Naruto And Boruto are very different shows, but a dark Shippuden theory explains why. As expected, the ending of Naruto was followed by the beginning of a completely new series, Boruto. Although some of the characters of the subsequent series were introduced in the final chapter of Naruto, those characters were not given a breathing room until Boruto: Naruto the Movie, one of the two classic films about Naruto. Boruto takes place 15 years after the end of Naruto Shippuden’s Fourth Great Ninja War, in a peaceful world where neither Akatsuki nor tailed beasts are a problem. However, a dark theory suggests that the whole Boruto thing could be a lie.
After several encounters with Akatsuki members, Naruto Shippuden culminated in the final installment, the Fourth Great Ninja War. That was when all five nations, plus the Samurai, joined forces to form the first Shinobi Alliance. Their mission is to protect Naruto and Killer Bee, the Tailed Beast’s only remaining jinchriki, from being captured by Akatsuki and used to gain the power to destroy the world.
Madara’s Infinite Tsukuyomi Can Change Boruto
The Fourth Great Ninja War couldn’t be more exhausting. Tobi, who claims to be Madara but is actually Obito, has an army of thousands of Zetsu, resurrected ninjas including dead Akatsuki members. The fight became even more difficult when Madara was actually resurrected. At the end of the battle, Madara was close to winning by using infinite Tsukuyomi. In fact, there have been many fan theories since the end of Naruto Shippuden that Madara’s Infinite Tsukuyomi was never “turned off” and that everything the audience saw in Boruto was nothing more than Naruto’s dream about what a perfect world looks like.
Tsukuyomi is introduced relatively early in the series when Itachi Itachi returns to Konoha after the death of the Third Hokage. Unlike ordinary genjutsu, Tsukuyomi cannot be easily broken and the illusion created by the ninjutsu is strong enough to blend with reality. For example, using Tsukuyomi, Itachi locked Kakashi in a mental prison for days when in reality only a minute had passed. By the second half of Naruto Shippuden, it was revealed that Madara and Obito’s real plan for Akatsuki was to resurrect the Legendary Ten-Tails and use it to create a Tsukuyomi powerful enough to trap the entire planet.
Instead, Madara and Obito wanted to use the power of the Ten-Tails at the end of Naruto’s Fourth Great Ninja War to cast a giant Tsukuyomi illusion over the entire world via the moon. In other words, Madara and Obito wanted to create the most powerful, long-range magic illusion ever created. Anyone who looks at the moon will be trapped in the illusion of a perfect world, and according to Madara and Obito, that is the only way true peace can be achieved. Once inside Tsukuyomi, everyone will live in their paradise, a Matrix-like simulation without ever knowing what happened.
Theory: Madara’s Infinite Tsukuyomi Plan Has Worked
Towards the end of the war in Naruto Shippuden, after Obito was redeemed shortly before his death, Madara became the jinchriki of the Ten-Tails. Now with more power than anyone on the planet, at least until Kaguya Otsutsuki appeared, Madara was able to use Infinite Tsukuyomi. Each ninja on the battlefield is then trapped in a different illusion and it seems that Madara won the fight.
Each ninja is put into a trance deep within their dream world while their captor slowly drains their life energy. Hinata is living happily with Naruto in a world where her cousin Neji is still alive; Tsunade is living with Dan and her brother; Gaara had never been hated by his own family; Kiba is Hokage and Shikamaru still has Asuma sensei by his side. However, using the Rinnegan, an evolved form of the Sharingan, Sasuke was able to escape the infinite Tsukuyomi and later help Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi wake up from the illusion as well.
Team 7 then seemingly saved the world. However, many theorize that Sasuke never truly escaped the Infinite Tsukuyomi, meaning that Naruto and the others never woke up from their illusions. Theoretically, Zetsu’s betrayal of Madara and the appearance of Otsutsuki Kaguya would disprove this theory, but the Infinite Tsukuyomi is cast using the Divine Tree – a creation of Otsutsuki himself. As such, it is possible that Kaguya’s appearance and plans are nothing more than part of an elaborate illusion designed specifically for Naruto and Sasuke, the only two shinobi strong enough to be a threat to his plans. Madara.
Infinite Tsukuyomi explains why Boruto is different from Naruto
Since Boruto began, one of the most criticized parts of the show has been how different the world feels compared to Naruto’s world. In Boruto, the shinobi world is much more peaceful – to the point that it is almost a utopia. Technology is much more advanced, Konoha is more prosperous than ever, and most of the missions Boruto and his friends participate in are much less dangerous than those seen in Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. Not only that, Naruto himself is also living the life he always wanted. Not only is Naruto the Seventh Hokage, but he also has a family he never had – a wife and two children.
There are threats and villains in the Boruto world, but those are mostly limited to the Otsutsuki alien plot of the manga. The world itself was close to achieving the absolute peace that Madara had promised before using Infinity Tsukuyomi. If Naruto never escapes Madara’s infinite Tsukuyomi, as has been theorized, it makes sense for Boruto to become Naruto’s dream of a perfect world.
What does the Infinite Tsukuyomi Theory mean for Boruto and Kawaki’s story?
As interesting as this Matrix-like theory is, it certainly raises the question of what the story of Boruto and Kawaki would mean if it were all part of the simulation. It’s interesting to show how both Boruto and Kawaki become Otsutsuki’s vessels through different processes – at least the way Naruto sees them. If everything after the Fourth Great Ninja War was just an illusion provided by the Magic Tree, then perhaps Boruto and Kawaki were also the work of said tree. Such an explanation would make them not quite real but not just a complete illusion either. That would be a shock Boruto The plot changes, and it will be confirmed that the battle against Madara in Naruto never end.
Read Naruto And Boruto manga on Shōnen Jump and Viz Media.
