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Why Did Kawaki Kill Boruto? Why Take This Drastic Step?

If Kawaki getting back the karma seal seemed like a huge surprise to you, then you definitely wouldn’t have been prepared for the moment where Kawaki killed Boruto in the series.

As they were fighting Code, Momoshiki suddenly takes over Boruto’s body, despite the latter having taken the meds supressing Otsutsuki-fication. Not only does this prompt Kawaki to activate his karma seal again, but also makes him take drastic measures to mitigate the damage that Borushiki might bring.

But you know, since Boruto is the titular character, we know he won’t stay dead, or be taken off the series completely, so the overall impact of this moment will be pondered by many. I have touched upon it in a different article!!

However, the main question here is why did Kawaki go to the extent of killing Boruto?

From what we see, we know he was ready to do anything in order to protect Naruto. But, was Kawaki killing Boruto a move that was fueled simply by this instinct? There are instances in the manga which suggest that was not the case!

Let’s try to get a better understanding of the move!

Why did Kawaki kill Boruto?

Let me start by answering the question in short; Kawaki kills Boruto because Boruto asked him to do so if Momoshiki ever emerged and took control of his body again.

While the manga does not explicitly reveal their plan, Boruto’s involvement in the whole incident was hinted first in chapter 66.

Just before Kawaki punched a hole through his chest, we see him asking Boruto if he was truly ready for what was about to happen. And Boruto gives his ‘bro’ the green light to go ahead with the move. At that point, it might have felt confusing, but in retrospect, all of it fits.

Boruto asks Kawaki to kill him (chapter 66)

Later in chapter 69, we see Boruto divulging to Sasuke that he was the one who actually asked Kawaki to kill him if something goes wrong. He did not like the fact that Kawaki had to bear the brunt of the backlash, so Boruto decided to clear things up with Sasuke.

Boruto reveals he asked Kawaki to kill him (chapter 69)

This is a parallel to how Sasuke vowed to kill Boruto, if he ever got out of control! So, Kawaki killing Boruto was not rooted simply in Kawaki’s desire to protect Naruto. But it was something both Kawaki and Boruto planned out so that the latter would not cause any damage after losing control.

But why? Why would Boruto want Kawaki to kill him. Because both of them had concocted a very different idea.

The initial plan:

Like I mentioned before, it’s never explicitly shown where and how Boruto convinced Kawaki to kill him. However, in chapter 56, we do see both of them come up with a very different sort of a plan to get rid of the karma seal.

We know for sure that both Kawaki and Boruto wanted to get rid of their respective karma seals. While Kawaki might have ended up embracing the powers of karma again just to stop Boruto, he was pretty firm about his idea to free his friend the trap of the Otsutsuki.

However, being bestowed a karma seal basically sealed the fate of the vessel, as an Otsutsuki will reincarnate in their body.

While Kawaki got lucky, as Isshiki chose to revive in Jigen first, and then got goofed by a shadow clone jutsu, Momoshiki seemed all set to revive in Boruto’s body. The situation did look bleak, till Kawaki pitches in with an idea.

Kawaki suggests Boruto create a vessel for himself so that he can reincarnate. That way, even if Momoshiki does end up taking over Boruto’s body and mind, the latter can still reincarnate into his new vessel.

Kawaki's initial plan for Boruto (chapter 56)

The logic behind move was simple. Since majority of the Karma seal had dissipated into Boruto’s body, he was almost an Otsutsuki now. This meant he would be able to use the powers and abilities of an Otsutsuki, including the power to bestow a karma seal on to others.

This is basically what Jigen did, even though he himself was a vessel for Isshiki.

And the target for this new vessel was none other than Code. As he had already survived the process of being implanted with a karma, though it turned to be failure, Kawaki felt that Boruto could try bestowing his karma onto Code.

That way, he would one day be able to resurrect in Code’s body. And since Isshiki was no longer alive, there was nothing stopping them either.

While this plan had its loopholes, this is what the two of them had agreed to initially. So why exactly did they feel the need to come up with something as drastic as killing Boruto?

This is where Boruto’s resolve comes into picture!

Boruto’s resolve:

To understand why Boruto wanted Kawaki to kill let’s analyze the former’s psyche a bit.

The appearance of Borushiki was always a sign of bad things to follow. Indeed he did help team 7 to overcome the threat of Boro. But, after that first instance, all instances of Momoshiki taking over Boruto has been nothing short of a nuisance or even a disaster for those around him.

During the fight against Isshiki, Momoshiki takes over Boruto and the first thing he does is destroy Sasuke’s Rinnegan. And then during the battle against Code, Borushiki’s appearance put Naruto’s life in grave danger.

Boruto realized that whenever he lost control of his body, he ended up hurting those close to him. This was evident from the guilt he displayed after realizing what he did to Sasuke. Boruto never wanted Momoshiki to emerge again and take control of his body.

boruto scared momoshiki will emerge again (chapter 55)

In fact he was so skeptical of it happening that he couldn’t even bring himself to use the powers of his karma seal freely back in chapter 55.

This is also the reason Boruto agreed to take the meds that suppressed Otsutsuki-fication, despite the side effects it could have had on him, including his death.

Boruto had resolved to keep Momoshiki under control and there was no way anyone could change his mind.

While him having his own vessel was as good a hypothesis as any, there was no sure chance of it succeeding. Boruto himself says this in chapter 57.

And if the plan did succeed, it would mean letting Momoshiki revive in Boruto’s body and bring about mass destruction. If he would have resurrected, the first thing Momoshiki would have done is sacrifice Kawaki and cultivate the God Tree.

By the time Boruto’s karma dissipated in Code and he completely resurrected, there was a good chance of him losing everyone he loved.

I guess, Boruto came to that conclusion too. He did not want to be the root cause of destruction of everything around him. He did not want to let Momoshiki come out in any manner. And so he had the resolve to ask Kawaki to kill him if things went south.

In fact, I believe Boruto had come to this conclusion around the same time the plan to implant his karma on Code was hatched. The following dialogue from chapter 57 between Boruto and Naruto kind of proves it.

Boruto tells Naruto of his resolve (chapter 57)

So, when all was said and done, Boruto decided to ask Kawaki to do the deed of putting him to rest. As he tells Sasuke, Kawaki was the only one Boruto could entrust such a huge task on. They both understood each other’s resolve and were willing to get their hands dirty for it.

True, Sasuke too had taken a vow to kill Boruto if Momoshiki ever appeared again. But I don’t think Boruto wanted to sully the hands of his master with a deed so cruel and bad. Sasuke had already been through a lot, and I think he felt more comfortable asking Kawaki to do it, rather than opt for Sasuke.

While this proved to be a blessing in disguise as far as the derailment of Momoshiki’s resurrection was concerned. But it would also come back to haunt him later in the future!

What are your thoughts on Kawaki killing Boruto, and Boruto’s resolve to see through such a drastic move? Let us know in the comments below!

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1 thought on “Why Did Kawaki Kill Boruto? Why Take This Drastic Step?”

  1. I understood the Karma so: It contains the data of Otsutsuki. It uploads them into the Vessel. How it was explained, the Vessel has 2 Sets of Data inside them. (Like you dowload a new Operation system for your computer). Kawaki and Boruto are just accessing this Data. in Theorie, if Boruto wanted to get rid of his Karma, he would just have to cut his arm of. That way, he would have removed the source of the data, before the extraction was complete and preventing Momoshiki from taking over.

    And Kawaki killing boruto…would have been for the better. Kawaki is safe thanks to Eida, since Code can’t go against her orders. To summerazie: If kawaki succesfully killed Boruto, Code wouldn’t be able to grow a Godtree.

    But…we all know, Plotarmor saved Boruto by reviving him. And here is the problem.

    At First Boruto had his own Data and Momoshikis Data. But Momoshiki sacrificed his last 18% of Data to revive Boruto. He did this and activated the last Step of Karma, the Override. So Borutos Data is now a merged version of his own and Momoshikis, consisting mostly of Momoshiki.

    Actually, he should look mostly like Momoshiki and be barely in control. That is one of the many Plotholes and Errors.

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