Developing One's Medical Ninjutsu

A notice about an advanced medical ninjutsu course circulates among the genin. Because the Academy only covers the basics, each team must nominate one representative for the deeper training, and when Boruto and Mitsuki beg off, they push Sarada forward on the grounds that her mother runs the class. She reluctantly signs on. Reviewing the applicants, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sakura note how hard it has been to schedule the course given all the recent trouble the young ninja have caused, and hope it will surface a genuine talent for healing.

Sarada frets, remembering she showed no knack for the subject back at the Academy. After overhearing Shikadai and Inojin praising how flawless the Hokage is, unaware they mean trading cards, she feels driven to shine, since she means to hold that title one day. She joins the class alongside Hako, Wasabi, Inojin, Doshu, and Iwabee, all of whom either assume she is gifted or expect her to bail them out.

Sarada relaxes when Sakura opens with a lecture and a written exam, her stronger suit. The practical work goes worse: told to blend coffee with milk and then draw them apart again through fine chakra control, she only muddles hers further. She stumbles through the Mystical Palm Technique on training dummies and struggles to coax a flower bud to bloom. A run of accidents keeps making it look as if she has succeeded when she has not, Iwabee mistakenly drinking from her glass and Doshu's stray bloom drifting to her side. Boruto, Shikadai, and Mitsuki, having finished their own tasks, are caught peeking in.

The last assignment, overseen by a visiting Shizune with Naruto and Shikamaru along as guests, undoes the illusion when Sarada's nerves cause her to scorch a fish dummy instead of mending it. She finally admits she is hopeless at the discipline and confesses she felt crushed by the weight of being Sakura's daughter. Naruto owns up to being unable to use healing arts himself, and Boruto rattles off his own weak spots, easing her shame. When Sakura is pulled away for an emergency, Shizune reveals that Sakura, too, was no quick study and endured grueling training under Tsunade. That night Sarada asks her mother why she chose the path, and Sakura explains she wanted the strength to stand beside Naruto and Sasuke, reassuring her daughter that effort can carry her the same way.

The episode is number 152 of the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations anime. Its Japanese broadcast was on April 12, 2020, with the English airing on November 23, 2021. The opening theme is Starting and Growing and the ending theme is Maybe I.