The Strong

Fresh off crushing a swarm of Claw Grime with his reawakened Sage Mode, Mitsuki is met by Konohamaru, who now carries Matsuri's Thornbulb. Mitsuki reports that Araya has seized Ryu's Thornbulb and is racing toward Shinki's tree while carrying the fallen Yodo. Though Konohamaru mourns Yodo, he insists this is exactly the kind of resolve confronting the Human God Trees demands, and that she would take comfort in knowing her sacrifice secured the Thornbulbs. Mitsuki adds that he saw Jura streak past toward Matsuri's position, indifferent to his own group and uninterested in reclaiming Ryu's Thornbulb.

Konohamaru explains that Matsuri nearly killed him before Boruto stepped in to save his life, with Jura appearing moments afterward. The two conclude that Jura's true objective is Boruto's death, and that Boruto is deliberately keeping the enemy occupied so the others can slip away with their prize. Acting on Boruto's instructions, they set out for the spot where they first joined up with Araya and Yodo, choosing to trust the plan even without understanding it.

Meanwhile, Boruto trades blows with Jura and gauges the wound already carved into him. Spotting a Tailed Beast Ball being charged, he slips clear and lands atop a nearby outcrop. Jura privately concedes that the long wind-up is the technique's worst flaw and resolves to lean on distant sniping or point-blank bursts instead. Boruto closes the gap by hurling a kunai and warping to it with his Flying Thunder God technique. His blade is knocked away before it can bite, but he teleports to the fallen sword and strikes from a new angle, shearing off one of Jura's legs. As the exchange carries them into the air, Boruto admits he is badly outmatched in raw strength. When Jura seizes his wrist to unload another Tailed Beast Ball, Boruto breaks the grip with Lightning Release: Purple Electricity.

Reading Boruto's ragged breathing, Jura decides to simply beat him to death rather than waste the beast balls. He hammers Boruto with taijutsu, blindsides him, and chips his sword with each parry, finally slamming him to the ground and knocking him out. Watching through her Senrigan, Ada declares she can no longer bear to look and calls out to the silent Koji Kashin, who hushes her as his Ten Directions activates and floods him with startling new futures. As Jura moves to finish the unconscious Boruto with a single respectful blow, a black rod punches through his skull and right eye from behind, and Kawaki appears standing over him.

Koji, receiving fresh visions for the first time in six days, realizes Kawaki's presence is an entirely new possibility and deduces that Boruto must have contacted him during the preceding days. As Mitsuki, hauling an unconscious Sarada, hunts for one of Boruto's teleportation markers, Delta ambushes the group at the rendezvous. Kawaki blinks around Jura with Sukunahikona and skewers him with a spray of smaller black rods conjured through Daikokuten, then rouses Boruto, who grumbles that his rescuer is late. Kawaki activates his Kama and warns Boruto to keep himself together or be put down, but Boruto tells him to ignore the resonance and press the attack. As Jura charges, Kawaki calls him out for a duel. This chapter ran in V Jump for August 2025 and was collected in Blue Vortex volume 6.