“Boruto: Naruto Next Generations” Manga Issue 80 Review: What Dad Would Do!

Boruto Naruto Next Generations manga chapter 80, titled ‘What Dad Would Do!’, set the stage for the upcoming time jump.

With Eida’s Omnipotence power getting triggered by Kawaki and granting his wish to swap places with Boruto in the previous chapter, ‘What Dad Would Do!’ opened with Boruto still on the run. Not only that, but Eida was forced to lie to Shikamaru about Naruto being killed by Boruto. The news shook Shikamaru and the rest of the Konoha ninjas as they continued to catch our young lead character.

I liked the panel where Eida clearly didn’t vibe with Kawaki being so rough with her. As someone who wanted to (more or less) force a romantic relationship with Kawaki due to what she thought he might be like, Eida getting to see Kawaki’s current behavior served as a much-needed wake-up call. It’s one of the reasons she felt guilty about what her Omnipotence power had done, and she decided to help Boruto near the end of the chapter (which I will get to in a bit).

With Salad and Sumire being the ones who weren’t affected by the Omnipotence Shinjutsu (for some reason), I liked the emotional breakdown Salad went through. Naruto was presumed dead. Her team had broken up. She couldn’t stop Mitsuki from wanting to kill Boruto. Even Sasuke wanted Boruto dead. Salad really felt helpless.

And, of course, all of that emotional turmoil led to Salad finally awakening her Mangekyo Sharingan as she tried to make Sasuke trust her about Boruto not being the bad guy.

Even though there were fan theories over the years about how witnessing the death of a parent or a close friend would make Salad awaken her MS, I think most fans knew that the narrative was going to settle on something different for Salad. Her story arc was supposed to be of an Uchiha who leveled up without actual death being involved. And I think that the current chapter accomplished that by linking her power-up to wanting to protect Boruto. Also, in a way, seeing her daughter awaken her MS played a part in Sasuke’s decision to trust her. Sasuke still had doubts due to being affected by the Omnipotence Shinjutsu (he was struggling to make sense of his memories), but he was going to protect Boruto for Salad’s sake.

A major highlight for me during the current chapter was Sumire putting all of the pieces together. Similar to Shikamaru, she kept her cool as she continued to realize what Eida’s power had done. Sumire didn’t know why she and Salad weren’t affected, but kudos to Sumire for theorizing what had likely happened to everyone else and how Eida was involved. Sumire is supposed to be a smart character. And I liked how issue 80 showcased that.

As for Sumire and Salad being able to communicate telepathically due to the Yamanaka Clan Jutsu, the ninja responsible for linking Sumire and Salad’s minds would have overheard their conversation, right? Hmmm. I don’t know if that’s going to play a role down the line or if it’s a plot hole that should be chalked up to plot convenience.

Another major highlight was how the chapter dealt with Boruto’s maturity regarding the predicament he was in. Even with the entire world after him, 12-year-old Boruto still couldn’t help but think about Kawaki. Boruto realized that, in a way, he had pushed Kawaki into a corner. Boruto was the one who asked Kawaki to kill him to stop Momoshiki. And not only that, but Boruto had been trying to show Kawaki he understood what he had gone through as a child under Kara’s control without really listening to Kawaki.

Even Momoshiki was surprised by Boruto’s mental resolve. Momoshiki had thought it was the perfect time to take control of Boruto’s body. Our young ninja should have fallen into despair after what the Omnipotence Shinjutsu did. However, Boruto wasn’t going down that easily. As Boruto stated, he was a descendant of the Uzumaki and Hyuga Clans. He was ready to grow stronger to fix the current situation. Boruto was going to make Kawaki listen to reason.

Boruto wanting to calm Kawaki made Sasuke remember what he and Naruto had gone through when they were younger. Not only that, but Sasuke also told Boruto about how Naruto was hated by the entire village, and yet Naruto persevered and became a hero to them. So, yeah, Boruto will be going through a similar journey.

I get that certain people wanted Sasuke to go off on a journey to train Salad. But, with how things developed, Sasuke’s the perfect choice to train and keep Boruto safe. Sasuke has experience with living life as a rouge ninja. As for Salad training her MS, I think Kakashi can step in to help. We will find out soon enough.

I’m very interested in seeing what kind of powers Salad’s able to unleash using her MS. The way Boruto’s Jogan resembles the moon and Salad’s MS resembles the sun… there’s got to be something there, right?

Coming to Eida’s role in ‘What Dad Would Do!’, there were fan theories about her siding with the good guys soon. And I think she kind of did that in this issue. She left Kawaki to fly off to meet with Boruto and Sasuke after Sasuke saved Boruto from Shikadai, Injojin, and Chocho. While she couldn’t reverse the Omnipotence Shinjutsu, she did tell Boruto and Sasuke she wouldn’t search for them using her Senrigan even if Kawaki and Shikamaru asked her to. Eida wasn’t a fan of Kawaki’s selfish behavior. And we all know that when it comes down to it, she will do what she wants. And with her little brother Daemon being OP, no one, not even Kawaki, could force Eida to do otherwise.

‘What Dad Would Do!’ ended with Boruto wanting to mend his relationships, Kawaki wanting to kill Boruto and Code to keep Naruto safe, and Code wanting to kill Boruto for stealing Jigen, Isshiki, and Eida from him.

I can’t wait to read the next chapter, but in some disheartening news, the Boruto manga is going on hiatus until September of this year. It does feel like a long wait considering how the current chapter ended, but hey, we will have fan theories and fan art to keep us going until the story returns with Boruto Shippuden (or something similar).

Other thoughts and questions:

• With Salad making Sasuke believe her about Boruto, I wonder if Sakura will follow suit after she learns about Sasuke helping Boruto.
• I continue to hope that the explanation behind Salad and Sumire not being entrapped under Eida’s Shinjutsu lives up to the hype.
• Do you think Momoshiki lied to Boruto about how the Omnipotence Shinjutsu couldn’t be reversed even if Eida was killed? I don’t know about you, but I think it’s something Momoshiki would lie about to make Boruto feel depressed.
• It looks like Naruto and Hinata are indeed in stasis due to the dimension Kawaki sent them to.

What did you think of Boruto manga issue 80?

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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