The Revival of the God Tree

Victor and his assistant watch with satisfaction as the towering plant they have raised sinks its vines into everything around it. Konohamaru and Mugino battle the writhing tendrils, but the growth latches onto the leader of the Land of Valleys and siphons away his chakra until he collapses, and Mugino soon suffers the same drain. As the two Leaf operatives trade blows with Victor's staff, Mugino takes a blade meant for Konohamaru, who then blasts away a section of the tree with a Rasengan to open a window of escape.

Racing in from outside, Boruto and Sarada push on to reach their comrades. Konohamaru urges the wounded Mugino to slip out with the fainted ruler, since the daimyo is the only witness who can keep the whole affair from being buried. When the younger pair finally break through, they tie the disaster to their earlier clash with the White Zetsu remnants in the ruins. Victor, thrilled by his creation, boasts that he grew it from a fragment of the original God Tree salvaged from the last great war, then turns his wind techniques on the young shinobi.

Victor caves in the floor to split Boruto and Sarada off from Konohamaru, and Sarada cushions their landing beside a chamber full of the people Victor has experimented on. Deepa appears and cheerfully welcomes another fight. Elsewhere, the assistant moves to stop Mugino from fleeing with the ruler, only to be intercepted by a cloaked stranger who makes her vanish. The hood comes down to reveal Orochimaru, with a second robed ally steadying the injured Mugino.

Orochimaru's abrupt intervention stuns Mugino and sets up the veteran rogue's involvement in the arc. Deepa punctures the heroes' assumption that he craves the tree's fruit for raw strength, admitting instead that he simply hungers for new flavors and textures, a motive that disgusts Boruto and Sarada into swearing to bring him down. The episode belongs to the Kara Actuation storyline.