Boruto's much-discussed and anticipated time skip is coming soon, and many fans are already comparing it to Naruto Shippuden. However, there is a key difference between the two: the roles of the two main characters from each series (Naruto and Sasuke for Shippuden and Boruto and Kawaki for Boruto) are reversed.
The Naruto manga is divided into two parts. The first series ends with the epic first duel between Naruto and Sasuke at the Valley of the End. After that, the story jumps forward two and a half years and the second part begins, which in the anime was called Naruto Shippuden. The Boruto manga is also quickly approaching a time skip, which was teased in a flash forward at the very beginning of the series. While it's unclear how many years the series will jump in the future, the two main characters Boruto and Kawaki are shown as young adults, and they face each other in a battle for the fate of the shinobi world.
The Boruto Time Skip Will Give The Series Its Own Shippuden Sequel
It was only very recently that Boruto explained the circumstances that lead to the conflict between Boruto and Kawaki. The latter, obsessed with protecting Naruto, who saved him and welcomed him as a son, has decided that the spirit of Momoshiki Otsutsuki lingering inside Boruto's body is too much of a threat. After imprisoning Naruto and Hinata in another dimension, Kawaki went after his sworn brother, almost killing Boruto and causing the scar on his eye seen in the flash forward. After becoming a fugitive hunted by the entire village, Kawaki was able to use Eida's incredible Otsutsuki powers to reshape reality and alter everyone's memories, making himself Naruto's son and Boruto the outsider who is wanted for killing the Hokage.
This unexpected twist also reverses the dynamic between the two main characters of Naruto Shippuden, Naruto and Sasuke. After the Naruto time skip, Sasuke was the outsider who abandoned Konoha and was branded as a traitor, while Naruto quickly established himself as the village hero. Now, thanks to Eida's power (aptly called Omnipotence), Boruto is the traitor and Kawaki, who is the actual villain of the story, is considered the hero of Konoha. It's a cool, intriguing setup that leaves fans wondering what Boruto will do in the years of the time skip, and if he'll be able to bring things back as they were. This also differentiates Boruto's journey from that of his dad in a way that even the most critical fans of the sequel are bound to appreciate.
While Naruto's story was mostly about him gaining the recognition of the village through his actions, Boruto was instead born into privilege and reverence, and then unexpectedly lost everything, with no chance of gaining it back through mere effort like his father did. Sasuke, on the other hand, accepted the consequences of his actions, abandoning his friends and being branded as a traitor, all to get his revenge. Kawaki, instead, did something much worse to Konoha, but had Eida fix it for him, essentially committing a crime without consequences.
Overall, the recent Boruto developments make sure that, while its time skip has a distinct Naruto Shippuden feeling, it also feels like the exact opposite of it, which is a great decision for a series that has been always struggling to get out of the shadow of its predecessor.
