
Where Is Kakashi? A Deep Dive Into His Role in Boruto: Two Blue Vortex
Dora NaletilićShare
Boruto: Two Blue Vortex still has many fans after it being the continuation of the previous series in the Boruto universe. It has many advantages over the previous series, mostly because it does focus on the main characters and story, but there is a nagging absence that bothers even the biggest fans of the new Kishimoto series—the absence of Kakashi Hatake, one of the most important characters in the Naruto universe. Why isn't Kakashi part of the new manga series?
Kakashi's Journey Was Important in Naruto
The Naruto series is huge, which isn't a surprise since that series has been ongoing for a decade and a half. Many characters entered the fray in those years, and some of them even established themselves as one of the most important parts of the series. One of them is Kakashi Hatake, whom fans like to consider as the heart of the show, besides the main protagonist Naruto Uzumaki. He wasn't always present even in the core universe, but Kakashi still held a massive role within the story, especially in the last story arc of the series.
Kakashi's fight with Obito was very important, and the post-war happenings established what is going to happen in the future of the whole universe—especially when Kakashi became a Sixth Hokage. His role was great, and as he became Hokage, he became even more important, at least in terms of the future of the whole universe.
New Characters, Fresh Start
When there was an announcement of the Boruto: Naruto New Generations series, Kishimoto made a great point about new characters and lore being presented in the Boruto universe—Naruto will remain as the core universe, but Boruto will only extend what is already established. Frankly, that did happen in some way. We were introduced to the new generation immediately, new skills, a whole new era, which seemed different from the core universe.
However, with the name of the new series and the name 'Naruto' being part of it, Kishimoto already confirmed with the title of the show that 'old' characters will be a massive part of the new series. The original Team 7 with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura would be supporting characters as new characters' parents and mentors, and that included Kakashi as well. His character retired in the series after passing the mantle of Hokage to Naruto, establishing the Copy Nin as someone who enjoys his free days reading Icha-Icha novels and competing against his rival Might Guy in ridiculous challenges.
However, in the anime series Boruto: Naruto New Generations, we even see Kakashi as someone who helps Iruka-sensei in teaching the new generation about the Will of Fire and afterwards hanging out with the former teacher, now headmaster of the academy. And that's it—Kakashi seemed to be shelved in the Boruto series after that little filler in the anime.
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Kakashi's Absence in Boruto Is Very Much Felt
Why would Kishimoto shelve his very important and iconic character? It's fine when creators of longstanding franchises decide to end their iconic character stories; however, in this case, Kishimoto himself made sure that some of his iconic characters are quite important in the Boruto series. Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Konohamaru, and the whole Konoha 11 (some more than others) are most certainly really important in the new series, so why did Kishimoto decide to shelve Kakashi?
Especially when we look at the plot of the Boruto: Two Blue Vortex series. There is a whole plot with Human God Trees, Boruto against Kawaki, a whole conspiracy against the Uzumaki family orchestrated by Kawaki and Eida, and so on. It seems that the writer simply forgot that some of his characters still exist in the same universe and that their appearance will enrich the plot of the series, which is something Kakashi most certainly can do.
Eida's 'fake memories' thing is strange because we only saw a few important characters affected by that jutsu—where are these legendary characters like Kakashi and Guy, Kurenai, Mirai… So many characters are being ignored or simply forgotten by Kishimoto, who sometimes overfocuses on certain parts of his storytelling, leading to characters being put aside.
Conclusion: Ignoring the Characters Already Established in the Universe
This discussion wouldn't be relevant if the creator himself didn't want to focus exclusively on the new characters. Naruto and Sasuke are still a huge part of the series, Shikamaru as well, especially now as the temporary Hokage, and even Konohamaru is finally put in an interesting situation. Even Sai is getting some 'screen time' by Kishimoto, who many fans observe as a very plain character.
Nevertheless, Kakashi's exclusion from Boruto: Two Blue Vortex is very noticeable. Besides his wit and aloof behavior, Kakashi would seem like the perfect fit for the story arc that is currently going on in the series—focusing solely on a few characters in such a huge universe is simply not a good way of moving away from the core universe. Maybe we will see him in the future chapters, but until now, we will put this idea in the universe.
If you want to read more Boruto: Two Blue Vortex chapters, check out Viz Media.