Anna Karenina

I haven't been feeling well.

Has anything unusual happened to you lately?

Now that you mention it,

I've been having a lot of dreams.

Dreams?

These dreams…

When did you start having them?

If I recall,

they started the day I met Mr. Ohnoki.

What kind of a dream was it?

It was a dream of when I first saw Boruto's picture.

Can you get sick from a dream?

I'm not sure.

Mitsuki experienced quite a lot

during the Hidden Stone incident some time ago.

That may have affected him emotionally

and it may be surfacing now.

Affected him emotionally?

That's why I'm going to analyze Mitsuki's brain

to see if it left an impact on him.

A Wound on the Heart

All right, let's start the analysis.

First, as Mitsuki mentioned,

we'll go back to his memories of when he met Mr. Ohnoki.

This man seems to be lost in the village.

So, they want us to help look for him.

Ohnoki of the Land of Earth?

Hey, isn't this the Third Lord Tsuchikage?

This drawing… doesn't look like at me at all.

Could you be, Mr. Ohnoki?

It seems your will is a bit shaky.

It's very complicated… This thing called a will.

Mitsuki is unsure of his will.

Although vague,

he was already questioning his own memories and will.

And now with that dream, those questions are now more defined.

A dream where Mitsuki decides to find the answer on his own

rather than choose one of the options we presented to him.

Is Mitsuki in bad shape because he had that dream?

No, this is akin to a rebellious phase,

much like puberty.

He now dreams because he's getting closer to becoming human.

In that sense, one can say that

Mitsuki is maturing like a human.

Personally,

I think it's a great sign.

Didn't I tell you he'd come?

You just can't suppress curiosity.

Sekiei, don't let your guard down!

Haven't you considered the possibility that

his friends might be hiding around here?

So, they're the Fabrications.

Ohnoki had already been creating these synthetic humans.

He must've known that these beings

would become interested in their will and soul.

And that's why he used the word "will" to lure Mitsuki.

At this point, did Mitsuki go with the enemy

because he wanted to find out about his will?

I wonder about that.

At this stage, it looks to me like he's still trying to figure out

if they pose a threat to the Hidden Leaf or not.

This is the first time I'm seeing the Fabrications,

but it looks like they have certain levels of emotions.

They seem to be quite intrigued with Mitsuki

who's also a synthetic human like them.

I wouldn't be surprised if Mitsuki felt the same way towards them too.

You're mine!

Mitsuki?

What is this?

– Did Mitsuki go there to help the enemy?! – Mitsuki!

– No. – You're okay!

– Most likely he did this – Mitsuki!

– to gain the trust of the enemy. – I really wanted to see you!

Mitsuki?

Are you okay?

Yeah… I'll manage.

Hey, Mitsuki?

Sorry. I'm going with these guys.

This is…

my will.

Mitsuki… You're kidding, right?

I mean, here!

Let's go back to Hidden Leaf Village, Mitsuki…

But if that happened,

it would have put Boruto and the others in danger.

There was only one path he could take.

Lightning Style: Snake Lightning!

No way…

Boruto Uzumaki?

I knew it.

At first glance, it might have looked like he betrayed Boruto,

but it was the best course of action to keep Boruto safe.

It successfully helped distract the enemy from Boruto and the others.

So he did this to find out more about the enemy?

Do you think there were no adverse effects

when he hurt his friend? He considered him his "sun."

No, I'm sure his soul was disquieted to no end.

Yeah, as in we were "made" into people.

C'mon, let's hurry.

Time lost cannot be regained.

Okay, okay.

Hey, you think Kirara got back safely…?

This Fabrication was so defective,

it had already reached the end of its lifespan.

Yes. That's why they wanted to analyze Mitsuki,

a perfect synthetic human, so they could improve the Fabrications.

It looks like Mitsuki was very surprised about this.

And it seems that he was very interested in that one called, Sekiei.

Stay calm!

Boruto is a being… who was like my sun.

"Was"?

Past tense, eh?

Even though he tried so hard to stay with Boruto.

He must've said this to fool the enemy again.

No, I'm not so sure about that.

Even if it was to protect Boruto, Mitsuki did attack him.

And even if it was to find out more about the enemy,

he did abandon the village.

This might have been the moment he came to the realization

that he may never see Boruto again.

That's why Boruto always has a lot of friends around him.

Boruto's larger than life, blindingly bright…

He's my sun, so far away.

But maybe even these feelings…

might have been created?

Do you think Mitsuki realized

that we're the ones that encouraged him to see Boruto?

That would be bad.

But Mitsuki's never asked us about that, right?

Yes, and that's the problem.

There's still a vague uneasiness that swirls inside Mitsuki.

Maybe that swelled, prompting him to go with them.

Mitsuki may have felt that he was truly alone.

Alone…

That's a sentiment I don't understand very well.

Mitsuki's mind has matured more than I thought.

Now that we know why he's in bad shape,

is there a way to make him better?

There is.

Just one.

We have to erase…

Mitsuki's memory!

His memory?!

You mean completely wipe his memory like before?

His brain can't keep up with the rapid growth

and that may cause his brain cells to become necrotic.

In order to stop that, we have no choice.

What a shame after he's grown this much.

That's exactly why.

I can't afford to lose him.