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Kakashi Hatake disappeared from Boruto’s manga while appearing briefly in the anime. What’s behind the Copy Ninja’s absence? Is he returning?
Kakashi Hatake in Boruto has been noticeably absent from the central storyline. Even though Naruto and Sasuke acquired substantial screen time in the early Boruto manga chapters, Kakashi, the former Sixth Hokage, has been relegated to the sidelines.
This jarring deletion hasn’t gone unnoticed by us who grew up watching Team 7’s sensei grow from the lazy Jonin to a respectable leader of Konoha. The Boruto series has primarily focused on promoting its new generation of ninjas, but Kakashi’s absence feels quite bizarre given his mentorship role and powerful abilities.
As Boruto enters its Two Blue Vortex arc following a significant time skip, questions about what happened to Kakashi Hatake have only intensified. Has the Copy Ninja been forgotten, or is there a calculated plan for his return? The clues suggest there might be more to this absence than simply sidelining a legacy character.
Kakashi’s Limited Appearances in Boruto
Kakashi Hatake in Boruto has been practically non-existent when it comes to manga. Kakashi hasn’t appeared in a single canonical manga panel of the primary Boruto storyline. This is quite striking regarding his importance as the former Sixth Hokage and one of Konoha’s most legendary shinobi. The manga seems to have intentionally kept Kakashi off-screen, starting an enigma about his current actions and status.
Everyone is pondering about what happened to Kakashi Hatake in Boruto, given that he was still reasonably young at the end of the Naruto series. In truth, Kakashi would be around 50 years old during the current Boruto timeline.
The lack of justification for his absence is even more baffling when thinking about Kakashi’s deep connections to Naruto and Sasuke, whose fates have become the main storyline in recent Boruto. With the current situation, one would hope Kakashi to step in during such a village crisis, yet he stays neglected.
The Manga vs. Anime Representation
Kakashi Hatake’s account in Boruto differs significantly between the manga and anime. He is totally missing from the manga’s central record, yet he appears notably in the Boruto anime. In the anime-exclusive content, Kakashi runs the Academy graduation examination for Boruto and his peers, looks into the mystifying Kara organization, and participates in a fight against Kashin Koji. These examples are exclusively part of the anime canon.
This disparity between manga and anime illustrations builds a mess about what really happened to Kakashi Hatake in the true canonical storyline. The Boruto manga is a direct sequel to the original Naruto series. If we talk about canonical content, the manga takes precedence over the anime adaptation since the latter contains additional filler content. This means that, officially, Kakashi has yet to make his formal debut in the main Boruto storyline.
The different approaches between formats highlight the challenge of balancing new characters with legacy ones. The anime seemingly recognized fans’ desire to see familiar faces and found ways to incorporate Kakashi without affecting the manga’s central plot. However, these appearances don’t provide answers about his official status or potential future role in the main storyline.
Ikemoto’s Hints About Kakashi’s Future
The most compelling evidence that Kakashi Hatake in Boruto hasn’t been forgotten comes directly from the manga’s illustrator, Mikio Ikemoto. In an interview, Ikemoto addressed Kakashi’s absence with a fascinating statement:
“It’d be a spoiler, but you have to wonder: why doesn’t Kakashi-sensei get much screen time even though he’s such a popular character? What a mystery. Not that I can say anything about it.”
This cryptic reply strongly indicates that Kakashi’s absence is not negligence but rather an intended narrative choice with a future payoff.
Ikemoto’s remark feeds the clearest hint that there are clear plans for Kakashi in Boruto that haven’t yet been exposed. The fact that he prepared Kakashi’s absence as a “mystery” worthy of being considered a “spoiler” hints that the Copy Ninja’s whereabouts and activities during the Boruto timeline are important to the overall plot.
This hint proposes solace that Kakashi hasn’t been ignored by the creative team. Instead, his absence appears to be molding up a meaningful return at a narratively appropriate moment. With the series now moving into the “Two Blue Vortex” arc after a significant time skip, Ikemoto’s comments suggest that the story might soon explain Kakashi’s mysterious absence
Theories About Kakashi’s Potential Return
Multiple theories have appeared trying to explain what might have happened to Kakashi Hatake in Boruto and predict his eventual return. One major theory proposes Kakashi has been working in the shadows, potentially leading a secret division of ANBU or running classified missions beyond village borders. This would align with his pre-Hokage career and justify his absence without reducing his importance to Konoha.
Another convincing theory asserts that Kakashi may be studying the true nature of the Ōtsutsuki threat alone, compiling intelligence that will prove crucial when he returns. Given his analytical mind and knowledge of dimensional travel during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Kakashi could be hunting for information about the alien clan that others haven’t thought of. The Boruto series has unfailingly stressed the Ōtsutsuki as the ultimate threat, making this scenario plausible.
Some fans speculate that Kakashi might be intentionally distancing himself from village politics to allow the new generation to develop without his influence. This would reflect his character growth from the original series, recognizing when to step back, just as his own sensei, Minato, did for him. However, with recent developments in Boruto including apparent betrayals and village-threatening events, such absence grows increasingly unlikely.
Kakashi’s Possible Role in Two Blue Vortex
With Boruto entering its Two Blue Vortex arc after a notable time skip the possibility for Kakashi Hatake to make his long-awaited return has never been higher. The current manga storyline shows the perfect chance for Kakashi’s reintegration, as Konoha faces unusual challenges. With Naruto supposedly dead and Boruto tagged as his killer, the village finds itself without its Seventh Hokage and in leadership trouble that parallels previous transitions of power.
This moment forms the ideal state for Kakashi to potentially continue his role as the Sixth Hokage in a temporary capacity. Currently, Shikamaru appears to be handling leadership duties, but historical precedent in the Naruto universe leans toward former Hokage stepping back into the role during emergencies, as seen when Hiruzen returned after Minato’s death.
Also, Kakashi’s unique outlook would be priceless in the current storyline. Having mentored both Naruto and Sasuke, he has intimate details of their characters and would likely question the official narrative surrounding Boruto’s supposed murder of Naruto and Sasuke’s next assistance in helping Boruto escape. His experience with Itachi’s intricate motivations and sacrifices for the village could direct him to question similar hidden truths in the current situation.
Conclusion
Kakashi Hatake’s absence from the Boruto manga appears to be an intentional narrative preference rather than negligence. Ikemoto’s compelling hint about Kakashi’s absence being a “spoiler” suggests there are substantial plans for the Copy Ninja that have yet to develop in the Boruto storyline.
The storyline of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex depicts multiple options for Kakashi to re-emerge as a key character, whether as an interim Hokage, an investigator questioning the truth behind Naruto’s apparent death, or a mentor figure to guide the village through unusual challenges.
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