Naruto's Replacement Isn't Just The Seventh Hokage's Opposite, He Flips The Franchise's Main Theme

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After 700 chapters and a decade and a half of anime adapting Masashi Kishimoto's iconic manga, Naruto fans would have a hard time missing his central themes of overcoming hatred and particularly about human connection. Its central character, after all, overcame his childhood trauma of growing up without family and being labeled a pariah by his home village. What makes Naruto Uzumaki's legacy so interesting is that, after becoming the beloved Seventh Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto's initially-projected successor rebelled intensely against the notion of following in his father's footsteps. But while Boruto Uzumaki eventually came to respect his father, he wound up taking a different path and a new idol along the way.

Now, with Boruto: Two Blue Vortex finally returning on September 17, 2026 for chapter 37, the official Naruto website just published the first sneak peek of the big chapter ahead. Within this latest full-page glimpse shows a very different fate for Boruto than his father, one perpetually pushing him and his friends apart, with his allies now considering keeping him out for his own good. Rather than rallying around their central hero, Jiraiya's clone Koji Kashin is urging Inojin Yamanaka to cut off communications with Boruto, if for a moment, to determine their next move, while Boruto is left alone to wonder if his dear friend Sarada Uchiha, captured by Code, can now even be saved at all.

Naruto's Son Has Even Fewer Friends In His Corner In Latest Reveal

Shown in the latest preview, Boruto's predicament clearly hasn't shown improvement following Sarada's capture by Code in chapter 36. Boruto even asks Koji directly via Inojin's Mind Transmission Jutsu whether there's even a way to save Sarada or not, to which Koji responds by asking Inojin to cut Boruto from their communications, even just for a few minutes. Overtly keeping the protagonist out of the loop isn't exactly unheard-of in the Naruto franchise, though. The original series eventually made a point of isolating Naruto from the main Fourth Great Ninja War, after all. But directly, knowingly withholding information without pretenses is a new indication of the sort of trajectory Boruto is taking.

After all, while the original Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, its protagonist was shown initially "having it all" only for his family to be devastated by Kawaki's betrayal, and Omnipotence to turn his entire village against him. Rather than championing unity and winning others to his side, Boruto frequently has to break through to those now predisposed to distrusting him, or in the case of Lord Kobu, being in a position of immense political power and weaponizing Boruto's traitor label against those who cooperate with him.

Now, with Koji's Prescience having undergone an upgrade resulting in far more visions, even just a few minutes' difference could mean vital new information being unavailable to Boruto, forcing him to act alone. With Boruto: Two Blue Vortex set to release chapter 37 on Thursday, September 17, 2026 on Manga Plus and VIZ Media's Shonen Jump portal, things may only deteriorate further from there.