“Boruto: Two Blue Vortex” Manga Issue 18 Review: Only Babble in Your Sleep

Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issue 18, titled ‘Only Babble in Your Sleep’, showed that the humanoid Shinju weren’t as gullible as our heroes thought.

With Konohamaru keeping Matsuri occupied while Mitsuki and Salad accompanied Ryu toward Araya and Yodo in the previous issue, ‘Only Babble in Your Sleep’ picked up from that moment as the narrative amped up the tension. Even though Shikamaru had told the ninjas the humanoid Shinju beings were to be treated as one would handle OP baby animals, you could tell the good guys were severely underestimating how cunning their current foes could be. I knew things were going to take a turn for the worse and they did.

As Salad and Mitsuki walked Ryu toward Araya and Yodo, Ryu immediately sensed Yodo’s bloodlust toward him. Not only that but he also used Salad’s plan to use the Thorn Soul Bulb as bait for Boruto against the young ninjas. Also, the fact it was Yodo who couldn’t keep her emotions in check and fell for the bait after calling out Salad for being distracted at the beginning of their mission made me chuckle.

The confrontation between Ryu and the young ninjas demonstrated some of his abilities. Ryu could spread the Iron Sand to cover vast areas. This particular Sensory Jutsu allowed him to search for hidden objects and even sense a person’s emotions. Not only that, but Ryu could also use his Iron Sand to control others like puppets.

With Ryu being formed because of a tree consuming Shinki and with Shinki being trained by his “Puppet Master” Uncle Kankuro, it made sense for Ryu to exhibit such an ability. And because every Jutsu has a weakness or two, I would like to know if brute strength or a burst of powerful chakra could dispel the Iron Sand’s control over one’s body.

Another thing that made sense was for Araya to have a way to mitigate Ryu’s control over others. The chapter ended with Araya using an ability called the Loadstone Sand Sealing Blade. It’s a weapon-based Jutsu that Araya created for himself and Shinki. Araya used it to free Salad’s body from harming Yodo with a kunai.

Due to Araya and Yodo being part of Shinki’s team, I liked how at least one of them had a way to counter Shinki’s abilities. I’m looking forward to learning more about the Loadstone Sand Sealing Blade Justu and what kind of limits it might have when facing off against a powerful opponent like Ryu.

As for Konohamaru’s time with Matsuri, their interaction was more emotional with Matsuri trying to come to terms with her barrage of feelings when talking to Konohamaru. From what I could understand, Matsuri was caught between her need to kill/consume Konohamaru and wanting to keep talking to him. She even called him “Konohamaru-chan” which led him to grow a bit flustered and remember how only Moegi (the person Matsuri was created from) addressed him in such a manner.

With jealousy creeping in and Matsuri confronting Konohamaru about what Moegi meant to him, I hope Konohamaru’s able to think of something to say to possibly diffuse the situation instead of finding himself in a 1-on-1 battle with her.

The rest of ‘Only Babble in Your Sleep’ focused on Kawaki wanting Amado to make him more powerful. As of now, Amado had ensured Kawaki’s tech-enhanced abilities leaned toward superfast healing and defensive capabilities. For Kawaki to fight the likes of Jura, all of his modifications would need to be redirected toward attacking and that could make Kawaki very vulnerable.

Of course, Kawaki didn’t care about losing his defensive ability or his almost immortal levels of healing. But Amado sure did care because Kawaki was the only way he could resurrect his daughter Akebi. He needed Kawaki alive.

Even though Amado had created countless clones of his daughter, he had failed to bring back the “real” Akebi because resurrecting a soul was something only a God could do. That’s why he needed Kawaki’s Karma (which included Akebi’s data) to resurrect her soul.

I liked how Kawaki didn’t budge on his demands and his end goal of making the world safe for Naruto. And yeah, I agree with Kawaki about how bringing back Akebi via a Karma Mark meant she would transform into an Otsutsuki and become yet another foe for Kawaki to defeat.

With Kawaki not budging on what he wants right now, let’s see what Amado decides to do because you know that the only thing he cares about is bringing back Akebi.

What did you think of Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issue 18 ‘Only Babble in Your Sleep’?

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.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary