“Boruto: Two Blue Vortex” Manga Issue 27 Review: Bet Your Life On It

With Mamushi’s attack on Konoha incoming, Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issue 27, titled ‘Bet Your Life On It’, was all about characters getting things to do to ensure victory.

Picking up from where the previous issue left off, ‘Bet Your Life On It’ opened with Daemon still having his hands around Salad’s and Sumire’s necks. Daemon is clearly on a level of his own because he’s more than capable of breaking the necks of the two young ninjas in an instant without them being able to counter his attack.

Certain fans were speculating that Salad had managed to put Daemon under her MS Genjutsu in the previous issue. But, nopes, that didn’t happen. I feel for Salad fans. They have been on a high after Salad’s impressive showing against Ryu. That’s why seeing her being treated as mere fodder by Daemon likely didn’t look nice. But still, considering she’s the female lead of the story, I think she will continue to grow in power down the line. I really want to see Salad utilize more of her Genjutsu abilities.

With Eida wondering why her Charm Ability didn’t work on Salad and Sumire, the current chapter promised an answer to a longstanding question. Now, to be fair, we did get an answer. However, as expected, it wasn’t a satisfactory one. In my opinion, Kishimoto wrote himself into a corner when he decided not to have Eida’s Charm Ability impact Sumire and Salad the moment the characters met each other. There’s been no in-lore possibility to justify such an occurrence, and the explanation we got further convoluted said conundrum.

According to Eida, the two young ninjas remained unaffected by Omnipotence because Eida somehow managed to subconsciously wish that was the case because she wanted to maintain a “normal” friendship with Salad and Sumire. So, if Eida’s words held credit, it would mean that while she was granting Kawaki’s wish via Omnipotence, she was still able to override a part of his wish as not to alter Salad and Sumire’s memories.

The entire thing is just… meh!

Not only that, while Kishimoto tried to explain away Salad and Sumire not being under Omnipotence’s influence, there was no mention of how the two didn’t fall under Eida’s Charm Ability when they all met way before Omnipotence even occured. Did Eida also subconsiously not want Salad and Sumire to fall in love with her because they all harbored feelings for an Otsutsuki?

But then again, if that were the case, it would contradict what we know about Eida not being able to control her Charm Ability. Whether she liked it or not, the Charm Ability was going to make people fall in love with her, with the only exceptions being her blood relative (Daemon) and the Otsutsuki.

Sigh!

Like I said, I knew the explanation wasn’t going to be satisfactory or make a lot of sense, but at least we finally got one. I have a sneaking suspicion that Kishimoto won’t bring up Salad and Sumire not being impacted by Eida’s Charm Ability ever again (or anytime soon) because trying to explain such a major plot point in a manner that would make in-lore sense would require a lot of thinking and possibly digging up (or creating/retconning) potential links between the two young girls and the Otsutsuki.

Other than that, I did like the interaction between Eida, Salad, and Sumire. They’ve clearly managed to form a strong friendship over the timeskip and you can tell Eida’s all in when it comes to having Sumire and Salad as actual friends without having to worry about her Charm Ability manipulating their feelings toward her. Also, with Mamushi making his way to Konoha, Eida needs all the protection she can get. And if there’s one thing we know about Konoha ninjas, it’s that they will put their lives on the line to save a friend.

Another such example was Inojin’s resolve to protect Himawari. It’s revealed the reason Kashin Koji and Boruto essentially kidnapped him was the need for Inojin to master a new Jutsu that built upon the Mind-Transfer Jutsu. Kashin Koji had seen Inojin create such Jutsu as a way to avenge Himawari. However, due to operating in a timeline where Himawari was still alive, Kashin Koji was ready to provide Inojin the required technique so he could master the skill and use it against Mamushi’s assault on Konoha.

If I were to speculate, I think the advanced Jutsu is likely going to allow Inojin to control opponents without leaving his body vulnerable. Other than that, it could also be a way for Inojin to swap the minds of his opponents to majorly confuse them.

As for the intel Kashin Koji had about Mamushi, he shared that Mamushi’s special skill allowed him to create copies of himself. However, said ability was difference from the Shadow Clone Jutsu because Mamushi’s chakra levels weren’t being distributed amongst his copies. He was essentially creating more versions of himself with equal chakra levels, strength, and skills. The downside was that the more copies he created, the less intelligent he became. According to Kashin Koji, forcing Mamushi to create 20 or 30 copies of himself would mean the Konoha ninjas were fighting animals instead of an intellectually dangerous humanoid Shinju.

Kishimoto had Kashin Koji answer several questions to ensure Boruto and the crew that Mamushi wouldn’t go about destroying Konoha in his search for Eida no matter how much intellect he lost. Apparently, Mamushi’s instinctive fear of Jura (who wanted Konoha to remain unharmed) would be enough to keep Mamushi’s copies in line. Also, both eyes needed to be destroyed, otherwise a Mamushi copy would create more duplicates. There’s also a thing about how Mamushi can’t keep a clone hidden away as all copies were drawn to each other and operated as a pack.

Being force fed all of this information felt weird. I’m a fan of characters (and readers) learning about an opponent’s weakness during battle. Revealing things in the heat of confrontation does help raise the stakes. I do think Mamushi and his four duplicates getting ready to infiltrate Konoha at the end of this chapter would have been more menacing if we didn’t already know how to counter his abilities.

Due to the upcoming fight occuring in Konoha and our heroes needing to force Mamushi to make more duplicates of himself, I hope Kishimoto takes the opportunity to allow the older Naruto cast to participate. They don’t have to win, of course, but I would like to see them play a role in helping Boruto and the current young cast defeat Mamushi.

With Salad likely sticking close to Eida to fight Mamushi and Sumire not really being a fighter, ‘Bet Your Life On It’ remembered to give Sumire something to do. Boruto asked Sumire to fix and upgrade Sasuke’s sword for him. Similar to how Kashin Koji’s ready to give Inojin techniques to master a new Jutsu, Boruto handed Sumire a scroll containing technological advancements that a version of her created in the near future. I’m looking forward to seeing what Sumire will cook up for Boruto.

Other than that, having talked to Salad about her feelings for Boruto, Sumire took a more active approach and outright asked Boruto to call her by her name instead of continuining to call her ‘Class Rep’. The girls are all giddy over Boruto and our young hero has no clue or the time to be thinking about romance.

While I’m not a fan of three girls having a crush on Boruto, at least Kishimoto’s allowing them to have objectives that will play a role in the battles ahead, instead of sidelining them while hoping Boruto would like them back.

Also, Boruto and Mitsuki are yet to have a conversation about Mitsuki’s “feelings” for the titular protagonist. The current chapter only showed Mitsuki looking at Boruto and Sumire from afar. I see you, Kishimoto. I see you. And I need you to be a lot braver than this.

Another thing that happened involved Konohamaru’s interrogation. I couldn’t help but laugh when the interrogator quickly realized Konohamaru wasn’t the mole whole helped Boruto escape because Konohamaru was, as the interrogator put it, “dim”.

Shikamaru did telepathically tell Konohamaru the truth using Inojin, and I think he will have Konohamaru take the fall so Shikamaru could continue working with Kashin Kaji and Boruto a bit longer. However, with how Sai was looking at Konohamaru during the telepathic conversation, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sai figures out Shikamaru’s involvement. Sai could confront Shikamaru directly or question Ino. Whatever the case, I hope Sai gets onboard with assisting Boruto.

Kawaki also got some panel time because of his conversation with Amado. The entire thing boiled down to Kawaki wanting more power, even if it risked self destruction, even after Amado stated how Jura might be unkillable. However, Kawaki being Kawaki, he was going to force Amado to give him more firepower by exploiting Amado’s desire to bring back his daughter.

In a way, both Boruto and Kawaki are willing to put their lives on the line to ensure Jura can be defeated. They seem to have a death wish, as long as it meant the ones they love would remain unharmed. It’s an interesting aspect to explore, especially with Boruto being the titular hero. So, let’s see how Kishimoto continues to flesh it out.

What did you think of Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issue 27 ‘Bet Your Life On It?

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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