Boruto's new Shinju teases recreating Naruto's Rock Lee vs Gaara fight, and it needs to happen

Modified Sep 20, 2024 14:28 GMT

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex chapter 14 will be released on Saturday, September 21, 2024. However, before the manga was officially released, several leakers online leaked its spoilers on social media platforms, revealing the events that would take place in the soon-to-be-released chapter.

As per the chapter, the fifth Shinju is none other than Shinki as Kankuro arrived at Konoha asking for help after Gaara's adopted son was turned into a tree. The majority of the fanbase had predicted this. Surprisingly, that's just what happened in the manga. But this left fans with something new to theorize. Who would be Shinki's target?

As fans know, all the Shinju have their own instinctual targets to devour. Hence, just like others, the Shinki Shinju "Ryu" should also soon decide on his target. However, one theory suggests that it could be Rock Lee's son, Metal Lee.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the Boruto: Two Blue Vortex manga.

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex could recreate Naruto's Rock Lee vs. Gaara

Gaara and Rock Lee as seen in the Naruto anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

As fans might remember, while the Naruto anime was really popular, the event that saw several new heads turn towards the series was the infamous fight between Rock Lee and Gaara. Therefore, one Boruto fan on Reddit theorized that with the arrival of Shinki's Shinju, manga creator Masashi Kishimoto may have wanted to recreate the fight in the sequel series.

However, given that the new manga focuses on the next generation of Shinobi, it might not be Rock Lee who faces the Shinju but his son, Metal Lee. Such a scenario should provide some nice parallels and also give the supporting character a chance to finally make his mark.

Metal Lee as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

Metal Lee was first introduced at the start of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations but was later seemingly swept under the carpet. Therefore, a fight between Metal Lee and Shinki should allow the character to gain some significance in the story.

One could argue that there is no reason for Ryu to target Metal Lee. However, there were some hints at the start of the series that suggested otherwise. Right after Shinki and his team were introduced, the manga switched to Metal Lee. Even later, the two Shinobi were shown to face off against each other during the second round of Chunin exams.

Shinki and Metal Lee as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

These shreds of evidence suggest that the manga creators might have initially planned to recreate the Rock Lee and Gaara connection from the Naruto manga in the new series. However, they might have later forgotten about it or chosen not to develop the story further for then. That said, with Metal Lee losing the fight against Shinki in the Chunin exams, he could feel compelled to go after his Shinju form Ryu in the Boruto: Two Blue Vortex manga.

As for Ryu's instinctual target, there is a chance that the Shinju's targets weren't set in stone. One might remember how Jura brought up the concept of targets and immediately declared Naruto Uzumaki as his target. However, Naruto was never his target. Instead, Jura's attack on Himawari suggests that the target was Kurama all along.

Jura as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

Therefore, there is a slim chance that the Shinju never truly had an individual target. It was only due to Jura's suggestion that the other Shinju chose their targets. This is also suggested by the way Mamushi picked his target. He never truly had an instinctual target but only picked Eida because he could see her watching the Shinju through the Senrigan.

Hence, even if Ryu were to pick someone else as his initial target, there is a chance that with enough information, he could switch his target to Metal Lee and possibly recreate the Rock Lee vs. Gaara fight in the Boruto: Two Blue Vortex manga.