In the Boruto anime, Naruto commits a significant error on two occasions, which only happens once in the manga. The frequency of Naruto's mistakes plays a crucial role in assessing the gravity of their repercussions, as it portrays him as an ineffective and heedless Hokage.
Both in the anime and manga, Naruto takes an enormous gamble by allowing Kawaki into Konoha due to the young boy's connection with the malevolent Otsutsuki. Understandably, many villagers harbor doubts about Kawaki, but Naruto disregards their concerns because of the striking resemblance Kawaki bears to Naruto himself during his childhood years. In fact, Naruto goes to the extent of concealing the truth about Kawaki's involvement in the death of his own son, Boruto, in order to shield Kawaki from the consequences of his actions. However, with Kawaki now turning against them, Konoha's worst apprehensions have materialized, compounded by a potent technique that has led the villagers to perceive Boruto as the betrayer.
Kawaki's Story Has Happened Before in Boruto's Anime
But Naruto has made this same mistake before, but only in the anime. He was lucky that it didn't turn into a complete disaster like it did with Kawaki. In the intense Boruto anime-exclusive Mitsuki Disappearance Arc, it's revealed that Naruto failed to share the crucial information that Mitsuki was Orochimaru's son. This oversight proved to be more than just a small error on his part. Mitsuki had just defected and joined forces with dangerous individuals who planned to conquer a allied village. Understandably, the former Hokage Tsunade is rightfully enraged because Naruto's secrecy jeopardized the safety of Konoha and their allies.
In the end, Mitsuki's connection with Orochimaru did not cause any issues, and his actions during his defection actually prevented a major uprising. However, the fact remains that Naruto's secrecy could have caused harm to both villages. This becomes an even bigger problem when the anime portrays Kawaki's betrayal. When considering Naruto's actions in the manga alone, it does not reflect well on him that he mistakenly trusted Kawaki, putting Konoha's safety at risk. But it becomes even worse in the anime, as it shows that Naruto failed to learn from his past mistake with Mitsuki and did not apply those lessons when dealing with Kawaki. He should not have been so trusting of Kawaki, especially after he killed Boruto.
Naruto's Connection with Kawaki Is Not So Special
Despite the lack of emphasis in the anime, Naruto's relationship with Mitsuki is not so dissimilar to his relationship with Kawaki. Naruto admitted in the manga that he felt the need to care for Kawaki due to their similar experiences. Nevertheless, this is likely why he chose to accept Mitsuki. Mitsuki, despite being the child of a notorious villain, was not judged by Naruto based on his father, but rather as a ninja. However, there is a noticeable distinction between the two situations: Kawaki lacked a father figure while Mitsuki maintained a positive relationship with Orochimaru, whom Naruto secretly encountered.
Nonetheless, it appears that it would have been more challenging for Naruto to be stricter with Kawaki in the manga compared to the Boruto anime, as he still had trust and belief in Mitsuki. This is not to suggest that Naruto's relationship with Mitsuki could simply make it easier for him to disregard Kawaki as a failed experiment, as if as long as one of the two turned out well, everything would be fine. Rather, the anime may have provided Naruto with reassurance that placing faith in children like Kawaki does not always lead to negative outcomes.
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is streaming on Crunchyroll and can be read on Viz.com.
