Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 27 Review

Cover

Inojin gets the solo cover he deserves after playing such a pivotal role in TBV so far! Our young Yamanaka's new outfit hosts Himawari's colors as well as his own. The background looks similar to Ikemoto's beloved speedlines, the events of recent chapters rushing past him. What's especially interesting to me, though, is that the chapter 27 cover is essentially a redraw of chapter 13.

Take a look. Both blond-haired, blue-eyed new gen boys are in profile, clad in purple, facing the same direction, reaching for their sheathed swords. If you recall, chapter 13 was the one which contained the flashback of Boruto meeting Koji for the first time. In chapter 27, Inojin is basically goinng through the same experience Boruto did in that chapter: getting snatched by Koji, learning that Koji can see a dark future in which a girl he's connected to is killed, introduced to the potential to learn a jutsu he'd develop in the future as a power up. Reading that part of the chapter, it's easy to see Inojin experiencing some of the same emotions Boruto went through during that first conversation, the whirlwind of information, the confusion, the realization, the resolve. We also see that Boruto is now becoming a Koji figure himself, a silent dweller of the shadows who has lost his youthful exuberance. But more on the Koji scene later. Let's talk about the title!

Bet Your Life On It is such an amazing title that ties all the elements of this chapter together. Ikemoto is always spot-on with his names, but this one is exceptionally good. Daemon proving he can kill Sarada and Sumire at any time. The mutual life-or-death friendship between Sarada, Sumire, and Eida. Inojin on the cover and his conviction to do what it takes to support Team Boruto to protect Himawari. Kawaki asking for more power even if it kills him, betting on Amado's desire to revive his daughter to achieve his goals of undefeatable power—consider that Amado is also betting Akebi's life too. Shikamaru asking Konohamaru to risk himself by covering up Boruto's escape. Also, Sumire's promise at the end to fix Sasuke's sword. Hanging over all of this is Boruto's pact with Momoshiki for more power, the ramifications of which we're still unaware.

10/10 title. No notes.

Team Friendship vs Team Otsutsuki Love

We open with Daemon's hands still around Sarada's and Sumire's necks. I don't think Daemon and Eida get enough credit for their sibling connection in this series, his drive to protect her as well as their understanding of one another. He proves that he could kill them in an instant if he wanted to, but he doesn't. Why? He immediately recognizes that Eida must have spared them from Omnipotence, and, thus, keeps them alive for her even though this makes his job of guarding her even harder.

What Eida explains next comes straight from fandom conversations that have been occurring since chapter 76 of NNG—are Sarada and Sumire immune because they love an Otsutsuki, or are they immune because Eida wished it so? The answer is somewhere between the two theories: Eida believes she exempted them from friendship due to her desire for Normal Interpersonal Relationships, though she might have felt a kinship with them because they had also fallen in love with an Otsutsuki boy.

One of the most interesting lore drops Eida makes in her explanation is that there's no way love is what exempted them from Omnipotence because "There are plenty others, both in and outside the village, who carry a torch for Kawaki and Boruto."

Excuse me?

Actually, going back to NNG, this intersects with Sumire asking Sarada if it bothered her that other girls might like Boruto as well as the two girls waving at Boruto on top of Hokage Rock and ChoCho's fixation on Kawaki (she declares Eida her love rival when she first arrives in Konoha). This also opens up the possibility for anime content in the future as well. From the Labyrinth Game Arc, we know that Ouga might think of Boruto as more than just the daring boy who saved her from herself. Similarly, Princess Kae might harbor fond feelings for Kawaki after their dynamic in the Himawari Academy Arc. Not only that, but we also have the potential for romantic mix-ups caused by Omnipotence. If Ouga had a crush on Boruto, would that now count as a crush on Kawaki? (I don't have an answer here, only questions.)

I still think Sarada and Sumire deserve some credit for their immunity, however. While it was Eida's subconscious wish that caused it, both Sumire and Sarada expressed empathy for Eida: Sumire when she recognized why Eida would want an authentic romance in the Hokage's Office, Sarada when she reached out to Eida during their girls' talk bed hangout and offered to be her real friend. It's their own personal qualities that qualify them for friendship.

Then, we get the bomb drop from Eida: I really don't see either of you trying to hurt me at this point. And besides, I actually don't think I'd mind any more if you were the ones to kill me.

Let's go, we have gender parity in suicidal teenagers now! It's not just the boys who want to die!

Girls Just Wanna Have Suicidal Ideation

While Eida doesn't say she wants to die as explicitly as Kawaki does, she says it's okay with her if the girls kill her. Why is that, especially when she bothered to wake up Daemon to protect her? (And, because of what Eida says, would he let them kill her if the time came for it?)

What has Eida's life been like for the past three years? When Code woke her up, Eida already seemed exhausted and world-weary, a sixteen-year-old girl who'd been able to see everything at any time and was dreadfully bored by it. Her only chance at novelty laid in Kawaki, a boy who'd stirred her heart and who happened to be immune to her charm. She played villain with Code to get closer to Kawaki, ditching the white karma wielder when Shikamaru offered her the opportunity to live in Konoha and get closer to her crush.

And since then? All we see of their dynamic is Kawaki's constant rejection of her. He despises her and her ability to spy on him. To him, she's a tool for intel and nothing more. The time they've spent cohabitating have meant nothing. Thus, she was woken up to face rejection, to be hurt over and over, to watch the boy she fell in love with when he killed Isshiki gradually descend into darkness. And he's not even willing to take her into that darkness with him.

Without her friendship with Sarada and Sumire, Eida is in a worse place than she was when Code released her from the cryogenic chamber. Kawaki wants to die, and she wouldn't mind dying, too, if her true friends would see fit to do it.

Hug No Jutsu

Sarada reacts to Eida's confession with yet another clomping offensive, pulling Sumire off the couch and rushing to hug Eida. There's so much going on in this scene and a lot of inferring Ikemoto eye panels.

First, Sarada grabs Sumire's hand, the same gesture we saw them make after Sarada's love confession in chapter 25. She pulls Sumire along with her, forcing them both to hug Eida at the same time. These signs of affection are ones Eida has witnessed before by watching the girls, so it ends up being a question of whether Sarada's actions come from her heart or if they're strategic decisions.

A part of me very much so wants to believe we're seeing Sarada taking on Naruto's mantle, as she did when she extended authentic friendship to Eida in NNG. She's moved by Eida's confession that she'd be okay dying if they were the ones who killed her. And there's true emotion in Sarada's face when she closes her eyes, saying, "I've never heard of a mutual life-or-death friendship." Yet when Sarada states that it's proof of her resolve, she's looking down and to the side, away from Eida. On the next panel, Sumire's gaze is similarly cast away before she joins in the hug as well. We get yet another possible statement of foreshadowing when Sumire says, "I'm not opposed to the idea of risking my life for a friendship." Eida is vulnerable to Sarada and Sumire, Sarada and Sumire are vulnerable to Daemon. There's a sense of unease to the entire scene, even as they all embrace one another.

Several things could be going on: Sarada and Sumire may want to have genuine friendship with Eida, but they're both aware they've been acting as her friend based on Shikamaru's orders, which could still be revealed. The guilt of that betrayal could be weighing on their shoulders. Similarly, the hug orgy might be an extension of their mission, allowing them both to continue spying on her. But even if it's an authentic show of affection, hanging over the entire interaction are Eida's words that she's fine with them killing her, even though she trusts that they won't. This could be foreshadowing for a future in which they need to kill Eida or Shinju Eida, turning on a friend who had always been friendless until she wished so hard for them that it exempted them from Omnipotence. Sarada and Sumire might know that's where their friendship with Eida will end, the sadness in their eyes similar to Boruto's when he was surprised by Sarada's hug.

Division

We return to Boruto and Koij's hideout in which Inojin is still working as a telepathic switchboard operator between Team Boruto and Shikamaru in the Hokage's Office. Here, we get our first description of one of Mamushi's abilities: Division.

If you read my blog post about Mamushi, you know that there's a lot going on with his character. Koji's explanation of division throws more fuel on the fire. Like a troll army, the more he makes of himself, the stupider he becomes—a sentient stand-in for mob mentality. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't leave one of these replicated selves behind because they need to flock together and attack en masse. His Rinnegan eyes are his weak spot, which makes sense symbolically as they're what he uses to spy on Eida and stare at pictures of young, curvy swimsuit models.

I can't help but connect Mamushi with the Serpoians from Dandadan, a species of all-male aliens who have failed to evolve due to their lack of females. They arrive on earth to steal human genitals to kickstart their evolution so they can reproduce rather than replicate. Mamushi's instinct to consume Eida's superior genetics seems akin to this quest, especially because he can make more of him, but he can't make them stronger, smarter, or less fugly. For that, he needs to possess her body.

Even as stupid as Mamushi's divisions become, he will never lose his desire to consume Eida or to be subservient to Jura. I don't know if there's such a thing as a beta Shinju, but that's the picture Koji is painting—a monster who will always be a coward, never defying his betters, but unlike Matsuri, he's unable to be swayed from his instinct to consume Eida because what he feels for her isn't motivated by love—it's about control.

Interesting enough, the descriptions of Mamushi's dumb replicas that can't feel pain isn't unlike Code's Claw Grime army, mindless monsters he's made of his own blood, further strengthening the Bug/Code connection. In some ways, Bug's life experiences is leading him to replay Code's path.

To avoid a repeat of what happened in the Sand, Koji says that they have to wait until Mamushi attacks Konoha to take him on because, as we know, Jura will stay out of the fight to avoid undue harm coming to his favorite place to go book shopping and grab a sweet treat.

Level Up... Level Up... Level Up. Level Up. Level Up.

Similar to Boruto's first meeting with Koji, the Jiraiya clone tells Inojin that he can master a new jutsu he'd create in the future to avenge Himawari after her death. This jutsu is going to be critical in the upcoming battle against Mamushi.

I have some reservations about the new gen characters constantly learning jutsu from Koji's prescience rather than developing them themselves. As Koji says about Himawari's potential tragic end he's trying to avoid, "...the theories and techniques you gained from it happening were of great value."

This isn't a narrative quibble—I'm fine with the plot working this way, injecting the story with new techniques without training arcs. But I wonder if there's going to be a price to pay that the new generation is simply copying notes from their future selves rather than learning to struggle and grow organically. I'm obviously not on team #HimawariSnacks, but I wonder if there will be ramifications down the lines, if Koji's interference in the natural order of things is one of the factors that's going to weigh into the end of the Age of Shinobi.

On one hand, we have competition from scientific ninja tools, as the daimyo's chamberlain notes. But we also have Koji turning the gears, borrowing from the future. With the Shinju, Ikemoto seems to have some level of consciousness about AI. What does it mean when an entire generation reads the cliff notes of their future selves rather than putting in the brainwork to develop jutsu or, in Sumire's case, scientific breakthroughs? Getting the result without putting in the brain work means you won't have a foundation to build on in the future.

It's like following a recipe for bread rather than developing the recipe yourself. Yes, you'll come out with a loaf in the end, but you're not going to learn what the correct hydration of dough is supposed to feel like, how far it's supposed to just barely stick to the bottom of the bowl, how to adjust the amount of yeast you're going to use depending on how long you'll let it rise, the way too much sugar can overfeed the yeast while too much salt can inhibit it's growth. It's the difference between being able to stick your finger in a cup of warm water and know when it's just right or too hot without being able to use a thermometer. All they're getting from Koji is the recipe with none of the building blocks.

Level Up... Level Up... Level Up. Level Up. Level Up. (Kawaki Edition)

Scratch everything I said before about the invasiveness of Kawaki's eye cameras because the next scene opens with him and Amado reviewing Jura footage from the Kawaki cam. Watching his regeneration abilities and how Jura utilizes the branches of the Divine Tree as both a weapon and a shield, Amado is skeptical he can be defeated. When Kawaki asks for more power and Amado is hesitant, our violent deuteragonist responds by grabbing our sexagenarian scientist by the neck like he's training to compete with Code in the Choking-Out-Old-Guy Olympic Event.

I want to be harsh on Kawaki here—he could give Amado his ultimatum without damaging his windpipe—but I'm also aware that he could be reminding Amado not to utilize his shutdown code to prevent him from taking action. Let's be honest, though, Kawaki has the old man by the balls right now: if he wants his daughter to be reincarnated, he needs to make Kawaki powerful enough to defeat his enemies while also staying alive. Going back to the chapter title, Kawaki tells him "Your only choice is to take the gamble on whether I will kill our enemies or die first."

We've been getting some great development from other characters in this third arc. I'm really hoping to see more from Kawaki soon. I think it's good that we're seeing his desperation to kill Jura, putting his life on the line in the same way Boruto is by making a deal with Momoshiki. This scene does a good job of laying out the stakes at this point, both what Kawaki needs to defeat Jura and the danger of doing so, but... give us more.

There's some interesting potential in the story right now, though. With Shikamaru working with Team Boruto (plus Inojin) and keeping Kawaki in the dark, are we going to end up in a scenario in which Kawaki is too focused on fighting Jura and is getting upgraded by Amado when he might be needed to assist in the fight against Mamushi? It'd give the other characters the opportunity to shine, but at what cost to his character?

Consider Helping Us Out

Konohamaru is in the interrogation room, acting like his puppy dog self: too earnest, too honest, too good to ever be a mole, aiding Boruto from inside Konoha. The Daimyo's Chamberlain calls him dim. DIM! The disrespect!

While Konohamaru is already struggling to explain how he's starting to question his perception of Boruto as a traitor, Shikamaru barges into his skull with Inojin's assistance to spill the beans: he explains everything that happened leading up to Boruto's escape from the interrogation room with a big ask: if he's willing to do so, could he lend them a hand in helping cover up Shikamaru's involvement? Essentially, he's asking Konohamaru to take the fall in Boruto's escape.

The real MVP of this scene is Sai's eyes, though. He's watchful when Konohamaru says his feelings towards Boruto might be changing. He notices the way Konohamaru starts sweating when Shikamaru contacts him, and he's staring hard at him as he sweats bullets, considering the Hokage's request.

I'm interested in the potential for a Yamanaka family blowup at this point. Sai is probably very familiar with mind-to-mind communication due to both his role as the head of Black Ops and marrying into the Yamanaka clan. We also know Ino had been in league with Shikamaru's off-the-records communication before shutting it down after her son's near-death. I'd love if we see some family content coming from this, Sai doing some digging, comparing notes with his wife, questioning their son (while he's trying to learn a new jutsu). I don't know if it will happen, but there's so much waiting to be explored.

Call Me Sumire

We return to the girl trio. Sumire has realized she's running late to the lab and should leave. Sarada tries to follow, but Eida gloms onto her, telling her they need to talk (I'm guessing about her love confession for Boruto?)

The moment Sumire steps outside, she finds Boruto waiting for her by the door with a broken sword, a scroll, and a request: could she fix Sasuke's sword for him in the next week using technology she develops in the future. She warns him that the sword might become something else after she fixes it, which he agrees to. Then, informs him that she'll do if as long as he starts calling her Sumire rather than Class Rep. Boruto is confused when she giggles and rushes off to fix it for him.

You know, I kind of like the romantic approach she's taking here, asking from him the same thing she asked of Sarada during their fight—to use her actual name. It's an invitation to get closer, to treat her as any other friend in the village rather than an academy classmate. And she's giddy that she gets the opportunity to help him and see him again in the near future.

Look, I don't know where this love triangle stuff is going to go. I'm not the type of reader that savors a story of winners and losers, the potential for people having their feelings hurt. But I also think this is a cute scene in the story. And I expect Sarada to have her own cute scenes as well. So, we're just going to have to sit tight and see where this ends up. Will Sarada be alarmed that Boruto gave her father's sword to Sumire? Will she never know? Will Kawaki be like, yo, what the fuck are you doing walking into the lab with my loser bro's weapon? We'll see!

Big Sis Eida

I just felt the need to give the last page it's own heading because... what the fuck. Several days pass, which means Inojin has mastered his jutsu and Sumire is working on Boruto's sword, when a quintet of Mamushi appear of the village wall with their chakra signatures erased, ready to hunt Eida down.

Now, the creepy shit here is we know Mamushi decided he wanted to consume Eida for control while looking at a girlie magazine, but here, he's calling her Big Sis, as though there's some familial relation between them... I wonder if he stumbled upon the step-sibling category on the Hub... Or maybe Bug's background with Eida is even weirder than we know at this point.

Either way, to quote Hidari, "Totally ick."

Conclusions

That's my review after three reads of the chapter on release day. I'm sure I'll shake the plot tree and see what other fruit falls in the coming days.

Questions and considerations:

• Next chapter is a volume-ender after 3 chapters of buildup, so I'm expecting an epic rug pull at the end.
• I'm really craving Eida backstory as well as her history with Bug, which I think we'll get when he's ready to attack her.
• Gimme that sweet, sweet Yamanaka family drama.
• I wonder how much Boruto knows or doesn't know about the girls' feelings for him. Koji is clearly fine with telling him, "Hey, this dude is giving honey to your sister" (figuratively and literally). He's told him that Sarada wouldn't have obtained her MS if he was present. He's given him future Sumire's diagrams for fixing swords. Has he dropped any details about the complex web of feeling surrounding him?
• It'd be nice if Kawaki could go an entire volume without choking an old man. Even if the old man deserves it.
• Could Kawaki do something else other than thirst for power? Just for a little bit? (Please?)
• I really want to see the theme of connection through friendship grow with Sarada spearheading it.
• What was the meaning of Mitsuki observing the Boruto/Sumire interaction? Will he tell Sarada? Or... Does it mean something to him to be able to observe his sun from afar?
• If Konohamaru takes the fall for Shikamaru, what will his punishment be? Or is he going to throw Mitsuki under the bus for Shikamaru? What will the punishment be? Will either of them defect to Team Boruto as a result?
• Is Boruto's epic bitch face during the conversation with Inojin about a classmate crushing on his little sister, his crumbling alliance with Koji, or both?
• Who is going to be involved in the fight against Mamushi? Is it going to be a targeted attack or a wider village brawl?