The Qualities of a Captain

Fresh into his chunin rank, Shikadai receives his debut assignment as a squad leader from Moegi, who has hastily gathered whatever genin happened to be free. He reports to the gate to find Iwabee and Wasabi already bickering, with a tardy Boruto rounding out the roster. Their target is a rare flower that opens only once every four years atop a distant peak, prized for its healing properties and therefore a magnet for thieves. Guiding them is Tonsuke, a spoiled pig whose keen nose can locate the bloom, and Iwabee draws the chore of hauling the animal since a trained pig has already been stolen once.

After wolves spook Tonsuke into bolting during the night, Shikadai recovers him and notes the snout-shaped mark on his hide. A swaying bridge and a bandit ambush follow, leaving the captain with a wounded leg and the pig missing again. When the retrieved animal starts gorging on wild mushrooms, Shikadai spots that the birthmark is gone and works out that the thieves swapped Tonsuke for their stolen pig during the scuffle. Iwabee bridges a ravine with Earth Release so the injured leader can continue, and the two quarreling teammates finally apologize. Once the starving Tonsuke begins wailing, Wasabi's cat-like hearing pins his location, letting Boruto's clones and Iwabee's jutsu corner the bandits and reclaim both pig and flower.

This 113th chapter of the Boruto anime carries no arc label and debuted in Japan on June 30, 2019, with the dub arriving May 25, 2021. Its theme songs are Golden Time and Ride or Die. Back in the village, Moegi reveals the outing doubled as an evaluation of Shikadai's command, deliberately pairing him with ninja outside his usual team, and he admits he still has a long road ahead as a captain. Two thieves, Teo and Jin, share their names with the actors who voiced them.