Anna Karenina

Wait, you're… the traveling performer?

Be careful.

Oh! Hey, hold on!

This is—!

Hey!

What do you want?

I just wanted to express my gratitude

since you've been awfully kind to Naruto, even though you've just met him.

Oh, no.

It's just that he looks like someone I knew in the past.

Hmm… I see, I see…

In the past, huh?

Sorry, but I'm in a hurry.

By the way, are you…

Sasuke Uchiha?

Just kidding!

There's no way you could be him.

A Village Without Sasuke

Found ya!

It's you…

– Hey, so um… – Hey, so um…

– What is it? – What is it?

– You go first, ya know! – You go first, ya know!

Sorry about earlier!

And for leaving in the middle of training.

No, I should be sorry for hurting you…

Oh, don't worry about it. It's nothing.

I know you didn't do it on purpose.

Besides, I figure it won't matter if I get stronger than you.

Let's not waste any more time and get back to training.

Yeah!

Or else, we won't be able to beat up Urashiki.

You're right!

I was just about to say the same thing, ya know!

All right, let's start training!

I didn't sense any pretense in your efforts to save Naruto in the last battle.

But the fact is, I still don't know your identities.

So, why don't we make a deal?

I won't delve into your identities any further,

if you give me intel on the enemy, Urashiki.

Consider it a give-and-take.

Apologies…for making you worry.

So, we have a deal!

And what of Urashiki since then?

Have you sensed his presence?

I don't sense him yet.

But he came here to take chakra…

and his goal is to take the Nine Tails' massive amount of it.

I see…

I'm sorry for lying about being traveling performers.

We're in a position where we can't let anyone know who we are.

But our desire to protect Naruto from Urashiki is absolutely real.

If Urashiki gets a hold of the Nine Tails' Chakra,

there's no future left for us as shinobi.

Then, we must do everything to protect Naruto and

prevent the Nine Tails from getting taken.

Thanks to your Sealing Jutsu,

we now know we can counter Urashiki's chakra-extracting jutsu.

But my jutsu isn't foolproof.

Also…

The Sealing Jutsu on Naruto is a special one.

But when he's under Nine Tails Transformation,

it seems that some of his chakra can be extracted.

What other jutsu does Urashiki possess?

He is able to teleport using a special jutsu.

A type of Transportation Technique?

That is troublesome.

It means that we can't tell where he's coming from, right?

Yeah, but when he uses that jutsu, I'm able to sense it.

Oh?

We're still not sure,

but it seems he has other powers as well.

The enemy has unknown variables, huh?

In any case, we need to come up with a strategy

to protect Naruto and the Nine Tails from Urashiki.

How's training going with those two?

Not sure how it will end up.

Naruto especially isn't very adept.

A Collaboration Jutsu might not be possible.

However, children are also unknown variables.

Boruto and Naruto are similar beyond just their chakra.

They both have good, strong and direct eyes.

ICHIRAKU RAMEN

ICHIRAKU RAMEN You know,

you just can't put your all into training when you're hungry.

Looks delicious!

Ramen again…

This ramen here is seriously really good!

Of course, cup ramen is good too.

Thank you for the food!

So good!

Granny Tsunade mentioned a genin who deserted the village.

It was you, wasn't it, Sasuke?

Why?

Back then, I saw no other choice.

Hey, can I ask you something?

Hmm?

Your friend…

Why did he leave the village?

Why do you wanna know?

Well, it's bothering me.

I mean, he's a genin of the Leaf Village, right?

There had to be a big reason for him to desert the village…

He said it was to gain power.

His entire family, the Uchiha clan, was annihilated.

He's the sole survivor.

That's why he wants to become stronger to get revenge.

That's so—!

But to desert the village?!

To sever bonds…

He said that strength lies in the pain of solitude.

That's why he severed our bond, and his bonds with all of us,

to become stronger.

We tried our best to stop him.

But he ended up going to Orochimaru.

By Orochimaru, you mean—?!

Why would you go to such lengths to bring Sasuke back?

Because he's a connection that I finally made.

A connection…

I don't have any parents or siblings, so I don't know what it's like.

But after being on the same team as Sasuke,

I felt like…

maybe this is what it's like to have a sibling.

I need to get stronger to bring Sasuke back.

That's why I'm training with Pervy Sage.

I need to beat some sense into him one more time,

make him wake up

and bring him back to the village.

Because he's my friend.

That's why I don't have time to be dealing with that Urashiki guy, ya know!

Come on! After we eat this, let's get back to training!

Right!

Thanks for the food!

ICHIRAKU Mmm! This is so good!

Right?

So, you can't fight at full strength yet?

Yeah, thanks to your Sealing Jutsu,

he couldn't steal my chakra this time.

Still, I haven't replenished the chakra he took in our previous fight.

I see…

He could actually see that I wasn't at full strength.

I see.

You said earlier that Urashiki has special jutsu, right?

Yeah.

In that case, you block him from using his jutsu.

During that time, I'll use my Sealing Jutsu to seal him.

Then, I'll blow him away with a Toad Oil Bomb.

That said, he looked extremely experienced.

Ordinary means won't work.

If I could only infuse my chakra even a little.

The reality is that I don't have much of a counter jutsu.