Naruto's Next Anime Will Confirm The One Figure More Powerful Than Any Hokage

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR BORUTO: TWO BLUE VORTEX MANGA CHAPTER #36For years, readers followed Naruto as he worked hard to help his friends and become the most respected ninja in his village, earning the title of Hokage. However, the narrative has long teased a figure with more power than any Kage who has operated in the shadows of the franchise's many arcs. And after spending many years in plot obscurity, the true ruler of The Land of Fire may soon use their influence to change what was known about the ninja world's hierarchy in Boruto: Two Blue Vortex's latest arc.

The way that the Naruto narrative introduced its rival ninja villages greatly helped expand its world building and helped make its war arc an epic achievement in teamwork. However, unlike One Piece, the Naruto story failed to make its higher governing bodies an important part of the ongoing plot, arguably throwing away a lot of potential to explore drama outside of the five primary ninja villages.

Each of the Kage who are in charge of their respective villages answers to their land's daimyo. The ruling figure decides how budgets, resources, and military might are distributed, which is incredibly relevant to almost every aspect of the lives of the ninja who occupy Naruto's world. Shockingly, the story has barely included these leaders or explored the reaches of their political powers, that is, until Boruto: Two Blue Vortex's Mamushi Arc.

The Daiymo's Who Rule Over The Kage

The world got a lot more complicated for Boruto after Eida's truly broken ability successfully altered the population's minds to believe that he was adopted by Naruto and then killed him. While being on the run and training for years, Boruto's actions and wanted criminal status have drawn the attention of Konoha's narrow-minded Elders and from The Land of Fire's Daimyo. After suspicion that Konoha's Hokage was assisting the wanted Boruto mounted, the daimyo sent a representative who has been a particularly sharp thorn in the side of the story's heroes.

Shikamaru has had to take on the role of Hokage after Naruto's sudden disappearance, and during that time he has been able to figure out that something seemed off regarding the Boruto situation. After discovering the truth, he's been using his considerable smarts to help Boruto in his ongoing battle against the Humanoid Divine Trees while at the same time attempting to hide his involvement while fulfilling his role as the eighth Hokage. But Kobu, the Fire Daimyo's Chief Advisor and representative, has been catching on to the fact that Boruto must be receiving support from Konoha's leader.

Although Kobu does not have physical proof of Konoha's cooperation with Boruto, that hasn't stopped his suspicions from growing to the point where he has asked the Fire Daimyo's permission to strip Shikamaru's title as Hokage. The power to suddenly demote a Hokage would be the first time in the franchise that such a coveted position has been so easily stifled, especially by a character that has been in the story so rarely.

Why The Daiymo Is Being More Active Than Ever

The current Daimyo of The Land of Fire, Ikkyu Madoka, has only been featured in the Boruto story on a few occasions. They were most prominently featured in Boruto's Mujina Bandits Arc, one of the first from the manga. In it, Boruto makes friends with the Daimyo's son, Tentō, while their fathers share a respectful meeting. The entire arc left Daimyo Ikkyu extremely grateful to Naruto because of the villages successful rescue of his son during an attempted kidnapping. It makes sense that the Fire Daimyo would be thirsty for revenge against Naruto's supposed killer.

With his brief appearance in the Mujina Bandit Arc and his influence being a plot point in the current Boruto: Two Blue Vortex arcs, the position that reigns above Hokage has been more prominently featured than even in the entire Naruto franchise. Hopefully the story continues to find ways to include the politically powerful figure in interesting ways, or even use the character as an excuse to explore more of the Naruto world that's been woefully underutilized.