“Boruto: Naruto Next Generations” Manga Issue 70 Review: From the Bottom of My Heart

Boruto manga chapter 70, titled ‘From the Bottom of My Heart’, was a very talk-heavy issue as it laid the groundwork for a bunch of confrontations down the line.

With Shikamaru, Amado, and Delta being locked in the same room as Code and Eida in the previous chapter, I was looking forward to seeing how much longer Shikamaru would be able to keep the situation under control. He had presented Eida with an interesting offer, and ‘From the Bottom of My Heart’ gave us her answer.

I liked how Eida really thought about Shikamaru’s proposition. She could just leave Code and decide to side with Konoha to get closer to Kawaki. Shikamaru also made it clear to Eida that if she continued to work with Code, she would be seen as Konoha’s enemy. And the last thing Eida wanted was to have Kawaki see her as an enemy to the Hidden Leaf Village and a possible threat to Naruto.

Eida’s hesitation understandably made Code uneasy. He was still under Eida’s spell and couldn’t outright attack her, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make his concern visible. Code still needed Eida’s help. I think Eida siding with Konoha would mean Daemon would go along with her. Of course, Code didn’t want to accomplish his mission without the sibling duo, even if he got his limiters removed by Amado.

With Shikamaru finding a way to stall Eida, we got a handful of panels that continued to show Shikamaru’s intellect. When it comes to the Naruto/Boruto franchise, even the most powerful of Jutsus can be countered. Shikamaru noticing Eida activate her Senrigan ability in front of him and the information Amado shared will no doubt help Shikamaru come up with an effective counter to be used during the inevitable rematch.

‘From the Bottom of My Heart’ also focused on Amado’s suspicious nature. I think a majority of readers, myself included, never trusted Amado in the first place. He’s been hiding a lot of information about his cyborgs while working for Jigen/Isshiki. Even Shikamaru called Amado out on withholding useful intel.

Even though Amado’s explanation for why he didn’t tell Shikamaru about Eida’s ability not being able to work on Brotuo and Kawaki made sense, I still rolled my eyes. I don’t know about you, but along with not trusting Amado I just can’t make myself feel an ounce of pity toward him. Amado can die and a ‘meh!’ would be all you will get from me.

My STEM girl Sumire’s another character who has been side-eyeing Amado for a while. I liked her interaction with Kawaki. As far as Sumire’s concerned, Amado’s only concerned about Kawaki’s well-being due to a hidden agenda. Even though Sumire doesn’t have proof, she can sense that Amado’s up to something. And I agree with her. I don’t know what, but Amado’s planning something when it comes to Kawaki’s Karma Mark.

Having Sumire be the one to connect with Kawaki makes sense. Sumire’s been through a lot because of what her father did to her. She can relate to Kawaki’s trauma better than Boruto, in my opinion. That’s why I do feel Kawaki believed Sumire when she talked about being suspicious of Amado.

Kawaki’s opinion of Amado seems to be complicated at the moment. He didn’t like Amado giving him the Karma Mark without consent. However, Kawaki’s also grateful Amado did that because otherwise, he wouldn’t have had the strength to protect Naruto during his previous battle with Code. I’m looking forward to seeing Kawaki making Amado tell him the truth about why he’s so interested in his Karma Mark.

However, that will need to wait because Code decided to teleport Amado to the Kara hideout. I mean, I would have done the same thing if I was in Code’s shoes. Things were getting out of control with Naruto, Sasuke, and Boruto being told to wait outside the room and Eida contemplating possibly saying yes to Shikamaru’s offer. Not only that, but Kawaki was also making his way to the room, through the air vents, and Kawaki had the power to put a stop to Code.

The biggest moment in ‘From the Bottom of My Heart’ occurred during the final moments of the chapter. With Code taking Amado and Eida back to the hideout, it was impossible for Amado to not get rid of Code’s limiters. Amado pleading for his life in exchange for helping Code was such an Amado thing to do. Again, I don’t Amado one bit.

With the limiters off, (the password was “There’s no dress code”), we got a look at Code’s new appearance. Frankly, Code’s design update was underwhelming. He basically got longer hair and eyelashes. Maybe it will look better in the anime? Hmmm.

Apparently, Code’s supposed to be stronger than Jigen. However, is Code stronger than the version of Jigen who absorbed chakra from the Ten-Tails before making quick work of Naruto and Sasuke? I guess we will find out soon enough.

Regardless, I think Boruto and Kawaki should be able to put up a good fight against Code because they have Otsutsuki DNA, including battle tactics and abilities, from Momoshiki and Isshiki, respectively.

Let’s see if a powered-up Code will immediately teleport back to Konoha or if he will wait a while to go and kidnap Boruto.

Some other thoughts and questions

• Did Salad and Mitsuki not follow Boruto and Sasuke to the room? I hope they did. I want those two to be part of the main story.
• Eida making Delta attack Shikamaru was something fans were expecting. Many fans had the theory that after Eida put a person under her spell, she could make them fight other people or have them willingly sacrifice their lives to protect her.
• Do you think Kashin Koji will appear to save Amado? Also, I highly doubt Eida will allow Code to kill Amado off so soon.
• Amado seeing through Shikamaru’s possible plan to use Kawaki to fight Code in the hopes that both of them would die during their battle made me laugh. Shikamaru vs Amado is basically Big Brain vs Big Brain. Of course, I want Shikamaru’s intellect to win!
• Code saying that he added Shikamaru’s name on his ‘Retribution List’ is a threat I don’t want Code to follow through with. I want Shikamaru to survive the events of Boruto.

What did you think of Boruto manga issue 70?

Let us know!

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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