Boruto: Will The Legacy Of Naruto Uzumaki Be Surpassed? (2024)

The Naruto series has already gone down in history as one of the most influential pieces of media to have ever existed. Naruto Uzumaki, in particular, is an icon globally, and a character known to have inspired millions of people all over the world. Naruto Uzumaki has a legacy that can only be matched by a handful of individuals, but, in Boruto, Naruto's sequel, things have not gone as well for the yellow-haired ninja. Fans know that the writers have tried to knock him down so that the younger generation gets a chance to shine.

Of course, Boruto has taken center stage in his own story, which is to be expected, but at the expense of his father, Naruto. Right now, Naruto has no direct influence on the plot of the series, while Boruto has been getting all the plaudits. This has led some fans to wonder whether Boruto Uzumaki could potentially go on to surpass the legacy of his father, Naruto.

Naruto's Legacy And Boruto's Influence

Naruto Uzumaki Is Currently Sealed Away In Boruto

Naruto Uzumaki established a great legacy for himself in his own series. Naruto started his journey as a young boy with no talent for anything, and this is why many readers resonated with him. The underdog trope is one that fans have always loved and in the case of Naruto Uzumaki, this was proven to be true once again. Naruto was always the underdog right from the beginning, and that is not to say that genius characters weren't written flawlessly and loved by millions. However, there was a special something about Naruto Uzumaki that made him loved far and wide. Naruto's never-say-die attitude, his pure heart, and above all, his ability to understand the pain of the people he traded blows with made him truly special. Naruto was essentially called the second coming of the Six Paths by the Tailed Beasts, and he did the unthinkable, after becoming the Child of Prophecy.

Naruto established peace worldwide, and did the unthinkable. He united all the five nations and fought and defeated the threat of both Madara and Kaguya in the war. Naruto then became the Seventh Hokage, fulfilling his dream, and at the same time, saving the entire planet. Clearly, Naruto accomplished every dream that he set out on at the beginning of his journey, despite them being deemed impossible at the time, and acquired a tremendous following during that time.

Even Naruto's biggest haters, such as Kurama, ended up forming a close bond of love with him, which just went on to show that nothing could hide from Naruto's kindness. It is this nature of his, put together with his massive heart, that Naruto became as loved as he is today and he will always be remembered for all this for generations to come.

While Naruto certainly ended his journey on a high, Boruto sees him fall from his pedestal. In fact, his treatment in Boruto is so bad that a big chunk of the fans don't even consider Boruto a part of the actual story. Fans know that there is a massive difference in terms of the quality of Boruto and Naruto, and many simply consider the original story to be their canon. Of course, the treatment of Naruto in this story is nothing short of abysmal. While Naruto started the Boruto series at the peak of his powers, he slowly fell in terms of power and influence.

For instance, Naruto ends up losing the power of Kurama in his fight against Isshiki Otsutsuki and now he's a shadow of his former self. This came as a shock to the fans, however, an even bigger shock was delivered later, when Kawaki ended up sealing Naruto Uzumaki. Once again, this is a massive blow to Naruto's legacy, as he is essentially being treated as a device to ensure that the interest of the fans stays with the series right until the very end. While this method is truly smart by the writers, it is also counterproductive in the sense that fans absolutely do not want the legacy of Naruto Uzumaki to be tarnished, and because of that, they absolutely hate changes such as these.

Boruto Uzumaki's Journey To Achieve Greatness

Boruto Uzumaki Has Achieved A Lot In A Short Time

While Naruto Uzumaki has had his own journey to reach the top and establish his legacy, so does Boruto Uzumaki. Fans know Boruto to be quite a powerful ninja with immense skills up his sleeve. Boruto started as a ninja who had everything built for him by his own father, however, with time, he had to learn the hardships of life as a ninja, and come to terms with the fact that it is not easy. It is because of all the hardships that he is a respectable ninja right now. That said, the entire series lacks depth in general. The vast majority of the plot simply includes high-level combat that sees powerful enemies flung at each other.

There are hardly ever any emotional stakes involved, and even if the author tries to invoke some emotions within the fans, they are usually only surface-level. Because of this, the series has largely failed as a successor. Still, that does not mean that Boruto as a character is a failure. He has come far and overall become a much more likable character after the timeskip. The series is not over yet, and there is still time for him to establish a solid legacy for himself over the course of the next few years.

Will Naruto's Legacy Be Surpassed?

Naruto's Legacy Is Untouchable In Boruto Right Now

When comparing the two, Boruto Uzumaki actually has a lot of potential. In fact, it can be said that in terms of strength, Boruto might actually go on to surpass Naruto. However, that is just about the only thing that Boruto can surpass Naruto in. In terms of just everything else, Naruto will always remain superior and his legacy will remain untouched even after the conclusion of the Boruto series. Regardless of what Boruto does and how strong he gets, or how many people he saves, he will never touch Naruto's legacy, and that is simply down to the fact that Naruto had a profound effect on the lives of millions of people all over the world.

Boruto can never achieve something like that, and that is simply down to the fact that the series is not even popular, to begin with. The vast majority of the Boruto fans are Naruto fans who continue to read the story, and a good portion of them do so for the old characters, such as Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha, among others.

Of course, Boruto does have its own fans as well, and there is no denying that fact, but, one absolutely cannot deny the influence of Naruto in whatever popularity it has today as well. In fact, the fact that Boruto is even a thing right now is thanks to Naruto in the first place. This in itself puts Naruto's legacy on a level higher as a whole, and just goes on to confirm that Naruto's influence will always be superior, regardless of what ends up happening with the Boruto series.

Boruto is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and the Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of Boruto, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex chapter 12, is set to be July 20, 2024.

Boruto

6.5/10

Animation

Action

Adventure

Main Genre

Animation

Creator

Masashi Kishimoto