How Boruto Episode 230 depicts Kawaki’s growth as a character

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations anime is going on a one-week hiatus but has left fans with enough content to mull over during its absence. The anime used the last three episodes to focus on Kawaki and how far he had come since his introduction in the anime.

A constant complaint that the Naruto and Boruto franchises face is an abundance of fillers in the anime series. However, episodes 228-230 are anime canon rather than just fillers.

Anime canon becomes very necessary in the Boruto series especially because of the manga’s slow updates and the abrupt, episodic nature of its chapters.

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How the Boruto Episode 230's anime canon treats Kawaki’s acceptance into Konoha

The Boruto manga failed to provide much context as to how Kawaki became a genin and this was where the anime canon shined. With not much manga canon to adapt at the moment, the anime took the opportunity to elaborate on Kawaki’s integration into the shinobi world.

Naruto realized Kawaki’s alienation and attempted to help him bond with others and slowly get past his trauma. He gave him the chance to become a genin after Kawaki showed an interest in it.

Despite having failed miserably at first, Kawaki proved himself in his latest mission with Shikadai and Cho-Cho. Episode 230 especially showed Kawaki learning to fight alongside comrades and having each other’s backs in a pinch.

Boruto episode 230 also incorporated the issue of social hierarchy and acted as a callback to Kawaki’s past, as he hailed from an impoverished class. Moreover, the other six boys who were killed seemed reminiscent of his own life at Kara, as a human guinea pig watching the other children die.

The words of their attack, a shinobi from the Land of Calm Seas, seemed like a foreshadowing for Kawaki’s distaste for shinobi world. The man also stated that shinobi only follow their master’s orders and have no need for emotions.

Shikadai offset the damage by using his grandfather Shikaku Nara as an example of an ideal shinobi. However, the possibility of Kawaki seeing the dark side of the shinobi world still remains.

Shikadai’s recommendation allowed Kawaki to be granted the rank of genin and connected the narrative to the manga. It also explained why Shikadai was the one to reach out and drag Kawaki out of his despair in Boruto manga chapter 61, aptly titled, “A Place to Belong.”

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Kawaki’s development in the Boruto manga

Kawaki was established as a major character in the series from the very first scene of the manga, and was introduced as an antagonist against an unwilling but determined Boruto. After he was properly introduced in the series, he became an ally to konoha, a son to Naruto and a brother to the young Uzumaki.

But as Kawaki’s character was explored, it became obvious that Kawaki had several unaddressed issues due to his traumatic past which prevented him from making connections with other people.

He slowly opened up to the Uzumaki family, and then to Sarada and Mitsuki. But he still behaved like a cornered animal when interacting with new people.

Kawaki had originally been constantly abused by an alcoholic father, and then sold off to Jigen. After being taken to his secret organization Kara, Jigen performed extremely risky and life-threatening experiments on the boy to implant karma in him and turn him into an Otsutsuki vessel.

He also physically abused him, forcing him to improve his combat abilities and strengthen his karma. At some point, even his nerves and blood vessels were replaced with cyborg technology, making him less human and more of a living, scientific weapon.

So after Naruto rescued him and treated him as a member of his own family, Kawaki got deeply attached to the Seventh Hokage, and developed an obsessive need to protect him. The urge was further amplified after Naruto lost Kurama in his battle against Isshiki Otsutsuki in Boruto manga chapter 52.

Right after the arc ended, Kawaki underwent shinobi training with Team 7 but was still unable to find his place among the people of Konoha. It was Shikadai who told him to not listen to them and soon after, Naruto was seen consoling him and calling him his "stupid son.”

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Conclusion

Kawaki’s development is an integral part of the Boruto series as both an ally and rival to the show’s protagonist. His current outlook in both the manga and the anime though, seems contrary to his stance in the opening segment of the series, and makes for some interesting theories.

Kawaki’s self-sacrificing tendencies suggest that he might have had karma re-implanted in him in a fit of desperation to save Boruto from becoming Momoshiki Otsutsuki’s vessel. Kawaki might not turn out to be a villain, but an anti-hero, who designates himself as a major antagonist to save Naruto.

It would not be a very far-fetched theory, considering how many fans have commented on his roundabout threat to Boruto. Especially the way they have phrased it as the lore sending him to where he has sent the Seventh Hokage, instead of outright threatening to kill him. Time-travel and space-time jutsu being possible in the Boruto universe makes this theory even more feasible.