A Signature of Fear

Team 5 stops by the hospital to check on Boruto, with Iwabee trying to rouse him using a favorite Lightning Burger. The others recall that Boruto wore himself out testing his Compression Rasengan against Shojoji, that Sarada has been training under her father, and they wonder about Mitsuki and his unusual parentage. A scream draws them to another room, where a patient named Natto pelts Iwabee with ketchup before fleeing. A nurse explains the boy has lost his snack privileges and is acting out because he dreads a looming surgery he cannot accept. Learning the visitors are shinobi, Natto begs them to get his Orochimaru trading card signed.

Though Denki and Metal balk given Orochimaru's grim reputation, Iwabee's determination and his wish to see Mitsuki win them over. Team 5 digs through the village archives, where Denki cracks into Orochimaru's records and locates him. A jonin on surveillance duty waves them past while Yamato reports to Naruto, and the trio then runs into Suigetsu, who tries to brush them off. Their attacks bounce off him, but they lure him into striking a damaged power line; the jolt only irritates him, and Orochimaru halts the scuffle before anyone is hurt.

To everyone's astonishment, the boys sheepishly ask for an autograph rather than a fight. Orochimaru obliges, tells them Mitsuki is under intensive care but will recover, and privately notes his son has finally made friends beyond Boruto. Team 5 delivers the signed card to Natto and admits how frightened they were to earn it.

Boruto wakes to find Kakashi, who cautions that tightening the Rasengan further only worsens the recoil on his arm, so he should use it sparingly. Sarada meets Boruto at the hospital, the two compare their training, and Boruto produces Anato's ring, prompting them to plan its return to Mia. On a separate front, Konohamaru and Mugino observe Deepa reaching Victor's company; Victor presses about a missing puppet that Deepa blames on interference, and the two discuss an approaching inspection by the Land of Valleys' daimyo and the final phase of their experiments, which Konohamaru and Mugino intend to disrupt.

The episode is part of the Kara Actuation Arc of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. It aired in Japan on 1 November 2020 and in English on 17 May 2022. The opening theme is Starting and Growing and the ending theme is Central. The story balances a lighthearted autograph quest against the shadowy progress of Victor's experiments.