Konohamaru Becomes the Hokage?!

Dropping off a mission report, Konohamaru finds Naruto torn over a guest appearance in a Kagemasa film. Himawari has won a family hot springs trip, so Naruto would rather take time off, yet Shikamaru insists it must be him since the climax calls for a Rasengan. Dreading that Himawari might block his tenketsu again if he cancels, Naruto is relieved when Konohamaru, who also knows the Rasengan, volunteers to take his place. At the studio Konohamaru meets the crew and Kagemasa's actor, Gongoro Kamakura, who has wrenched his back and is done for the day. Though he can transform into Naruto outright, the make-up team simply pencils on his whiskers. Shooting a green-screen scene, Konohamaru is put off by the assembly-line pace and by how little the actor playing Shikamaru resembles the real one.

The assistant director, nostalgic for the on-location, practical-effects craft the current producer traded away for CG, hides the studio key to force filming outdoors, which Konohamaru enables by getting nearby shops to close. The enraged producer fires everyone but the leads. The next day Konohamaru spots the assistant director caught in a hostage standoff outside a bank and steps in, worsening things by naming the captor's family, who turn out to be the other criminals he just took down. The crew, eager to capture it, want the news team's camera. Gongoro shows up in his Kagemasa costume and distracts the captor long enough for Konohamaru to reach the explosive tag, but his chipped kunai won't cut it. Gongoro decks the man as his back gives out, yet the tag still activates.

Konohamaru smothers the blast with a Rasengan. Moved by the footage, the producer rehires the whole crew as sponsors return, and the director adds a CG flash finale while praising the assistant director's instincts. At home, Konohamaru sharpens his kunai to a stream of good press about the film. This Boruto-era installment leans into a love letter for old-school filmmaking over shortcut spectacle.