Sarada Uchiha is no doubt one of the most interesting characters introduced inBoruto: Naruto Next Generations. Since deciding that she wanted to follow inNaruto’sfootsteps and become Hokage, Sasuke and Sakura’s daughter has steadily increased her strength and conviction, most recently achieving the rank of Chunin and becoming the new captain of Squad 7.
As theBorutomanga prepares for a time skip, Sarada’s role in the story should only become more important. Here’s what fans can expect from Sarada beforeBorutoreaches its conclusion.
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Increased Strength
Thanks in part to her genes and in part to natural talent,Saradais already an extremely formidable ninja for her age. She inherits her mother’s raw strength and her father’s talent for fire and lightning-style jutsu, as well as his Sharingan eye. Unlike Sakura, however, Sarada possesses no talent for Medical Ninjutsu, something that embarrassed her to the point that she once kept it a secret.
Over the rest of the story, we can expect Sarada’s already impressive abilities to increase further. HerSharingan, in particular stands to improve a lot. It currently has two tomoe, a relatively weak form, and it has been shown that using her Sharingan exhuasts Sarada quickly. In time, Sarada will probably add a third tomoe to her eye, improving its abilities to read and copy enemy movements and jutsu, as well as put enemies under genjutsu.
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Sarada may eventually follow in her father and uncle Itachi’s footsteps and achieve theMangekyo Sharingan, which unlocks a whole host of new abilities. Each Uchiha’s Mangekyo Sharingan offers slightly different powers, so at this point it’s impossible to say what sort of abilities Sarada will gain if she gets it. In most cases, the Mangekyo Sharingan emerges in the wake of tragedy, but a few ninja have achieved it through training alone. That, saidBorutocan indeed be tragic, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Sarada achieved this new strength through some sort of trauma. Eventually, given her bloodline and potential, Sarada may follow the likes of her father and Madara Uchiha and gain aRinneganeye, the strongest ocular jutsu.
Sarada’s physical strength should also increase over time, monstrous as it already is, the same wayher mother’sdid. That said, due to her lack of talent for medical ninjutsu, she will likely be unable to use the Art of Mitotic Regeneration to heal herself in battle, like her mother and the former Hokage Tsunade.
Confronting the Past
At some point in time on her journey to become Hokage, Sarada will likely be forced to confront a reality that has so far been hidden from her: Sasuke’s past as a criminal and enemy of the Hidden Leaf Village, as well as her clan’s turbulent history. Those familiar withNarutoare aware that theUchihahave historically a played major role in threatening the Leaf Village. There’s the obvious fact that Madara and Obito Uchiha were major players in the Fourth Great Ninja War, which occurred at the end ofNaruto Shippuden.Obito was also responsible for Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox, attacking the village just after Naruto was born, and therefore indirectly responsible for the Fourth Hokage, Minato, and his wife Kushina’s death.
Finally, Sarada’s grandfather Fugaku nearly led a coup against the village several years beforeNarutoPart 1 began, culminating inItachislaughtering his entire clan to save the village. The only survivors of this purge were Itachi himself, who fled the village and became a rogue ninja, Sasuke, who Itachi couldn’t bring himself to kill, and Obito, who assisted in the slaughter for his own reasons.
A major story arc inNarutoandNaruto Shippudencomes about from these events, as for a great part of the story,Sasukewas driven by a singular desire to murder Itachi in revenge for the purge. His quest in pursuit of the power to achieve this led him first into the clutches of Orochimaru, aligning himself against the Leaf. After temporarily killing Orochimaru, fighting Itachi, and discovering that Itachi was ordered to kill his clan by the Leaf elders, Sasuke turned his hatred towards the village and actively sought to destroy it.
WhileSasukeeventually redeems himself and becomes a loyal protector of the Leaf like his brother, he, Sakura, and Naruto keep his past hidden from Sarada, to the point that she is largely unaware of her father and clan’s history. It would be highly disappointing if Sarada didn’t have to eventually confront and process this truth, which hangs over her entire progression like a cloud. Both in terms of her capabilities and personality, Sarada is no different from her peers in that she is young and has quite a bit of growing to do. If done right,Borutomay utilize that growth to make her one of the deepest and most complex characters in the entire series.
