The Figure I Want to Be

Shikadai pleads with Ryogi to come to his senses and accuses Gekko of pulling his strings, but Gekko counters that reality is never simple and calls Shikadai naive. When Boruto throws a kunai at Gekko, Ryogi blocks it and his mask shatters. Ryogi recounts how Gekko once rescued him, though Shikadai insists that is no excuse to become a thief. Ryogi fires back that Shikadai only thinks that way because he grew up sheltered in a thriving village, and dismisses their shogi games as nothing more than a ploy to get close. As his head begins to throb, Gekko orders him to pin the two down with Ice Release.

Shikadai warns Boruto the ice is no ordinary jutsu, but Boruto already seems lost in a trance. Gekko shows Ryogi his own reflection to reawaken the cursed seal, and the genjutsu makes Boruto see Shikadai as a Byakuya Gang member and attack. Realising the ice mirrors are the source, Shikadai shatters them with kunai and frees Boruto, crediting his resistance to having once been experimented on by Mirai. Gekko notices the shogi pieces Shikadai had given Ryogi, hurls them from the train, and demands Ryogi finish Shikadai to prove they mean nothing.

The pair pushes forward through the cars, and Boruto rushes ahead to stop Gekko from uncoupling his wagon. The cursed seal floods through Ryogi, who now sees Shikadai as the killer of his parents. Boruto and his shadow clones launch Shikadai forward with Wind Release, letting him touch Ryogi and break the illusion, so that Ryogi remembers it was Gekko himself who murdered his parents. Though Gekko separates his wagon and escapes, Naruto intercepts and defeats him further down the line.

The episode is part of the Byakuya Gang arc in the Boruto anime and first aired in Japan on February 28, 2018. The title nods to shogi, where the word nari means promotion. Afterward Gekko faces police questioning, Boruto returns the stolen research to Katasuke, and Ryogi, imprisoned but at peace, ends the ordeal finally free of the lie that shaped him.