Konoha's Crisis

"Shiki remembered all this?"

"It was in Shiki's memories, but he wasn't aware of it himself. This knowledge was too deep, buried in the lowest layers of his subconscious. Only I, as a pure consciousness, could access it directly."

Boruto nodded, though no one could see him. He struggled to his feet, walked to the door, and opened it.

Naruto and Sarada immediately rushed in. They saw the woman on the floor and Boruto, exhausted, and their expressions shifted.

"She's all right now," Boruto said. "The corruption has been cleared. But I need to rest for at least a few hours."

"What did you do?" Naruto steadied him, sensing the abnormal fluctuations in his son's Chakra.

"I found the bridge's true purpose." Boruto smiled, then his vision went black and he fell forward.

When he woke, it was already dusk.

An oil lamp burned in the room. Sarada sat by the window, wiping her goggles. Naruto wasn't there; he had probably gone to deal with matters in town. Yamada sat in the corner with the black codebook in his hands, studying something.

"You're awake." Sarada turned toward him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like ten bulls trampled me," Boruto said honestly. "But I'm still alive."

"The woman has woken up. Her family wanted to thank you, but I turned them down for you. You're in no shape to see anyone right now."

"Thanks." Boruto tried to sit up, but every muscle in his body protested. He had to lie back down. "How long was I asleep?"

"Six hours. Naruto went into town to investigate and found three more similar cases, all of them from the past few days. He suspects they were caused by activity from the Otsutsuki remnants, but there's no evidence yet."

"It wasn't them," Boruto said. "It's a