The Single Loophole That Lets Boruto Bring Back Itachi Uchiha Without Breaking Naruto Canon

Itachi Uchiha is one of those characters you do not bring back lightly. His whole deal in Naruto is tragic, heroic, and final. That said, Boruto has already tested the waters with Jiraiya-by-proxy, so the question keeps popping up: is there a clean, canon-friendly way to let Itachi show up again without trashing what made his story work?

Could Boruto realistically bring Itachi back?

The shortest path is the show using its own established logic. Boruto introduced Kashin Koji as a Jiraiya clone, so the door is cracked. The more specific route for Itachi comes from the Shin Uchiha experiments. If Konoha quietly banked Itachi tissue or DNA back then, those samples could carry usable Sharingan data or even fragmented memories. That opens the door for a short-term projection or engineered iteration of Itachi rather than a full resurrection. It is weird science, but it is the kind of weird this franchise already plays with.

Why it would actually matter

• Sasuke: His entire life has been shaped by Itachi. A face-to-face in Boruto could pull out a more personal side the series rarely digs into and force new growth for him now, not just in flashbacks.
• Sarada: She has only ever gotten the legend secondhand. Meeting even a projected Itachi would give her a clearer sense of the Uchiha weight she is carrying and sharpen who she wants to be.
• The Uchiha name: In Boruto, the clan presence has thinned to basically Sasuke and Sarada. A limited Itachi appearance could reframe how the village talks about that legacy and give the next generation a less warped picture of what the Uchiha actually were.

Learn from Kashin Koji: do not sideline him

Kashin Koji had a great rollout as a Jiraiya clone and then got parked off to the side for ages. You cannot do that with Itachi. If the Boruto team goes there, he has to matter to the A-plot. Not take the spotlight from the leads, but actually drive the story while they respond to him. Treating him like a novelty cameo would be worse than not bringing him back at all.

How to use Itachi without wrecking Naruto

If this happens, it has to be a different Itachi. Not a rerun of the anti-hero who already completed his arc. Make the new iteration an antagonist with his own defined goals, not a moody ally. Let his existence challenge Sasuke, push Sarada, or even destabilize the shinobi balance for a bit. The key is giving him a point of view and a purpose that diverge from the original while still respecting why his sacrifice mattered in the first place. That keeps his legacy intact instead of undoing it.

Would you want Boruto to take a swing at this, or is Itachi better left as the final word he already is?

Boruto is currently streaming on Hulu.