The One Moment That Could Have Ended Boruto For Good
Across all of its component parts, ninja action anime "Naruto" is one of the longer continuous narratives still currently airing on TV. Catching up on everything released thus far requires watching more than 700 episodes of three technically separate shows in addition to a number of movies of varying canonical importance. In its present state, the story that once started in "Naruto" is continuing in "Boruto," this latest series taking its name from Naruto's son, who is now a central character.
Naturally, over the course of the many adventures chronicled within its formidable episode count, virtually all of the series' leads have changed to some degree. For example, Naruto ultimately cut back on the amount of time he spends talking mid-fight. This amounts to a change for the better, given the in-universe impracticality of expending energy on speech that could be better used in battle, as well as the real-world potential for dull TV whenever a character pauses action for conversation. Thankfully, Naruto stopped short of following the advice of one particular character that one fan online realized would have prevented "Boruto" as we know it from ever existing.
Boruto exists thanks to Naruto's forgiveness
User Zolunaris shared a video to the official "Naruto" Reddit with the caption "Boruto would be over, if Naruto followed Hashirama's advice," in which Konohagakure village founder Harashima Senju tells his mortal enemy and "Naruto" big bad Madara Uchiha, "I will not forgive anyone who threatens the village. Be they a friend, sibling, or even my own child." More than 4000 people upvoted the post, suggesting that many others agree with the assessment proposed in the post's title.
In essence, many of the principal characters throughout "Boruto" exist peacefully in the world in spite of their wrongdoing in the past. One prominent example is Orochimaru, who on multiple occasions was the principal villain in "Naruto." As of "Boruto," however, he lives in relative harmony with the show's protagonists, and his son Mitsuki is one of Boruto's closest friends. Were Naruto to have followed his predecessor Harashima's advice and enacted lethal vengeance on Orochimaru, Mitsuki wouldn't exist.
Even more importantly, midway through the "Naruto" sequel series, Boruto becomes a vessel for Momoshiki Otsutsuki, an extremely powerful otherworldly entity. If Naruto were to truly eliminate any threat to the village he now leads, he would be required to kill his own son. Fortunately, as user bigmonke100 pointed out in the post's replies, "That's why the anime is Naruto not Hashirama," and characters like Mitsuki and Boruto are allowed to thrive.