When the Boruto anime started, fans were disappointed to find out that Naruto’s relationship with his son was not as happy and satisfying as they had imagined it to be. Naruto, after becoming the Hokage, got caught up in his duties as the highest authority in their village, which led to Boruto developing resentment towards his father.
He even tried to use petty tricks, just like Naruto used to do, to get attention from the villagers. However, as the story progressed, Naruto understood that his neglecting Boruto was affecting their relationship as father and son. Therefore, he decided to balance his work and personal life and started to develop a bond with Boruto.
But this bond was short-lived as Kawaki entered the story and took all of Naruto’s attention away from Boruto. Because of a similar background, Naruto developed an attachment to Kawaki that made his relationship even worse than before, and now it might be impossible to fix it back.
The Similarities Between Naruto and Kawaki
Kawaki’s introduction to Boruto was one of the biggest twists in the story. He was a kid who had no other family member who could take care of him and was used by Isshiki Otsutsuki to become his vessel. Eventually, Kawaki gained the Kama of Isshiki, and this caused the other characters to develop hatred and fear towards him.
These aspects resonated deeply with Naruto because he had a similar childhood. Naruto was resented by the entire Konoha village because of his being a jinchuriki. He also had no family member to take care of him when he was hurting, and he had to spend most of his childhood alone and without any friends.
The similarities between Naruto and Kawaki resulted in both characters developing an attachment to each other. Naruto adopted him as a son and became the perfect father figure for a lost Kawaki. He even trained with him and looked up to him. This bond became so strong that Kawaki made it his top priority to save and protect Naruto.
Naruto’s Relationship with Kawaki was Not Good For Boruto
Naruto accepting Kawaki for who he is might be a good thing for Kawaki, but it becomes the biggest problem for Boruto. Kawaki became so obsessed with Naruto that it created toxicity in his mind. He decided to protect Naruto, even if it meant killing Boruto, to stop Momoshiki from taking control of him.
He eventually did “kill” Boruto and stopped Momoshiki from taking control of him, but the bigger issue fans had with this narrative was Naruto’s reaction to Kawaki killing his son. Ideally, Naruto should have freaked out or expressed some kind of rage, but his reaction was too underwhelming for someone who lost his son.
Later on, Kawaki sealed Naruto and Hinata in another world, and Boruto eventually came back, and he is now trying to save his parents from the clutches of Kawaki. Still, this plotline disrupts Boruto’s relationship with his father to a point where they can never mend it back to what it was in the middle of the series.
You can watch Boruto on Hulu.
