Anna Karenina

Where am I?

What happened?

Boruto… If it's for your sake—!

Boruto!

Mitsuki?

Mitsuki!

Hey, what are you doing?!

Sarada… Where's Boruto?!

It's all right.

Lord Seventh protected Boruto and the others.

I see…

Thank goodness.

Come on, get back in bed!

But Lord Seventh was kidnapped by those guys…

Huh?!

So right now, my dad and the Five Kage have gone to rescue him.

Boruto went with them.

Boruto too?

Yes.

He snapped out of his depression just like that, and went with them.

That's so like him.

We'll use this to get to them.

Let's go!

Sarada, Shikadai…

Take care of everyone!

He'll be okay, right?

My dad and the Five Kage are with him.

He'll come home safely, right?

He'll be okay.

After all, Boruto is my sun.

I knew you were going to say that.

You're right!

All right, you were in critical condition…

You have to stay in bed and rest.

Yeah…

I feel like all my energy is drained.

There you go!

This is kind of fun.

Yeah, yeah…

Okay, I'll be going.

I'll call Shizune for you.

Okay.

Boruto,

you are amazing, after all.

Rescuing Naruto!

How does it feel to be nourishing this nursery that I created?

It's nice, isn't it?

That Divine Tree was created from one like you,

who harbored a beast.

Old Man Bee…!

In a short while, you'll become a Divine Tree too.…

What a ridiculous amount of chakra.

We've finally just reached the halfway point.

It's taking too long.

Sorry about that.

You see, we ninja don't like to make things easy,

ya know?

You see, ninja are different from you…

Our powers took time and hard work to acquire…

It's not like we're gonna give it up that easily.

So what? What are you going to do?

You train and persevere endlessly, and pointlessly,

getting nowhere at all, such vulgar creatures.

Once you become Chakra Fruit… you're merely fodder.

Before coming here,

I was able to absorb many jutsu.

I don't know just how much time you spent mastering them…

But with this pill,

we can obtain power greater than yours effortlessly.

This Shinobi Gauntlet allows one to use ninjutsu

without using your own chakra in addition to other people's jutsu!

So it's exactly like a Scientific Ninja Tool…

It's…all my fault, huh?

If you'd talked to me before…

I…

I wouldn't have ended up in this situation now!

I drove him to it…

That's why he relied on a Scientific Ninja Tool…

I treated him like a kid, didn't even acknowledge him…

I didn't try to really see who he is.

That's why he—!

What are you mumbling about?

Be quiet for a bit…

It's still going to take considerable time.

So? What's this "awesome power" you discovered?

The Byakugan!

What?

Ordinarily, the Byakugan requires intense training

before one can manifest it.

Oh, really?

Then I must really be a genius!

Like what Shikamaru just said…

One cannot awaken it without intense training.

And I know better than anyone,

that you haven't gone through that kind of training.

What?

Are you trying to say I'm lying?

No. There are cases like Himawari who've awakened it out of the blue…

So, we can't write it off just yet, but…

In other words, you don't trust me!

There has to be some basis for it, at least…

I can see it!

Look carefully.

That's…

The person who attacked your classmates today.

All the chakra in his body has been almost depleted.

Listen,

it's sheer luck that you've been safe

all this time during these incidents, that's all.

This is no longer a matter for kids playing detective.

I know that!

No.

You don't know the true horrors of battle.

First, graduate from the academy.

Then we can talk.

That's not fair!

Getting workplace experience…

That's all Boruto and the others were doing…

They were doing as they were told, by me.

Right, Boruto?

Shino, he's still a kid.

He's too young to be able to make that distinction.

Maybe so.

But there are times when a child can show us

that he can do more than an adult…

if he's treated like an adult.

Why not?

You're the Hokage, aren't you, Dad?!

Being the Hokage doesn't mean I can do whatever I please.

I have to consider the welfare of the entire village.

Don't worry.

Like I said, I won't let her down.

But try not to stick your nose into dangerous situations.

What's that supposed to mean?!

When I do something, I do it, ya know!

Boruto, I didn't apologize to you properly.

About your birthday, the other day…

It doesn't matter.

You're super busy with Hokage business, right?

I never had my hopes up anyway.

Boruto…

Instead…

You'd better be home for Himawari's!

I don't care

if my stupid old man comes home for my birthday or not, for me…

But…

But she's still small, and she wants you there.

So, promise me… Swear that you'll come home for that.

Yeah, I got it.

I'll never forgive you if you break your word.

This is a promise, man to man, got it?

I really didn't try… to understand him at all.

I guess I can't complain…

it's only natural if he calls me "stupid old man."

Don't resist.

Stop mumbling and just let your chakra be extracted.

Sorry… That's not gonna happen.