Theory by Strix on 06/01/2025
Borushiki is the incarnation of the “control” that Momoshiki has over Boruto. Although an interesting detail in his design is its horn, it’s not the same horn as Momoshiki’s at all. It was quickly put aside due to a lack of info as to why it could be important for the future of the series. Fast Forward to chapter 55 where we get introduced to the concept of an Otsutsuki god by the soul of Otsutsuki Ishiki. Again, Fast Forward to chapter 75 where we get a clearer appearance of that “Otsutsuki god” named Shibai Otsutsuki. And what’s strange is that his horn is similar looking to the horn of Borushiki, and so it begs the question what’s the link between Boruto and Shibai. A lot of people were quick to theorize about Boruto being Shibai’s potential reincarnation, although the answer might explain a lot more than that.
Analyzing the small panel of Shibai’s appearance that has been given to us, we can see 3 eyes 1 being a signature Rinnegan that almost all of the Otsutsukis we’ve seen so far posses. Now the left eye is much more interesting, it seems to be a Kokugan but not the same Kokugan that Ishiki possesed nor even the one that timeskip Kawaki has. That Kokugan is a pure black eye with a single triangle in its right down corner. If you have a great memory, this should remind you of a power up that was introduced to us in just an arc before, I’m talking about Kawaki obtaining an artificial Karma and a Kokugan, that Kokugan, you guessed it has the same design as the one Shibai posses. Now you might be asking “How is this relevant ? The Kokugan is simply an Otsutsuki Dojutsu that any Otsutsuki could have and that Kawaki obtained through Amado’s work” And you’d be right, except both Kawaki and Shibai’s Kokugan are not developed ones. And it’s very important to make a difference between a developed Kokugan and non-developed one. Ishiki and our current Two Blue Vortex Kawaki have both a developed Kokugan, theirs both have 8 triangles in them. Although Part 1 Kawaki and Shibai only have 1. So I’m asking you why would a literal God would only have a non-developed Kokugan ? Why would it make sense that a high ranked Otsutsuki and a teenager who only have some Otsutsuki cells be able to have an upgraded version of this Dojutsu but not an Omnipotent being ? To me the answer is that this was absolutely on purpose, we are being shown indirectly that the Kokugan that Kawaki currently possesses was actually Shibai’s.
Now for the right eye, a lot of people have been saying that it’s simply a Byakugan. Some would argue it is the Jougan but ultimately it’s not relevant whether you think this is a Byakugan or a Jougan, because in terms, this is Shibai’s right eye. Let me explain, the right side of Shibai is the same side from which the horn of Borushiki is shown to grow and we know that this horn definitely is Shibai’s and not Momoshiki’s, we also know that Boruto’s Karma in contrary to Kawaki’s is not artificial and so this horn is natural. It’s not a result of the input of Amado, so it is Otsutsuki based and we know this horn doesn’t manifest even if Boruto activates his own Karma, again this is a distinction between Kawashiki. All this could point us to the conclusion that the manifestation of this horn is the result of the combination of this eye and the Karma. Mimicking exactly the right side of Shibai’s face. And so now we have Kawaki mimicking Shibai’s left side and Boruto perfectly mimicking his right side. On top of that, what do we get at the end of episode 293 of the anime ? A cut off of their faces, Kawaki on the left side and Boruto on the right side.(edited)
So in reality, we already knew that Shibai’s cells were important but he might be so relevant that he’s the very reason why the two current most important characters will be so much powerful. And who knows, maybe at some point in the story he will come to reclaim his very own visual prowess.
