In the year of our lord two thousand twenty four, Bandai Namco felt it was prudent to ask gamers to pay for the opportunity to play as the kunoichi that was sensei of Team 8, the lover of Asuma Sarutobi, the mother of Mirai Sarutobi, the Konoha jonin who masterfully utilizes genjutsu…Kurenai Yuhi.
You would think that after I made an effort to rattle off some details about the character that I would be excited to see her join the roster of the latest Naruto title from Cyberconnect 2. In reality, it’s a bit of a head scratcher… After the first 2 characters of this season pass featured the characters from a clan that seemingly created ninjutsu it’s really weird that we got a character that primarily was a background character. I mean at least make it a character that has never seen action in a cyberconnect2 game…like her daughter and current Konoha kunoichi, Mirai.
That said, Kurenai dash movements has her enshrouded in a cloud of cherry blossom petals, her secret technique is Evil Illusion: Tree Bind which was most famously seen being ineffective against Itachi Uchiha is recreated with gravitas. If she teams up with her husband Asuma Sarutobi, the duo can do a combination attack in which Asuma cuts down the opponent that is held in place after Kurenai utilizes the Evil Illusion: Tree Bind technique!
So while this news post seems overly negative, I want to relay something that might change the tune. After watching the announce trailer for Kurenai…I did what everyone says not to do, read the comments. Expecting to have my opinion reinforced, instead I saw commenters who were genuinely happy to see Kurenai’s inclusion, where folks were happy to see Team 8 getting their sensei in game, that Mary Elizabeth McGlynn will be the English VA and the character finally getting a video game appearance after a 14 year absence. Hell, someone even celebrated the fact that the victim of the Asuma/Kurenai combo attack was the Akatsuki member Hidan (Real fans will know why this was an easter egg). So after seeing such positivity towards this reveal, I guess the phrase “Don’t Yuck, other people’s Yum” comes to mind. Perhaps I’ll play a couple of rounds with the woman who cared for Hinata Hyuga when her clan gave up on her. Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections DLC 3 is available now for purchase and is also a part of the game’s season pass.
Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is available now on PC, Switch, the PlayStation and Xbox platforms.
NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS – DLC Pack 3: Kurenai Yuhi Trailer
NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS – PS5
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