Boruto: Kawaki Exposes a Major Flaw in Konoha’s First Line of Defense

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Chapter #61 of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, “Madness,” by Masashi Kishimoto, Mikio Ikemoto, Mari Morimoto and Snir Aharon, now available in English from Viz Media.

In the Boruto manga, young Kawaki has been plotting assiduously when it comes to protecting Konoha. He may not seem like an altruistic figure but he does care about the Hidden Leaf, especially Naruto. Kawaki views the Hokage as a father-figure and has taken to the family as his own, feeling love and warmth he never experienced from his kin or the Kara cell that Isshiki ran. However, as Kawaki tries to level up and strategize for an impending attack, he exposes a major flaw in the village's first line of defense.

Kawaki is taken in by the Uzumaki family
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Kawaki no longer has the Karma mark since Isshiki was reborn and died, so he's contemplating Amado's deal to tinker with another one. The scientist is corrupting Kawaki with the offer of unlocking more power within, indicating it could come in handy when the time comes to defend Naruto's family.

However, Kawaki wants to find another means to unlock his power as he doesn't trust the ex-Kara scientist. In the meantime, he's analyzing at the Hidden Leaf's surveillance, only to spot a major hole. Inojin admits the chakra barrier system is what sensory ninja use to pick up alarms in the area. His family has been part of maintaining it for years with his mother, Ino, now tasked with perfecting it.

It's like a fingerprint, as trespassers who don't have a chakra signature logged and connected to Konoha's archives send out an alert to the sensory team. Inojin thinks it's foolproof, but Kawaki scraps that notion as they hang out by the main gate. Kawaki's already annoyed Nishi is following him around, indicating the other border shinobi aren't exactly elite in case intruders arrive.

In other words, if someone breaches the net and doesn't match the database, the first folks they'll have to fight won't be much of a contest. Thus, if a being on the level of Isshiki or Code comes in, their first volley against Konoha will be quite destructive. To make it worse, if the elite guardians such as Naruto, Sasuke and Co. are out of the village, it'll be vulnerable. It's too risky -- seeing Konoha susceptible like this worries Kawaki, especially as Code is an expert teleporter who can be hard to track.

It reminds Kawaki of Sasuke using space-time to pop around the place via dimensional doors, which is what the likes of Obito and Madara used in the past to expose the village. As such, Kawaki reminds the youths that Konoha will be at the mercy of skilled enemies because as good as it is for notifications, unless there are more skilled ninja at the borders to leap into action, this barrier isn't the shield they think it is. To top off Boruto Chapter #61, Kawaki wonders what the reaction will be if someone infiltrates and is able to blend in.

This criticism leaves Boruto annoyed, but Kawaki's more desperate than ever, thinking he might have to go on the offensive if he is to safeguard the place that's clearly ensconced in a comfort zone and false sense of security.

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