“Boruto: Naruto Next Generations” Manga Issue 65 Review: Karma Power

Boruto manga chapter 65, ‘Karma Power’, showed Code getting to experience the raw power of the Karma Mark. And he didn’t like it.

With the previous manga chapter showing Naruto and Shikaramu running toward the battlefield, I thought ‘Karma Power’ was going to give us Sage Mode Naruto vs Code, with the current Hokage trying to defeat Code before Boruto succumbed to the intense pain in his chest. However, that didn’t happen. Instead, ‘Karama Power’ showed Momoshiki deciding to take over Boruto’s body to teach Code a lesson.

I think the entire fandom knew that the pills Amado gave Boruto weren’t going to completely stop the Otsutsukification process. Sooner or later, Boruto’s consciousness had to fight with Momoshiki to maintain control. I just wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon. Frankly, I’m kind of tired of Momoshiki taking over Boruto’s body during every major battle featured in the manga.

Not only that, but I’m also tired of Salad and Mitsuki not appearing at all. It’s been months since we have seen them have an actual role to play in the narrative. Salad and Mitsuki are so far removed from the main story; it’s just weird, considering they are supposed to be secondary leads (with Salad being the female lead of Boruto).

Anyway, turns out that Momoshiki was able to take over Boruto’s body even though our young ninja didn’t run out of chakra. I guess the moment demonstrated that regardless of Boruto running out of chakra or not, Momoshiki had the ability to appear if he felt his life was in danger or if he wanted to accomplish a certain task. With Boruto deciding to face Code to prevent him from taking away Kawaki, Momoshiki took it upon himself to get rid of Code once and for all.

I liked seeing the immense power gap between BoruShiki and Code. The remaining Inner Kara member couldn’t do anything except try and avoid being hit by the giant Rasengans being spammed by BoruShiki. Even Eida told Code to retreat and go after Kawaki some other day.

As for Naruto and Shikamaru finally making their way to the battlefield, their involvement was a bit lackluster. With Code taking Shikamaru hostage without any trouble, Naruto had no choice but to stand still. He refused to fight Code and BoruShiki to protect Shikamaru.

Fingers crossed that Naruto actually gets something to do in the upcoming chapter. I want to see how strong his current Sage Mode is now that he’s lost Kurama’s incredible chakra. Also, will Sasuke be arriving soon?

Also, I was expecting some kind of emotional reaction from Naruto. I would have liked seeing Naruto call out to Boruto, hoping his voice would help his son snap out of Momoshiki’s control. We also didn’t get any internal monologue focusing on Naruto’s hesitation to fight his son during such dire circumstances, even if he was being controlled by an evil Otsutsuki.

The biggest surprise in ‘Karama Power’ was the reveal that Kawaki had somehow managed to tap into the Karma Mark’s powers still present inside of him. I have no idea how he was able to accomplish such a power upgrade. From what I can remember, Amado was supposed to give him a key (a new Karma Mark) to unlock the power resulting from having a body that’s already undergone 80% Otsutsukification.

Did the current reveal mean that Amado gave Kawaki access to his Karma Mark off-panel? The two had been talking about finding a way to make Kawaki stronger after defeating Isshiki. Also, if Amado did give Kawaki such access off-panel, was Eida able to witness such a development? And if she did know, why didn’t she warn Code? I have so many questions.

I think the next chapter will have Sage Mode Naruto vs Code and Kawaki vs BoruShiki.

What did you think of ‘Karma Power’?

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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