After taking a month-long break, the 72nd chapter of Naruto’s sequel series, Boruto, was released on Friday, and with it came the next part of the villain Code’s plan. Unfortunately, this “next part” means that Boruto is once again recycling material from Naruto, this time in the form of the Zetsu army that battled the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Great Ninja War. To be fair, Code does give them an upgrade that makes them a far more formidable force this time around.
In Naruto, the Zetsu army was created from the chakra of the Gedou statue and the cells of the First Hokage. They were cultivated by Obito to fight as basic foot soldiers alongside Kabuto’s ranks of reanimated ninja, creating a force that was unrivaled by anything seen in Naruto’s previous Great Ninja Wars.
In Chapter 72 of Boruto, Code has his limiters removed and has resurrected the Zetsu army with a few twists. Rather than being carefully cultivated, Code just broke Kara’s Ten Tails down into smaller pieces and outfitted each one with claw marks. It seems that there are only a couple hundred of them as opposed to the 100,000s that Obito created, meaning that these are likely to be stronger as they contain more of the Ten Tails’ chakra. They are also able to move to and from different locations at a much faster rate because of the claw marks. Couple that with the fact that Code’s marks are also strewn about their bodies, and one realizes that these new Zetsu are capable of some intense body horror. There’s a reason Code has become Naruto and Boruto’s new main threat, and this Zetsu army shows just how far he’s willing to go to achieve his dreams.
As cool and powerful as Code’s army sounds, the whole ordeal lacks any real weight, especially since the Zetsu army was a huge focal point of Naruto and its Fourth Great Ninja War arc. To do that again, with the only difference being that these soldiers are stronger (which doesn’t work with the series’ constant power creep issues), doesn’t really make for a compelling antagonist. There are other things Code could have done with the chakra of the Ten Tails that would have made for a far more threatening obstacle that Boruto’s generation has to beat.
Code revived a threat from the Naruto series, and although his Zetsu are sure to pack a larger punch, they fall flat of that narrative umph required to make Code and his character arc more enthralling. To be fair, Boruto still has the opportunity to make these creatures from Naruto stand out beyond this initial reveal.
Boruto‘s latest chapter is now available on Viz Media’s Shonen Jump app!
