Boruto: Naruto Next Generations focuses on Naruto's son and the next ninja generation, but there have been plenty of times the Seventh Hokage had to step in to protect his family and the Hidden Leaf Village. After experiencing multiple defeats against Jigen, and then a reincarnated Isshiki Otsutsuki, things were looking bad for Naruto. In the final battle, his biggest loss was Kurama, who sacrificed himself to give Naruto the power to end the threat of Isshiki for good. But it left fans wondering if Naruto's death could be looming on the horizon as well.

While he experienced his fair share of losses in Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden, losing Kurama was the first time the character has been made so powerless. While he does have his own massive reserves of chakra, they are nothing compared to Kurama's contribution. This puts Naruto in a very dangerous position. He is well-known worldwide as the Seventh Hokage and the world's strongest shinobi, and now that he has killed Isshiki, it's all but guaranteed he's going to become a bigger target than ever before.

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Naruto's Death Should Have Coincided With Kurama's

Isshiki versus Naruto Uzumaki in Baryon Mode

With Code inheriting Isshiki's will and somehow being stronger than his late master, Naruto is in a much more precarious position. Although he is of no real use to Code or the rest of Kara without Kurama, Naruto is still a high-priority target for killing their late leader. Considering just how much it took to beat Isshiki, and how Naruto has no real way of doing it a second time, it's clear to see why many fans fear it could only be a matter of time before Naruto dies.

With that being said, Naruto actually avoided his death already during the battle. Jinchurikis, those who have Tailed Beasts within them, are supposed to die once/if the beast is extracted from them. That was how he actually died in Naruto: Shippuden, Episode 414, "On the Brink of Death." After Kurama was extracted and sealed inside the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Naruto lost tailed beast mode and began plummeting to his death. Cushioned by Gaara's sand and brought to the ground to safety, Sakura tried to heal him, but discovered her healing ninjutsu wasn't working. At one point, she even had to reach inside his chest and manually pump his heart to keep him from dying.

It was only when Obito began transferring the Yin-half of Kurama's chakra into Naruto that he began to show signs of life again. To say that Naruto's very survival was reliant on Kurama has already been established, so how did Naruto manage to avoid death when Kurama died in Boruto? Because of the unique way Baryon Mode works, not only was Kurama the only one that died, but he did so in a way that didn't kill Naruto, thereby saving his life in multiple ways during the battle.

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Does Kawaki Imply Naruto's Death In Boruto?

Naruto hugging a stunned Kawaki in Boruto

The future scene at the beginning of Boruto, where an older Boruto and Kawaki are in the middle of a fight that seemingly destroyed the Hidden Leaf, may hint at Naruto's potential death. At one point, Kawaki states, "I'll send you where I sent the Seventh Hokage, Boruto," implying that in this future, Naruto isn't dead, just somewhere else. While this can be interpreted as Kawaki being confusingly vague and ambiguous about sending Naruto to the afterlife, there's too much evidence that goes against that theory.

Naruto took Kawaki into his home and made him a part of his family, something Naruto always wished had happened for him when he was young and alone. Knowing how much suffering Kawaki endured, he wanted to nurture him and give him opportunities to choose a better path than Isshiki had planned for him. Because of the love and devotion Naruto has shown him, Kawaki loves him as the father he always wished he had, and he's made it clear on multiple occasions that he has no desire to see Naruto hurt or dead.

Indeed, he has already risked his life numerous times to save Naruto, and has pledged himself to be the protector of the 7th Hokage as long as he lives. As it stands, it's a little hard to imagine that Kawaki would kill him, but anything could alter the course of the story's future. For now, as the story progressed, it became obvious that Kawaki actually hid the Uzumaki family away, sans Boruto, to protect them. The saddest part is that it's probably he is protecting them from Boruto and Momoshiki.

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Will Naruto Die in Boruto, Eventually?

Kurama and Naruto fist bump

It's important to consider that Naruto is still quite strong even without Kurama. With his large chakra reserves, chakra from the other Tailed Beasts and his Six Paths Sage Mode, Naruto is still easily classified as one of the strongest shinobi in the world, albeit not quite as strong as before. While it's unlikely he'll be able to take on Otsutsuki-level threats like before, he can still do quite a bit to protect the Hidden Leaf Village from them.

All in all, there is much more evidence to support Naruto remaining alive for the long haul. With still more than a considerable amount of strength for a shinobi, as well as someone as strong as Kawaki dedicating himself to protecting Naruto, he is relatively safe from death -- for now. The only major threats to him in the anime so far are Code and potentially Boruto. However, with Kawaki and Boruto gaining control and mastery of their respective abilities, Naruto has far less to be worried about.

Kurama's death hit fans almost as hard as it did Naruto, so it's understandable that viewers worry about the safety of their favorite knuckleheaded ninja. With Kurama even implying that Baryon Mode would kill Naruto or both of them at the time, audiences were likely prepared for the worst. Thankfully, Kurama was a sneaky fox and lied. He sacrificed himself, so Naruto could carry on living and protecting the people he loves, and it doesn't seem like that will change anytime soon.