The new spin-off of Fans have been split over Boruto, with many criticizing the series for falling too short of the standards set by its predecessor, while others have been more appreciative. However, it only took one chapter for Sasuke's Story: The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust to show what a proper sequel to Naruto should look like.
Sasuke's Story is the manga adaptation of a successful novel published in 2019, part of a trilogy set after the end of Naruto, roughly at the same time that Boruto takes place. In Sasuke's Story, Naruto's longtime rival and best friend leaves Konohagakure in search of a cure for a mysterious illness that is affecting Naruto, who is now the Hokage. Knowing that the famous Sage of the Six Paths, the progenitor of all shinobi, once suffered from the same illness, Sasuke follows the trail of this legendary character to a land far away and gets involved in a dangerous conspiracy. This story takes place at an unspecified time before the beginning of Boruto.
Immediately after its release on the Shonen+ and Manga Plus digital platforms, Naruto world that features sci-fi technology rather than shinobi and their traditional mysticism. Boruto's need to focus on a new generation also translated into what fans perceived as the "nerfing" of beloved (but overpowered) characters such as Sasuke and Naruto.
Sasuke's Story Overtakes Boruto As Naruto's Proper Sequel
None of these issues are present in Sasuke's Story, of course. Actually, the series' tone and setting are significantly different from the bombastic Naruto: Shippuden, and they remind of the earlier part of Naruto when the stakes were lower and the narrative was more linear. Sasuke's mission leads him to infiltrate a mysterious prison by posing as one of the inmates, which feels very ninja-like, while Boruto has essentially become a sci-fi manga with aliens and cyborgs. Also, using Sasuke as the main character immediately highlights how bad the decision of having the old and the new generation of shinobi coexist in Boruto was. The characters from Naruto are simply too charismatic and beloved, and they were always going to take the spotlight away from the new generation, which resulted in their "nerfing" or, even worse, incoherent plot development.
While Boruto keeps struggling between attempts to be different (including turning into a rom-com) and the need to appease the Naruto fandom, Sasuke's Story simply takes one of the most popular characters from the franchise and puts him at the center of a new, refreshing story. This new manga will tell readers what kind of man Sasuke has become, including fleshing out his relationship with his wife Sakura, which Boruto failed to do. By avoiding all the mistakes that Boruto made, Sasuke's Story proves to be the Naruto sequel that fans deserved.
Sasuke's Story: The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust is available through Viz Media.
