Boruto sat at his desk, face buried in his arms, sighing deeply. Should I just skip the match? He wondered. The so-called "boys versus girls" argument was heating up again, and he had a feeling it wouldn't end peacefully.
He could already see it — the shouting, the pride, the chaos. All because of a simple classroom debate about summoned beasts.
"The whole point of summoning is to fight," Iwabe argued loudly. "Why would anyone care if it looks cute or not?!"
The girls, of course, didn't agree.
"The summoning beast represents your heart!" one of them shot back. "Power isn't everything!"
Boruto pinched the bridge of his nose. Ahh, this is exactly why I didn't want to get involved…
He sighed inwardly, watching from the sidelines. "These girls haven't seen real battles," he muttered under his breath. "They've never smelled blood. How can they say things like that so casually…"
Iwabe turned around, shouting, "Hey, Boruto! Don't just sit there — back me up! Tell them power beats cute animals any day!"
"Huh? Uh… yeah, I guess," Boruto replied lazily.
Inojin crossed his arms. "He's right. Strength matters. Summons are for combat, not decoration."
"Boys are so immature," Sarada said flatly, pushing her glasses up her nose.
Boruto barely heard them. His eyes had drifted toward a purple-haired girl standing nervously by the edge of the group. Sumire Kakei…
She looked worried, hesitant — completely unlike someone who would one day unleash chaos on Konoha. Boruto frowned slightly. She really doesn't look like the type…
Before long, Shino-sensei finally had enough of the bickering. He adjusted his glasses, voice sharp. "That's enough! If you all have so much energy to argue, let's settle it properly — with a ninjutsu match."
A murmur ran through the students.
"The rules are simple," Shino continued. "Whoever captures the flag on the roof of the school wins. And…" he paused, glancing between both sides, "the losing team will have to listen to the winners for an entire week."
"Deal!" the boys shouted in unison.
"Fine by us!" the girls replied, just as loud.
Shino took a step back and raised a hand. "Begin!"
The courtyard erupted in motion.
"Iwabe! Earth Release — Earth Flow Wall!"
With a single seal, a massive wall burst from the ground, blocking half the girls' advance and sealing them outside the gate.
"Nice one, Iwabe!" Denki cheered.
But Chocho stepped forward, slamming her palms together. "Partial Expansion Technique!"
Her right arm ballooned in size and came crashing down like a hammer, shattering the stone barrier into rubble.
Before the girls could celebrate, Shikadai's shadow shot across the ground. "Shadow Binding Technique!"
Several of them froze in place.
Then—
BOOM!
An explosion rocked the building, echoing through the courtyard. Everyone froze.
"Ah," Shino said from behind, adjusting his glasses calmly. "I forgot to mention — I placed traps throughout the school to simulate real combat conditions."
He looked up to explain further… only to find every student had already dashed inside.
"…No one listens to me," he muttered under his breath.
Inside the building, chaos reigned.
Shuriken whizzed through the air. Smoke bombs burst in the corridors. The stairways echoed with shouts and laughter as the students charged toward the top floor.
Boruto, meanwhile, took a different route — straight out the window.
Focusing chakra into his soles, he began running up the wall's surface. "You guys can fight it out," he muttered. "I'll just go grab the flag."
His footing wobbled at first — this was the first time he'd tried wall-walking since coming to this world — but after a few cautious steps, his balance stabilized.
Below, explosions and screams continued. Iwabe's group clashed with the girls' counterattack; shuriken clattered against walls and desks.
Boruto was halfway to the roof when a barrage of kunai flew out through a shattered window.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
He ducked just in time, spinning a small Rasengan in his hand and hurling it toward the stairwell. The blast deflected the incoming projectiles and sent a few of the attackers sprawling.
"I knew it!" Sarada shouted from below. "Boruto's trying to cheat!"
"Yup," Boruto grinned. "And it's working!"
He picked up speed, sprinting for the rooftop.
"Don't let him get away!"
Sarada and her team gave chase, while Shikadai and Inojin held back the rest with shadows and ink beasts.
But the girls were clever — several slipped explosive tags onto the ceiling, detonating them in sequence. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!
A direct route opened to the roof.
Boruto reached the top first. The flag fluttered gently in the wind before him.
"Almost too easy—"
A deafening blast shook the roof beneath his feet. He jumped back just as the floor cracked open and a group of girls emerged through the smoke.
Sarada stood at their head, smirking. "Game over, Boruto."
"Not yet."
Without hesitation, Boruto formed a Rasengan in his palm and hurled it forward.
BOOM!
The compressed blast sent a shockwave across the roof, scattering tiles and throwing several girls backward.
Boruto dashed for the flag — but Chocho's enlarged arm shot up like a wall.
"Partial Expansion Technique!"
Her massive hand came crashing down toward him.
"Ah, crap," Boruto muttered, heart skipping.
As a shadow clone, one solid hit would be enough to disperse him — and if that happened, the main body might lose focus completely.
He had only one choice.
Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out a summoning scroll he'd "borrowed" from the ninja tools room.
"Alright then," he said with a grin, biting his thumb. "Let's roll the dice."
Blood smeared across the seal.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A blinding flash of violet chakra erupted from the scroll. The summoning circle beneath him glowed fiercely — and from within it rose a massive, spectral beast, its serpentine tail thrashing wildly, eyes glowing crimson.
The shockwave tore through the rooftop. Tiles flew. Students screamed. The flag snapped loose and fell.
Boruto, without thinking, leapt off the collapsing roof, grabbing Chocho mid-fall and catching the flag with his other hand.
"Sarada!" she cried from above.
"I'm fine!" Boruto shouted back — though the truth was anything but.
The beast — Nue's phantom — roared, its tail smashing through what remained of the rooftop.
"Where's Shino-sensei when you need him?!" Boruto yelled, barely dodging the next strike.
The monstrous tail swung again, faster this time. In that instant, Boruto's right eye flickered — faint light pulsing deep within.
A strange rush of chakra surged through his body, wild and overwhelming.
What— this feeling?!
His chakra multiplied in an instant, flooding every cell. The air around him shimmered.
He planted a foot against the wall and launched himself upward, spinning a massive Rasengan in his palm.
"Take this! Oodama Rasengan!"
He slammed it into the creature's tail — the impact thundered like an explosion. A violent storm of chakra tore through the rooftop, shredding the phantom apart and scattering the last of its energy into the sky.
The noise faded. Dust settled.
Boruto landed on the courtyard ground, panting.
He looked up at the ruined building — the roof caved in, the flag barely clinging to its pole.
"Boruto!" Sarada shouted as she and the others rushed over.
He brushed off the dirt, trying to sound casual. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine… totally fine. Just, uh, might need a month off school."
Shikadai chuckled. "If you can still joke, you're fine."
Boruto smirked — then glanced around. "Wait… where's Shino-sensei?"
In a corner of the campus, the poor teacher lay half-buried under a pile of rubble, his cloak torn and glasses cracked, muttering weakly to himself.
"…They… didn't even… listen to the safety briefing…"