Boruto beats Naruto in one key ninja area, and it's key to the narrative

Boruto and Naruto have some key differences and according to the fans, the former can never beat the latter in terms of storytelling and developing a lore around jutsu technique. This could be considered true as the latter series had enough time and chapters at hand to do so, but its key flaw might be what makes the former series great and better.

That key factor is information. The eradication of Kara in Naruto Next Generations was the first time the series explored a new idea of leaking information which later led to a ninja-like plotline. As the series is based on shinobi, it's interesting to see how this never happened in the prequel series and how the sequel series is thriving on this key detail.

Disclaimer: This article contains potential spoilers from the Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga series and has the author's opinion.

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Exploring the factor that makes Boruto and Naruto different

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

Information, more commonly termed as 'intel' in anime, serves grave importance in the narrative of any series. While it is usually acquired through infiltration or other methods, what makes a series different is betrayal which leads to the leak of information. Although this makes some plotline elements more predictable, it does make the series more engaging.

The Naruto series never had to rely on this aspect because it didn't exactly have a mysterious antagonist (at least that's not what the village leaders were thinking). Starting from the Akatsuki to Madara Uchiha, the Kage knew who they were fighting against and had standards to meet. While the enemies utilized intel to their advantage (for instance, Kabuto), the protagonist never had to rely on it.

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

After its conclusion, the Boruto series started and had a slow start because it could be relying on this key aspect to differentiate its narrative from its predecessor. This narrative of utilizing intel first became prominent with the eradication of Kara (led by Jigen Isshiki Otsutsuki), a key part of which was Amado's betrayal. He leaked everything he knew about his previous organization to Hidden Leaf.

While the village's higher-ups were still unaware of the specifics of Jigen's powers, they set some standards and fought him while avoiding the things the antagonists were searching for. This led to Kara's demise. However, the series then centered its entire narrative around Shinjutsu techniques which might be a game changer for it.

Strangely enough, the majority of Shinjutsu techniques had the nature to leak intel like Eida's Clairvoyance and Amado's Ten Directions. This indicated that the Boruto series might be relying on this 'intel' as its key focus for its narrative and this might also explain the sudden popularity boom of Two Blue Vortex.

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Final thoughts

Although not utilizing 'intel' as a central part of a narrative doesn't make a series necessarily bad, it does add a 'wow' factor to it. While Naruto didn't utilize it to the extent that the fans could notice it, Boruto utilized it to its full extent and is currently utilizing it in Two Blue Vortex to create something different for the fans to enjoy.

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