BORUTO Just Became the Franchise Most Heartbreaking Villain

In Chapter 79 of the Boruto manga, a shocking turn of events with Kawaki makes the Hokage's son the main villain that Konoha has to murder.

One of the most enthralling components in the Boruto manga has been the recent heel turn by Kawaki. Fans knew it was coming, as the flash-forward that started the series showed him and Boruto fighting atop the devastated Hokage Mountain. But it's never been revealed how they got there -- and nobody expected their rivalry to begin so soon.

They've only just accepted each other as brothers, but Kawaki has turned on Naruto and Hinata. He trapped them in a secret dimension and then tried to kill Boruto, not wanting Momoshiki to possess Naruto's son again. Kawaki thinks it's for the greater good, but while he's truly betrayed the Hidden Leaf, a sudden bombshell in Chapter 79 has made Boruto the story's new villain.

Boruto Becomes a Villain Thanks to Omnipotence

When Kawaki tries to flee the likes of Shikadai in Chapter 79, Eida confronts him. She wants him to remain as she loves him, but when her emotions kick into overdrive, she unleashes the "shinjutsu of all shinjutsu." It's a technique she can neither understand nor control as she speaks to Kawaki, who wishes Konoha could see Boruto as the enemy.

She ends up rewriting reality, making it so that Kawaki was Naruto's son all this time. Thus, everyone thinks Boruto is the tyrant who got adopted, and the one who killed the Hokage and Hinata. It's why Mitsuki tries to murder Boruto, going into Sage Mode because he thinks he's the terrorist threat. It's a scary shake-up to the status quo; Amado doesn't even know he built this godlike ability into Eida when he made the bot from Shibai's DNA, which hints that there's no reversal.

Boruto's First Scene Is Connected to Omnipotence

Now, fans have long craved an explanation for that time-jump and why Boruto seems to be cutting a Sasuke-like figure. He's rocking the Uchiha Ranger's scratched headband -- which only traitors can wear -- plus a cloak and sword, once more nodding to when Sasuke was a teen enemy of the Hidden Leaf. But while Konoha was justified in hunting a Sasuke who wanted death and destruction for Itachi's death -- and for the Uchiha clan being murdered in a civil war -- it's the Hidden Leaf that's in the wrong this time.

It's a cleverly-disguised arc that suggests Boruto, with his scarred eye, will be spending the rest of the series on the lam after being framed for killing Naruto and Hinata. On the upside, this will reveal how Boruto hones his Jōgan eye -- something only the Ōtsutsuki has. It teases him and Momoshiki truly becoming like Naruto and Kurama and learning from each other; that is, if he can get over Momoshiki aiding Kawaki to escape the village.

Sadly, with the first scene having both teens reiterate the "age of shinobi" is over, it does foreshadow a lot of collateral damage along the way. It's a unique take from Boruto, making a member of the Uzumaki clan a 'villain' rather than a hero, which leaves fans wondering how far Kawaki will go. He did egg Eida on with her powers when he saw she could change existence, so he'll certainly manipulate others, teasing Boruto might have to kill loved ones in order to free Konoha from the deception.