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Here’s everything you need to know about Sasuke Retsuden, including if it is canon and how it fits into the Boruto timeline.
Sasuke Retsuden: The Uchiha Descendants and the Heavenly Stardust is a series mainly featuring Sasuke and Sakura as they set off on a separate mission. The manga has generated a lot of buzz on whether it is canon since it fits into the Boruto timeline.
However, Sasuke Retsuden is not canon in the series. It was a spin-off novel that was later adapted into manga and anime. Let us explore why there are disputes regarding the nature of the story.
Sasuke Retsuden’s Disputed Canon Status
There are two main reasons why Satsuke Retsuden’s canonicity is debated:
1) Approved by Kishimoto
Unlike the Boruto series, which was made under the creator of Naruto — Masashi Kishimoto’s supervision, Sasuke Retsuden was a spin-off light novel by Jun Esaka that later received a manga adaptation.
While this would technically classify it as non-canon, Kishimoto officially approved the story of Sasuke Retsuden. Shingo Kimura drew the manga adaptation, and Kishimoto drew official artwork to commemorate the manga. This nod of approval made several fans believe that Sasuke Retsuden was canon to Boruto.
2) Fitting into the Timeline
Sasuke Retsuden is a story that takes place between the canon events of Boruto. Additionally, its themes also largely fit into the series. Since the Boruto anime also has several anime-original episodes, there is an argument for Sasuke Retsuden getting classified as canon under these conditions.
On the other hand, there are several naysayers to these claims. The author of the original Sasuke Retsuden novels had confirmed through tweets that her story was not canon. While getting appreciated by Kishimoto was admirable, it did not mean it could be called canon content.
Another common argument is the lack of references to the events that happen in Sasuke Retsuden in the Boruto series. Though the former covers several details regarding Naruto’s health and global politics, it is never mentioned in the Boruto storyline. This is a very convincing retort to the issue of whether Sasuke Retsuden is canon or not.
What is Sasuke Retsuden?
Sasuke Retsuden is a short side-story following Sasuke’s search for a cure for Naruto’s illness. In the story, the Seventh Hokage suffered from spasms caused by the power the Sage of Six Paths bestowed upon him.
Determined to find a cure for him, Sasuke was taken to the land of Redaku. His searches regarding the Sage of Six Paths eventually led him to the Tatar observatory to find the cure. While hidden as a prisoner and searching for clues, Sasuke was stunned when he found Sakura had also hidden herself as a nurse in the observatory to help him.
She then revealed that the Sage of Six Paths had also suffered from the same condition as Naruto and was eventually saved by “Polar Particles.” These were mysterious substances that would fix the Chakra Pathway System. Determined to find them, both Sasuke and Sakura explore the observatory.
However, at this same time, Sasuke found that dangerous experiments were being conducted in the observatory, which would change the power structure between nations in Boruto. The couple tried to prevent disaster while rekindling the flame of their relationship.
Does Sasuke Retsuden Match the Canon Timeline?
Sasuke Retsuden takes place in between the Labyrinth Game Arc and the Code Assault Arc of Boruto. Unfortunately, this timeline does not exactly match with the canon content. According to Boruto‘s story, Naruto had just lost Kurama, and Sasuke had also lost his Rinnegan. However, none of these are mentioned in Sasuke Retsuden.
Hence, we can only assume that Sasuke Retsuden took place during an alternate timeline and was similar to filler episodes between two serious arcs of the Boruto anime and manga.
Why Sasuke Retsuden is Important for Sasuke and Sakura’s Characters
Although it’s clear that Sasuke Retsuden is not officially canon to Boruto, it doesn’t diminish its quality as a series. There are a lot of things the series does right. The most glaring among these is the relationship between Sasuke and Sakura.
A major complaint among Naruto fans was the minimal development of Sasuke and Sakura’s relationship, which seemed rushed into marriage. Despite Boruto showing their adult life, there was still an apparent lack of spark and romance between the couple.
In this case, Sasuke Retsuden was a welcome addition to the Naruto franchise. The story focuses on the search for Naruto’s cure while highlighting the husband-wife relationship between one of the series’ main couples.
Sasuke Retsuden showed Sasuke realizing Sakura’s value and acknowledging his feelings for her. Following Redaku’s customs, Sasuke gave Sakura a ring, expressing his love in his own unique way.
In the story, Sasuke revealed his fear of losing Sakura and even got flustered around her. We also learn that despite their many years of marriage, Sakura still considered Sasuke a cool and handsome man and was willing to accept him despite his time away from his family.
Additionally, it showed the time spent between Sasuke, Sakura, and Sarada as a family at home. Hence, Sasuke: Retsuden was the first time we got to dive deep into Sasuke and Sakura’s relationship and learn how they could make their marriage work. It also featured the generally expressionless Sasuke, showing emotion and deepening the bonds with his wife.
Conclusion
Sasuke Retsuden is a welcome change of pace from the intense battles and storylines of Boruto. While the arguments presented make it lean more towards the “non-canon” side, it still features a lot of valuable screen time for our favorite characters and is worth a shot.
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