Chapter 195:
After leaving Hydra, they arrived at the interrogation room in the Hidden Leaf Village.
"Jar Merchant, do you know about the Mutant Beast, Evilmoku?" Sasuke asked.
The Jar Merchant glanced around. The small eyes on his jar took on a grave look as he said, "How do you know that name?"
"Actually, with the help of Gray Wolf from S.H.I.E.L.D., Isshiki Ōtsutsuki has reincarnated as the Mutant Beast Evilmoku. That's why we need to gather intelligence on Evilmoku," Shikamaru explained from the side.
"The Armored Warriors haven't even all assembled yet, and Evilmoku has already appeared..." the Jar Merchant sighed before continuing, "Evilmoku is a Shadow Guardian under the Shadow Emperor. He also serves as both strategist and vice-captain. Back then, he was a key figure in the invasion of the Ninja World, but was ultimately defeated by the combined forces of the Armored Warriors Flame Dragon Knight and Wind Eagle Knight."
"What are the Armored Warriors?" asked Amado, who had been accepted as a villager of the Hidden Leaf after being acknowledged by Naruto and released from his restraints.
"They are..." Naruto began explaining to Amado.
"...I never expected the origins of the Five Great Nations in the Ninja World to be like this," Amado said, turning toward the Jar Merchant.
"In any case, my current recommendation is to locate another Armored Warrior as soon as possible. To repel the Mutant Beasts, the five Armored Warriors must all be present."
...
Although Amado remained under surveillance in the Hidden Leaf, he had also assumed the position of head of the Scientific Ninja Tools Department, filling the vacancy left by Dr. Katasuke, who had been recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D.
"I have to get going, Naruto."
"Master Jiraiya." Though reluctant, Naruto, now a mature adult, understood that this wasn't the time to try to make Jiraiya stay.
Just like when Jiraiya had gone to investigate the Akatsuki years ago, Tsunade hadn't tried to stop him then either.
"Be careful, Master Jiraiya."
"Don't worry, Naruto. I'm the former Toad Sage, after all," said Red Wolf with a confident grin. "I'll use toads to relay S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence when the time comes."
Inside the Hokage's office—
After seeing Jiraiya off, Naruto sat in his chair feeling melancholy.
"Now's not the time to dwell on emotions, Naruto. We still have a lot to do," Shikamaru said, looking at the unmotivated Naruto.
"Yeah," Naruto replied, pulling himself together. "From here on out, we need to push forward with assembling the rest of the Armored Warriors..."
"Also, we got a message from La Rossa—Gray Wolf seems to be conducting biochemical experiments in the Land of Wind. Although we sent a batch of scientific ninja tools to assist, the situation there is still pretty grim."
Hearing this, Naruto tapped his fingers on the desk and said, "And the Daimyō of the Land of Water and the Land of Fire are supposed to hold talks in the Land of Iron soon. We'll need to send some shinobi there too... Looks like we're really running low on manpower."
"If it's handling a biochemical crisis, then Future Boruto would clearly be more adept at it," Shikamaru analyzed. "And since we're going to the Land of Wind anyway, we might as well track down Wind Eagle Knight while we're at it."
"Mm..." Naruto nodded. "We'll need to sort all of this out. Shikamaru, let's handle these matters tomorrow."
At the Hyūga Clan compound—
"Geez, when is our house going to be done already?"
Modern Boruto walked beside Hinata on her right, while Future Boruto quietly walked on her left.
"What's wrong, Boruto? Isn't staying at your grandfather's house nice?"
"It's not bad, really. It's just... Grandpa's a little too clingy." Modern Boruto recalled the scene of Hiashi Hyūga poking his cheeks with his beard and shivered involuntarily.
Hinata chuckled softly. Even though Future Boruto remained silent beside them, he was genuinely enjoying this peaceful time.
"Oh, right—Boruto, we're having your favorite hamburger steak for dinner tonight."
"Really, Mom?!" Boruto cheered. "That's awesome!"
Back at the Hyūga compound—
"Yo, you're back," Naruto greeted the three as they returned home. Standing next to him were Hiashi Hyūga, Hanabi Hyūga, and his clingy daughter, Himawari.
"Dad? You're home this early today?" Boruto eyed Naruto suspiciously. "Don't tell me you sneaked out of work again."
"You think I'm like you? Back in my day, I was always a top student. More than one person told me, 'Naruto, you're definitely going to be Hokage someday.'"
"Is that so..." Boruto responded with doubt in his voice.
"Honestly..." Ignoring his son, Naruto turned to Future Boruto. "How about a sparring match?"
To put it simply, a sparring match in this context is referred to as ninjutsu grappling.
"Sure, I'm up for it," Future Boruto nodded. He was also curious to gauge his current strength.
"You two, don't let things get out of hand," Hinata said.
"Don't worry, Hinata."
As the current Hokage and son-in-law of the Hyūga clan, Naruto had access to the clan's vast estate. Finding a space suitable for a sparring match was no trouble at all.
"Go, Boruto!"
Hanabi cheered on Future Boruto from the sidelines.
"Go, future me!"
"Go, big brother!"
"Hey hey hey, is no one going to cheer for me?" Naruto squinted at the crowd.
"Um... Go, Dad!" Himawari quickly responded.
"Alright! Don't worry, Himawari. Your dad's going to give it his all!"
"..." Future Boruto quietly waited in the ring for Naruto to finish interacting with the others.
"Alright, let's begin. Boruto, show me your full strength," Naruto said, instantly entering Sage Fox Mode.
"Okay." Future Boruto nodded and activated Super Nine Tails Mode.
Sage Mode plus Nine Tails Chakra Mode VS Super Saiyan Mode plus Nine Tails Chakra Mode.
Golden chakra waves clashed violently.
The two moved almost simultaneously, engaging in close-quarters combat. Their high-speed, afterimage-filled strikes shook the ground beneath them.
"Why aren't they using ninjutsu? Just using taijutsu is kinda boring," Modern Boruto muttered as he watched himself battle Naruto.
Compared to flashy ninjutsu, taijutsu seemed a lot more plain.
"If those two really went all-out with ninjutsu, the Hidden Leaf would be in ruins," said a familiar voice.
Boruto turned and exclaimed with surprise, "Uncle Sasuke! What are you doing here?"
"With that kind of intense chakra erupting in the village, of course I came to take a look. And I'm not the only one. Others will be arriving soon too."