Exclusive: Boruto 122

In the sprawling, high-stakes world of Boruto , where gods and cyborgs now dictate the power ceiling, Episode 122, “The Puppet Battle,” is a curious anomaly. On its surface, it is a filler-lite detour: Team 7 (minus Sarada) arrives in the hidden village of Tanigakure—the "Village of the Meteor Hammer"—to retrieve a stolen scroll and encounters a rogue puppet user named Kankitsu.

On paper, he is a Sasori-lite. In execution, however, the episode cleverly avoids the trap of imitation. Kankitsu’s puppets aren’t humanoid masterpieces; they are rugged, utilitarian, and animalistic (a scorpion tail, a spider-like trap). The choreography is rough, scrappy, and refreshingly low-tier. Unlike Sasori’s hundred puppets or the later Otsutsuki dimensional warping, this fight feels like a ninja fight again. Boruto can’t spam Rasengan or vanishing tricks; he has to think, dodge, and use wire strings of his own. The episode’s true strength lies in its protagonist. Modern Boruto (the manga/anime) often struggles to balance the character’s privilege with his growth. Here, Boruto faces a foe who is essentially a mirror: a talented young shinobi who lost his mentor and blames the entire system. boruto 122

– A lean, thoughtful filler episode that respects its lineage without being crushed by it. In the sprawling, high-stakes world of Boruto ,

But beneath its modest budget and low-stakes premise, Episode 122 succeeds for a simple, almost subversive reason: it stops trying to be Naruto and finally remembers how to be Boruto . Let’s address the elephant in the room. Puppet jutsu is sacred ground. In Naruto Shippuden , Sasori of the Red Sand elevated puppetry from a gimmick (Kankuro’s Karasu) into a haunting philosophy of immortality. Episode 122 invites that comparison immediately. Kankitsu, the villain of the week, is a failed Tanigakure shinobi who uses Kugutsu no Jutsu with a tragic backstory (dead master, destroyed village, desire for revenge). In execution, however, the episode cleverly avoids the

Boruto’s response is not the typical shonen “I will beat you and we will be friends.” Nor is it Naruto’s “Talk no Jutsu.” Instead, Boruto acknowledges Kankitsu’s pain (“I understand wanting to protect someone important”) but firmly rejects his method. The pivotal line comes when Boruto says: “Using your master’s legacy to destroy what he protected—that’s not honoring him. That’s just your own selfishness.”