Place to Belong

Sai, Shikamaru, and Ibiki pool what Amado has told them about Code, whose Claw Marks brand locations and let him flit between them instantly. Shikamaru likens the trick to the Flying Thunder God Technique, though it is not space-time ninjutsu. Nothing has surfaced inside the walls so far, yet four tagged points sit near the perimeter, and Shikamaru suspects they may be bait meant to thin out his forces. Reports from the other villages echo the same pattern with no trace of Code himself, and the captured Outers reveal nothing under questioning. That leaves two leads: the marks and whoever Code holds responsible for Isshiki's death. Watching from the Hokage monument, Kawaki is himself under guard, while Sumire presses Amado on his intentions now that the boy's Kama is restored. Amado stays evasive, calling it a private matter and swearing he means Konoha no harm, and hints that a container beside him, already cleared with Katasuke, will yield a formidable ally.

Elsewhere, an impatient Code tries to brand Daemon, but the boy's reflexive power bounces the mark onto Bug instead, and Code covers by yanking Bug through the mark as a supposed demonstration. Ada refuses to let Daemon spell out his ability, telling Code their acquaintance is too new for full disclosure. Back home, a week of Amado's medicine has done nothing for Boruto, and Kawaki, brooding over strangers' stares, tries to make do with a single rice ball rather than join dinner. Naruto refuses to accept it, hoists the boy up, and openly calls him his son. The Uzumaki have thrown him a welcome party, the cracked vase he mended set proudly on the table despite his embarrassment, and Himawari treasures it all the more for its flaws. Boruto then offers Kawaki his own forehead protector, insisting the team already counts him as one of their own.

Kawaki protests that he holds no rank, but Boruto tells him to keep it until he earns his own, since Sasuke already gave Boruto a spare. Naruto later drives the point home, telling the boy that if someone like him cannot feel at ease in the village, then he himself has failed as Hokage. Alone afterward, Kawaki brushes off Amado's proposal of a purely offensive Kama, resolving that one option still remains to shield both Konoha and Naruto. The chapter belongs to volume 16 within the Code's Assault arc, and a minor art slip leaves Sai's forehead protector vanishing for a page.