The Value of a Hidden Ace

Determined to earn his father's pride, Tentō drills his shuriken throws with Boruto's advice in mind. His attendant Yamaoka approaches with a warning about a suspicious man posing as a guard and voices fear for Ikkyū's safety, so Tentō resolves to look into it himself. Meanwhile Boruto fills Sarada and Mitsuki in on Tentō and the escort job, and Konohamaru surprises the trio with news of their first B-rank assignment, cautioning them about the greater risks even as the genin buzz with excitement.

Noticing his son's growing pile of collectible cards, Ikkyū decides to speak with the boy directly, mindful of his earlier conversation with Naruto. Yamaoka, however, leads Tentō down an isolated path where a Mujina Bandit knocks him out cold, and word soon spreads that both the boy and his attendant have vanished.

Strolling with Mitsuki, Boruto discovers that Tentō tucked the very card he had been chasing into his jacket, and though tempted to keep it, he hurries to give it back. Arriving at the hotel amid a heavy guard presence, he overhears Ikkyū discussing the abduction: the captors, calling themselves the Mujina Bandits, threaten to kill Tentō should the matter go public and demand five hundred million ryō along with the release of every inmate from Hōzuki Castle. Ikkyū suspects a spy has slipped in among his staff or the village itself.

Learning where the handover is set, Boruto rushes off, telling Sarada he must drop out of their mission. Sensing the gravity in his voice, she assures him she and Mitsuki will manage, and he keeps Konoha in the dark to avoid tipping off any informant. Held captive, Tentō is baffled by his abductors until the false Yamaoka sheds his disguise, revealing that he consumed the real man to steal his form.

Introducing himself as a shinobi, the imposter Shojoji is irritated that Tentō has never heard of him, when a name like Orochimaru rates a collectible card. Boruto strong-arms one of the bandits at the drop point into guiding him to their base, while Sarada updates Mitsuki on his situation. Shojoji mocks Tentō's escape attempts and reveals he means to take the boy's place, then Ikkyū's seat as daimyō. Spotting his shuriken and the Naruto card Boruto gave him, Tentō frees himself and tries to take his own life so he cannot be used against his father, but Shojoji stops him and moves to devour the boy's brain for his technique, only to be cut short by Boruto. The episode adapts chapter 13 within the Mujina Bandits arc.