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Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is the direct sequel to one of the Big Three manga and anime series, specifically, one of the most beloved series of all time: Naruto. Because of this, it is understandable that there will be some clear comparisons between the two series on all levels. Protagonists, story, writing, characters, and, of course, is Boruto stronger than Naruto?
This is a question that permeates the community and is pretty divisive. In all honesty, it is a somewhat superfluous matter to argue about since we are comparing two fictional characters with one another. That said, people can get quite heated in their opinions nonetheless.
I think that I can shed some relatively unbiased light on this matter, given that I did not grow up with love for Naruto that my friends had. I was pretty late to the party, getting into the series just before Boruto came out.
Since then, I immediately jumped to Boruto and have enjoyed both series for what they are, which are surprisingly different entities. Here’s the answer to which of the two Uzumaki protagonists is the stronger one, in my opinion.
Bottom Line Up Front
If you are looking for the definitive answer that I have for you regarding the question of “is Boruto stronger than Naruto?” I have a solution for you. The answer is yes; I do think that Boruto is more powerful than his father. It comes down to a number of factors right now, though. As of right now, in the manga and anime of Boruto, I think it is pretty close between the two due to some spoilery reasons.
However, I think that Boruto is either tied with his father or ever so slightly has the edge at this time. In terms of his peak, though, he has not yet reached that point where he will be stronger than his father. But when he does, I believe he will be far more powerful than Naruto ever was.
Main Differences Between Boruto and Naruto
We need to address some essential differences before we can get deeper into this question and find out which of the two Uzumaki shinobi is the stronger one. For starters, there is the fact that they are father and son, being part of two different generations of shinobi.
They Live in Different Time Periods
This is a pretty obvious point but one that has a lot of effect on the actual skills and experience that the two have. I would argue that Boruto lives in a much more comfortable time period for the Konohagakure town where the story of Boruto and Naruto takes place.
Unlike the time of his father, there are no Orochimaru-style villains (since he is too busy these days going to parent-teacher conferences, don’t you know?).
There is also no rogue ninja on the level of the Naruto series that the village will kill on sight, none of the insane Akatsuki members, traitorous figureheads, or any of the other world-ending threats that existed at the time of Naruto.
However, at the same time, Boruto has its own threats. While, initially, it may not seem like the enemies in the series are nowhere near the level of the ones in Naruto, this is an illusion in a way. After all, the main threat is that of the Otsutsuki Clan, which is far and above more dangerous than anything that Naruto and co—faced in his series besides Kaguya herself.
So, there is this exciting disconnect between the two. On the one hand, you have this gradual increase in dangerous villains with the Naruto series, while on the other, you immediately jump to the end result. I would argue that the former far better prepares the main characters than in the latter, where it is a bit more dramatic of a change.
Boruto Learns From the Very Best
However, that is where the next main difference between the two comes into play that affects the answer to the question of whether or not Boruto or Naruto is stronger. That element is the fact that Boruto makes up for the lack of experience in the preparation that he has through learning from the best.
While Naruto had his fair share of fantastic teachers, they pale compared to what Boruto has. He and his friends literally get to learn from the likes of Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, and others who played a direct role in literally saving the world.
Multiple times, I should add. This puts them at a starting point that is far ahead of what Naruto, Team 7, and other shinobi of his time had available to them.
Specific Differences Between Boruto and Naruto Explained
Finally, there are the direct differences between Boruto and Naruto. Despite being father and son, and looking quite a lot alike, there are some insane differences between them. For one, there are their inherent personalities as they are very different people. I would argue that Boruto is a little bit lazier, but his anger with his father excitingly drives him.
At the same time, Naruto is a far more purpose-driven person who knows exactly what he wants and never strays from that. Then there are the powers that the two have. Though Boruto shares a couple of powers with his father, there are some interesting differences between the two.
In my opinion, they have fewer shared powers than they do in every day. Whereas Naruto has the Kurama, it does not appear that Boruto will ever inherit the nine-tailed fox. But Boruto makes up for that with his own unique powers that his father will never have.
As such, there is no way at all that I can honestly compare the two in terms of strength without breaking down the powers that each of them has so that we know what we are working on within this case.
Boruto’s Powers Explained
Let’s start with the son of Naruto, Boruto Uzumaki. He inherits some of his father’s powers, but other than some of the basic stuff, he is pretty much his shinobi, without a doubt. Don’t let his far too similar appearance fool you, as the young Boruto is undoubtedly his character in terms of special abilities.
First up, I’ll begin with what he does have in common with his father, as this is the least important part. When we first meet Boruto in the anime, specifically, he is already able to adequately use the shadow clone jutsu, something that he beat his father to by a little bit.
He later learns shuriken jutsu, something that, again, his father also learned at a young age. It should be noted that he does have the ability to use sexy jutsu, but this is rare and an utterly useless ability for comedic purposes only. The Rasengan is a classic skill that Boruto also learns.
From there, I think the rest of his abilities are unique or at least different in how he uses them than his father. The most important ability that he has is his remarkable ability to learn almost anything and everything, even faster than his father did. He mastered the Rasengan, for instance, in virtually no time.
This allowed him to customize the powerful skill into his own, applying his touches of nature to it. Speaking of nature, Boruto appears to be capable of already using all elemental types of powers without a problem. We see him use lightning, wind, and water with hints toward the other two elements.
He is also much faster and more flexible than his father in battle, maneuvering around the battlefield with such impressive mobility. Then there is the Dojutsu in his right eye. This is the most defining quality that sets him apart from his father and is seemingly like his Kurama in a way for now.
Unlike everything else, it takes quite a long time for him to manifest the ability at will, but it is a massively powerful tool. With his mother being Hinata, he inherited the power of the Byakugan, allowing him to read chakra, know what someone is going to do, and make decisions on the fly.
This amalgamation of his father and mother’s signature abilities means that he is far more flexible in what he can do in battle. This is all before noting that there will likely be more powers that Boruto will learn in the future, especially in the case of transformations, so he will likely only grow exponentially from here.
Naruto’s Powers Explained
On the other hand, we already have a solid grasp of Naruto’s particular abilities, so this part is pretty straightforward. There are powers that he shares with his son, but, for the most part, he excels in most of them, given his age and experience.
He uses sexy jutsu more (for better or for worse), his Rasengan is far more powerful and devastating, as we saw in the last fights of the Naruto manga/anime, and his shadow clone jutsu is a specialty of his. Whereas Boruto seems to have limits that he may not be able to overcome, Naruto is a master when it comes to creating and controlling his numerous shadow clones.
Setting aside the obvious shared points, though, there are several skills that Naruto has that Boruto has yet to learn or possibly ever will. For one, there is the literal fox in the room: Kurama. The nine-tailed fox companion lives inside of Naruto, and this is something that Boruto probably will never have of his own.
Kurama is the single most crucial part of Naruto’s abilities, allowing him to use several skills that he would not be able to otherwise. There are even complete transformations that are only possible because of Kurama. This is his most defining feature at this time, much like the unique Byakugan that Boruto seems to have.
Besides Kurama, though, there is the Sage Mode transformation that Naruto also has. Boruto may learn this in the future, but we will have to wait and see for now. This is only enhanced when we consider the Six Paths Sage Mode that Naruto used towards the end of the manga and anime. He has some extra features like summoning jutsu, though it is not super important in the long run.
Strength Comparison Criteria Explained
Before I dive into my answer for who I think is stronger between Boruto and his father, there are some criteria that I would like to go over. The first of these that I considered is how they compare with one another in terms of shared abilities.
They share several skills with one another, and I considered how their individual uses of those same abilities worked. From there, I thought about the powers that they do not share and figured out which of the two has the more practical and stronger skills that the other does not have.
Furthermore, I also made sure to keep in mind the non-battle aspects of the two characters.
How fast they learn compared to one another, the ceiling of knowing that they each have, the physical strength, speed, intelligence, passion, empathy, and other qualities that they each have. Overall, though, one criterion is far more critical than any of the rest.
Comparison Time Period Is Vital
That criterion is determining the time period for which this comparison takes place. There are a couple of different time periods that I could have considered when it came to figuring out who is stronger. Each of them has its arguments and reasoning and possibly different answers.
One such argument is comparing the two of them based on the current strengths in the manga and anime. That would be pretty direct and easier to grasp answer since their powers at this point are fresh in my mind. Alternatively, I could consider Naruto at his peak in his series since he has clearly gotten weaker over time and Boruto right now at his strongest that we have seen so far.
I could even bring in the two characters’ starting points and compare those to add to this situation. Admittedly, I did not go with this time period because I think it is too skewed and not indicative of the actual peak of Boruto. Lastly, the final time period that I considered was both of them at their respective peaks.
This, along with their exact strengths right now, are the two time periods that I am using to compare Boruto and Naruto.
Final Verdict: Who Is Stronger?
Now it is time for the ultimate answer to the question: is Boruto stronger than Naruto? To answer this question, as mentioned a moment ago, I chose two different time periods to figure this out. Because of this, there are, technically, two other answers that I have for you at this time.
Right Now
The first one that I would like to go over is the easier one to determine: the state of Boruto and Naruto at this exact point in time in the manga and anime series. This is a bit easier to do since we can compare what Boruto can do with what Naruto is doing right now.
I should warn you, though, that this section will have some significant spoilers for the current state of the characters, so be fully warned here. With that warning out of the way, I think that Boruto is far from his peak at this time. He has learned quite a lot and is approaching his prime but is not yet there.
I think his peak is likely the point that we see at the beginning of the Boruto series where he is fighting Kawaki or just after that moment. He is still a ways from that scene, so he has a long way to go to his peak performance. In this way, he has that going against him at this current time.
On the other hand, Naruto has a lot that is going against him. For one, there is the fact that his peak is far behind him with the many years of peace and not fighting world-ending bad guys all the time in the Boruto series. By the time the world-ending threats appear, he is pretty rusty in his abilities.
We can see this in an earlier fight between Naruto and Boruto, where the son is pushing his father to try in the fight, despite the fact that it should be no contest. To make matters worse, there is the recent development in which Naruto lost Kurama for good. Without the famous nine-tailed fox, he is without, in my opinion, half of what makes him so powerful.
Because of this, he is far from the shinobi who was on his way to becoming the 7th Hokage. Because of this, I think that there is no clear answer to the stronger one at this current time. I think it is pretty much a tie. The two could fight, and I could see Naruto win, and then they immediately fight again, and this time, Boruto would win. It is an even split right now without a clear winner.
At Their Peaks
That is a pretty cop-out answer, which is why I am also considering the second scenario, the two at their peaks. This means taking Naruto at his peak at the end of his series and comparing it to the inevitable peak of Boruto when he is fighting Kawaki in the future or perhaps after that.
It is a bit challenging since we do not know the full extent of what Boruto will be able to accomplish. However, the answer is pretty clear to me. Without a doubt in my mind, I do not have to see anything at all of what Boruto will do down the road to know that he will be stronger at his peak.
He is the son, and we should know that children should surpass their parents. That is something that should be a reality and a goal for every parent.
Boruto had such a stronger start, too, that it is evident to me that he will surpass his father in every way when he eventually reaches his peak. As for how he does so and how much stronger than his father he is, that is something that we will have to wait and see for now.
FAQs
Question: Is Boruto or Naruto stronger?Â
Answer: As you saw in my answer above, I think that they are about equal at this time. But, Boruto will most definitely be the stronger of the two in the future.
Question: Can Naruto defeat Boruto?
Answer: Yes, he most certainly can, even without his greatest asset. However, I think that the same can be said for the opposite. They are just too evenly matched at this time, especially with Boruto’s inexperience and Naruto’s handicap of sorts.
Question: Is Boruto stronger than Sasuke?
Answer: My honest and short answer for this one is, no, I do not think Boruto is stronger than Sasuke at this time. I think he will become stronger at some point but not at this time.
Question: Did Naruto get stronger or weaker in Boruto?
Answer: Naruto most definitely got a whole lot weaker in the Boruto series. Without threats for many years, he became soft.
And then there is the spoilery event that I talked about above that happened that only made him far weaker than he was before. He is well past his prime, for sure.
Is Boruto Stronger than Naruto: Conclusion
In the end, I think that the clear answer is that Boruto and Naruto are about equal at this time without the power of Kurama on the latter’s side. In the future, though, that skill gap will grow exponentially, and Boruto will most definitely take the lead as the more powerful of the two. Understandably, this may not be the answer that some fans would like to hear.
At the end of the day, though, I think it is clear that we should expect and want our children to surpass us in our successes, which is why this is the case. I imagine that this is something that Naruto shares a similar belief in, and I would be shocked if it was not so, especially since Boruto is already taking on literal gods so early on in his life.
If you’re now ready to start diving into the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations series, which I do recommend, you can find out everything that you need to know about how to do so right here.