Tap, tap~
Kawaki's shadow clone turned the street corner. It was late at night, and the lights in the surrounding houses had long been extinguished. But the place he was heading to still had its lights on. Behind the window, several figures sat quietly, seemingly waiting for something.
He looked at this scene, paused his steps with some uncertainty. Longing, fear, reluctance... a myriad of emotions swirled in his eyes.
Finally, he seemed to have made up his mind. His expression firmed, and he resolutely strode forward.
Inside the laboratory, Kawaki lay quietly on a medical bed. Naruto and Amado stood to the side, observing his physical condition.
"Are you sure you only re-imprinted Karma on him?" Naruto asked, turning his head. The aura emanating from the youth was becoming increasingly similar to Otsutsuki Isshiki's.
"Correct." Amado nodded. "I merely helped him draw out the power that rightfully belonged to him."
"Is that so..."
Two hours later.
Kawaki gradually regained consciousness.
"How do you feel?"
He turned his head to see his teacher leaning against the laboratory wall, quietly watching him.
"A very strange feeling." Kawaki looked at the newly reappeared Karma on his palm. Perhaps, as Amado had said, he had never truly understood his own heart. The reappearance of Karma even gave him a sense of... reassurance.
"You might still need this." Amado handed him a bottle.
"What's this?" Kawaki was taken aback.
"Cosmetics that those women use to conceal skin blemishes." Amado's eyes seemed to see right through him. "Do you need me to teach you how to use it?"
"...No need." Kawaki refused. Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run. Although this was his first encounter with cosmetics, he could figure out how to use it, more or less.
He applied the dye to his palm, and the area with the black diamond-shaped mark gradually became covered with a color similar to the surrounding skin.
"Let me take you two back." Although Naruto had reason to suspect that even if he did nothing, Amado had his own means to evade the surveillance of numerous ninja and return to his room, since they were cooperating, things should be seen through to the end.
Amado returned to the "toilet". Watching the two disappear, his expression was unreadable.
Thump~
The soft sound of a door closing woke the sleeping Boruto. He lazily propped himself up, rubbing his drowsy eyes.
Why does Kawaki's back look somewhat unfamiliar?
He glanced at the rising sun outside the window, then at the blanket half-covering him. After a moment's hesitation, he chose to throw it off and follow his brother's footsteps.
"Awake? Go wash up; breakfast is ready," his mother's voice came from the kitchen.
By the time Boruto had finished everything and sat down at the dining table, the others were already halfway through their breakfast. Kawaki, in particular, was already on his second serving.
Looks like it was my imagination... Seeing this, Boruto let out a slight sigh of relief, thinking that his and his father's persuasion last night must have worked. To be honest, Kawaki's state these past two days had really scared him. He was genuinely afraid that this guy would lose his mind and do something irrational. But then, thinking about the recent rumors circulating in the village, another headache set in. Who on earth spread the information about Kawaki's situation?
"Boruto, why aren't you eating?" his mother asked, noticing he hadn't touched his chopsticks for a long time.
"Oh, oh, I'm eating now."
Everything seemed to have returned to normal. Little Dad's training was still as brutal as ever, Sarada still occasionally sniped at him with a few remarks, and Mitsuki still watched him with a smile. Only Kawaki... he spoke much less, and during training breaks, he would always gaze at the distant sky. Boruto didn't think much of it, just assuming Kawaki was still adjusting.
Evening was always the most pleasant time. The family, having been busy all day, sat together. His mother watched a sentimental drama on TV, dabbing at her tears; his father sat beside her, nodding off drowsily. Himawari had long since drifted off to dreamland.
"Lost again!" Boruto angrily tossed the game console onto the sofa.
"I'm going to... take out the trash..." Kawaki suddenly stood up, picked up the trash bag, and walked out of the house.
"Target is out. Should be taking out the trash." A ninja squatted on a utility pole, reporting Kawaki's every move. He seemed to make no effort to conceal his presence, blatantly exposing himself to the surveillance target's line of sight.
"Huh?" His expression flickered. After dropping the trash, the target, as if possessed, darted into the nearby vegetation. But a few seconds later, he walked out again as if nothing had happened, like a mischievous child. The surveillance team, including him, was momentarily baffled.
"I'm going to rest first," Kawaki said, then walked straight to his room.
His brother's hurried demeanor made Boruto instinctively feel something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Hey! Kawaki, what's up?"
"..." Kawaki paused slightly. "It's nothing. Just tired from today's training."
Boruto scratched his head and sat back down.
Rustle...
Strangely, he sensed Kawaki's presence outside the house. "Didn't he go back to his room?" Boruto was stunned. Suddenly, that presence moved further and further away from him.
"What on earth is he trying to do?" Even if his mind was slow to react, he understood now: the one who had returned to the room was Kawaki's shadow clone.
Looking at his sleeping father, he gritted his teeth, dashed out the door, and gave chase.
"What's going on? Didn't the sensor team detect Kawaki's departing chakra?"
"Truly interesting..." Eida rested her chin on her right hand. Her left eye transformed, displaying a pattern never seen before, seemingly seeing everything happening in Konoha across a vast distance. "Code, Kawaki is on the move. It seems he's heading somewhere... Interestingly, he's alone."
"Hmm? With so many surveillance personnel in Konoha, didn't anyone notice him?" Code was puzzled.
"He erased his chakra. You should know, that's not difficult for an Otsutsuki," Eida said softly, gently adjusting the child (Daemon) in her arms to make him sleep more comfortably.
"The opportunity has come." Code stood up. "Although I don't know his purpose for doing this, since he chose to act alone, I can't miss this."
Using a "claw mark," his figure appeared outside Konoha village.
Hiss~
A mouth suddenly appeared on the "claw mark" on Eida's arm.
"Truly disgusting." She disdainfully moved her younger brother slightly to the side.
"I'll trouble you to continue providing Kawaki's location," Code's voice came from the mouth.
"He's to your left," Eida said, trying her best to avoid looking at the mouth on her arm.
"That Boruto fellow, he can sense my presence... Is it because we're both 'Otsutsuki'?" Kawaki glanced back slightly. Just as Boruto could sense his presence, he too could sense Boruto's.