Incurring Wrath

Making for Garaga's lair, the genin fill Chōchō in on what a reverse scale is, and Sarada recalls the Academy lesson on summoning. Enormous snake tracks lead them to a battered clearing, and they remember the White Snake Sage's warning that Garaga rampages after losing an eye. Startled first by stone snake statues, they then meet Garaga himself, who attacks at once. Shikadai's Shadow Bind cannot hold something so large, and just as Sarada is nearly swallowed, a second serpent bites Garaga and buys the group time to flee. In Konoha, Moegi returns alone and hands Shikamaru the shōgi piece Shikadai left, confirming his hunch that Mitsuki's leaving hides something.

The blue snake catches up and names himself Aoda, a summon sworn to Sasuke, sending Garaga into a fury over the interference. Aoda explains that most violent snakes carry a reverse scale and grow docile once it is taken, then offers to escort the genin home, though Sarada insists on their mission. Devising a plan, the group has an enlarged Chōchō bait Garaga while Inojin blots out his one good eye with ink and Shikadai pins him with his shadow, with Aoda and Chōchō holding him fast. Boruto and Sarada move for the scale, but Garaga twists free and strikes Chōchō with a venom that turns her to stone.

In parallel threads, Sakura has the recovering Uō send Naruto a report, and Tsunade weighs the crisis with Naruto and Shikamaru, while Yurito quietly steals something from Uō's sickroom. Hinata apologizes to Sakura for Boruto taking Sarada along, and Sakura answers that her daughter owns her choices. From this installment on, the anime shifted to a new TV Tokyo timeslot, moving from Thursday evenings to Sunday afternoons.