Naruto: Boruto Returns to Shippuden

Chapter 171 Return

Sasuke gripped the Kusanagi sword tightly, and purple lightning began to flash across its surface as it spread out towards the shuriken clones that Boruto had thrown in all directions.

One by one, these shuriken clones were destroyed by the bombardment of purple lightning. Finally, Sasuke cleared all the illusory shuriken clones, leaving only the original body. Only then did Sasuke stop his attack of releasing purple lightning.

Sasuke gave Boruto no time to retaliate with "Sage Art: Great Dragon Fire Technique." He immediately concentrated the abundant Sage Chakra within his body, then opened his mouth and spat out several huge dragon-shaped flames. These flames meandered and swirled in the air before rushing straight towards Boruto.

"Water Release: Waves!"

Boruto condensed his chakra within his body, transformed it into water jutsu, and then sprayed a high-pressure water jet onto the ground. The water jet spread rapidly across the ground, forming a huge wave.

Like a tsunami, the wave carried immense force as it met Sasuke's dragon-shaped flames. The flames and water waves devoured each other, creating a sky full of mist and sparks. Eventually, they both turned into a large amount of water vapor, which swept across the entire battlefield, shrouding it in a hazy mist.

At this moment, Sasuke activated his Sharingan, scanning the surroundings with his eyes, trying to use the Sharingan's perception to catch Boruto's figure.

Just as Sasuke was using his Sharingan to search for Boruto's location, Boruto's voice suddenly came from behind him: "The Flying Thunder God Technique I use is not limited to imprinting on shuriken."

Sasuke was startled when he heard Boruto's words. His eyes glanced down at the Kusanagi sword in his hand and, sure enough, he found an inconspicuous mark on the hilt, left by Boruto when he used the Kusanagi sword before.

Although Boruto approached Sasuke unexpectedly, he was unwilling to admit defeat and wanted to readjust the rhythm of the battle by moving quickly to create distance between himself and Boruto in order to find an opportunity to counterattack.

However, Boruto had anticipated Sasuke's intentions, and the moment Sasuke made a move, Boruto placed his hand on Sasuke's head.

As Boruto softly uttered "Ninja Art: Frog Transformation Technique," Sasuke suddenly felt his brain's thoughts freeze, his body seemed to lose control, and he couldn't muster any strength. A strong sense of dizziness washed over him.

Boruto looked at Sasuke, who had transformed into a frog, gently touched his nose, and a smug smile appeared on his face. This "Ninja Art: Frog Transformation Technique" was originally a special ninjutsu taught to him by Jiraiya. It was mainly used to intimidate and gather information during missions, but this ninjutsu could also temporarily disable the opponent in battle, thus giving him an advantage in the fight.

However, the duration of the effect is not fixed; it is inversely proportional to the opponent's strength. In other words, the stronger the opponent, the shorter the duration of the ninjutsu's effect.

Naruto, who was watching from afar, witnessed Sasuke turn into a frog. His face immediately lit up with an excited smile. He quickly walked over and couldn't help but tease, "I didn't expect Sasuke to be so cute as a frog."

As Naruto spoke, he reached out and gently stroked Frog Sasuke's chin, teasing him.

Just as Naruto was teasing Sasuke, who had turned into a frog, Boruto quietly raised his finger and silently recited the incantation for the release technique. As he did so, a cloud of smoke suddenly rose from the ground, and Sasuke's body began to change. His limbs gradually returned to their original state, and when the smoke dissipated, Sasuke had returned to human form and reappeared in front of everyone.

After regaining control of his body, Sasuke's gaze immediately turned ferocious as he stared intently at Naruto's actions. The veins on his forehead bulged with anger, and he felt a surge of irritation.

Naruto noticed Sasuke's angry gaze, felt a wave of embarrassment, and quickly withdrew his hand. Cold sweat began to bead on his forehead, and he appeared somewhat uneasy, stammering an explanation for his actions: "...Hey, Sasuke, well...I was just simply curious..."

A gloomy shadow fell over Sasuke's face. He remained silent, slowly bending down to pick up the Kusanagi sword lying on the ground, his eyes fixed on Naruto with a fierce glint in them.

Naruto watched Sasuke pick up the Kusanagi Sword and said in a half-joking tone, "No, Sasuke, are you serious?"

Naruto's words did not elicit a verbal response from Sasuke. Instead, Sasuke answered with action, swinging the Kusanagi sword, its blade quickly covered in an arc of electricity, and heading straight for Naruto.

In the end, it was Boruto who intervened, preventing Naruto from being cleaved in two by Sasuke.

......

"Sasuke, since you've lost, come back to Konoha with us."

Seeing that Sasuke had calmed down, Naruto spoke to him once again.

Sasuke snorted coldly, clearly not buying Naruto's suggestion. He then spoke, his tone sarcastic: "You didn't defeat me, so what gives you the right to offer a reason? According to the agreement, you should be the one to go back to where you came from."

Upon hearing Sasuke's words, Naruto's face immediately fell. Sasuke ignored Naruto and quickly disappeared from the scene after a few flashes.

After Sasuke left, Orochimaru turned his gaze to Boruto. He pondered for a moment, then suggested, "Boruto, why don't you stay here for a while? I'll teach you swordsmanship as a return gift for the research materials you provided me earlier."

......

In the days that followed, Boruto trained in swordsmanship with Sasuke at Orochimaru's base. They honed their skills every day, and several months passed in the blink of an eye.

In the early stages of Boruto's swordsmanship training, due to the lack of a suitable sword, he had to rely on the chakra he condensed within his body to form a sword for practice.

While this sword, formed from chakra, could meet his basic training needs, it ultimately lacked the tactile quality of a physical sword. As time went on, Orochimaru crafted a sword that suited him and was compatible with Boruto's chakra attributes.

During this time, Boruto not only made significant progress in his swordsmanship, but also gradually rekindled his relationship with Sasuke, returning to normalcy.

Shortly before Boruto finished his swordsmanship training and was about to leave Orochimaru's place, he found Sasuke and made a final invitation: "Sasuke, are you really not coming back to Konoha with us?"

Sasuke remained silent for a long time after Boruto spoke. Although Orochimaru wouldn't restrict his freedom now, Sasuke still slowly said, "No, Boruto, you know I won't go back until I've completed my revenge, especially since I'm a rogue ninja of Konoha now."

After hearing Sasuke's answer, Boruto sighed and said slowly, "Sasuke, I still want to tell you, don't be blinded by the hatred in front of you, because what you see may not be the truth."

Sasuke frowned slightly upon hearing Boruto's words. This wasn't the first time he'd heard such a remark. The gloomy guy who had come to see Orochimaru before had said something similar. He had initially thought it was a mockery, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.

Furthermore, after Boruto and that gloomy guy came into contact with Orochimaru, Orochimaru's restrictions on him became virtually nonexistent. Apart from teaching him ninjutsu, Orochimaru didn't interfere much with his other actions.

Furthermore, after Boruto and that gloomy guy came into contact with Orochimaru, Orochimaru seemed to loosen his restrictions on him considerably, as if those constraints never existed. Apart from continuing to teach him ninjutsu, Orochimaru hardly interfered with his actions in other aspects.

Sasuke had already begun to suspect that Orochimaru's change in attitude was related to their appearance, and that there must be something he was hiding or a deal involved.

With these thoughts in mind, Sasuke looked at Boruto with a serious expression and asked, "What do you mean?"

Boruto hesitated for a moment when faced with Sasuke's questioning, but finally decided to tell him what he knew: "Perhaps Itachi Uchiha is not what you think. I don't know the actual situation either, but what I do know is that Itachi Uchiha... is a spy for Konoha."

Upon hearing Boruto's words, Sasuke felt as if struck by a heavy hammer. His emotions immediately surged, and his eyes flashed with barely suppressed rage as he incredulously questioned Boruto, "Are you saying that Itachi Uchiha was manipulated by Konoha? That he, who wiped out the Uchiha clan, is a hero of Konoha!?"

Boruto's revolutionary words were like a bolt from the blue for Sasuke. They seemed to tell him that he had lived his entire life as a pathetic fool caught in a colossal deception, and that everything he had done, including his hatred for his brother, was the result of being misled.

Sasuke's eyes were filled with disappointment, and a sense of loss welled up in his heart. He had thought that Boruto genuinely wanted to help him and that it was out of understanding for him, but Boruto's words just now made him feel that it was all a ridiculous lie woven to make him give up his revenge.

Boruto saw that Sasuke's emotions were now at their peak, and he was clearly incapable of rational conversation. He knew that no matter what he said, Sasuke wouldn't listen at this moment.

The best course of action now is to let Sasuke calm down and give him some time to process this information. Any attempt to persuade or explain may backfire.

"Only by grasping the truth can we avoid regrets, right?"

Boruto left after saying a few words, then turned and silently left.

......

After Boruto left, Sasuke spent a long time alone in silence until his emotions gradually calmed down.

He began to recall Boruto's words, knowing that Boruto was not a rash person and would not say things without proof, but he really found it hard to believe this matter.

Regardless of the truth, a battle between him and Itachi Uchiha is inevitable. He will definitely face Itachi Uchiha in person and get the answers to all his questions from him.

......

As night fell, Sasuke stood alone in front of a house. Boruto's words from earlier kept swirling in his mind, refusing to leave. The candlelight flickered on the surrounding walls, casting dappled shadows, but it couldn't illuminate Sasuke's expression at that moment.

The room in front of him was one that Orochimaru had always explicitly forbidden him from entering, and at that time, he was only thinking about becoming stronger and had always held a disdainful attitude towards this place.

Sasuke drew his Kusanagi sword from behind him, looked at the shackles on the door in front of him, and then swung his sword. With a crisp sound, the shackles broke and fell to the ground with a dull thud. Then, without hesitation, Sasuke pushed open the door.

After Sasuke stepped into the room, his gaze swept over the dark surroundings and he discovered that the room was filled with Orochimaru's collection, and the walls were covered with various strange containers filled with unknown liquids.

Sasuke's gaze lingered briefly on a huge glass jar containing some kind of biological tissue, strangely shaped and seemingly slowly wriggling.

Sasuke then shifted his gaze from the large glass jar and continued his search of the room. After a thorough search, he didn't seem to find any particularly important clues. Just as he was about to give up, thinking there wouldn't be any valuable information here, his eyes fell on a drawer that had been knocked over. Sasuke walked over, opened the drawer, and found a box...

A year has passed since Boruto trained under Orochimaru. In the years since leaving Konoha, both Boruto and Naruto have undergone significant changes.

Jiraiya led Boruto and Naruto along a path. Soon, the three of them stood in front of the gates of Konoha Village. Looking at the familiar scene, they couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions.

Looking at the towering Hokage Rock on the edge of Konoha Village, he silently thought: Konoha, I, Boruto (Naruto), have returned.