Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is the sequel to Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto series, and follows the story of Boruto Uzumaki in an era of peace. Set years after the Fourth Great Ninja War, Boruto is a story where the shinobi nations are allies and war doesn't exist anymore. Thankfully for everyone, Naruto Uzumaki saw to that. Although war is no longer a worry, that certainly doesn't mean that there are no dangers in the world of Boruto at all. A series without stakes and tension is bound to fail, after all.
Instead of having other villages and countries as enemies, Boruto sees the likes of the Otsutsuki clan be made into enemies as they're celestial beings described to be parasites who feed on planets' life force. At the same time, the Otsutsuki are deeply connected to a major criminal organization in the world of Boruto who are just starting to surface – the Kara. It goes without saying that the Kara share quite a few similarities to Naruto's criminal organization called the Akatsuki and fans inevitably end up comparing them to each other.
What Is The Kara?
The Kara is an organization that was established at an unknown time by a man named Jigen, their leader. Jigen then assembled quite a number of people from across the shinobi world to serve him and have them help him meet his goal. In reality, Jigen is just a puppet who is actually being controlled by Isshiki Otsutsuki, Kaguya Otsutsuki's former partner. Centuries ago, when the two came to earth, Kaguya turned on Isshiki and left him in a near-death state. Using his powers, Isshiki took control of a monk named Jigen and has been using his body ever since. In the present day, Jigen is just a vessel for Isshiki to carry out his will.
The second most important member of the Kara is none other than their scientist, Amado. Using his genius, he was able to modify the bodies of all the other members with scientific ninja tools and make them several times stronger than they already were. The stronger members of the Kara are known as the Inners, and they include Code, Kashin Koji, Delta, Boro, Victor, and of course, Amado himself. With tremendous strength up their sleeve, every member of the Kara is strong enough to contend with a Kage and even overpower them without much trouble.
Most importantly, Kara worked towards Isshiki's goal, which is to help farm yet another Chakra Fruit on earth and gain more strength. Isshiki, being weakened, wanted to use Kawaki as his vessel to gain the full power of the fruit as Jigen's body was way too weak to be able to maintain that level of strength forever. However, he clearly failed in this task as the latter ended up in Konohagakure's hands. For most of the Kara, Isshiki's goal was incredibly important to achieve simply because their own goals would only come true after Isshiki's goals did.
The Kara Compared To The Akatsuki
The Kara is quite an interesting organization with several interesting members. Their leader, Isshiki Otsutsuki, is a compelling villain for sure and does a great job at raising the stakes and tension in the story. Even the Inners are decent characters themselves, however, they lack the cutting edge that Isshiki has, making them slightly less interesting apart from possibly, Kashin Koji, who is a clone of Jiraiya from Naruto.
With the Kara, it is quite clear to see that the writers were attempting to base them off of the Akatsuki. The robes of the group, the hidden genjutsu-like projections while meeting, and even characters who have motivations of their own on the inside, all point to them being very similar to the Akatsuki. While their leader is certainly good enough for a villain, Pain was much more compelling as a villain. But, that's not the biggest problem that the Boruto writers ran into while creating the group. The Inners of the Kara simply don't hold up well as characters of their own, especially in the manga. Delta, the first Kara to fall to Konoha, was barely a character with her own motivations and reasons. She existed as an obstacle for Naruto to crush.
Similarly, Boro barely had any personality other than being a strong brute who Team 7 had to beat together. Meanwhile, Victor was killed off before he even did anything significant, making half of them fall flat on their faces as characters. Kashin Koji, on the other hand, is certainly interesting, but fans know way too little about him and it isn't known what path his character will take in the future.
With Isshiki's death, the Kara fell apart terribly, with each member either defecting or dying in a rather plain manner. Code, the only survivor, could be considered as the next leader of the Kara but he hardly has any members for it to be even called an organization. Essentially, the Kara seems to have met its end with Isshiki's fall.
When compared to the Akatsuki, the Kara were certainly much stronger than them, but that's all they offered. In terms of character writing and depth, the Kara members could barely hold a candle to their Akatsuki counterparts. Much like the rest of Boruto, being overpowered enemies is what defined them the best as they failed terribly in other aspects as an organization. The lack of cohesion among the members didn't do them any favors either. While expectations for the Kara were certainly high, they ended up being far from the next Akatsuki.
As an organization on its own, perhaps the Kara did well enough to ensure Boruto stay interesting for a while. With the likes of Code still alive with members like Ada and Daemon, the organization might still have some future. In their own way, the Kara are a decent organization, perfect for a series that focuses on alien parasites and flashy powers. However, they're a far cry from the Akatsuki, who will always remain in a league of their own.