5 Point Discussions – Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 101: “Jugo’s Reinforcements”

Boruto and the others run into some very familiar allies. Will they be able to help them get their comrades from the Land of Rivers’ people? Remember, if you like this article and 5 Point Discussions, please share it on Facebook or Twitter! It really helps. And if you’ve got any comments or questions, please hit me up @SageShinigami.

1. It’d be nice if Sumire, or anyone outside of the expected people, were ever useful in battle. While looking for her comrades, Sumire runs into Suigetsu and Karen, Jugo’s fellow comrades alongside Orochimaru. While they question Sumire, they never actually make an attempt to attack her…so her summon Nue attacks first. Defending himself in a counter attack, Suigetsu easily knocks out the former class rep, which reminds everyone that being the “leader” of ninja school doesn’t necessarily mean you’re good at it.

2. Fortunately for Sumire, Boruto and the others arrive right on time. They have enough of a connection with Orochimaru’s group that a potential confrontation turns into an actual conversation. With some adults on the scene, they’re able to get Sumire healed and piece together that they’re being played by the Land of Rivers. Of course Orochimaru’s science isn’t really fit for use by other nations, so Suigetsu and Karin are both on the scene to retrive Jugo, leading to them coming up with a plan to rescue him, the other girls, and Konohamaru.
Y’know, if these kids are going to need adults that badly every episode, maybe we should stop separating them from Konohamaru. His role as “more talented Iruka”/”less perverted Kakashi” is cool, but it seems like we need to see a lot more of “next Hokage Konohamaru” instead.

3. Welp, any chance of the Land of Rivers people just doing simple espionage and wanting to get away with it without anyone finding out goes out the window with this. Konohamaru’s been out of action since the beginning of episode 99, and his team weren’t able to retrieve him before they were kicked out of the village, since he was still bed-ridden.
While they’re in the middle of enacting their plan to rescue everyone and escape, the leader of the Land of Rivers’ investigators sneaks in and tries to kill Konohamaru in his sleep! Yikes. For Boruto to claim it’s a peaceful era, this feels awfully close to the old days–murder under the moonlight, manipulation of the general populace. Presumably they’re not acting on their leaders orders, because that would have much deeper, more dangerous implications.

4. Here’s the arc plot twist we needed. Turns out, our bird nut ornithologist is actually in on the scheme. As Suigetsu and Boruto sneak in to free Jugo, they run into him. Last episode the leader of the Land of Rivers group commandeered his expertise, but it actually made sense because he WAS a scientist, of a kind. But when he stabs both Boruto and Suigetsu with tranquilizers, he reveals this has been about his experiments the entire time. Man, this is two for two with Boruto and scientists turning out to be awful people.

5. Next Episode: Somehow, I get to do Next Episode Previews again. As expected, the Land of Rivers (and Tosaka) wanted a look at Orochimaru’s special Curse Mark, given it has a unique design and brings out far more power than the copies could. Having seen how Orochimaru treats his “son” Mitsuki in the last arc though, I can only imagine if he examines Jugo too closely the whole city will blow up.
Meanwhile, the two kids with Curse Mark powers are split up and facing off against two separate teams. A vastly weakened Team 15 gets to fight one, while Sarada and Karin get to square off against the other.  It looks like we’re close to wrapping this arc up, which is nice–unless new characters get introduced, this mission is still pretty low-stakes, all things considered.  Though how insane would it be if this led to a ninja cold war?  The biggest conflicts are always sparked because of the smallest slights.
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is available for streaming on Funimation, Crunchyroll, and Hulu.