The new Naruto sequel has chosen the perfect hero to fix all the issues with Boruto. Sarutobi Minai is a young kunoichi from the Konoha village, who struggles to find her footing in the harsh and unforgiving world of shinobi. Boruto, on the other hand, as the son of the Hokage, feels entitled from the beginning of his manga, which results in a fundamentally unlikeable and shallow main character.
Naruto: Konoha’s Story-The Steam Ninja Scrolls is the manga adaptation of a popular Naruto spin-off novel, set many years after the original series ended. The story focuses on Kakashi and his best friend/rival Might Guy, who head to a hot spring in the Land of Hot Water on a secret mission disguised as a vacation. They are accompanied by Sarutobi Mirai, the young daughter of the late Sarutobi Asuma, a young kunoichi who is slightly older than Boruto, the son of Naruto who stars in his own sequel. However, even in the span of one chapter, Mirai immediately comes out as a more likable main character than Boruto.
Naruto: Konoha’s Story chapter #1, by Masashi Kishimoto, Sho Hinata, and Natsuo Sai, begins with a very young Mirai busy in the classic mission that is given to young ninja: rescue a missing cat. However, the kunoichi bumps into a gang of criminals and, rather than let them go to save her life, she tries to stop them. Mirai’s brave but foolish decision almost gets her killed, but stalls the criminals long enough for Shikamaru and the Sixth Hokage Kakashi to get there. Throughout this ordeal, Mirai shows her insecurities, her desire to be recognized as a “real shinobi“, and to live up to the very high standards of her family.
Mirai Is A Better Main Character Than Boruto
Mirai’s struggles, however, are what makes her an interesting and relatable character, and also what Boruto is ultimately lacking. At the beginning of his series, Boruto was also struggling due to his flaws as a shinobi and a complicated relationship with his absent and always-busy father. However, this dynamic immediately got ditched, and the series generally dedicated less attention to character development. Boruto is, in the end, the Hokage’s son. He is a powerful and capable shinobi from the beginning, who immediately gets another absurd power up in the form of Karma. Boruto has all the faults of a classic “chosen one” character type while Mirai, instead, feels genuinely relatable and capable of growth and development.
One of the reasons why fans have been so divided over Boruto is that the protagonist of the manga feels really lackluster compared to iconic characters such as Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto: Konoha’s Story is a side story more than a sequel, but its protagonist, Sarutobi Mirai, has all the qualities to be a great main character and to fix all the issues present in Boruto.
