Why Naruto being an overprotective father to Kawaki in Boruto was his greatest mistake, explained

Modified May 09, 2024 23:12 GMT

Why Naruto being an overprotective father to Kawaki in Boruto was his greatest mistake, explained — Naruto and Kawaki as seen in the Boruto anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Naruto Uzumaki is a beloved character for all Boruto fans. However, there is one mistake the former Jinchuriki made toward the nine-tailed beast that fans find hard to forgive, i.e., being an overprotective father to Kawaki. While fans know why Naruto adopted Kawaki, there was no reason for the Hokage to treat the karma user the way he did.

As seen in the series, Kawaki was very similar to Naruto. Both Naruto and Kawaki were devoid of parents or anyone to love them. To make matters worse, both characters were bestowed with a dangerous source of power, which essentially made them a threat to those around them. Upon making this comparison, Naruto adopted Kawaki to give him a better life than what he had.

Disclaimer: This article may contain spoilers from the Boruto manga.

Naruto being an overprotective father to Kawaki spelled doom for Boruto

Boruto as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

As every Boruto fan would know, Naruto Uzumaki wasn't a great father to his son at the start of the series. While he did love his son, he was too busy as a Hokage. Hence, he often ended up neglecting his son.

The same was reflected in the case of his daughter Himawari, as Naruto couldn't attend her birthday party and tried tricking his family with a Shadow Clone jutsu.

However, after the Momoshiki Arc, Naruto Uzumaki made active efforts to try to be a good father. It was around the same time when Kara and Kawaki were introduced in the manga series. Thus, upon learning about Kawaki and his background, Naruto adopted him.

Naruto and Kawaki as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

On the forefront, Naruto adopted Kawaki to make sure he did not run away or get into trouble. However, in reality, Naruto adopted Kawaki because he found his situation too similar to that of his own past. Similar to Naruto, Kawaki had no family to take care of him. Additionally, an external power bestowed on him made people view him as a threat.

These comparisons saw Naruto Uzumaki become overly protective of his adoptive son, Kawaki. While Kawaki initially disliked everything that Naruto did for him, he soon began to cherish his adoptive father and became obsessed with him. His obsession had reached such a point that he killed his adoptive brother, Boruto, just so that he could protect his adoptive father.

Kawaki killing his adoptive brother in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

One could account for Kawaki's actions as reasonable, considering how he killed his brother to stop him from being taken over by Momoshiki Otsutsuki. However, Naruto's reaction to the same was shocking.

No father would stay calm upon the death of their son. However, Naruto was seemingly calm upon the death of his actual son. Instead, at the time, he was more concerned by the possibility of losing his adoptive son Kawaki as well. Fortunately, Boruto returned to the series after Momoshiki was forced to fuse his data with that of his host.

Kawaki sealing Naruto and Hinata in another dimension (Image via Shueisha)

Evidently, at the time, everything ended up for the good. However, that still does not explain why Naruto did not reprimand his adoptive son for killing his actual son. Such refusal to punish his adoptive son saw Kawaki assume free reign over his actions. To protect his adoptive father, Naruto, Kawaki sealed him and his wife, Hinata, away in another world. Right after, he went after Boruto to kill him.

Had Naruto Uzumaki not been an overprotective father to Kawaki, the Karma user may not have walked down the wrong path.