Loser

Cloaked in Tailed Beast Mode, Naruto braces against Momoshiki's assault and briefly weighs a Tailed Beast Ball before rejecting it. Sasuke explains to a puzzled Boruto that countering would level the surrounding countryside, so Naruto absorbs the blow instead, an act Momoshiki reads as proof of a lesser form of life. Boruto later comes to in the hospital, where the wounded from the attack were gathered. He learns from Sakura that Hinata was hurt trying to stop Momoshiki and Kinshiki from seizing Naruto. Overcome with remorse, Boruto flees the ward, strips off the Kote he blames for his shortcuts, and makes his way to the Hokage's office.

Pulling on his father's worn coat, Boruto calls himself a loser, and Sasuke bluntly agrees before drawing a parallel between the boy and a young Naruto. Sasuke reframes the insult as praise, noting that Boruto has come to despise losing and refuses to back down, and he accepts Boruto as his student. With the other Kage pledging to help, Sasuke opens a Rinnegan portal from the Academy roof toward Naruto's captors.

Seen off by Sakura, Hinata, Sarada and Mitsuki, Boruto dons Sasuke's scarred headband, a sight that leaves Hinata struck by his resemblance to Naruto. He promises to return before stepping through the rift. The chapter belongs to volume 2 of the Versus Momoshiki arc and carries the alternate English title Buffoon.