Nine-Tails

Expecting the Seventh Hokage, Jura is instead met by Himawari, a mismatch that intrigues rather than deters him. Shikadai flags the sensor unit for reinforcements while Jura draws a book from beneath his cape to verify who he is dealing with. When asked whether he wants a message passed to the Hokage, the God Tree explains that he traced this route by locking onto the fox's chakra, a claim that catches everyone off guard given the widely accepted story of Naruto's death. Shikadai silences Inojin before he can confirm that rumor, and Jura only grows more amused, savoring the fresh riddles the world keeps handing him.

He tries to bind Himawari inside a tree, but Shikadai's shadow technique freezes him long enough for Inojin to yank her clear and Chōchō to break her fall. Impressed by their coordination, Jura assures Team 10 he bears them no grudge, yet promises retaliation if they keep shielding the girl. Shikamaru reaches Shikadai and receives an update on what the God Trees are after, while a rattled Amado frets over Kawaki and puzzles over Jura's true nature. Koji alerts Boruto that the enemy has moved, marking which toad he should warp to.

A toad relays to Shikamaru that Boruto has arrived and that Ino needs to reopen the communication lines. Kawaki stirs awake to Delta scolding him for his recklessness; he shrugs it off, citing his healing, but she insists on caution and passes along the invaders' coordinates. Boruto identifies the attackers as God Trees by their Wood Release, then hears from Shikamaru that they covet Himawari and the fox's chakra. When Kawaki fixates on him instead of the true threat and lashes out, Boruto slips past two Sukunahikona strikes and floors him in a single blow, faulting his slack training. Kawaki triggers his Kāma, setting Boruto's own mark humming in answer, and the toad warns Boruto to withdraw before he loses control, so he takes flight.

Inojin lifts Himawari onto his ink bird as Shikadai pins Jura, who charges a Tailed Beast Ball through his eye. Chōchō throws off his aim, sparing Shikadai from the blast, and Inojin sweeps up his teammates and escapes as Sarada and Sumire race toward the explosion. Hidari mocks the group for refusing to surrender the girl even under threat of death, but Jura judges their motives worth studying. Wanting to shield her friends, Himawari asks to be set down, and in that moment she is pulled into a mental space where a tiny Nine-Tails grumbles about being sniffed out by the Ten-Tails, and she realizes exactly which beast stands before her.

Published in June 2024 and collected in volume three, this chapter belongs to the Boruto: Two Blue Vortex continuation and its Boruto's Return arc. Its Japanese title reads Kyūbi, written with the kanji for the fox. The installment weaves three fronts at once: the standoff over Himawari, Boruto's reunion with Kawaki, and the first hint that the fox survives in some diminished form inside Himawari's consciousness.