Episode 181 commences the “Vessel Arc” as the anime finally catches up to the manga. In the previous episodes, we see that Kara has finally started their move as they try to ship the vessel. For this, they make use of an airship provided by Victor, which has stealth abilities. Suspecting Victor of possible treason, he is not to be around during the shipment. So, he strays far away, waiting for the airship to pass by. As the airship flew over him, he attempts to override it but fails. During this, the airship changes direction and starts losing altitude. The crash site is near the Land of Fire and needs to be checked out by Hidden Leaf Village. And for this mission, Konohamaru and Mugino have been assigned just like Mugino mentions when he leaves in the last episode. We will cover Boruto Episode 182 in this article.
Boruto Episode 181 Recap
Boruto Episode 181, titled “The Vessel,” begins with a new opening displaying new visuals from the forthcoming arc. From this, it seems that we will get to see some Kama seal action. The music is by Ikimonogakari and is called “Baku.”
The Kara Emergency Meeting
As the episode begins, we see that the Kara members have assembled using Genjutsu transmission. Members present are Jigen, Delta, Kashin Koji, Boro, Code, and Victor. Jigen had summoned everyone to an emergency meeting as there was an urgent situation at hand. He tells them that they have lost the Vessel to which the members seemed lost as to what it meant. Jigen explains to them that the airship carrying the Vessel had gone missing and had supposedly crashed somewhere. Victor tells the other members that the situation was nothing to fret over. As seeing the trajectory of the airship, they could triangulate a rough location of the crash site. Kashin Koji implies that having such naive thinking is what causes blunders in the first place.
As Victor and Kashin Koji start bickering with one another, Jigen says such shortcomings were taken into account. But if it was an avoidable human error, one must be taken accountable. All the Kara members start to imply Victor was responsible. That’s when he tries to retaliate. He says that it was due to outside interference and also why Amado was missing. Jigen says that he was too busy to attend and that it was none of his concern. Jigen comes back to the matter at hand that was to find and secure the vessel. Kashin Koji steps forward as that sector was under his jurisdiction. And he feels that the inners have hidden their presence for too long, and now the time is ripe. Other Kara members agree, and the meeting adjourns.
Kashin Koji
After the meeting ends, Victor feels he must find the airship before Kashin Koji, but that would mean defying Jigen. He takes out the device which he used to collect data on the vessel. He thinks Koji is naive as he didn’t find out about the device. And he would have blown off his head if he were in front of him. Just the Kashin Koji appears who has been there from before the meeting began. He was there to assassinate Victor and feels he had become too senile to detect his bloodthirst. He makes use of a kunai to activate The Trance of True Flames, which Victor’s regeneration can’t keep up with. Walking over to Victor’s burnt body, Koji picks up the device and crushes it.
Elsewhere, Jigen asks Amado to dispose off Deepa after getting information regarding Victor and Deepa’s intentions. After assassinating Victor, Koji meets Jigen and tells him he was about to set forth to find the vessel. That’s when Jigen gives him the location of the airship to be in the north of the Land of Fire. Jigen asks him to eliminate every person who saw the airship. After the communication ends, Jigen heads towards the location while wondering that his fate is linked to the hidden leaf village.
Read: 2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Club Episode 2 Preview
Shinobi Sparring: Naruto vs Boruto
In one of the previous episodes, Naruto promised Boruto to have a spar with him. And now, having to test out his new prosthetic arm, he is keeping his sparring promise. Boruto, unaware of this test, is happy that his dad is keeping his promise. And looks at it as an opportunity to clear his reputation after using the scientific ninja tool in Chunin exams. He feels he has grown and could give his dad a run for his money. Meanwhile, Naruto has attached his new prosthetic arm and decides not to tell Boruto to keep him motivated.
As the two arrive on the flighting arena, Shikamaru reminds them that it was a Shinobi sparring. The first one to knock the opponent wins. As the fight begins, Boruto makes use of shadow clones and lightning-infused shurikens as a decoy to launch his Rasengan. But Naruto seems to have absorbed them. Boruto proposes a Rasengan vs. Rasengan as he uses his gale palm to launch himself. Naruto having the stronger Rasengan, wins the wager but gets his arm stuck in the ground. But it was a decoy as Boruto uses wave surge and thunderclap arrows, which get blocked by Naruto’s mud wall. Naruto puts his arm through the wall and absorbs the chakra, which later turns out to be a decoy as Naruto gets behind Boruto to knock him down, making him the winner.
Scientific Ninja Tool
As Boruto finds out that the spar was a way for Naruto to test the prosthetic arm, he is disappointed. Naruto argues that he did want to see Boruto’s growth but had even to check the new tool. He describes the new tool as one made by Katasuke, inspired by Otsotsuki. The tool is able to absorb Chakra, but unlike the original, it can’t discharge it. Boruto asks, wasn’t Naruto the one who said using scientific ninja tools was cheating. That’s when Sasuke appears and explains that using the tools wasn’t inherently bad but depended on how one used them. The point is to find hidden meanings within hidden meanings. He tells Sarada regarding his return only a little time ago and gives information regarding the organization, Kara.
Airship Investigation
As Konohamaru and Mugino reach the crash site, they confirm their location on comms. As they head ahead, they find no survivors on site. When Konohamaru enters the airship, he finds an empty vessel. So he tries to update on the situation, but comms have gone down. Mugino comes in enquiring about the situation that’s when someone else reaches the airship crash site.
When will Episode 182 Release?
Boruto episode 182, titled “Ao,” is set to be aired on January 17, 2021, at 7:25 pm JST. Be sure to convert the time into your own time zone to watch it just as it airs. You can catch up on all Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episodes on streaming platforms, including Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Funimation.
Boruto Episode 182 Preview
Episode 182, titled “Ao,” will follow up on Konohamaru and Mugino as they inspect the crash site. Kara outer members have arrived on the scene, and they have an encounter. Meanwhile, the main agenda of the episode will involve Team 7’s new mission as they have to head to the city of Ryutan with Katasuke. They have to accompany him in order to analyze the new prosthetic arm for Lord Seventh. Boruto meanwhile wants nothing to do with Katasuke. He thinks he is a quack scientist, and being involved with scientific ninja tools is a waste of time. We will even see Ao back in the series as he is present on the same train as Team 7. We will even see the dynamic between him and Kashin Koji.