On the sea, the cruise ship suddenly lurched with a violent shudder, jolting almost every student awake who had collapsed into sleep—aside from a few truly stubborn sleepers.
A colossal wave heaved up out of the darkness, crashing against the hull hard enough to make it feel like the ship might roll over at any moment.
The students who stumbled out onto the deck saw that the once-calm sea had turned into a roiling chaos. Waves slammed against the bow again and again, as if trying to force the ship back.
"What's going on?!" someone shouted.
The roar of the sea was so loud that even normal conversation had to be yelled.
"Could it be a storm?... Or a typhoon?"
The student had meant to say "storm," but even with the sky swallowed by night, everyone could tell it wasn't raining.
"The weather report didn't say anything about a sea storm. With waves like this, how did the captain agree to set sail in the first place?"
Captain: …
In all his years at sea, he had never seen anything like this—no warning, no shift in the wind, just a sudden monster swell hammering the ship.
And yet there wasn't even that much wind. If there were, half these kids would already be in the water, not standing and screaming on the deck.
And what was with that boy and girl sitting up on the observation deck?
You two just… sit there? Calm? Not even grabbing the rail? Are your butts glued down or what?
Up on the observation deck, Boruto, as if he'd been expecting this, quietly placed his hand on Sumire's shoulder, sending a steady flow of chakra into her body, stabilising her feet and calming her pulse.
The two of them sat as steady as rocks, a stark contrast to the students stumbling around on the main deck.
Inside the cruise ship, in the entertainment area, "Mitsuki" sat just as calmly, propping his chin in one hand, his gaze fixed on the churning sea as if nothing unusual were happening.
Iwabe clung to a table with chakra in his soles, squinting at him. "Did he… get so sad he turned to stone?"
Denki glanced between the windows and Mitsuki, torn. "I mean… I feel bad for him, but he's sitting really calmly…"
He couldn't decide whether to try comforting Mitsuki or copy Iwabe and practice focusing chakra into his feet.
Either way, this was turning into accidental combat training. For the future Twelve Guardians of Konoha's new era, learning to stabilize themselves with chakra in a real crisis wasn't exactly a bad lesson.
The next wave lifted the ship even higher, and the deck tilted hard enough that for a heartbeat it felt like the cruise might flip outright.
The students retreated from the open deck, crowding back into the entertainment hall. It still swayed like crazy, but at least they weren't in danger of being thrown straight into the sea.
"Boruto… will Mitsuki really be okay?" Sumire bit her lip, staring at the rolling black waves.
Just then, a puff of white smoke appeared beside Boruto, and a folded note dropped neatly into his hand.
Boruto opened it, scanned the characters once, and paused for only a second before scribbling a reply and sending it off with a flick.
—No time!
"Whose message was that? And what kind of weird code is that?" Sumire asked, squinting.
"It's kanji," Boruto said helplessly. "Long story." Then he added, "Don't worry. Mitsuki's completely safe right now."
He shrugged, as if this was all within expectations, then brought his hands together in a seal and inhaled.
—Sage Art: Water Release — Great Waterfall Technique!
Under the surface, a colossal current surged upward, shaping itself into an invisible canal that rose from the depths. The massive body of the cruise ship lifted, carried not by random waves now, but by a controlled torrent of water.
From the sea's perspective, the vessel had left the open ocean entirely, gliding forward along a raised river of water that sliced through the dark.
…
Deep sea.
Mitsuki watched quietly as the Tailed Beast Ball condensed in front of Isobu's mouth and then hurled straight toward him.
"They really don't give up," Mitsuki sighed softly.
Before the compressed chakra sphere reached him, its path twisted abruptly and it vanished from inside the Lightning Realm—displaced outside the barrier and into the open deep sea by a pre-set space–time formula.
The Tailed Beast Ball detonated far away in the dark, its terrifying force swallowed by the water. The resulting shockwave tore upward, racing toward the surface and churning the sea above into madness.
"Human… you're quite resourceful," Isobu said, enunciating each word.
"Can we talk properly now?" Mitsuki asked calmly.
He could tell that, for all the killing intent, that shot hadn't really been meant to hit him.
"Fine. Good… good, good," Isobu muttered, its three eyes narrowing as its fury settled into a grim calm.
Seeing the opening, Mitsuki spoke. "Then I'll be blunt. Join our organization—[Moon]."
The water inside the Lightning Realm seemed to grow colder. Even the lightning webbing the barrier crackled a little sharper.
"What did you just say?!" Isobu roared, rage exploding again as another Tailed Beast Ball began to form at its lips.
"As part of this world, when disaster comes, all forces that can protect the ninja world should stand together," Mitsuki continued evenly.
He stood there, unflinching, even with the killing chakra aimed right at him, and Isobu knew this human was probably untouchable—at least here, in this setup. That didn't stop the Three-Tails from baring its fangs.
"The 'disaster' you're talking about—those alien Ōtsutsuki, right? The ninja world already has its heroes. We don't need rats crawling out of the dark and calling themselves saviours!" Isobu snapped.
"Oh? You mean the Hokage and Sasuke?" Mitsuki lowered his voice.
He chuckled softly. "But those two you're placing all your hope on couldn't even defeat a single member of our organisation. With that level of combat power, what are you relying on to 'protect' anyone?"
"T-that… that was just carelessness!" Isobu tried to argue.
"Careless, in the face of an enemy from outer space?" Mitsuki countered. "You really think an Ōtsutsuki would let them run away as easily as Uzumaki Boruto did?"
"!!" Isobu's pupils contracted. "You're saying… the only reason Naruto and Sasuke escaped alive… was because that kid stalled the enemy?"
It found that hard to believe—and yet, the more it thought about it, the more a cold weight settled in its gut. Someone capable of sealing the Ten-Tails' power shouldn't be struggling against just "some guy" from an organisation… unless that "some guy" was something else entirely.
"Don't forget," Mitsuki added, "they were both half-crippled at that point. It was Boruto who used the Flying Thunder God to pull them out."
"The Flying Thunder God Technique is reliable, sure," Isobu snorted. "But that's their skill. Your 'leader' just slipped up."
"Do you really think you're still in contact with the other Tailed Beasts right now?" Mitsuki asked quietly. "Don't kid yourself. When Boruto wanted to kill Naruto and Sasuke, he'd already sealed off all external links. The only reason he didn't go further… is because he chose not to."
After all, their goals still overlapped—for now.
"…" Isobu fell completely silent.
"Then how am I supposed to trust that you actually want to protect the ninja world once you get your hands on all of us?" it finally demanded.
There was hesitation now, but not surrender.
"You're not," Mitsuki answered with a small shake of his head. "Words don't mean anything. Oaths aren't binding."
Isobu stared at him for a long moment. At least this kid wasn't pretending otherwise.
"But," Mitsuki added, "at the very least, our leader has the support of the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku."
Isobu was stunned. "You're telling me… the leader of [Moon] uses Mount Myōboku's Sage Arts?"
No wonder, it thought. No wonder that chakra in the barrier felt familiar. It had brushed it off as a misperception before.
It still had some residual chakra left in Naruto. There was no way it could confuse that aura. This was the same lineage of Sage Chakra.
Which meant… that brat Kurama definitely already knew what kind of Sage Chakra this was.
He just hadn't told anyone.
"Open a gap in the barrier," Isobu said suddenly. "I want to talk to Kurama."
"…This…" Mitsuki hesitated.
"What? Don't you trust me?" Isobu asked, faintly smug, as if it had finally seized the initiative.
"No," Mitsuki said honestly.
He formed a seal and summoned a small messenger snake, leaning close to whisper his instructions.
Up on the ship, "Mitsuki" on the windowsill received the message. He hesitated for a heartbeat, then vanished in an instant.
The black rods anchoring the Lightning Realm had more than Boruto's Truth-Seeking Orb nature woven into them—they also bore Flying Thunder God markers.
In the sea, Isobu eyed the Mitsuki in front of it and squinted. "…You've been negotiating with a clone this whole time?"
Wait. A Wood Release Sage Clone?
Mitsuki and "Mitsuki" exchanged a nod. The latter dispelled his transformation technique, revealing a certain spiky blond "pineapple head" that made his identity obvious.
"You're not about to tell me this pineapple-headed brat is your leader, are you? …Wait. He does look kind of familiar."
Boruto: …
Note to self: change hairstyle.
"Save the commentary," Boruto said, stepping fully into view. "We're burning chakra here. Let's keep this efficient."
A familiar, massive chakra flared to life beside him. In the mental world of the barrier, two more figures appeared—Boruto and Kurama, side by side.
On the outside, Boruto bumped fists with Mitsuki, anchoring himself into the shared mind-space.
"There's only a handful of us here," Boruto said with a faint smile, looking between Isobu and Kurama. "So we can talk freely, without worrying about leaks."
Isobu: "I knew this kid was bad news."
Kurama: "Don't worry about what you feel. Just understand: if he wanted to, he could kill you instantly."
Isobu froze, stunned. "How can a fox say that so casually?!"
"From the moment the leader of [Moon] appeared," Kurama said slowly, his gaze locked onto Boruto, "I sensed something. Faint, but unmistakable. The pull of blood."
Boruto rubbed his neck. "…So I almost got found out that early?"
"That's why I suggested splitting my chakra," Kurama continued, "and letting half of me reside inside you, Boruto."
The fox's slit pupils narrowed as he stared down at him.
I never thought the mastermind behind all this… would be you.
Boruto had always assumed Naruto had split the Nine-Tails to protect him—give him power, a backup, and insane recovery in a time of looming war.
Turns out…
The clown was him.
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