“Boruto: Naruto Next Generations” Manga Issue 77 Review: Time Drawing Near

Boruto manga chapter 77, titled ‘ Time Drawing Near’, gave us a bunch of intense moments as Kawaki made up his mind about how to deal with the Otsutsuki threat and protect Naruto.

There’s been a lot of chatter in the fandom about how the manga story is getting quite close to the highly-anticipated time skip. Going by what happened in ‘Time Drawing Near’, I guess the assumption holds weight. It does feel like we’re heading toward an epic climax that will change the trajectories of our lead characters.

‘Time Drawing Near’ opened right where the previous chapter left us, with Kawaki demanding Boruto let him speak to Momoshiki. As far as Kawaki’s concerned, Momoshiki’s up to something suspicious. And you know what? I’m with Kawaki on this one. The Otsutsuki living inside of Boruto can’t be trusted.

Even though Shikamaru was able to calm Kawaki down, you could tell that Naruto’s adopted son had already made up his mind about what he had to do next. And while I was kind of expecting Kawaki’s next course of action, seeing it visualized in manga format still got me excited!

With Kawaki heading off to run a “minor errand”, I liked how he not only erased his Chakra signature to become undetectable by the Sensory Unit but also shrunk himself so that Mitsuki and Konohamaru (posted outside the house) couldn’t notice him. Boruto was able to sense that Kawaki was still around, but he was unable to pinpoint Kawaki’s exact location.

Now, during the scene where Eida decided to go shopping and basically threatened Boruto to try and stop her from doing what she wanted, I couldn’t help but hope that the story allowed Mitsuki to figure out a way to resist Eida’s Charm Ability. Konohamaru did warn Mitsuki to not look at Eida again when she came out of the house. In my opinion, the panel focusing on Mitsuki’s eye was hinting at him somehow finding a way to fight against the Charm Ability soon. In a sense, he and Konohamaru were currently in a better state compared to Delta (who needed her systems to be shut down by Sumire to keep her away from Eida).

For those wondering about Code, we did get to spend a bunch of panels with him. Turns out, he’s still in another dimension and busy creating his army. As of now, he’s got over 1000 of the weird-looking creatures, called Claw Grimes, that he decided to create from the Ten-Tails. He wanted to attack Konoha. But with Eida being inside the village, Code lost his element of surprise. So, he’s going to wait for another opportunity to arise.

I don’t know about you, but I was surprised when Eida finally told Shikamaru about Code’s army of Claw Grimes. There was a fan theory about how Eida’s Senrigan couldn’t see into other dimensions. However, ‘Time Drawing Near’, refuted that theory. Eida can indeed see what Code’s been doing. And with Shikamaru knowing about the upcoming threat, it will be interesting to see how he plans to face such an army. Even though characters from Naruto had experience with fighting minions created from the Ten-Tails during the Fourth Great Shinobi War, the Claw Grimes will likely be stronger than their predecessors due to Code infusing his Chakra into them.

Another surprising moment involved Daemon. With Eida busy shopping for clothes in Konoha, with Salad and Sumire next to her, of course, Boruto felt bored keeping an eye on her. Daemon piggybacking on our lead character didn’t help the situation.

According to Daemon, he’s yet to meet a Konoha ninja whom he would consider a decent fighter. I liked Boruto’s response about how ninjas like him weren’t weak. It’s just that Daemon’s too freaking strong. The kid’s yet to meet Naruto and Sasuke. However, Daemon ended his conversation with Boruto because he sensed someone powerful walk past the shop. And the person that caught Daemon’s attention was revealed to be… drumroll… Himawari!

The fandom’s shooketh right now. And I’m looking forward to the barrage of fan theories that particular scene will create. Daemon sensed an intensity inside Himawari. He even stated how easy it would have been for Himawari to dodge a punch he wanted to throw at her.

While I’m glad about Himawari being given the potential to be a valuable player in the upcoming story, I did feel a bit disappointed due to being a fan of Salad. Boruto and Kawaki are on a lane of their own when it comes to power levels. And the current chapter had Daemon state that Himawari possessed an intensity that caught his attention. But what about Salad?

Salad continues to be pushed to the side, especially when it comes to power levels. She’s the freaking daughter of Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. She’s supposed to be the female lead. And yet, as of now, she’s the weakest member of Team 7. Sigh! Here’s hoping Salad’s able to awaken some secret power from inside herself because she needs it for what’s to come.

Going back to Kawaki. The final moments of ‘Time Drawing Near’ had Kawaki arrive at the Uzumaki residence and ask Naruto to listen to him. Kawaki’s been through a lot in his life. Naruto’s the one who gave him purpose. So, it made sense for Kawaki to be truthful to Naruto about his intentions. Kawaki’s not a fan of the world everyone’s living in. As far as Kawaki’s opinion is concerned, good people like Naruto always died earlier than bad ones. And with the Otsutsuki threat still around, Naruto risked dying again. And Kawaki won’t allow that.

Being an emotional character, I understood Kawaki wanting to eliminate the Otsutsuki threat on his own. He realized he was the only one powerful enough to accomplish such a task anyway. And yes, eliminating the Otsutsuki also meant killing Boruto due to Momoshiki being inside of him.

I liked seeing the look of horror and concern on Naruto and Hinata’s faces as they listened to Kawaki’s insane plan. Hinata even slapped Kawaki to make him stop. But nopes. Nothing worked on Kawaki. And in order to begin his mission, he had no choice but to send Naruto and Hinata away to another dimension.

Taking Naruto and Hinata off the board in such a manner was a very good move from a narrative standpoint. The absence of their parents along with their adopted brother’s bloodlust will have an emotional impact on Boruto and Himawari.

Also, Kawaki’s ready for this to be a suicide mission when all is said and done. Due to having Otsutsuki DNA inside of him, he’s okay with Naruto killing him, too, but after Kawaki’s made sure no other Otsutsuki was around.

Boruto’s glimpse into the future did show Mitsuki activating his Sage Mode to fight Kawaki. So, that will be an interesting fight to see for sure. I think Sumire might tell Mitsuki and Salad about Kawaki being the one who killed Boruto previously and how our young lead would have died if Momoshiki hadn’t intervened.

Also, I’m not sure if Sasuke’s in the village or not, but Kawaki vs Sasuke might occur if he’s nearby. And with Sasuke not being able to team up with Naruto, I have my fingers crossed that we get to see him team up with Sakura. Let’s see.

And don’t forget the Claw Grimes. There’s a lot happening for our main cast of characters to handle all at once.

Before I conclude my review, with Code and Kawaki sharing a link to Isshiki, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kawaki unknowingly sent Naruto and Hinata into the same dimension where Code’s also been storing some of his Claw Grimes. Ha!

What did you think of ‘Time Drawing Near’? Do you think Kawaki will manage to kill Boruto again?

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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