is a Japanese manga series written by Ukyō Kodachi (first 13 volumes) and Mikio Ikemoto, with illustrations by Ikemoto and supervision by Masashi Kishimoto. It is a spin-off and sequel to Kishimoto's manga series Naruto and follows the adventures of Naruto Uzumaki's son Boruto and his ninja team. The manga began serialization under the title in Shueisha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump in May 2016, with Kodachi as writer and Kishimoto as editorial supervisor. In July 2019, the series was transferred to Shueisha's monthly magazine V Jump. Kodachi stepped down in November 2020, after which Kishimoto took over as writer. In April 2023, the series concluded the first part of its story. Following a brief hiatus, it resumed in August of the same year with a second part titled in which a teenager Boruto continues protecting the village in solitude, now that he is seen as an enemy.
Boruto originated from Shueisha's proposal to Kishimoto to create a Naruto sequel. Kishimoto rejected this offer and suggested his former assistant Mikio Ikemoto draw it; Ukyō Kodachi, the writer of the film Boruto: Naruto the Movie, created the plot. A 293-episode anime television series adaptation, produced by Studio Pierrot under Kodachi's supervision (episodes 1–216), was broadcast on TV Tokyo from April 2017 to March 2023; a second part has been announced to be in development. Unlike the manga, which begins as a retelling of the Boruto film, the anime starts as a prequel set before Boruto and his friends become ninjas. In addition, a light novel series adaptation has been published.
The overall manga series had over 10 million copies in circulation in Japan by October 2025. The series's first part received a mixed-to-positive response, largely due to Boruto's characterization. His main character arc is resolved in the second volume, which led several writers to anticipate his growth and rivalry with Kawaki. Although the use of characters from the previous generation was criticized, Two Blue Vortex received more positive reviews for its portrayal of a stronger and more serious protagonist. Ikemoto's artwork, particularly the fight scenes, was also praised.
Plot
Part I: Naruto Next Generations The son of Seventh Hokage Naruto Uzumaki and his wife Hinata Uzumaki, and the older brother of Himawari Uzumaki, Boruto feels resentful over his father's absence due to his duties. Hoping to gain Naruto's approval, he trains with a ninja team led by Naruto's protégé, Konohamaru Sarutobi, alongside Sarada Uchiha and Mitsuki. Meanwhile, Sarada's father Sasuke warns Naruto of an impending threat connected to Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's bloodline. Kaguya's successors Momoshiki and Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki abduct Naruto to use Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed within him, to revitalize the dying Divine Tree from their dimension. Boruto, Sasuke, and the four Kages, leaders of other ninja villages, manage to save Naruto and fight together to defeat the Ōtsutsuki. Before dying, however, Momoshiki places a mark on Boruto called "Karma".
Boruto and the others soon learn about a group called "Kara" searching for people who possess Karma marks. Boruto's team meets Kawaki, a fugitive from Kara who also has Karma. Naruto adopts him into the family and tries to protect him from Kara. Later, Sasuke discovers that all Karma users will be taken over by the Ōtsutsuki clan, including Kara's leader Jigen and Boruto. Meanwhile, a mutiny begins in Kara. Koji Kashin, a clone of Naruto's late master Jiraiya, challenges Jigen, while Amado reveals that Jigen has been possessed by Isshiki Ōtsutsuki ever since he was betrayed by Kaguya when they came to Earth millennia ago. Amado further explains that Karma allows the Ōtsutsuki clan to resurrect via the host's body.
Isshiki attempts to find Kawaki, but Naruto confronts him head-on. Due to his limited lifespan, Isshiki dies. Momoshiki uses this as an opportunity to possess Boruto and kill the others, but Sasuke and Kawaki fight him until Boruto regains control of his body. Isshiki requests Code, guardian of the Ten-Tails, to carry on the Ōtsutsuki will. Code releases Eida and Daemon, two powerful cyborgs created by Amado that were supposed to have been disposed of. Eida agrees to help Code kill Naruto if he in turn spares Kawaki for her to romance with, because her powers of seduction hinder her from experiencing proper love except with Ōtsutsuki. Code finds Kawaki, and Boruto fights him using Karma. However, Momoshiki takes control of Boruto's body, forcing Kawaki to kill him in front of Naruto. Momoshiki resurrects Boruto, causing Boruto to become a full Ōtsutsuki. Amado reveals that Eida's and Daemon's powers are shinjutsu, transplanted from the remains of Shibai Ōtsutsuki, an Ōtsutsuki who achieved godhood and transcended to another plane. He describes shinjutsu as divine abilities, more powerful than ninjutsu, which can be used only by gods, including the Karma.
Deducing that Boruto's complete transformation into an Ōtsutsuki is likely to turn him evil, Kawaki sends Naruto and Hinata into another dimension, promising to free them after they kill Boruto and the remaining Ōtsutsukis. In the ensuing chaos, Boruto confronts Kawaki and sacrifices his right eye to save Sarada. Sasuke arrives and tries to stop Kawaki, but Momoshiki possesses Boruto's body to help Kawaki escape. Kawaki meets with Eida, who activates her Senrigan dojutsu, known as the Omnipotence, to permanently rewrite everyone's memories. As a result, Kawaki and Boruto switch places in the minds of others, with Kawaki forcing Eida to spread the lie that Boruto has killed Naruto and Hinata. Only Sumire Kakei and Sarada remain unaffected by Omnipotence, and Sarada activates her Mangekyo Sharingan out of fear of losing Boruto, convincing Sasuke of Boruto's innocence in the process. After Eida apologises for her actions, Boruto vows to regain everything taken from him.
Part II: Two Blue Vortex Three years have passed. Kawaki visits the unconscious bodies of Naruto and Hinata in the Daikokuten dimension, while Sarada has failed to convince the Eighth Hokage, Shikamaru Nara, of Boruto's innocence. When Code attacks the Konoha village with an army of monsters, Boruto arrives to fight them off. Kawaki attacks Boruto and helps Code escape from the village, before Boruto can obtain information about the Ten-Tails. Boruto pursues Code to another dimension, where he encounters Code and the four Shinju clones. After escaping, Boruto gains the support of Koji Kashin, who has become his new mentor, while keeping watch over the tree in which Code has trapped Sasuke.
Boruto later reunites with Sarada and Sumire in the village. After Shikamaru learns the truth about what happened three years earlier, he tells Boruto that, until they are ready to expose Kawaki's crimes to the village, they must work together in secret, since Boruto is still considered a criminal.
After Boruto informs Shikamaru of the true purpose of the sentient Ten-Tails, two Shinju clones, Jura and Hidari, arrive in the village to search for Naruto. Himawari, who believes that Boruto is innocent and wants to help her brother, steps forward to oppose them. Meanwhile, Boruto continues protecting the village within the shadows despite being targeted by his own allies.
Production
When the Naruto manga series concluded in 2014, the publishing company Shueisha asked Masashi Kishimoto to create a sequel. Kishimoto declined to draw it himself and instead recommended artist Mikio Ikemoto, who worked as his assistant since Narutos early chapters. A countdown website titled "Next Generation" was used to promote the new manga, and in December 2015, Boruto: Naruto Next Generationss serialisation was announced. Kishimoto said that he wanted Boruto to surpass his own work.
The series was written by Ukyō Kodachi, who had written a light novel called Gaara Hiden (2015) and assisted Kishimoto in writing the script for Boruto: Naruto the Movie. Besides writing the series, Kodachi supervised the anime's story, while Kishimoto acted as a supervisor for episodes 8 and 9. Kodachi explained that the series's setting, which is known for a greater emphasis on science compared to Naruto, was influenced by his father, a physician. To further integrate technology with ninjutsu, Kodachi took inspiration from sci-fi role playing games.
Although Kishimoto revised the manga's scenario, he advised Ikemoto to develop his own art style instead of imitating his. Ikemoto agreed and expressed optimism about his own art style. While Ikemoto acknowledged that long-time fans might be disappointed that Kishimoto was not drawing Boruto, Ikemoto stated he would do his best in creating the manga. He felt honoured to create the art for Boruto, but said that he was grateful the series was released monthly rather than weekly because producing the required amount of nearly 20 pages per chapter would be stressful. Nevertheless, he still found the monthly workload challenging; regular chapters of Boruto tended to exceed 40 pages, with creation of the thumbnail sketches taking a week, production of the pages taking 20 days, and colouring as well as retoucing of images taking the rest of the time.
As the story progressed, Ikemoto intentionally altered Boruto's appearance and expressions. He initially drew Boruto with larger eyes during his interactions with Tento, but gave him a more rebellious look when he instead talked with Kawaki. In early 2019, Ikemoto stated that the relationship between Boruto and Kawaki would become the central focus of the story as it progressed toward their confrontation depicted in the series's flashforward opening. He expressed a desire to conclude the series in approximately 30 volumes. Discussing Boruto's role in the series, Ikemoto cited Keanu Reeves's character Neo from The Matrix franchise as an influence. Like Neo, Boruto has the potential to become a savior to his people, and the manga therefore focuses on his training to develop into a powerful ninja.
While Kishimoto did not initially write the series, he created multiple characters for the staff to use. Although Kishimoto did not specify whether Naruto or another major character would die, he remarked that such a situation would be interesting and added that the authors had the freedom to write the story as they wished. In November 2020, it was announced that after 51 chapters and 13 volumes, Kodachi would step down as writer, with Kishimoto assuming full writing duties and Ikemoto continuing as illustrator. In an August 2024 interview, Kishimoto stated that Ikemoto was completely in charge of the story and main illustrations of the series, emphasizing, "It really is Ikemoto's manga." Ikemoto stated that most of Kishimoto's villains were complex and frequently presented with a backstory that explained their motivations. He added that he could not write villains in the same way, which might make antagonists in Boruto appear more unreasonable by comparison.
While Boruto adopts a lighter tone than Naruto, its opening scene foreshadows a dark future. Kishimoto proposed this setup to give the manga greater impact and to distinguish it from the Boruto film. For this scene, Ikemoto drew an older Boruto, though he believed the design might change by the time the story reached that point. The authors also wanted the characters' fashion to reflect their personalities. The teenage Boruto wears clothes borrowed from Sasuke as a sign of respect toward his teacher and pride in his upbringing, while Kawaki does not wear anything noteworthy, reflecting his lack of personal interest.
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