the appearance of another famous jinchuriki, Killer Bee, who can hold his own against Sasuke. Boruto: Two Blue Vortex has many strong supporting characters despite not being as talented as Boruto, but that never stops the Naruto cast from having great fights.
So far, Boruto has built up a lot of feuds that suggest this could happen, but until then, the first arc hasn't offered the best examples of its fights when compared to Naruto. Most of the non-main character skirmishes are brief but show promise.
So far, Boruto has built up a lot of feuds that suggest this could happen, but until then, the first arc hasn't offered the best examples of its fights when compared to Naruto. Most of the non-main character skirmishes are brief but still show promise. However, they do indicate future clashes, such as Himawari and Team 10 against Jura or Sarada and Konohamaru against Hidari.. Although most of the battles in Boruto: Two Blue Vortex are brief, such as with Code in chapter #3, Bug's God Tree in chapter #4, and Mitsuki in chapter #6, they are kept brief to tease out longer conflicts.
It's too early to compare Boruto's battles with Naruto's
In less than a year, Two Blue Vortex has shown a lot of potential.
Custom image by JR Waugh
While Naruto still has the best fights right now, it's easier to say that Naruto's story is over, while the first part of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex has a similar pacing to Naruto's return. However, the former, Kazekage Rescue Mission, focuses more on Sakura, who fights and defeats a dangerous Akatsuki member with the help of Chiyo, while the sequel builds up a lot of conflict with smaller battles. It would be more interesting if the first extended battle took place in Boruto: Two Blue TornadoesAnd with these new Divine Trees threatening the world, their battle is sure to be fierce.