Summary
The last chapter of the Boruto manga gave us a lot of information about Code and why he is such a big threat to our heroes. Chapter 56 was about certain characters thinking about what to do next.
Since Sumire was introduced on the main cover, I liked seeing her continue to play a bigger role in the main story. Having said that, I wasn’t a fan of how Ikemoto drew her on the cover and how Kishimoto acted during the interview with Kawaki. For some reason, Ikemoto is very keen on the little girls (Sumire and Salad) wearing very short clothes. Like I said before, it’s good that the Boruto anime decided not to follow suit and gave Sumire and Salad outfits that made sense.
With Sumire working with Amad, I think it’s safe to assume she’s keeping an eye on him. She looked suspiciously at Amado in the previous chapter. Unlike manga readers, anime viewers know a lot more about Sumire. She is nice and annoying. However, she can become a fierce ninja when needed. In my opinion, she’s keeping up her sweet facade to stay close to Amado and see if he’s up to something bad.
As for Sumire telling Kawaki that she agreed to act as Amado’s assistant because she wanted to talk to Kawaki about Boruto, I think there is some truth to that. It’s clear that she likes Boruto, and Kawaki spends a lot of time with our young hero. In my opinion, it made sense for Sumire to learn more about Boruto through Kawaki.
Having said that, I really thought Kishimoto had grown as a writer when it came to creating fictional women. During the series, Naruto messed up Sakura’s character. Ino, Tenten and Hinata were also not well written characters. And I think Kishimoto is following the same path when writing Sumire and Chocho. Some fans even claim that Salad was also mistreated because she is supposed to be the female lead.
While I’m of the opinion that Boruto and Sumire will be the end game, seeing Sumire keep blushing and offering comedic relief whenever her crush on Boruto (who is forgetful) came up throughout the story can be a little annoying. Her behavior gives me strong Hinata-crushing Naruto vibes. Again, I’m glad the anime decided to give her character some motivation instead of just wanting to be close to Boruto.
Speaking of Chocho, can Kishimoto stop Inojin from mentioning Chocho’s weight every chance he gets? One might argue that it was a bit funny the first time it happened. However, with Chocho and Inojin being on the same ninja team, it doesn’t make sense for Inojin to continue to be like that.
“The Code” opened with Boruto being interviewed on TV and hailed as a hero. Many people saw him teleport Isshiki away from the village and protect many lives. I loved seeing how uncomfortable Boruto was with all the attention he was getting. Of course, it is at odds with the situation. Yes, people saw him save the village. However, what they didn’t see was Momoshiki taking over Boruto’s body and harming Sasuke and the others. He is not a hero in Boruto’s mind.
Being the bearer of Momoshiki’s Karma Mark also put an unpleasant strain on Boruto’s team. He is under constant surveillance and that meant Salad and Mitsuki were no longer allowed to go on missions. Team 7 was benched for the foreseeable future.
The scene where Salad, Mitsuki, Shikadai, Chocho and Inojin were thinking about what would happen next showed how worried Boruto’s friends were for him. While the young ninjas didn’t know how to help Boruto, at least Kawaki (due to having the Karma Mark before) shared the plan.
As it seems, Boruto should choose a vessel that will be resurrected once Momoshiki takes over Boruto’s original body. It was a strange plan because Kawaki wanted Boruto to place his seal on the Code. I liked seeing how hesitant Boruto is when it comes to placing a karma mark on someone else and sacrificing them during the resurrection process. Let’s see what Boruto decides to do.
Obviously, there is a lot of mystery surrounding the brand of karma. Even Amado didn’t know everything about it. Does the Karma Mark have any connection to the Byakugo Seal? I would like to know.
A number of panels were devoted to how Code got to Boro’s secret facility hidden somewhere in the snow. Amado was revealed to have created a series of cyborgs that were more powerful than Jigen. But since Jigen didn’t want any competition, he ordered Amado to destroy said cyborgs. However, Boro decided to keep them safe.
I’m not sure how to feel about a bunch of powerful cyborgs being hidden away. I think Kishimoto created the cyborgs because he wanted something for our heroes to fight. I wouldn’t mind seeing Rock Lee, Sakura, Konohamaru, etc. fight a cyborg or two. Fingers crossed Code’s plan includes attacking Naruto during the upcoming Kage Summit so we can get some awesome action sequences involving the Kage fighting a group of overpowered cyborgs.