This is going to be tough to say, but with the Naruto Shippuden slowly coming to a close and even with the extra Hiden series coming out, our much loved hero’s story is ending. And last year the next extension of the Naruto franchise was announced, with the Boruto the movie and manga being released in 2015.
The only thing is, if Boruto was to be the next hero then what happens to the old hero? Well frankly it means he isn’t there to help otherwise it wouldn’t be much of a story. If it was Naruto always coming to the rescue then it will be just an extension of Naruto and really not about his son Boruto.
But we must also look at the other loved characters in Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Lee, Tenten, Gara and co, what happens to them?
As we have seen throughout the Naruto series so far the creator Masashi Kishimoto is not afraid to kill off popular characters, in order to perfect the storyline i.e. Jiraiya and Negi.
As much I hate to say this, but for the next generation to succeed the old must make way and with the characters current power level from Naruto Shippuden, it will be hard to find an enemy capable of such feats let alone making Boruto stronger than them in order to take on that enemy.
The only problem is the success of the series; it may have a negative impact on the story if certain characters were killed off, especially if there were a large number of them to die.
Like I said earlier it would be hard for the new hero’s to take the spotlight if the old hero’s are still there hogging all the limelight. It may take some time for this to happen however, as the current group of characters are incredibly powerful and if they were to be defeated, it would mean their children would most certainly also perish, as they are currently nowhere near the same strength.
The Boruto movie started during the Chunin exams, which is much further on in the development of the characters compared to Naruto, who wasn’t even a gein when the story began.
However, there is still a big difference in power from the adults to the children and it will be some time before they catch up, but more importantly, what need do they have to catch up? A new enemy? With peace being brought to the five great nations what war will there be?
We have already seen brief images of a post apocalyptic destruction of Konoha in a sneak peak of the future in Boruto manga and with a new enemy Kawaki stating that he will send Boruto to where Naruto is.
Many fans believe this means Naruto is dead and with Sasuke being nowhere near the battle then I’d also assume he is too defeated. But that seems to be a very long time away and much further down the storyline, with so many unexplained things i.e. Boruto’s Byakugan.
However, we canst assume that this statement implies Naruto is deadas it could also possibly mean Kawaki believing Naruto is dead, or he may be sealed away.
Another option for an enemy and therefore Boruto’s development is the other smaller villages such as the Rain, Waterfall, Grass and Sound may team up to further build their status as well.
We have seen throughout Naruto sad background stories, which often is used, as motivation and thus far Boruto hasn’t dealt with any real hardship.
The biggest reason to get better is because you are the only one who can help and that means the others aren’t there to help you, or else there is no reason for you to improve.
That’s why I think we should expect to see the much loved characters we grew up with, possibly die in the sake of the Boruto story, hopefully however that is a long time away.