Why Is Naruto so Weak in Boruto? (& Will He Become Stronger?)

Since Boruto’s release, a lot of fans did not criticize the show that much for its storyline but for the inconsistencies of once main characters in the Naruto series. More specifically, fans complained a lot about the lack of power of one of the most important anime characters in the last two decades – Uzumaki Naruto. At the end of the Naruto series, we saw Naruto defeat immortal Madara, hundreds of White Zetsu’s, and a literal god in Kaguya. So why is he so weak in the Boruto series and will he become stronger later, we will discuss it in this article.

Naruto was overpowered in the Naruto series and that was pointed out by the fans a lot during the Naruto series run in the past. So, it is a “no-brainer” situation for the Boruto anime leads to actually “nerf” Naruto and let other new characters be put in the spotlight of the Boruto series more. Another reason can be because of the peace that occurred on the Ninja Continent after the events of the Fourth Shinobi World War, and Naruto himself confessed that he is rusty. Finally, the fact that he lost Kurama recently, weakened him a lot.

We will discuss further the situation around Naruto in the Boruto series, offer some other reasons why he is weaker now than before and explain further whether will he actually become stronger in the future. If you are interested in the topic, stick with us until the end of the article.

Naruto’s Powers Before Boruto Series

To understand his decrease in strength and powers, we need to look into Naruto before the Boruto series. More specifically, immediately after the First Shinobi World War. Naruto was absolutely the most powerful shinobi the ninja world has seen – probably besides Madara who could beat Sasuke and Naruto if Zetsu did not betray him.

Naruto had an interesting and inspiring journey during his shinobi life – from not having any signature moves besides Kyuubi inside of him which powers he did not utilize at all to becoming a literal god at one point.

We saw the peak of Naruto’s powers in The Last: Naruto the Movie where he’s beaten Toneri Ōtsutsuki, a descendant of Hamura Ōtsutsuki and the sole survivor of the Ōtsutsuki clan.

Naruto, arguably, had the best chakra and physical prowess in the series, helped by the fact that he was an Uzumaki and jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails beast. He could transfer chakra to others, as we saw during the Fourth Shinobi War, and control it immensely well. Jinchūriki Transformations that we saw from the first series until the recent fight with Ishiiki are something only Naruto can do.

Uzumaki clan members were always amazing sensor-type ninjas, and during Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Naruto can detect negative emotions. Naruto’s Tailed Beast Mode is literally a replica of Kurama, which provides him immense power. We all know that Tailed Beasts lend him power during the fight with Kaguya and even received Sage of Six Paths chakra from Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki himself.

After receiving chakra from Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, naruto was able to utilize all the basic five nature transformations, even though his natural affinity is wind. Naruto is a powerful Rasengan user. His Rasengan that he learned from Jiraiya, Naruto perfected to the point of being able to transform Rasengan into various different forms.

These are all of his powers even before we mentioned Sage Mode which he perfected because of his vast chakra reserves. While in Sage Mode, Naruto has enhanced powers from speed and Taijutsu to raw power itself. He is basically superhuman because he is so connected with the natural energy around him.

Nine-Tails Mode combined with Sage mode and others makes Naruto the most powerful shinobi ever, and that is without mentioning the recently discovered Bayron Mode, which is essentially a transformation of Kurama with its jinchūriki. The process literally reminds us of nuclear fusion, however, there is a catch – if a user is too reckless, the Kyuubi will die.

Essentially, Naruto, until the Boruto series was considered the most powerful shinobi ever in Ninja history. So why is he so weak in the Boruto series?

Reasons Why Naruto Is Weak in the Boruto Series

Most of the sequels from successful shows have the same problem – how will they be able to separate from the original series’ shadow without fully alienating it?

Boruto fell into the same trap, because, even though the fans knew that Boruto is a sequel and its own show, they still compared the series with Naruto. Personally, that is totally valid since Boruto features so many of the original cast of the previous series. The similarities are noticeable and new characters were overshadowed by the original cast.

Because Naruto is supposed to be a supporting character to his son and main protagonist Boruto, anime creators decided to “nerf” Naruto’s powers significantly. Viewers need to focus their attention on the new generation and not dwell on the original Team 7 and Konoha 11. That is why Boruto has new Dōjutsu and new ninjutsu were presented in the show.

Much stronger characters were featured in the Boruto as well, which is a consequence of the Fourth Shinobi War – Ōtsutsuki clan appeared as a cosmic, ancient threat and species which was outrageous by itself when it first appeared in Naruto.

So yes, Naruto was made weaker because his powers cannot overshadow the New Generation, especially Boruto, who is a new potential leader of Konoha’s new ninjas.

The other reason can be in character – we know that Naruto and his allies brought peace to the Ninja Continent after the Fourth Shinobi War and it stayed like that until the first threats were presented in the Boruto series. Naruto, even himself, confesses to Kurama that he is “rusty” and “out of practice” while fighting Shin Uchiha.

That was the first time we saw the supposed greatest ninja ever to be weaker than before. In every fight we saw in Boruto, Naruto either struggles in the fights or when his side wins, it takes a huge toll on him, as we saw during the fight with Ishiiki, which resulted in Kurama dying.

Kurama dying automatically makes Naruto weaker since Kyuubi was a source of immense power during his shinobi journey.

With all these weaknesses, fans are wondering if Naruto could ever become stronger in the Boruto series.

Will Naruto Become Stronger in Boruto?

We know that after the fight against Ishiiki, Naruto is much weaker as a consequence of Kurama dying after sacrificing itself during the Bayron Mode. Even his loyal assistant and friend Shikamaru was starting to worry about Naruto going by himself into the fights especially after being much weaker than before.

However, Naruto can become stronger in the Boruto series, and here is why. What we learned from Naruto during the last twenty years is that he has an unbelievable will to succeed and motivation, which seemingly veined during the peace in the Ninja World because he did not need it at all. Now that he knows the danger is close, Naruto will do anything to protect his family, friends, and village.

With more training, polishing, and relying on the powers that he still possesses, Naruto can come back a stronger and more resilient fighter than what we saw in the Boruto series so far. A time skip is on the horizon in Boruto, and suspicion of Naruto being killed will emerge once again, but I honestly doubt it.

Masashi Kishimoto would never let Naruto die in his series, one of the most important anime characters of the last two decades, and the potential of the Boruto and Naruto duo in the future is just too good to pass on. Also, we saw a lot of parallels between Naruto and Boruto’s dynamic to Naruto and Minato’s, which we were robbed of in the original series.

Hopefully, the showrunners won’t repeat the same thing once again.

All in all, Naruto can get stronger, however, we will have to wait for what the Boruto series will offer us in future episodes.