Boruto stood in the dust, his hand still outstretched. He hadn't brought Mitsuki home, but he had seen the truth: Mitsuki was hurting, lost in a crisis of identity that no Rasengan could solve.
The group began their trek deeper into enemy territory, no longer just runaway genin, but a rescue party determined to save a soul.
In the hidden labs of Orochimaru, the air was thick with the scent of ozone and sterilized steel. Mitsuki—the boy who had always been a shadow following Boruto’s sun—had vanished, leaving behind only a cryptic message and a trail of questions that led toward the Land of Earth.