5 Point Discussions – Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 77: “A Fierce Enemy: Garaga’s Ferocious Attack!”

The battle against Garaga continues. Meanwhile, everyone discovers an actual traitor working in Konoha. And…do we finally get to see Mitsuki? Remember, if you like this article and 5 Point Discussions, please share it on Facebook or Twitter! It really helps. And if you’ve got any comments or questions, please hit me up @SageShinigami.

1. Garaga’s turned into the video game boss you keep having to restart against. The first time around, our group had no idea what they were getting into, and it was only thanks to a last minute intervention from a guest character they got away unscathed. Now this time, they realize they failed to get an accurate representation of Garaga’s attack patterns and techniques, so they get caught off guard when he reveals he has venom which turns people to stone. Hurt by the loss of their comrade, they allow Garaga to run back into his cave rather than continuing their offense. They didn’t even manage to figure out whether or not his Stone Venom has a cooldown.

2. I talked about how Konoha’s security was so garbage they could easily be betrayed without anyone realizing it, then last episode we learned the Chuunin responsible for guarding Konoha was actually a villain. Well, this episode adds a new wrinkle. After Shikamaru realizes there’s a good chance Mitsuki was taken against his will, they start to realize the possibility that they’re being spied on.  So using Team 10’s leader Moegi as bait, they manage to reveal the identity of the traitor, Yurito. Moegi and Sakura corner Yurito, but since they’re both awful, he manages to escape from them both.

He runs into Team 5 and almost tricks them as well, but fortunately their leader Udon sees through Yurito’s lies. Yurito takes Denki captive in an attempt to get away, but Denki distracts him and gets free, leaving Yurito to take on Denki and Metal. But during the fight, Udon notices something’s wrong with Yurito, and deactivates a powerful genjutsu which apparently had been forcing him to work for the other side.

But before Yurito can give any information on what happens, a chakra centipede appears on his back, exploding and taking Yurito out. These twists coming in rapid succession were a bit like the segments in Yu-Gi-Oh where doing one thing triggers like a three minute segment of characters saying you’ve triggered my trap card, but it was at least entertaining. Plus we learned something here–the people responsible for taking Mitsuki apparently really don’t wanna be caught. We get a brief glimpse of them gloating over having plugged the leak, which is odd considering Yurito failed to take out his target.

3. It would not be the Naruto universe without tragic backstories, so of course even the giant snake has one. Boruto and the group decide to go back in for a third attack on Garaga, this time with a better strategy taking advantage of all their unique combination abilities…but with the added wrinkle of being in Garaga’s lair so he gets a field power bonus. They go at it for a bit, and Boruto almost wins the upper hand, but through the magic of shonen plotlines he and Garaga share minds for a bit and we see why he’s such an angry reptile, and why he hates humans.

Turns out, at one point he was a shinobi’s summoning animal, but got betrayed when the two of them were defending a castle and his ninja partner decided to become a traitor. Since then, he’s been an ornery fuck that hangs out in Ryuchi Cave…which really feels like the most harmless thing he could’ve done, if we’re being honest. Sure, the other snakes hate him but since he hates humans you’d think he’d spend more time terrorizing them instead of avoiding them as much as possible.

4. Having seen Garaga’s backstory, Boruto decides he won’t take Garaga’s Reverse Scale…because he’s going to form a summoning contract with him instead. Now, given we just saw the reason Garaga doesn’t trust people and it involves a reasonable belief that all shinobi are traitorous, you’d think this plan would never work. But fortunately, Boruto has a plan: crappy reverse psychology! He convinces Garaga that he’s just afraid to trust people…but also sweetens the pot by promising if Garaga’s so right, he has an opportunity here to see Boruto fall on his face. Then promises Garaga can eat him if he fails. Man, what is it with these snakes and eating people? Like, the ones we’ve met are freaking gigantic–humans couldn’t possibly provide a good meal for them.

5. Six episodes into this “Mitsuki Disappearance” arc, we finally get a chance to see the ninja this story’s supposed to be about. When Boruto returns to the White Snake Sage, instead of giving her the reverse scale he summons Garaga.  Now despite this having nothing to do with what he was asked, apparently this is still satisfactory enough for her to give Boruto what he needs: the memory of Mitsuki’s snake.

Here, we finally get to see what happened the night Mitsuki abandoned the village–he stopped the Chuunin’s heart to keep him from being killed by the assailants, then agreed to go with them on the promise of learning some “truth”, presumably about himself. We also learn these ninja are from the Land of Earth, which explains their desire to keep things hidden–they’ve essentially committed an act of war.  This opens up several new questions: if Boruto and the others head in, aren’t they escalating tensions between two nations? Are the ninja who did this acting under the orders of their government, or doing this on their own? And lastly, what truths do they know Mitsuki wants anyway?

At least now we’re past the detour stage and headed right back into the “main” plotline.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is available for streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu.

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