“Boruto: Two Blue Vortex” Manga Issue 23 Review: The Strong

The fast-paced Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issue 23, titled ‘The Strong’, featured a nice little confrontation between our lead and Jura as Konohamaru and the rest of the young ninjas tried to survive.

With Boruto appearing to save Konohamaru in the previous chapter and asking his ex-master to regroup with Mitsuki ASAP, ‘The Strong’ opened with Mitsuki noticing Konohamaru after having taken down a couple of Claw Grimes that Ryu summoned. While I understand that the Claw Grimes are supposed to be formidable opponents, they are, essentially, still fodder. That’s why showing Mitsuki activating his Sage Mode to defeat them took away from the hype around Sage Mode, in my opinion. Salad recently unlocked her MS and Boruto’s in a lane of his own. Mitsuki’s in dire need of a power upgrade, too. 

I liked how Mitsuki wanted to go help Boruto against Jura after Konohamaru mentioned what happened. Mitsuki’s still under the influence of Omnipotence. However, his original bond with Boruto continues to bubble up with Boruto’s return into his life. Mitsuki’s “love” for Boruto might not be reciprocated. And that’s okay. I just think it’s important for a globally famous IP like Naruto/Boruto to showcase Mitsuki’s feelings.

With Konohamaru, Mitsuki, and (an unconscious) Salad being in possession of Matsuri’s Thorn Bulb, it made sense for Araya to have already left to use Ryu’s Thorn Bulb to release Shinki from the tree. Araya also carried Yodo’s body. I still feel she’s going to survive the current ordeal… somehow.

Boruto vs Jura was fun because of the difference in their strength levels. Jura moved from using mini-Bijuu Bombs to straight up throwing hands, resulting in Boruto being pummelled. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Boruto experience an actual challenge during battle. So, yay! Also, we all know Boruto’s not going to die anytime soon. So, I was here for him getting such a beating.

The major reveal in ‘The Strong’ was Kashin Koji experiencing a new vision about a previously unseen possible future. All of the past visions ended with Boruto dying. That’s why Kashin Koji didn’t want Boruto to intervene to save Konohamaru. However, it’s revealed that the possible future was altered due to the conversation Boruto had with Kawaki before leaving Konoha a couple of chapters back. It was the same conversation that encouraged Kawaki to force Amado to unlock his full potential.

As expected, with the limiters now lifted, Kawaki made his “heroic” entrance just in time to prevent Jura from killing Boruto. Not only that, but Delta accompanied Kawaki, separating from him to go and meet up with Konohamaru, Mitsuki, and (still unconscious) Salad. Unlike Naruto, Boruto’s supposed to be a genius like his grandfather Minato. So, it was nice to see him having come up with a plan that was impactful enough to change what Kashin Koji had already seen. Also, I like how the narrative’s been making it clear that the future was always changing and dependent on the choices one made. Free will, at least to some extent, still existed in the Naruto/Boruto world.    

I’m excited about Kawaki and Boruto teaming up against Jura. Also, the fact that Jura didn’t die even after getting stabbed through the head by Kawaki… like, how powerful is he?!!!

What did you think of Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issue 23 ‘The Strong’?

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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