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Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is about what happens after Naruto becomes Hokage, and the various trials and tribulations needed to keep the peace afterward.
One of the more divisive elements of this series have been the children of the main cast and whether or not they live up to their parents' examples or legacies. Some fans seem to take after Neji Hyuga from original Naruto, thinking that all the kids are failures and/or disgraces to the legacies they have unknowlingly inherited.
This couldn't be further from the truth. A legacy can be something to look up to and carry on, but it can also place an undue burden on a kid just trying to live their life. Stories and real life are full of examples of people not measuring up to the impossible standards and feeling suffocated by them.
With that in mind, here are the 10 most unfair burdens some of the Boruto characters have.
Note: Spoilers are present up to the most recent manga chapter of Boruto. This entire article reflects the author's opinion.
10 unfair legacy burdens Boruto characters have attached to them
1) The Uchiha Clan - Sarada Uchiha
Poor Sarada has the unfair burden of being the first new Uchiha that isn’t Shin. It’s not a good burden for a kid in peace, especially when she starts unraveling the tangled web that is Uchiha Clan's history and looks into Sasuke's life.
It didn't help that she thought that Karin was her mom, due to a lack of details regarding her parentage and an identity crisis regarding Sakura and Sasuke's relationship.
Despite all this, she does resolve to become Hokage and does reconcile her relationship with her parents. Sasuke and Sakura are with her every step of the way, and continue to support her. She won't be awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan any time soon, having only gotten two tomoe on her Sharingan as of now, but she's trying to master the basics.
Besides which, Sakura and Sasuke agreed that she needs to get stronger, but not with all the trauma the other Sharingan levels entail.
She isn't solely defined by her Uchiha background, and her parents have worked and are working to ensure she remains well adjusted. They've succeeded thus far, despite a few hiccups. The Curse of Hatred being broken likewise represents a fresh start for everyone in the Uchiha family.
2) The Hokage's son - Boruto
If Sarada's legacy is a huge burden that her parents are trying to help her with and not pressuring her with, Boruto has kind of the opposite problem.
Like Sasuke, Naruto wasn't home or barely spent time with his family during Boruto's formative years. This, combined with all the ceaseless praise Naruto received, fostered intense resentment in Boruto. Boruto became more like his father as a kid: loud, obnoxious, prank-heavy, and generally with no respect for the position of Hokage or Naruto.
That's only the beginning, however, and is generally softened as the series continues. He tries to find the easy and most lackadaisical way through life, but stops when his father rescues him and when he gets to know more about him. It only took nearly dying and a time travel arc, but still.
To cap this off, Boruto announced that he has no interest in becoming Hokage. A decision that his family happily accepted! Seriously, though this may be a rather unfair burden and legacy to uphold, Boruto has Hinata and Naruto's support to go for whatever he wants. That's why the whole war was fought, after all.
3) Orochimaru's kid/experiment - Mitsuki
It would be really weird to have Orochimaru as a parent. Mitsuki fiinds this out the hard way when fighting his older brother Log. Mitsuki was literally the laboratory-born son of Orochimaru and was sent to be trained in the Hidden Leaf Village. Ironically, for such a horrific villain? Orochimaru wanted Mitsuki to find his own way and concocted an elaborate plan to do so.
It took six attempts wherein Mitsuki's memories were erased until he rebelled against Log and Orochimaru. He even became a missing-nin to determine if he was even his own person. Eventually, after stopping a cloning plot and scheme, he came to his own conclusion that he wasn't just his father's son, but his own person.
The fact that he is friends with Boruto and Sarada helps to widen his gap between him and his father. He doesn't consider himself an extension of Orochimaru, but his own person. Orochimaru, for the record, approves, so make of that what you will. It's certainly a change from making Mitsuki's entire body an extension of himself.
4) The Butterfly Wings - Chocho
Choji's Butterfly Wings were considered a huge upgrade to him that took a lot of pain and struggle, and body damaging pills, to attain. Chocho inherited this skill from Choji, but it initially damaged her. She also believes she was adopted after only remembering how her fathrer Choji was slim when she was younger, without realizing it was him in Butterfly Form trying to save her from a fever.
Ironically, she had much of the same identity crisis that Sarada did. She does, however, come to terms with her parents Choji and Karui, and their eating and weight too. There are several Boruto anime moments where they eat together and share more than a few points of wisdom too.
The slimmed down form the Butterfly Wings gave her made her popular with a film star, but the star was selfish and only liked her in that form. Thankfully, she told him to improve before she'd ever take a liking to him. She improved upon it thanks to Choji training her, with her enthusiasm making it much easier to access and boost her power enough to rival Sarada's during their Chunin Exams.
5) The Kazekage bloodline - Shikadai
Shikadai, compared to Shikamaru, is more of a slacker than even Shikamaru was! Temari is usually there to scare him into shape too. He's considered the successor to the Kazekage should Gaara or Kankuro not have kids. This is mentioned in Gaara Heden: A Sandstorm Mirage, which is fortunately nulled by the elders wanting Gaara to marry and produce children.
Shikadai probably won't have to worry about that, though he may have to worry more about his mother Temari than anything else. He does become more serious following Momoshiki's invasion and does begin to better himself, so the familial expectation off his shoulders.
6) Elaborate art - Inojin
Inojin, the son of Ino and Sai, was already an artist and good with the mind transfer jutsu. Well, a bit. He was good with his own style of drawing until he began photocopying his own version of the Super Beast Scroll.
It took entering a children's art contest, losing to Himawari, and then finding an old painting he made of him and his family to rediscover his love of art. Himawari helping him through was good too, mostly with loving what he painted.
Sai even encouraged him to get his own style going. Ino also helped him gain the mind transfer jutsu and start to master it between arcs. While his art may not be as elaborate as Sai, he's got his own style.
7) Title of Kazekage - Shinki
Seeing as the Kazekage title is currently being occupied by Gaara, there is some speculation that Shinki will surpass Gaara instead of Shikadai. However, that may be a stretch, considering that Shinki has control over the Iron Sand, has lived in the Hidden Sand village, and has trained with Gaara.
The fact that he also had to lighten up more than a bit is another thing he shares with Gaara. But it seems like he has started to become better after getting Boruto's help with Urashiki.
8) The Eight Gates - Metal Lee
The Eight Gates is an extremely difficult and hardcore technique to use, never mind master. This powerful technique can boost kicking and striking power tendfold, but can also wear the user out and kill them if not careful.
The only problem Lee has is his performance anxiety. He's hot-blooded, an actual user of Ninjutsu and Chakra, and is able to use at least three of the Eight Gates.
So, while he's got it down, it's just that his anxiety flaring up can make him act erratic when people are watching. He is a prodigy and doesn't have the 'train hard all the time until your body breaks' mentality that Lee and Might Guy had. It helps that Boruto can aid him in practice.
9) The Byaukugan and Gentle Fist/Hyuga Clan - Himawari
The Hyuga clan has a wide array of traumas and problems that have been summed up as main and side branches fueding for a long time. Hinata, Neji, and Hanabi were all at the center of it. Fortunately, by the time of Boruto, all that's squashed with Hiyashi Hyuga, and he was just glad he had grandkids. Himawari is also quite cute and packs a whallop with her gentle fist techniques.
Seriously, she was able to knock Naruto out with a punch meant for Boruto. She's scary when angered, as Boruto can attest! Hinata raising her well means that familial drama isn't going to hit her any time soon, not if she can help it.
10) Gozu Tennō/Nue - Sumire Kakei
Good ol' Danzo Shimura wecks everything he gets his hands on. From trying to expediate the Uchiha Clan massacre, to being a wrathful Hokage, to his spec ops codename Root's entire existence, is there anything Danzo can't ruin, even as far as Boruto? Sumire Kakei is the result of Root being dissolved and revealed to the public.
Her mom died when she was young, her father made her a sleeper agent infected with the Gozu Tenno/Nue. It's a technique to attempt replication of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's techniques that relies on negativity to function.
This caused the poor girl to hold onto that hate and anger and lash out when the time came, intent on letting the Nue fufuill her father's insane desire for revenge.
Without the students, especially Boruto and Shino's help, she may have been consumed by revenge and wreaked untold havoc. Instead, she broke free of Gozu Tenno, and Nue became a pet to her. She was also pardoned for her actions, showing how the cycle of revenge and spite has no place in the new era.
