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Sasuke Retsuden is one of several light novels belonging to the Naruto franchise revolving around major characters like Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kakashi, Sakura, and Itachi. Shikamaru Hiden was briefly covered at the end of the Shippuden anime, and Naruto Gaiden was released as a one-shot prelude to the Boruto series.
Sasuke Retsuden is the first light novel to be serialized as a manga, and it is even available on Manga Plus. But the timeline of the story makes its canon value subject to controversy. This article analyzes the setting and plot of the light novel to determine how it might connect to the original series.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Naruto and Boruto manga. All external media in this article are the property of their respective owners.
How does Sasuke Retsuden connect to the original franchise storyline?
Is Sasuke Retsuden canon?
The Naruto franchise includes countless anime filler episodes, movies, and light novels. Although officially licensed, their canon validity is widely questioned by fans. Sasuke Retsuden is no different, especially since the timeline of events mentioned in the novel partially coincides with the pre-time skip timeline of the Boruto series.
The light novel explored a period of time after Naruto had already become Hokage, and Sasuke himself still retained his Rinnegan. It contains no mention of Boruto, suggesting that it was well before the appearance of the major Boruto villains, following which Naruto's son became an important character.
The special OVA episode, titled The Day Naruto Became Hokage, covered Naruto’s official appointment as the seventh Hokage of Konoha village. Meanwhile, Boruto: Naruto the Movie followed the canonical order of events in the Boruto manga, with Sasuke’s return to the village to warn Naruto about a dangerous enemy. The Uchiha was then cajoled by Boruto into becoming his mentor.
The movie culminated with Boruto fighting alongside Naruto and Sasuke to defeat Momoshiki Otsutsuki after his failed attempt to extract Kurama and create a chakra fruit. The Boruto movie included the Chunin Exam arc, which was chronicled in both the manga and the anime, and it has been confirmed that he was implanted with Momoshiki’s karma during the final moments of their battle. Boruto’s karma became the primary focus of the series following the event.
The events of Sasuke Retsuden must therefore have taken place between the OVA hinting at the start of Naruto’s tenure as Hokage and Sasuke’s arrival at Konoha in the Boruto movie.
Naruto’s fights against Momoshiki and Isshiki in the Boruto series suggested that he was at full strength up until Kurama’s death, and the series never mentioned any instances of Naruto being ill. The only sign of strain Naruto seemed to be under was his inability to split his time between his family and his job as the Hokage..
The writer of Sasuke Retsuden, Jun Esaka, mentioned in a tweet that her work is one of several possibilities arising out of the original Naruto series. This further negates the possibility of the light novel being canon, suggesting that the events of the light novel can be considered as belonging to an alternative timeline.
Does the Sasuke-focused spin-off work?
Although the manga adaptation begins with Naruto’s illness as the story's primary focus, it revolves almost exclusively around Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke has always been popular among fans due to his morally ambiguous character development and the complicated bond he shared with Naruto in the series.
Boruto introduces a more modern take on the shinobi world, sacrificing much of the original Naruto flavor. It also shifts its focus away from the older generation by nerfing overpowered characters like Naruto and Sasuke, which caused a lot of older fans to lose interest in the series.
Moreover, Naruto mangaka Masashi Kishimoto is the one illustrating the manga serialization of the light novel, bringing back the nostalgic Naruto-style artwork which older fans found lacking in Boruto manga's art.
The Naruto fandom has several conflicting opinions regarding what constitutes canon in the franchise. It should be noted that the Road to Ninja movie, as well as the Infinite Tsukiyomi filler episodes featured in Naruto Shippuden, have both explored alternate timelines.
While the events of the light novels may not be canon, they connect in a mostly coherent way to the series. So, for fans of the original Naruto series, the serialization of the Sasuke Retsuden manga is definitely a treat.
