In Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 235 we learned the conditions the former members of the New Seven Ninja Swordsmen had to agree to in order to be released from prison. It seemed odd that they would be released and given their weapons simply because Kagura vouched for them.
We now know that Kagura’s word wasn’t enough to secure their release. Buntan, Hebiiichigo, and Kyohou were all given curse marks — located on their necks — that can be activated by Kagura to stop them in the event of a coup.
When activated, the curse marks will explode, killing those on whom they’ve been placed. However, it’s unclear if Kagura can select to activate specific curse marks, or if his hand seals will cause all three to explode at once.
From what I remember of the curse mark that was placed on Sasuke by Orochimaru, it prevented Sasuke from acting against his master. That’s why Orochimaru was so shocked when Sasuke cut him down; he wasn’t expecting Sasuke to overcome the curse mark.
That’s not how the curse marks on Buntan, Hebiichigo, and Kyohou work. The curse marks themselves don’t stop those three from performing any specific actions. They can still take up arms against Kagura if they so choose, and it’s then up to Kagura to activate the curse marks.
This is used to plant the seed that the former New Seven Ninja Swordsmen may try to betray their “comrades” when Kagura isn’t around to stop them. However, at this point, I’m going to bet that Buntan was bluffing and that they have no intentions of actually betraying Kagura.
Buntan’s threat seemed much more like her trying to assert dominance via intimidation than a real threat.
I’m not going to lie, I’m not thrilled about Team 5 being included in this arc. Obviously, I don’t like two-thirds of Team 5 (Denki and Metal). But I’m also just not sure how they’re going to contribute all that much.
The antagonists of this arc are pirates. Based on that, we can assume there are going to be a lot of sea battles or battles on ships. That’s not exactly Team 5’s specialty. Metal would probably be fine fighting under those conditions, but not the other two. I mean, fighting on the water effectively makes Iwabe useless.
So, what’s Team 5’s role going to be in this arc? They’re probably going to spend all their time on Dotou Island rescuing the people who have been captured. The captives are being held within the mine, and that’s a much better battlefield for Team 5’s skillsets.
The problem, however, is that rescuing the captives isn’t really a main part of this arc from what I can tell. It’s effectively an extension of the first Dotou Island episode we got. It doesn’t really have to do with the pirate plot that’s the main part of the arc.
As far as I can tell, the episodes or portions of episodes that are going to be focusing on Team 5 are just there to pad out the arc a bit. I’d much rather focus on the main content of the arc. I don’t care about what Team 5 is doing in Sarada and Mitsuki meeting up with Team 5 from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 235the slightest.
But, with that said, Sarada and Mitsuki are now with Team 5. So unless they’re going to swim back to the boat, I think they’re going to be working with Team 5 for the remainder of this arc. If that’s the case, we may still get some good content.
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We’ve known that Buntan, Hebiichigo, and Kyohou stayed behind in the prison when Shizuma and the other two broke out. Originally, I thought that they were instructed to stay behind to help facilitate the breakout of Araumi. That theory has been proven wrong.
But, I believe Episode 235 is the first time we’re told that these three were given the chance to escape and didn’t take it. It’s not simply that they didn’t escape with the others — they chose not to escape with the others. That’s an important distinction.
After all, we know they still believe in Shizuma. So why would they have chosen not to go with him? My guess is that rather than wanting to continue following Shizuma, they want Shizuma to repent for his past misdeeds and join them on the path toward rehabilitation.
The way I see it, Buntan is the leader of this breakaway faction of the New Seven Ninja Swordsmen. Kyohou seems too mentally slow to be a leader, so he’s following her. And Hebiichigo was probably convinced to go along with Buntan’s plan somehow as well.
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Buntan seems smart. She probably realizes that becoming a productive member of society is in her best interest. But, she wants Shizuma to do the same because she admires him. So, her goal is likely to convince him to do the same.
I’m guessing she won over Hebiichigo by convincing her that this was best for Shizuma. Hebiichigo seems like a Shizuma fangirl. So I don’t see her following Buntan here unless she thinks it’s for Shizuma’s sake.
The one flaw I see with my theory is that Hebiichigo would have escaped with Shizuma. I can’t see how Buntan convinced her while Shizuma was still around. So maybe I’m wrong about Hebiichigo.
