Kawaki is introduced as a rebellious member of the organization Kara who wishes to escape and remove his cursed mark "Karma" (楔, Kāma) from his body.

[12] Kawaki is introduced as a valuable piece of cargo, "the Vessel" lost to Kara in a transport accident, encountered soon afterward by Boruto's ninja team who bring him to the Hidden Leaf.

He, alongside 13 children and teenagers, would be experimented on and bestowed a Kama mark by Jigen,[13] and heavily modified with microscopic Shinobi-Ware implanted in his body, giving him the ability to alter his physiology for combat.

Initially distant to everybody, Kawaki spends his time with the Uzumaki family, repairing a vase Himawari made for Hinata's birthday, which he had accidentally destroyed.

The team manages to rescue Naruto and return to Konohagakure,[18] and Kawaki later learns from Amado of Jigen's true nature and relationship with the Ōtsutsuki clan.

Allega Frank of Polygon noticed that at the start of both the manga and anime, Kawaki's debut in the flashforward caused fans to revolt over his possible future actions against the previous protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki.

Melina Dargis of The Fandom Post found Kawaki's rivalry with Boruto similar to their predecessors Naruto and Sasuke, but noticed their differences in personality and potential for a friendlier relationship, and thus looked forward to their future development.

[24] Critics appreciated Kawaki's character development as he interacts with the Uzumaki family, as his cold demeanor starts to mellow, most notably when he asks Naruto to train him to become a ninja.

As a result, Manga News found that since his introduction, Kawaki's character development played a more major role in the narrative than that of the actual protagonist, Boruto.

[25][26] FandomPost agreed, claiming Kawaki's introduction to ninjutsu and bonds with the Uzumaki family to be the highlight of the manga's ninth as the young man wishes to be taught by Naruto.

[30] Game designer Hiroshi Matsuyama from CyberConnect2 praised the debut of Kawaki in the manga due to his involvement in the narrative as well as the fight sequences he takes part of.

[33] Tata Ardiansyah from Universitas Islam Negeri praised how Pierrot created new episodes for Kawaki as it develops more his social life alongside his family while becoming a ninja.