Naruto: Why Sarada will likely get Mangekyo Sharingan (2023)

The Naruto series established early on that the Sharingan was one of the most coveted dojutsu among Shinobi. But that ability came with its fair share of grief and sorrow, since members of the Uchiha clan only awakened the Sharingan after going through an intensely emotional experience, most often a traumatic one.

Sasuke first awakened his Sharingan after seeing Itachi massacre his parents and other clan members, and later achieved Mangekyo upon watching his older brother die while fighting him.

With the latest Boruto chapter increasing Sarada’s significance in the story, this article traces the development of the youngest Uchiha’s Sharingan and compares it to other Mangekyo users in the Naruto series to determine how Sarada’s Sharingan will evolve in the series.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Naruto and Boruto manga.

Boruto’s glimpse into the future suggests that Sarada might become the latest Uchiha in the Naruto series to achieve Mangekyo Sharingan

The evolution of Sarada’s Sharingan

The light novel Naruto Gaiden: Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring focused on the topic of Sasuke’s relationship with his daughter Sarada. The anime adaptation of the novel, constituting an arc in the Boruto anime, showed Sakura telling Shizune that Sarada had awakened her Sharingan at a very early age from feelings of abandonment at having never seen her father.

However, she reawakened the dojutsu being overjoyed at the prospect of seeing Sasuke. The anime depicted her Sharingan as having one tomoe as opposed to the three tomoe that a fully matured Sharingan manifests.

In episode 168 of the anime, Sarada asked Sasuke to teach her Chidori but the latter stated that her single-tomoe Sharingan did not give her enough kinetic visual sharpness to read her opponent’s moves and made it clear that she needed at least two tomoe to begin training for Chidori.

Unaware of the tragic fate that accompanied the activation of Mangekyo Sharingan, Sarada enthusiastically declared that she wanted her dojutsu to evolve like Sasuke’s did.

Sakura wondered if the former would be able to handle the loss of a loved one better than Sasuke had in Naruto: Shippuden. Despite her anxiety, she began training her daughter to refine her chakra control to increase her endurance.

Sarada’s training finally bore fruit in episode 175 during Team 7’s fight against the villain Deepa, as the young Uchiha manifested a second tomoe while protecting Boruto. This is uncannily similar to how Sasuke awakened his second tomoe while protecting Naruto during their fight against Haku.

Following this evolution, Sasuke finally agreed to teach Sarada how to master Chidori, and episode 236 showed her using her two-tomoe Sharingan to cast genjutsu on pirates attacking them.

Boruto chapter 40, which signaled the beginning of the fight between the new Team 7 and Boro, depicted Sarada with a fully developed three-tomoe Sharingan, suggesting that she had awakened it at some point while learning Chidori from Sasuke. In chapter 42, she managed to use Chidori successfully in battle to remove Boro’s core, preventing the Kara member from regenerating.

Boruto’s vision and its effect on Sarada

During Naruto, Sasuke, and Boruto’s initial battle against Momoshiki Otsutsuki, the celestial villain left behind an ominous prophecy for the younger Uzumaki. It was much later that Boruto realized that Momoshiki had embedded karma and turned him into a vessel for the villain’s resurrection.

The Otsutsuki declared that one day Boruto’s blue eyes would take everything away from him, which many fans took to mean the jougan which appeared briefly in the anime. But the prophecy seemed to be in keeping with the post-time-skip scene at the beginning of the series, which showed an older Boruto and Kawaki fighting against the backdrop of a destroyed Konoha village.

The latest reminder to this morbid eventuality occurred in chapter 75, when the younger Uzumaki temporarily manifested Momoshiki’s dojutsu as a side effect of the Otsutsuki using his karma to save his vessel’s life. He then saw a vision of the future showing Konoha village in chaos, as several Leaf Shinobi began searching for an unknown male enemy to prevent them from fleeing the enemy.

The fugitive seemed to have encountered Shikadai and Mitsuki, both of whom appeared enraged and incredulous at the betrayal of a “friend.” Sarada also appeared in the vision briefly, calling out to Mitsuki after locating their target. When Boruto interrogated Momoshiki about the vision, the Otsutsuki stated that this was not related to his earlier prophecy about his blue eyes.

But taking into account Mitsuki’s aggressive stance on the vision, the events preceding the vision seem to be very personal to the shinobi, and it has been established early on in the series that Orochimaru’s son is very close to Boruto and Sarada.

Moreover, Sasuke and Boruto’s conversation in chapter 69 held some disturbing connotations as the former’s statement seemed to anticipate his demise in the near future.

Sasuke has been significantly weakened in the series after losing his Rinnegan, and would likely lose to enemies like Code, Eida, and even Kawaki. Following Kawaki’s attempt to save Naruto by killing his son, Sasuke apologized to the younger Uzumaki for not being there and mused that he might be the one to show his resolve next.

Chapter 76 ended with Kawaki realizing that Boruto was speaking to Momoshiki, prompting the karma user to demand that the Otsutsuki come and face him. It is possible that Kawaki’s obsession to protect Naruto will lead him to attack Momoshiki’s vessel unprovoked, alerting Shikamaru and others.

Boruto’s vision showed Kawaki with blood smeared on his face, making it plausible that Sasuke would be the one trying to defuse the threat. If the Uchiha gets severely injured or killed while protecting Boruto, Sarada, who was shown to be in the very next room, is sure to be greatly affected, which might in turn trigger the evolution of her dojutsu into Mangekyo Sharingan.

Mangekyo Sharingan users in the Naruto series

The Naruto series defines Mangekyo Sharingan as "heavenly eyes that see the truth of all of creation without obstruction" awakened by Uchiha clan members after witnessing the death of a close one. The Naruto manga showed Itachi awakening Mangekyo upon watching Shisui Uchiha commit suicide, while Obito awakened it when he saw Rin die at Kakashi’s hands.

Madara was popularly believed to be the first Uchiha to awaken Mangekyo Sharingan, followed by his younger brother Izuna. Although it is unclear when the brothers awakened the advanced form of the Sharingan, it is possible that it was triggered by them watching their other siblings die while fighting for their clan.

The abilities unlocked by Mangekyo Sharingan vary between users, with Shisui gaining Kotoamatsukami, Obito achieving Kamui, and Sasuke being able to manipulate and extinguish Amaterasu. Itachi was an exception even among other Uchiha, using Tsukiyomi with his left eye and manipulating Amaterasu with his right. But almost every user who has awakened the ability in both eyes can use Susanoo.

Sarada’s prowess with genjutsu suggests she might gain either Amaterasu or Tsukiyomi like her father and late uncle. But the youngest Uchiha, being an only child, might never achieve Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

It can only be acquired by transplanting Mangekyo Sharingan from a very close family member, usually a sibling, to counteract the damage and eventual blindness caused by the overuse of the ability.

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