“Boruto: Two Blue Vortex” Manga Issue 21 Review: Mangekyo Sharingan

The action-packed Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issue 21, titled ‘Mangekyo Sharingan’, allowed Salad to showcase her new MS powers against Ryu.

Fans have been waiting for Salad to do something for a long time in Boruto Two Blue Vortex. She’s had a couple of action-focused panels in the previous issues, but the primary focus has been on her internal feelings, especially the ones related to Boruto. Also, with Boruto having gone through an immense powerup during the timeskip, it made sense for certain fans to want Salad to level up as well. We know she’s able to activate her MS eyes. So, let’s see them in action already!

‘Mangekyo Sharingan’ delivered just that as it gave Salad a moment to think about and finally accept her many feelings. The chapter opened with a bunch of flashbacks going over Salad’s goal of becoming Hokage and protecting Boruto, along with the rest of the Hidden Leaf Village. We also saw her emotions about Sumire’s liking Boruto as more than just a friend. The Uchiha Clan’s ocular ability is heavily tied to emotions. Salad activated her MS due to the rush of emotions she felt after Eida caused everyone to think of Boruto as the enemy. Since that moment, Salad’s been pushing down her feelings. But it’s high time for her to finally accept them if she wants to stand a chance against an OP foe like Ryu.

We also got a flashback involving Sasuke and Boruto telling our young hero how seeing Salad with her MS eyes helped Sasuke realize that everyone thinking of Boruto as the enemy was wrong. Sasuke also talked about how he knew her daughter would need to activate her MS again and how she would instinctively know what she’s able to do with her newfound abilities. I mean, I could have done without said flashback panel, but I understand why it served the purpose of reminding certain readers that owners of MS just knew what they were supposed to do. Also, with how certain people are quick to label female characters a “Mary Sue“, I can see the creative team wanting to protect Salad.

I enjoyed Salad vs Ryu. He tried to use Salad’s black hole-creating MS against her, only to find out she had conjured up more than one and was able to easily redirect his attacks. We got four black spheres in the air. While four are more than enough, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s able to create more with experience.

Not only could the spheres redirect and absorb Jutsu, but Salad could also choose who and what was influenced by her gravity-based powers. The scene where she levitated herself and Ryu was visually cool.

The strong gravitational force not only sucked in the Iron Sand but also immobilized Ryu. He wasn’t able to move a single finger. I do wonder if Salad’s able to summon all of the Iron Sand she pulled into the black holes if she felt like doing so or if once something entered the black spheres, it was gone forever.

Along with being able to suck in jutsu and hold people in place, Salad’s capable of exerting such extreme gravitational force that the black hole exploded, disintegrating Ryu with a single attack.

I’m so here for Salad’s MS ability being OP. She really needed such a power-up to continue assisting Boruto against the humanoid Shinju. With Mitsuki having seen Salad in action, I hope he levels up, too. Sage Mode Mitsuki’s just not cutting it anymore.

Salad announced that her MS ability was called Orihume. It’s another name for the sun goddess Amaterasu in Japanese mythology. I’m looking forward to seeing Salad continue to polish her ability. It seemed to strain her to the point of losing consciousness after she defeated Ryu. Not only that, but you have to remember that due to activating her MS, she also has a Susanoo up her sleeve. I’m already hyped for that inevitable reveal.

As for the rest of the characters, Eida told Kashin Koji about Salad’s victory. However, apparently Yodo succumbed to her wounds. I hope Yodo didn’t die. Even though we didn’t get to learn much about her character, having Yodo die after serving as a plot device to help Salad accept her feelings during battle came across as another example of the fridging trope, but this time to benefit a woman’s character development by killing off another female character.

Boruto wasn’t happy about Yodo (possibly) dying and straight up asked if there was a scenario where Ryu could have been defeated without suffering such a loss. From my understanding, there was such a future, but it would have involved Boruto entering the fray, and that would have prevented Salad from activating her MS. As far as Kashin Koji’s concerned, they needed Salad’s MS to be activated to aid in the battles ahead. Yodo’s sacrifice was for the greater good.

Having lost a ninja, Boruto wasn’t keen on losing anyone else. Turning his attention to Konohamaru vs Matsuri, Boruto asked if Konohamaru was going to make it out alive. Kashin Koji didn’t give a direct answer, but he did warn Boruto that if he showed up to help his ex-teacher, Jura was going to appear and take Boruto away.

I’m not a fan of characters throwing away logic when deciding to accept losing a single life to save countless others, but I understand why such stories are told. There was no way Boruto was going to sit back and allow Konohamaru to be killed. I do think he would have even appeared to assist Salad and Mitsuki as well if things had taken a turn for the worse.

Boruto defeated an already injured Matsuri with one slash from his sword to save Konohamaru. However, that was an incredibly risky move because Jura immediately sensed Boruto’s location. I don’t know if Jura’s going to appear before Boruto and Konohamaru could retreat from their current location, but I highly doubt our young hero’s dying anytime soon (contrary to what Kashin Koji’s been yelling about).

Boruto vs Jura could last long enough for Kawaki to make an appearance after getting a power boost from Amado. I doubt Mitsuki would be able to heal Salad and possibly save Yodo’s life quickly enough to somehow lend Boruto a hand.

What did you think of Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issue 21, ‘Mangekyo Sharingan’?

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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