WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Chapter 64 of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, “Control,” by Masashi Kishimoto, Mikio Ikemoto, Mari Morimoto, and Snir Aharon, now available in English from Viz Media.
In the Boruto series, one of the biggest problems carried over from the Naruto era is how women have been shunted to the background. Sakura and Ino, for example, were barely used apart from some Hail Marys despite their abilities. Now, they're more housewives than anything else, with Sasuke, the Hokage, and other men getting the meat of the leadership roles. Sadly, the manga continues to follow this path, sidelining women, and in the process, it robs Naruto of the perfect partner in the field.
It occurs when Naruto senses Boruto and Kawaki out in the Konoha forest. His sensory team failed to lock onto Kawaki's chakra but now, Naruto knows his son is near Kawaki and begins tracking him instead. He asks Ino and Shikamaru's squad to lock on as well, activating his Sage Mode.
The problem is, Naruto spurns Hinata's request to join the hunt. She demands to go find her boy but Naruto mansplains to her why she can't go. It's dangerous in his eyes, but Hinata has faced the Akatsuki, as well as many Ōtsutsuki warriors in her time. Even in the Naruto movies, she proved to be a capable fighter and a true representative of the Hyūga clan, so Hinata would have been ideal to fight Code.
Given she's got the Byakugan, which the Ōtsutsuki clan has as well, she could have been the trump card to neutralize Code as no one can pick up his teleportation skills. Hinata, though, has a third eye in that sense so this is very much wasted potential. The series has already turned Hiashi, her dad, into a fun-loving parent and not the military strategist of old, while her sister, Hanabi, is another bit-part player as she helps train future students.
Thus, Hinata's emotional investment would certainly have unleashed the power that Naruto and the kid's fear, but with her anger trained on the right targets. Having Shikamaru chime in on loyalty and mention she should stay home feels so intrusive as well.
We understand they want her in Konoha to protect Himawari (Naruto's daughter), but in this case, a rare exception can be made. They need to trust and respect her, especially as she complements Naruto so well in the field. It's regretful as Hinata would have more agency this way and a bigger say in saving the Hidden Leaf, but unfortunately, she's deemed a B-lister at best who needs to sit on the sidelines rather than protect her family as she's always vowed to.
It'd have been such a nuanced arc to show how they've both matured and how they could work together to save the ones they truly hold dear, but it's ultimately regressive as Naruto doesn't see a path to victory with her at his side.
