“Boruto: Two Blue Vortex” Manga Issue 29 Review: Pest Control

After a bunch of conversations occurring in the past chapters, issue 29 of Boruto Two Blue Vortex, titled ‘Pest Control’, featured lots of action with the Konoha shinobi fighting numerous Mamushi clones in the village.

The latest issue of Boruto Two Blue Vortex, ‘Pest Control’, opened with the deal our titular hero struck with Momoshiki. We know that Boruto’s been hesitant to utilize the Karma Mark. Apparantly, his hesitation is related to Momoshiki taking control of his body and the two needing to have a face-off in the shared mindscape to come out on top. However, Boruto’s capable of accessing the Karma Mark’s power if Momoshiki is onboard with the idea and won’t be taking over Boruto’s body. And that’s exactly what the conversation between the two was about.

It’s kind of sad to see someone like Boruto willing to die to save everyone, including the people who still think he’s the villain. I mean, yeah, heroes are supposed to put their lives on the line. But the circumstances are a lot different compared to what Boruto’s going through. As I said, everybody (except for a couple of characters) has forgotten the “real” Boruto due to Omnipotence. So, he’s sacrificing himself for folks who couldn’t care less.

As for Momoshiki, he accepted Boruto’s deal because, from my understanding, it would allow Momoshiki to keep living by using Boruto’s body as a vessel instead of being stuck in the shared mindscape. Yes, Kawaki will make a move to kill Momoshiki (in Boruto’s body), but Momoshiki’s quite confident he can defeat his young foe. The current major threat was the Shinju, led by Jura, and Momoshiki gave the green light to Boruto to tap into the Karma Mark and any other power without worrying about Momoshiki taking over… yet.

Armed with the upgraded blade (courtesy of Sumire) and his unsealed Karma Mark, Boruto made quick work of the Mamushi clones. Fans have been waiting for Boruto to open his scarred right eye. We got that during ‘Pest Control’. It’s revealed that Boruto’s right eyeball is a Byakugan. I know that certain fans were expecting the Jogan from the anime. But yeah, frankly speaking, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Jogan’s been retconned or won’t make an appearance until the finale in the manga.

Kawaki also entered the battlefield after getting another upgrade from Amado. He quickly defeated the Mamushi clones as well. Apparantly, you have to try and get them all in one attack to prevent the clones from making more copies. Damaging the head seemed to be a good strategy.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the remaining Mamushi clones being puzzled about why their numbers were dwindling even though they were hiding their Chakra signatures. Inojin’s Mind Body Transmission Formation was definitely needed to face someone like Mamushi. I don’t know how much Chakra is being used up by his Jutsu and how long it can remain activated, but Inojin’s could end up being the MVP of the current fight.

Shikadai, Chocho, and Himawari also attacked a couple of clones, with Himawari showing her attacks while utilizing Kurama’s Chakra and Shikadai using the Net Shadow Paralysis Justu. It was cool to see Shikadai use a Shadow Paralysis Jutsu that didn’t look like it was connected to the caster and the opponents as previous Shadow Paralysis Jutsus have. Not only was the new Jutsu able to keep the clones in place, but Shikadai proceeded to yank them to the ground from the rooftop. I would like to know more about Shikadai’s new technique.

As for Himawari, you could see the whiskers on her cheeks, and her hair resembled Kurama’s nine-tails. She was able to kick away a clone and was fast enough to dodge slashing attacks from two newly created copies. We know that she’s still got a lot of training to go through with a cub Kurama to fully benefit from being the “perfect” Jinchuriki. However, having said that, I would like to see Himawari showcase some cool Jutsu-based moves instead of being limited to only Taijutsu.

Even though Inojin was glad about how things were going in their favor, Kashin Koji’s silence had me worried. Something is definitely going to happen soon to turn the tables against our young heroes. Take note that Salad, Daemon, and Eida haven’t entered the battlefield yet. So, things are bound to escalate to give them something to do. I’m excited to see how Daemon will protect Eida. I’m still waiting to learn more about his powers and a possible counterattack.

Talking about Lord Kobu’s interrogation, he knew that it was Mitsuki who opened Boruto’s Chakra-blocking cuffs. With Mitsuki not having the clearance to know about the code to unlock the cuffs, Lord Kobu was very close to connecting Mitsuki’s “betrayal” to an order from Shikamaru. In my opinion, Lord Kobu already knows that Shikamaru is to blame, but he has to do things by the book before pointing fingers at the Hokage.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes when Konohamaru decided to assist Mitsuki and keep Lord Kobu away from Shikamaru as long as possible. I get that Konohamaru’s intentions were noble, but I feel like he could have gone about it in a much better way. In a sense, not returning to the interrogation room to interrupt Lord Kobu would have been a smarter choice.

With Lord Kobu continuing to bring up how bad Konohamaru was at lying, I have seen some fans use Lord Kobu’s words to make fun of Konohamaru. However, I think said statement is more about establishing Lord Kobu as an exceptional interrogator instead of being a slight at Konohamaru’s lying prowess.

We know for a fact that Konohamaru is an experienced ninja who is capable of handling high-level missions that require three-person teams by himself. That would mean that Konohamru was skilled at lying because one can’t be a good ninja without mastering the art of deception. That’s why I think that Lord Kobu being able to clock Konohamaru has more to do with Lord Kobu’s incredibly impressive lie-detecting skills. I’m not the biggest fan of Konohamaru, but I do think the fandom’s a bit too hard on the guy.

Due to Mamushi growing desperate in his search for Eida, let’s see what he decides to do next.

What did you think of Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issue 29 ‘Pest Control’?

Feel free to share your opinions with us.

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