Gaara watched the scene quietly, his expression unreadable, his hair shifting slightly in the breeze.
"It seems things aren't as simple as they look on the surface," he said. "There's more underneath."
At that, Boruto reached into his pouch and pulled out a specially made kunai, fingers already forming a familiar sequence of seals.
"Flying Thunder God: Mutual Instant."
The kunai flashed from his hand and vanished before it ever touched the ground.
A heartbeat later, the Raikage's soaked figure appeared, still in a swimming posture, before he slammed onto the earth in front of everyone.
"That was… bold," someone commented, eyeing the Raikage's slightly disheveled appearance.
"The Raikage can swim, right?" Boruto asked, his tone sounding almost concerned—but to everyone else, it was obviously him twisting the knife.
"We'll take this outside," Raikage Darui said calmly, showing almost no reaction. "We're a bit restricted in here."
"I don't mind," Boruto replied with a grin, hands already moving again.
"Flying Thunder God: Space–Time Barrier."
A large-scale formula spread unseen. In the blink of an eye, everyone in the room was transferred to the training grounds in the forested back mountain behind Konoha—a place usually used for ninjutsu and tool testing, now serving perfectly as their arena.
Kurotsuchi frowned. "Shouldn't someone explain what's going on? First, he goads us, then teleports us out here. Is the Hokage planning to 'educate' us by force?"
"No," Naruto said, shaking his head. "Boruto said he wants to spar with the Kage. There's ninjutsu he wants to learn from. If you don't mind… I'd like to ask you all to humor my son a bit."
He smiled warmly—soft as a spring breeze—and then disappeared from the immediate front line, stepping back with the other observers.
The Kage traded looks, then shook their heads, expressions reading: I almost believed that.
Gaara drifted closer to Naruto. "Is this wise? Even if Boruto can use Flying Thunder God, he might not be able to avoid the Raikage's blows completely."
Only then did it hit them properly—Boruto, at twelve, was using Flying Thunder God this naturally.
Maybe Naruto really did want Boruto to prove himself. That's how it looked.
…
At the far end of the training field, Raikage Darui said nothing. His expression barely changed. He simply let lightning crackle faintly across his skin, evaporating the lingering water from his body until he was dry again.
Boruto's eyes sharpened. He had already witnessed Darui's mastery of Lightning Release—and this simple, casual use only confirmed how refined his control was.
Chakra surged around Boruto. Golden lightning burst out of his skin and wrapped around him like armor.
The Raikage shifted into a stance. Fine threads of lightning seeped from his body, less obvious than Boruto's flare, but the power under the surface was on another level—waiting for the moment his fist moved.
Boruto sprang forward.
Their first clash exploded in a shower of lightning. Golden arcs and violet thunder collided, neither side gaining a decisive advantage at first impact.
Raikage smiled slightly—an expression of approval. Then he abruptly amplified his lightning, power spiking several times over, his chakra swallowing the golden light and instantly turning the tide.
"Kid, you can still quit," Darui said. "I don't need people saying I bullied a child."
But Boruto's face showed no panic—no frustration, no anger. Only calm blue eyes, analyzing.
"Good eyes," the Raikage murmured.
Boruto snorted softly. After roughly gauging the Raikage's power, he placed his free hand over his other fist, where their lightning clashed. Golden electricity surged, gathering and compressing.
A blade of pure golden lightning formed in Boruto's grip.
He broke contact with the Raikage's fist, swung with his other hand, and brought the crackling sword down. The gathered lightning cleaved, scattering and neutralizing a huge portion of the Raikage's chakra that had been flooding toward him.
Sparks exploded in all directions. At the center of the storm, the two exchanged blows several times in an instant, then split apart. Their movements were so fast that most attacks were over in the blink of an eye.
The Kage watching from a distance were stunned.
At this level, Boruto's strength was already on par with a jōnin.
And this was only their warm-up. For Darui, his muscles weren't even fully engaged yet. For Boruto, every exchange pushed his understanding of Lightning Release to a new depth.
The clashes intensified. The voltage climbed—ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million—until the blinding thunder seemed hot enough to burn the very air around them.
"Boruto… he really hasn't even graduated yet?" Kurotsuchi breathed in disbelief.
Thunder boomed across the field. Not only had Boruto not been overwhelmed, but he was clearly growing sharper, more fluid, more dangerous with every clash.
Raikage remained composed, a glint of admiration occasionally slipping into his eyes.
Then he let go of his restraint.
Chakra surged from his body in a tidal wave, aura flaring.
It felt like a wild beast baring its fangs.
"Lightning Release Chakra Mode."
In that form, his speed and strength would reach their absolute peak. He didn't announce it as a warning—he simply wanted to see Boruto's limits.
"Hey, hey," Kurotsuchi protested. "We're just teaching a kid a lesson. No need to go all out, right?"
The Kage weren't fond of Boruto's attitude, but they weren't trying to kill him.
"Naruto," Gaara said quietly, "are you sure you don't want to stop them?"
"Trust Boruto," Naruto replied. "If he feels real danger, he'll use Flying Thunder God to escape."
Are you sure?
The question hung in everyone's eyes.
They had thought Naruto was simply indulging Boruto's recklessness. Now they realized—this was deliberate.
Seeing their worry, Naruto looked up toward the clash of thunder. Boruto still didn't seem panicked. No hesitation, no signs of wanting to run.
Naruto exhaled slowly. "Actually, all of this… started with the Great Toad Sage's prophecy."
"A prophecy?" Gaara asked. "Is Boruto… the next child of prophecy?"
Naruto nodded, mind drifting back to the previous night—just before the Five Kage Summit.
He had just been discharged from the hospital, and mountains of paperwork were piled on his desk. The sky outside was dark, the village quiet. He had just picked up another document when the door opened.
Boruto walked in, his expression so serious that Naruto put the papers down immediately.
"What is it, coming this late?" Naruto asked.
"It's about the future of the shinobi world," Boruto answered.
His expression didn't look like a joke, so Naruto took him seriously. "Tell me. If it's something I can help with, I'll do it."
Boruto nodded. Then he said something completely unexpected.
"Let me spar with the Kage who'll be here tomorrow. I want to measure the gap between them and them."
"Huh?" Naruto stared. "What are you thinking?"
Boruto stayed quiet for a moment, then asked:
"How many of the current Kage do you think truly meet the standard?"
"…That…" Naruto froze.
He thought about it carefully—and suddenly understood.
And had nothing to say.
A heavy silence settled in.
Because out of the current Kage, aside from the Hokage, Kazekage, and Raikage… the remaining two were indeed much weaker than their predecessors.
In some villages, the leader's strength barely reached high jōnin level at best.
"That's why I want to warn them," Boruto said quietly. "With their current strength, they're not enough to face the 'Moon'… let alone the Ōtsutsuki who come from beyond this world."
Naruto frowned. "What's the plan, exactly?"
"It's simple. You just need to make your stance clear."
Seeing Boruto's steady look, Naruto realized his son already had a strategy in mind. All he could do was hope.
"At the Summit tomorrow, we'll stir things up. Make it a bit… unpleasant. Push them to the edge, and that'll give me the chance to fight."
Naruto was surprised by how thought-out it sounded, but still asked seriously, "Any other consequences you're considering?"
With Boruto's age and status, if things went badly and he clashed too hard with the Kage, it wouldn't be good for him—or for Konoha.
"Of course," Boruto said. "That's why I'll win. I'll beat the Kage I fight. I'll show them that the 'dignity' they cling to as Kage can be shattered by someone like me—a kid."
"I believe that humiliation will be enough to force them to show their real stance."
He met Naruto's gaze head-on, confidence burning in his eyes.
"Haha… are you sure, Boruto? A Kage's strength isn't something you brush off," Naruto said, patting his shoulder. But there was already a hint of acceptance in his voice.
"That's the standard for most Kage," Boruto replied. "Other than the Raikage, I don't really count the others."
"So what is it you want?"
"I want to fight the Raikage. That'll be enough of a statement." Boruto's eyes drifted slightly, as if he could already see that lazy figure wreathed in lightning. He was genuinely interested in Darui's style—especially now, with his own Lightning Release undergoing breakthroughs.
The best test is always real combat.
"But the experience and chakra reserves required to be a Kage are on a different level," Naruto said uneasily.
"You don't need to worry so much," Boruto replied. "Besides the surprise for tomorrow… I've already mastered Sage Mode, too."
He said it completely calmly.
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