“Boruto: Two Blue Vortex” Manga Issue 16 Review: The Singularity of Fate

Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issue 16, titled ‘The Singularity of Fate’, delivered a whole bunch of information. However, it still managed to move the plot along as our heroes tried to stop Jura’s forces.

With the Hidden Sand Village letting Shikamaru know about Gaara and Shinki’s fates, it made sense for Konoha to send ninjas to offer aid. They couldn’t allow the newly-created humanoid Shinju Ryu to unseal Gaara and kill him. What did surprise me, however, was Shikamaru being told by one of Kashin Koji’s toads to send Konohamaru, Salad, and Mitsuki on that particular mission.

Apparently, it’s for the best (considering the future Kashin Koju’s seen), but I was expecting Konohamru to team up with Shikadai and Chocho instead. Gaara is Shikadai’s uncle after all, and the Shinju Matsuri does feel the need to devour Konohamaru and Team Moegi.

But then again, sending Shikadi and Chocho would have made it easier for Matsuri to devour them? Hmmm. At least we will get an interesting conversation between Matsuri and Konohamaru upon their inevitable head-on clash.

Aiding Konohamaru and Team 7 were Gaara’s other adopted children, Yodo and Araya. Now, Araya’s new design did cause a bit of commotion in the Naruto/Boruto fandom a couple of days ago, with certain fans not liking Araya’s outfit. As far as my opinion goes, teen Sai was running around in a crop top during Naruto Shippuden and no one had an issue with his design. Araya seems to be wearing a similar outfit.

Frankly, my issue with the female character designs in Boruto has more to do with them undergoing dangerous missions in high heels. Their clothes are okay and clearly inspired by certain fashion trends set by K-Pop Idol.

With Konohamaru and the young ninjas getting ready to face Ryu and Matsuri, I’m looking forward to seeing how they will fare in a battle against such powerful opponents, especially without Boruto around. In theory, Konohamaru should know about Matsuri’s weaknesses, while Araya and Yodo should help the Konoha ninjas to come up with a counter to Ryu because he’s based on their team member Shinki.

As for the major information shared in this particular chapter, we got a flashback of Kashin Koji talking to Boruto about our hero’s modified Flying Raijin. From what I could understand, Boruto’s able to teleport across vast distances by infusing his chakra in metal markers. As long as a marker is placed somewhere, Boruto should be able to use a version of Space-Time Ninjutsu to reach that specific location. Of course, the greater the distance, the higher level of concentration required.

Another drawback was Boruto’s ability to properly sense and pinpoint which marker he was supposed to teleport to. He’s able to counter such a weakness by creating differently shaped markers. And while at first he could only travel to a marker that was in his range of sight, he trained hard enough to overcome said shortcoming.

Due to Boruto asking Kashin Koji why he didn’t share what he saw in the future with more people so they could make choices to guarantee a better world, I got the reasoning behind Kashin Koji’s response. The future was ever-changing. Even Kashin Koji telling Boruto about his visions had altered the future in some manner. Playing around with the future was going to lead to an unfortunate outcome.

According to Kashin Koji, people who knew about the future were called the Singularities of Fate. Kashin Koji was one. Boruto was one. And so was Eida, after she used her Senrigan to replay that particular conversation. The role of a Singularity of Fate was to guide people from the shadows to ensure a better future. They couldn’t reveal the truth outright.

With Eida still trying to figure out her place in the world, I think she liked being made a Singularity of Fate in such a manner. It gave her life a purpose other than seeking revenge against Amado or wanting Kawaki to like her.

Having said that, I do think that having more than one Singularity of Fate meant that Kashin Koji’s death was near. While a cliché, it would make narrative sense for the “teacher” to die after sharing everything they could with their “student”. If that does happen, I just hope Kashin Koji goes out in an epic manner.

Shikamaru’s interaction with Eida was also interesting, with Kashin Koji’s toad popping up to suggest sending particular ninjas to the Hidden Sand Village. The toad also complimented Shikamaru’s ability to listen to his heart when he helped Boruto escape from Konoha.

The toad advising Shikamaru to order Konoha to remain normal if Jura decides to visit a bookstore is going to lead to some humor down the line (or so I hope!). Our heroes can’t risk annoying such an OP adversary. Also, according to the toad, Himawari’s supposed to remain inside the village for everyone’s safety. So, let’s see if Shikamaru’s able to manage that or not. The Elders and Lord Daimyo weren’t happy about Boruto’s escape. That’s why I won’t be surprised if the walls closed around Shikamaru and he’s forced to resign as Hokage. What a “drag” indeed!

Coming back to listening to your heart, Sumire couldn’t help but share her romantic feelings for Boruto in front of Salad, Eida, and Daemon. Apparently, Sumire’s not a fan of Salad worrying about Boruto without putting herself in the young ninja’s shoes. Sumire wanted Salad to understand why someone like Boruto wouldn’t want to share more information about what he was up to. Not only that, but Sumire’s also not a fan of how Salad was so expressive about her connection with Boruto (rushing in to hug him upon his return), knowing that Sumire harbored romantic feelings for him.

Sister Code, Salad! Remember the Sister Code! Thou shall not seek romantic attention from a boy being crushed upon by one’s sister. (Or something like that.)

I do appreciate seeing Sumire being this bold about her feelings. It helps when it comes to the ongoing ship wars. But I’m kind of worried about how the creative team will handle the dynamic between Sumire and Salad from this point forward. I liked them as friends and I hope they continue to remain close.

I do feel that Boruto and Sumire are endgame. Salad being so expressive about her connection with Boruto reminded me of Sakura’s connection with Naruto. Remember that Sakura got to hug Naruto way earlier than the shy Hinata. And Sasuke got to kiss Naruto before Hinata (ha!).

I think Sumire expressing her feelings for Boruto is slowly being built up to have a huge impact down the line. 

What did you think of Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issue 16 ‘The Singularity of Fate’?

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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