Highlights
- Shin Uchiha, a genetically modified human, aimed to revive the Akatsuki and create chaos to strengthen the shinobi world in Boruto.
- Despite his formidable Sharingan abilities, Shin’s lack of foresight led to his downfall by underestimating Sasuke’s power.
- The Five Kage recognized Shin’s ideology and its potential impact, reflecting on the need for conflict to cultivate stronger shinobi in a peaceful era.
The expansion of the Naruto universe in the form of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations has led to the addition of several new characters to the show’s roster, and Shin Uchiha is one such intriguing new antagonist. Shin’s roots can be traced back to Orochimaru’s experimentation early on in Naruto, though he eventually severed ties with the rogue Sannin and continued on his own villainous path.
As one of Orochimaru’s guinea pigs, Shin Uchiha is a genetically modified human, serving as a base for several of Orochimaru’s experiments. However, Shin eventually became obsessed with the Uchiha name, forcefully assimilating himself into the very same namesake. Despite being a somewhat minor antagonist early on in Boruto, Shin Uchiha’s goals were rather nuanced, even forcing the Five Kage to ponder on his ideals.
The Origins of Shin Uchiha
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First Appearence |
Boruto, Episode 20, “The Boy with the Sharingan” |
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Debut Date |
August 16, 2017 |
Shin was one of Orochimaru’s many followers, and his rare genetic structure allowed the rogue ninja to conduct various experiments on his body with a high success rate. Danzo Shimura’s Shraringan-laden arm was also cultivated and extracted from Shin’s body. Moreover, Orochimaru’s research on creating ever-lasting clones was also perfected through Shin’s body, as his teeth and nerve-endings were used as the genetic source for these experiments.
Shin eventually left Orochimaru and took his clones with him, never to be seen again until fifteen years after the Fourth Great Ninja War. During this time, he had become obsessed with the Uchiha name, specifically Itachi and his cause. He blamed Sasuke for Itachi’s death, and vowed to take revenge by killing him.
What Was Shin Uchiha’s Objective?
While avenging Itachi was one of his reasons for attacking Sasuke and capturing Sarada, Shin’s reasoning for such an aggravation went far beyond mere revenge. Shin believed that after a decade of peace, the Five Great Nations had gone soft, resulting in weaker shinobi that lacked the skills of the previous generation.
Through countless battles, new ninjutsu and other arts were developed rapidly, and strong shinobi were selected.
To stir up conflict and chaos, Shin aimed to revive the Akatsuki and ravage the world once more, in-turn creating a hostile world that would lead to hardened shinobi with superior genetics. To an extent, Shin’s beliefs were rooted in logic, as the era of peace between the Five Great Nations resulted in shinobi that lacked actual battle experience, with their strengths paling in comparison to their previous generation counterparts.
However, Shin’s first objective was to strike down Sasuke Uchiha and reclaim his Sharingan, a mission that he entrusted to the child-like clones of himself. While the clones were merely fabrications of Shin, they were independent sentient beings and called Shin their ‘Father.’ Along with taking down Sasuke, Sarada was also one of his targets due to her familial ties to Sasuke.
Shin Uchiha’s Sharingan Prowess
Despite being a non-Uchiha, Shin was able to wield and utilize multiple Sharingans at the same time, without falling victim to the Dojutsu’s fatigue. With several Sharingans spanning his entire head, Shin could analyze the fight from multiple angles, resulting in some extremely complicated attack patterns.
With the primary Sharingan in his right eye, Shin could also use a space-time jutsu that allowed him to instantly teleport himself or any other object to a specific location. The method of teleportation was similar to Kamui, but it was limited to the same dimension.
Shin’s Mangekyo Sharingan
The true extent of Shin’s power laid in his Mangekyo Sharingan, though it still remains unknown how he was able to awaken the advanced version of the Dojutsu. His Mangekyo ability allowed him to control weapons that had his mark, which created a telekinetic link between him and the weapons.
While the ability itself wasn’t quite strong, his limitless endurance was rather cumbersome, as he could use the Mangekyo’s powers without his eyesight waning. The toll of activating several Mangekyo Sharingan at the same time also seemed to be minimal, as he could effortlessly use the Dojutsu without succumbing to chakra fatigue.
The Aftermath of Shin’s Plans
Shin Uchiha may have been a formidable foe, but his lack of foresight led to his eventual demise. He underestimated Sasuke Uchiha’s prowess, as he assumed his own Mangekyo and his army of clones would be enough to take him down. However, he made a far greater mistake of using his clones as spare organ donors and meat shields. Ironically, in the end, his own clones kill him off, following Shin’s principles of disposing of the weak and genetically inferior.
Shin Uchiha thought that for true evolution, conflict is essential to the selection of superior genes, and I regret he may have a point.
While Shin Uchiha was defeated with ease, his ideology led to some concerns among the Five Kage. In the next Five Kage Summit, Chojuro noted that Shin’s belief may have had some weight to it, and Darui and Kurotsuchi concurred, stating that the new generation has never seen the hardships of war. While Naruto was able to put the other Kage’s fears to rest, Shin’s introduction to the show as the first significant antagonist set a slightly more grim tone for the events that would later unravel.
Boruto is available to stream on Prime Video.
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