Because of Love

Matsuri has Konohamaru by the throat, and remembering Shikamaru's advice he tries to reach the person inside her, warning that being consumed will kill him. She is torn between her attachment to him and the hunger to devour him, and that very conflict drives her to bind him tighter with Wood Release. On another part of the field, Araya, Yodo, Mitsuki, and Sarada are losing ground to Ryū. With Araya's blade destroyed, nothing checks his Iron Sand, and he pins both Araya and a drained Mitsuki. Ryū offers freedom in exchange for anything they know about Boruto, but Sarada refuses to give up a friend, and Yodo, sensing that Boruto is the root of Sarada's inner struggle, claims they have no intel while offering her own tracking skills in trade for the others' lives.

A tear slides down Matsuri's face and bewilders her, and Konohamaru tells her the sorrow means part of her does not want him dead, a moment mirrored when Hidari spots Jura weeping at the Human God Tree's base. Konohamaru coaxes her to join hands as the start of something between them, then, recalling Shikamaru's plan, tears away her arms and part of her body with Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres. Jura observes that her love made her hesitate, yet Konohamaru's own doubt lets her strike back before he can finish her. Meanwhile Ryū drives an Iron Sand spear clean through Yodo, and as Sarada is forced toward a killing blow, Yodo urges her to stop holding back her hidden power, not only for the mission but to protect the one who matters to her. Ryū's Iron Sand suddenly peels off everyone and streams toward a black hole forming overhead, and Mitsuki realizes Sarada has awakened her Mangekyō Sharingan.

This is chapter 20 of the Blue Vortex series, collected in volume 5 and set during the Matsuri and Ryū arc. It first appeared in Japan through V Jump in May 2025.