Boruto Why Ao Betrayed His Village (& Why Its Perfect)

Boruto: Why Ao Betrayed His Village (& Why It’s Perfect)

Ao first appears in the Naruto series, but returns as a villain in the Boruto sequel. Here’s why he changes sides, and why it suits his journey.

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Boruto Why Ao Betrayed His Village (& Why Its Perfect)

Ao turns his back on the shinobi world in Boruto, but why, and how does this shock revelation improve his story? As Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto tale unfolds, Naruto Uzumaki travels far and wide, making friends in all corners of the land. Among the characters he meets from the Hidden Mist village is Ao – a no-nonsense veteran serving under the eternally single Mizukage, Mei. Wielding a Byakugan in his right eye and decades of experience, Ao fights valiantly in the Fourth Great Shinobi War, but is caught in the Ten Tails’ attack on the sensory team.

Despite the rest of his squad being decimated (including both Shikamaru and Ino’s fathers), Ao survives, and returns in the Boruto sequel series some 15 years later. He encounters Boruto and Team 7 on a train by chance (and oddly waves a screwdriver in the protagonist’s face), but is also seen paying tribute to his fallen comrades in a Konoha village filler sequence. Sadly, Ao’s stoic politeness is merely a ruse to hide his new role as a servant of Kara. During the gap between Naruto and Boruto, Ao turned his back on the Hidden Mist (and the entire shinobi world) and aligned himself with Jigen, becoming one of the group’s disposable “outers.” Ao’s betrayal is a shocking turn of events considering how loyal and reliable he once was, so what could’ve motivated this turn towards villainy?

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Virtually every ninja villain in Boruto turns bad because they’re dissatisfied with the peaceful world Naruto has created, including Onoki and an anime-only group from Ao’s own Mist village, but this only partly explains Ao’s own betrayal. Ao’s affiliation with Kara is also linked to the grievous injuries he suffered at the hands of the Ten Tails. Not only did the grizzled shinobi lose his stolen Byakugan, but he was also deprived of several limbs and suffered additional damage to his torso. By the wonders of medical science, Ao’s missing pieces were replaced with mechanical components, but the proud warrior had to relearn even the most basic movements, severely weakening his ninja abilities. The combination of peace between villages and a crippled body caused Ao to lose his sense of purpose entirely, allowing Kara to swoop in. Jigen’s evil mob offered the retired shinobi a power-up with better ninja tech, and a brand new cause to fight for.

Ao’s betrayal is neatly summarized by his conversation with Boruto on the thunder train. The former Mist ninja argues that the scientific ninja devices Boruto hates are just tools, neither inherently good, nor evil. This is a metaphor for how Ao sees himself – a tool for the shinobi world. He was “good” while working under Mei, but “evil” now he’s serving Kara. In reality, he’s just a weapon waiting to be given a purpose. While Ao is one of many old-timers jaded by the lack of warfare, it’s the injury that kills his sense of purpose. Had his body not been so heavily damaged by the Ten Tails, Ao might’ve found a new mission as a chief advisor to the young Mizukage, or a secret spy like Sasuke is to Konoha.

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Boruto’s Ao twist works so well because it depicts a more realistic long-term cost of war. Back when Ao was a ninja in-training, his generation (and particularly those within the Mist village) were brainwashed into unfaltering weapons of war. Although this practice became less common over time, it’s only natural that Ao, as one of the older Naruto characters, wouldn’t be able to cope with life away from the battlefield, and that he’d be taken in by the next war-faring faction who made him feel valued. With many other Boruto characters sharing Ao’s sentiments, Naruto and the Five Kage might do well to improve how the villages rehabilitate their dyed-in-the-wool veterans.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/boruto-ao-naruto-kara-betrayal-good-reason/

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