Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 18 Review: The Shinju Plan Failure

This article contains spoilers from Boruto: Two Blue Vortex.

Summary

• Kawaki wants power-up, threatens Amado

• Konohamaru fails against Matsuri

• Ryu's tricks lead to Yodo's danger

Boruto's new arc focusing on Shinju has turned out to be quite enjoyable, at least on paper. The idea of ​​the team heading out to the Village Hidden in the Sand is really exciting, as is the idea of ​​Team 7 finally getting their big battles. Undoubtedly, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex sets an exciting stage for the characters to shine.

However, it must be said that the author has seemingly struggled with developing the world again, as well as giving fans an exciting exchange. Hopefully the future chapter of the Boruto series will be better, but it's safe to say that Two Blue Vortex Chapter 18 was a rather disappointing continuation of the series, with little to offer other than a hasty development of the same set points.

Kawaki's upgrades are coming soon

• Kawaki interrupted a visit to Amado

• Things will move quickly in terms of his upgrades

It hasn't been long since Kawaki found out that Amado had limited his attack power and it seems that immediately after his conversation with Boruto Uzumaki, he went out looking for the scientist and decided to threaten him. Fans saw it at the end of Chapter 17, and now it's become increasingly clear that Kawaki intends to have his powers restored immediately. Fans saw Kawaki threaten Amado in Two Blue Vortex Chapter 18 and asked for his settings to be changed, to which Amado responded by putting him to sleep with a shutdown command. This development in itself is quite bizarre. That Kawaki starts with some setting adjustments does not provide the conditions for an exciting power-up at all. Power-ups should be earned and the author had three years to develop Kawaki in exciting ways. Having him start with an adjustment in the settings and switch to attack mode is simply absurd. Regardless, it looks like Boruto: Two Blue Vortex will continue in that direction for now.

To destroy these monsters, I don't care if you turn me into one. – Kawaki

The exciting thing here was that Amado asked Kawaki to engrave his karma on his daughter, Akebi, who fans know died a long time ago. Amado intends to bring her back to life by using the Path of the Gods. He has studied karmic resurrection for a long time just for this purpose and he has done everything he can to bring his daughter back to life. That is precisely why he stands where he is today, asking Kawaki to put his karma on his daughter and bring her back to life. Much to the readers' surprise, Kawaki agreed to the deal, but only after he's done with Shinju, and even then, if she turned into an Otsutsuki, he plans to finish her off for good, which really sets the stage for an exciting development. Fans should be on the lookout for this, and it's moments like these that make the Boruto manga worthwhile, even if some decisions are questionable and the plot is subpar at times.

Konohamaru's failure against Matsuri

Konohamaru couldn't put simple orders into effect

As fans had already predicted, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 18 saw Konohamaru Sarutobi fail to do what Shikamaru asked of him. The idea was to befriend the Shinju and then betray them, stab them in the back when they least expected it. Konohamaru could have easily done this, especially considering that he showed no reservations when Shikamaru shared this idea with him.

In fact, fans, including us, wondered if Shikamaru could even bring himself to do this, given that he is Naruto's very own protégé and bears the will of both Naruto and Hiruzen Sarutobi, both of whom would disagree with such treacherous approach. However, this is not where Konohamaru faltered. When asked if Matsuri could refer to him using more intimate language, Konohamaru felt uncomfortable and rejected the approach, causing his plan to fail.

Is this about Kazamatsuri Moegi? What is she to you? – Matsuri

This whole sequence itself is a catastrophic failure on the part of the author. First, the plot just goes nowhere with these two. Fans saw Konohamaru strike up a very unusual conversation with Matsuri, and the dialogue writing here felt incredibly stiff, without any meaning.

Why Matsuri enjoyed talking to Konohamaru wasn't even in focus, but fans would still think this was the most fun she'd ever had. Even more than that, it's pathetic that Konohamaru is uncomfortable being called “Konohamaru-chan” when he's supposed to be a shinobi willing to put his life on the line. At best Konohamaru just put the handle and 3 children under him in a horrible position, and at worst he's doomed for the whole world, simply because he didn't want to be called a certain way by a being strong enough to destroy the world .

Ryu's Trickery Vs The Konoha Ninjas

Ryu Goes All Out Vs The Ninjas

Just as Konohamaru fought against Matsuri, so did the younger ninjas Vs Ryu. They tried to force Ryu to use the Thorn Soul Bulb to seek out Boruto, and when he did, they realized they were the ones being baited by him, with Yodo jumping at the opportunity, ignoring every plan and preparing himself to die. .

While Ryu's clever plan deserves credit, this entire sequence was incredibly rushed. The whole idea was to look for hints of Boruto in a corner near a wall, which is absurd in itself. The world of Naruto is huge. The Land of Wind itself is absolutely massive with tons of potential for world building, allowing fans to experience new environments, climates, people and just about everything to do with the land. Yet the author chose not to use any of it in his story.

A major complaint of Boruto series has been that Konoha gets too much focus, while the rest of the world is there to explore. Fans were excited about the idea of ​​Sunagakure being more involved in the story. But absolutely nothing has changed in the author's approach here. The only difference here feels like a background change at best. Instead of leaves, fans now have sand in the background, and that's about all the writer can provide from Sunagakure, which is disappointing, considering the incredible potential that the Windy Land holds.

At least the series saw Araya save Yodo with a technique that works against Iron Sand, setting up exciting battles. Regardless of all the problems this manga has, it usually puts up a good fight, which means expectations for the next chapter are higher, as Konohamaru Sarutobi prepares to face Matsuri, while the young ninjas face Ryu and Iron Sand.

Boruto is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and Manga Plus app. The release date for the next chapter of Boruto, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 19, is set for February 20, 2025.