The time skip that began Boruto: Naruto Next Generations revealed that Boruto will eventually face Kawaki, promising an epic one-on-one battle with clear parallels to Naruto's final fight with Sasuke. The Naruto manga series, which ran for 15 years, was chock full of battles that can only be described as instant comic book classics. But, of the many duels within its pages, none was more iconic, or influential, as the duel between childhood rivals Naruto and Sasuke. It was a battle that would come to define the manga, and Boruto fans can expect the same.

The best battles of Naruto were those that were not simply just competitions of strength and bravado but rather clashes that had been a long time coming and were therefore weighted heavily with emotional drama, longstanding grudges, and intense rivalry. Nowhere was this more evident than in the climactic battle between Naruto and Sasuke. Having known each other since they were kids, widely seen as the best in their class at the Ninja Academy, and being grouped as part of Ninja Team 7, there was ample time for minor childhood differences to blossom into young adult mutual hatred. This was further exacerbated by Sasuke’s focus on revenge - which drove him into the hands of Konohagakure Village’s more questionable characters - and Naruto’s focus on earning the right to become the village Hokage.

Related: Dragon Ball's Vegeta or Naruto's Sasuke, Who is Manga's Greatest Rival?

It was no wonder that when the two did finally meet on the battlefield, there was no love lost, and each was willing to do whatever it took to finally, permanently remove a burden that had been bothering them for ages. While the battle ended with neither winning, it was costly both to themselves and Konohagakure. The battle threw the story’s leading characters into a fight for the survival of their world. Based on the time skip that occurs in the beginning of the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations series, Naruto’s son Boruto will also take part in a similarly climactic fight with Kawaki. That is, a singularly important battle that is heavily influenced by long-standing issues between the two opponents that will likely seep into their fight against each other, making it the high point of the narrative.

Boruto vs Kawaki

While Boruto is Naruto’s son by blood, Kawaki was taken in by Naruto and treated as just as much of a member of his family. While Kawaki eventually comes to be an essential member of the family, the flash-forward suggests that he cannot escape his past. That past includes the tortures he endured as a child from his biological father, then at the hands of his adopted father, who turned him into a vessel for Isshiki Otsutsuki, a member of the same clan as Momoshiki Otsutsuki (who Boruto serves as a vessel of.)

The upcoming Boruto versus Kawaki battle mirrors the Naruto versus Sasuke fight on a number of fronts. First, there is the age-old sibling rivalry between the boys that approximates the continuous competition between Naruto and Sasuke. Second, there is the idea that the battle will finally resolve the long-standing tensions between opponents. In Naruto, it was to determine who is the best ninja. In Boruto, it is to determine whether Momoshiki or Isshiki (via their unwilling vessels Boruto and Kawaki) are the true and future leaders of clan Otsutsuki. Lastly, with the destruction that the flash-forward reveals, just as in the Naruto-Sasuke duel, the Boruto-Kawaki battle will likely impact the survival of the world as they know it.

Boruto made a bold move by letting readers know what was coming from the beginning, drawing on Naruto and Sasuke's clash to tease where Boruto and Kawaki are heading. As their battle draws closer, the echo of Naruto's epic clash with Sasuke speaks to the themes of family and legacy that have made Boruto: Naruto Next Generations such a fascinating continuation of the saga.

Next: Boruto: Predicting The Next 2 Hokage After Naruto Uzumaki