Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 28 Review

Cover

Ikemoto has gifted us with an absolutely stunning chapter cover featuring Sumire holding Boruto's upgraded sword. This is the second time she's been featured on a TBV cover, and her character growth, as well as Ikemoto's ever-evolving art style, are clearly portrayed.

Chapter 12, Thorn Soul Bulb, occurred soon after the hug scene in which Sumire felt blind-sided by Sarada's affection for Boruto. What's more, during the Hidari fight featured in chapter 11 and 12, Sumire had to stand back, watching her friend, Sarada, get injured, then watching other, more powerful character's fight. There's an uncertainty in her stance on the chapter 12, cover. She looks reserved and uncertain, standing in front of a background of her namesake flowers—violets—covered by tightly swirling lines.

The contrast with the chapter 28 cover is inescapable. The field of flowers has exploded into a blast of petals, the previously tight lines that had been holding them back vanishing around her. Sumire has changed as well. After Sarada admitted her mutual feelings of affection for Boruto, we see an unrestrained Sumire who is no longer holding back. She possessively cradle's Boruto's sword, hugging it, reminiscent of the moment in which she witnessed Sarada hug Boruto and Boruto hug her back. What's more, Sumire's value to Boruto, as well as the village, has increased now that she's using her scientific abilities to aid in the fight against the Shinju. The Sumire who could do nothing other than warn others while facing Hidari has now created a powerful weapon for the battle with Mamushi.

I adore Ikemoto's tricky titles. Yes, there are many new powers in this chapter, titled New Powers. Boruto's upgraded sword, Kawaki's buff from Amado, Inojin's new jutsu, the cliffhanger ending. But all of these pale in comparison to the real power of Shikamaru bringing an actual group together to defeat Mamushi—Eida, Daemon, Sarada, Sumire, Konohamaru, Amado, Delta, Mitsuki, Kawaki, Boruto, Himawari, Shikadai, ChoCho, Inojin, and Koji. There are still fractures and faction within this united front, but they're all coming together to prevent the worst possible futures from coming to pass.

Brotherly Advice

For those of you who follow me on Bluesky, I noted last month that the tension between Inojin and Boruto seemed to mirror their dynamic at the very beginning of the Boruto anime, Inojin essentially telling Boruto that he doesn't trust him. That exact same exchange happens in chapter 28, though last time, Inojin told Boruto he didn't trust him because he was riding the Hokage's coattails. This time, he says he doesn't trust him because he betrayed Konoha.

The exchange between them is very funny, Boruto warning Inojin that if he ever makes Himawari cry, Boruto will shave off his hair, followed by Inojin's confusion because he doesn't know who Boruto actually is. But through this humor, we're actually getting one of our first glimpses into how hard Omnipotence is for Boruto. He can't tell his former classmate who he actually is, but, as an older brother, he also can't fully accept that his classmate is romantically interested in his sister—ergo, Boruto doesn't accept Inojin as future brother-in-law material. They're talking about accepting each other in two different ways, Boruto as an ally to Inojin, Inojin as his sister's possible boyfriend to Boruto. All that said, I'm not sure Kawaki would react any better than Boruto did to Inojin's romantic interest in Hima.

We also have Koji caught in the middle of their little exchange, knowing the truth but being unable to (or unwilling to) say anything about it, clearly unamused by the pissing contest between two teenage boys.

What Sai Knows

All of those intense Sai eye panels from last month come to fruition when Konohamaru's interrogation with Kobu is ending. Sai reaches out to the sensory unit to ask if Konohamaru has exchanged any transmissions, detecting that he was using some mind-to-mind communication technique earlier. Such a perfect catch for the head of the ANBU black-ops, also married to leader of the Konoha Barrier Team. My biggest question is: What will Sai do with this information? We know Ino has already pulled away from Shikamaru following Inojin's near-death experience. What will Sai do, particularly if he learns that Shikamaru has made their son ally with the enemy? Is he going to give Shikamaru the benefit of the doubt? Or will he side with his wife and Kobu?

At any rate, Konohamaru is off the hook for now. Mitsuki is next in the interrogation hotseat.

Upgrade

The scene in which Boruto is receiving his upgraded sword from Sumire opens with a fantastic perspective of his new outfit. I'm really enjoying Ikemoto allowing his characters to change their clothing, almost as though they're real people. The new fit features a slightly deeper cut in his open shirt and a different jacket, still hosting lapels for all his buttons, that is tucked into his pants. I'm not entirely sure, but it looks as though the jacket's sleeves have colored banding on them like some of his genin clothing did.

Sumire explains the improvements she's made to Sasuke's sword: altered shape to improve its performance, the ability to automatically maintain the Hagoromo jutsu once its activated, and a safety measure that will drain the chakra of anyone who touches it without having their chakra signature registered (current allowed users: Sasuke, Boruto, Sumire). There's also another "certain special material" that she's added to it, which hasn't been revealed to the reader yet.

A few cool things: I feel like the upgrades are a throwback to the Scientific Ninja Tool team during the Ao arc and Katasuke's chakra blade. The tiny chakra draw to maintain Hagoromo will prevent future harm from coming to the sword while allowing Boruto to fully focus his attention on the fight. Meanwhile, the safety measure is a lot like the drawback of the chakra blade, immediately depleting the chakra of someone else who touches it. This has some interesting implications. We have confirmation that Hidari shares Sasuke's chakra signature, so he should theoretically be able to touch the blade without incident. Meanwhile, none of Boruto allies will be able to. However, I think the most intriguing possibility is that if Momoshiki takes over, the sword might drain his chakra... That is, if his chakra is different from Boruto's and he's not listening in on this little conversation.

I'm very invested in what the "certain special material" that's been compounded into the blade. If we recall Sumire's words last chapter, she said, "If we use this technology to fix it, I feel like the blade might be reborn as something almost completely different." While the features she's added are all helpful, they don't seem to have changed the sword much itself. So, the question is: What is the material and what does it do? Part of me wonders if something has been smelted into the blade that will prevent Kawaki from shrinking it (though it would have to be a living being for that to work, right?). I've seen suggestions from Nue to Shibai's cells to Hashirama's cells (wood jutsu!) to one of Kawaki's black rods. That last possibility makes me wonder if Amado and Kawaki knew she was working on Boruto's blade in the lab.

Anyway, mysteries abound!

Father and Son

When I tell you, I have been on my knees begging for Shikamaru and Shikadai interactions... you probably shouldn't believe me. I am old and I only get on my knees for a limited number of things. But I have been longing for this scene, and this was the perfect scenario in which to have it.

Shikamaru approaches his own son about the mission ahead, knowing full well that he might have disagreements about working with Boruto. The dynamic between them in fantastic, harkening back to Shikadai's manga development. He's much more earnest than Shikamaru was as a genin, immediately questioning how his father could work with someone who (supposedly) murdered Lord Seventh before questioning why his father might have opted for this path forward. Likewise, Shikamaru doesn't tell Shikadai everything he knows or suspects. Instead, he makes it about his own integrity, of his promise to himself to carry on as Naruto would have done.

This is some fantastic parenting from Shikamaru. He doesn't give Shikadai the answers, perhaps because he himself is unsure of the conclusions he's drawing. As he follows his convictions, he gives his son the agency to follow his convictions as to whether or not to work with Boruto. Though we know, by working with Boruto, it's likely that Shikadai might change his perspective of him (as Konohamaru did during the last arc).

At long last, we finally get Shikadai talking about those who ally themselves with Boruto (Himawari and Sarada), and it is unkind. I like that we readers know that Himawari is thinking of Boruto as Kawaki when she wants to help him while Sarada is thinking of Boruto as Boruto, thus, their perspectives actually aren't the same. It just looks that way to those affected by Omnipotence. Despite his contempt for Himawari's reasons for becoming a shinobi, Team 10 is protective of her, which is why Shikadai agrees to join the mission.

Even More Koji-splaining

I got the tiniest bit spoiled by a single panel of Treeida and was like... Well, I know this plot moves fast, but having her consumed by Mamushi this soon is certainly a choice. Little did I know we were just getting a taste of one of Koji's visions!

I feel as though we keep revisiting the same things with Koji's abilities over and over, learning a little more of his flaws and reasoning each time. In this conversation with Inojin (I'm really enjoying the odd couple of Inojin and Koji hanging out together), Koji admits how selective he is with the information he shares and with whom he shares it. It's very likely he's purposefully holding things back from Boruto not just because he doesn't want Boruto to act rashly, but because he legitimately doesn't want him to know. Koji also admits his own fallibility in this scene, too, saying that he doesn't know if he's made the right choices until the future becomes the past. The true guiding light is people following their hearts and making what they believe to be the best decisions with intel from Koji to guide them.

Back to Treeida, though. Knowing that one possible way this battle ends is with Mamushi consuming Eida means that Daemon can be beaten. Or separated from her. Or something else that sidelines her impenetrable knight long enough for the enemy to get to her. The other interesting part of Koji's visions is Himawari's death, seemingly due to some physical trauma as opposed to being consumed by Jura. If Jura was to blame, she'd be in a tree like Eida, so it's obvious there's some other threat to her life lurking out there.

Assemble!

Via Inojin's new Mind Transition Formation jutsu, Shikamaru contacts the individuals who will be involved in the operation to defend the village from Mamushi and protect Eida. First, my favorite series of panels from this chapter:

Shikamaru: There were two main selection criteria. First... That you aren't hostile towards Boruto in regard to our upcoming battle.

Sarada: No one here is hostile?

Kawaki: Hi, I'm Hostile. Nice to meet you.

This is the first time we see Kawaki in this chapter, and it appears that he's lying on a table in Amado's lab, completing his (possibly fatal) upgrades. I think it's possible that if Kawaki feels as though he can take Mamushi on his own (and Code and Hidari and Jura), he'll take a shot at Boruto. I'm not saying it will happen, but I don't think we can consider him actively not hostile, even if they are allied for the purposes of this battle.

Ikemoto is setting up an interesting dynamic for the Mamushi invasion where the members of the operation are going to have to both defend the village from the Shinju threat but also defend Boruto from the village. The tricky part of this is that if any of them (or too many of them) get caught aiding him while Kobu is in the village, it could blow the whole secret mission.

Just as Shikamaru is about to explain Mamushi's abilities, he INVADES. (This is a narrative technique that's great, but I feel as though Ikemoto has been doing it a smidge too often.)

Hey, Bros

Ikemoto continues to absolutely slay with his commentary on misogyny when Mamushi, a hunched over divine tree creature wearing a furry mumu and a one-piece swimsuit shows up on a random street, scratching his naked thigh, and asks two dudes, "Where is the hot teenager at?" and they respond with "Boy, we'd like to know, too!" instead of "Why do you have dinosaur feet?"

Shikamaru quickly dispatches orders to everyone (though we don't know what stations Delta and Himawari are going to hold). I truly feel Eida's revulsion, and my heart breaks when Daemon is so certain he'll be able to protect her while we all know that there's a possible future in which he can't.

Boruto quickly teleports to the location of Mamushi (or some of them?) and tries out his upgraded sword—it's super effective, and the art is phenomenal. While the two men who Mamushi approached go off to alert the cops (which will probably set off the Boruto manhunt), Boruto squares off against the ever-dividing Shinju. As his intelligence decreases with each division, Mamushi's bodies begin to breathe fire, forgetting that Jura doesn't want them to harm Konoha itself. Luckily for them, I guess, Boruto employs his Karma, absorbing the flames and leaving us on a fantastic cliffhanger on this volume-ending chapter.

Conclusions

Some questions and thoughts:

• Sooner or later, we're going to need to learn the details of the deal Boruto made with Momoshiki to allow him to use his Karma without the threat of being taken over.
• I've seen some speculation that Momoshiki will be coming soon, but I think we're at least a volume or two away from that. We need to see this battle play out, the members of the operation each having their time to shine. I know I've said it dozens of times before, but I'm also really hoping this arc will finally give us the Eida/Daemon lore drop we so desperately need.
• So, what is the new special material in Boruto's blade and what does it do?
• How strong is Kawaki now, and will there be a price to pay for using his upgraded abilities?
• I really loved the moments in this chapter and the previous one that humanized Boruto, the snapping at Inojin, his suprise at Sumire, bitching about the itchiness of using his Karma. I'd like to get some of that from Kawaki as well. It doesn't have to be the same humanization as he's a very different character, but it'd be nice to see more from him than slamming Amado up against walls and demanding power.
• How is Mitsuki going to slip out of the interrogation room to support the battle? When Shikamaru assigns Team 7 to a location, is that just Konohamaru and Sarada for now?
• What role is Delta going to play? And was it really a good idea to loop Amado in and not, say, the head of your black-ops???
• I like how much Shikamaru is putting on the line here. He's the same dude who, during the Code arc, told Naruto to do what he needs to and let him die. I think we're seeing the same resolve here. He's going to protect the village even if it's putting him in a butt-ton of danger.
• Is Himawari going to be supporting Team 10? Or are they going to stash her elsewhere for safety?
• How does Koji define the best future they're working towards? Does his concept of a good future conflict with the outcomes Boruto desires?
• ARGH, WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO LONG BEFORE THE NEXT CHAPTER DROP????