When we returned to the temporary base of the settlement, the support team had already arrived.
Three Anbu from Leaf, plus a medical ninja whom Boruto didn't know, were all summoned by Naruto in advance. The six prisoners were quickly handed over and taken away, and Yamada was also taken alone for questioning by Anbu.
Finally, Boruto, Naruto and Sarada could sit down and take a breath.
The medical ninja came over to check the bruise on Boruto's chest. Boruto let him look at it for three seconds. When he found that the other person was about to lift his clothes, he reached out and pushed him away. "It's not broken, don't worry about it."
The ninja retracted his hand and turned to Sarada a little aggrievedly.
Sarada pointed to his left forearm, where there was a scratch, not deep, but quite long. "Just take care of this."
Boruto then noticed the injury - Sarada never mentioned it, and he didn't see it either. "When did you get it?"
"When Yamada came out, he struggled a little and scratched his hand with something." Sarada said calmly, "It's not important."
Boruto said nothing, turned to look in the direction where Yamada was taken away, and squinted his eyes.
Naruto sat down next to him and threw two rice balls over. One stuffed it to Boruto, and the other started to peel off the wrapping paper.
Boruto took it and took a look: it tasted like sardines. He hated this taste the most, but he still took a bite.
"What should we do with the core?" Naruto asked while eating, as if chatting or testing.
"Seal it." Boruto swallowed the food in his mouth, "It cannot be destroyed or moved. It can only be sealed and waited for Five Kage Summit to discuss."
"That's a hot potato."
"Yes."
Naruto finished the last rice ball, carefully folded the wrapping paper into a small square, and placed it on the Stone Platform next to it.
"It's about the style," he said without any transition, "Are you okay?"
Boruto Chewed a few times and swallowed the dry rice ball in his mouth. "It's okay."
""Alright" means which kind of "ok"?"
This question was so accurate that Boruto couldn't answer it. He paused for a moment and then whispered, "It's just... something's not right. It feels like there's something empty somewhere, but I can't tell where it is."
Naruto nodded and looked at the night sky in the distance. "I felt the same way when I lost Nine-Tails Chakra. It took about three months before I felt a little normal."
Boruto looked at him. "Are you comforting me?"
"I'm telling you the experience value." Naruto said calmly, "The situation is different, but it can be used as a reference."
Boruto finished the rice ball in his hand. It tasted like sardines and was really unpleasant, but he still finished it.
Sarada got away from the medical ninja, walked over and sat down on the other side, stretching his arms. "Yamada's questioning may take a while. He knows too many things, and it is difficult to grasp the key points."
"Let Anbu have the headache," Boruto said, "That's not our job."
"The message in the mark left by Danshi--"
"I will compile it into a report later," Boruto interrupted her, "A formal report in the literal sense, give it to Five Kage's office. I will write it."
Sarada raised his eyebrows. "Can you write a report?"
"I am the son of Hokage," Boruto said with no expression on his face, "At least someone will read the report I write."
This logic sounds a bit strange, but there is nothing wrong with it. Sarada did not refute, turned her head to the side, and shook her shoulders slightly - that was her way of showing that she was funny, and it was equivalent to ordinary people laughing.
Naruto added a touch on the side, "The task report I wrote at that time, Teacher Mitokado returned it to me and revised it six times."
"That's because your writing was terrible at that time." Boruto showed no mercy.
"He finally gave it the seventh time, and the comment on it said, "I can finally read it." Naruto thought for a while and added, "Then he turned around and asked Lady Tsunade to rewrite it and file it."
Boruto digested this information. "So those six efforts were all Zeroing?"
"Yes. But I learned the font Kakashi-sensei, and later I wrote reports much faster."
Boruto could not fully follow the causal relationship of this sentence and decided to give up on further investigation.
The atmosphere relaxed a lot after these few gags. It wasn't intentional, it was more like the heavy emotions accumulated this night finally found an outlet to vent.
Boruto subconsciously turned his attention inwards. That habitual movement, and then the familiar emptiness. He stayed there for a second, and then withdrew.
At this time, the medical ninja came to report: two of the six prisoners had poison sacs on their bodies, which had been removed; another one had an encrypted document found on his waist, which was suspected to be related to the communication records of the remaining forces of Otsutsuki, but a codebook was needed to decipher it.
Boruto Hearing the words "code book", an idea flashed in his mind.
"Did you find Yamada's belongings?"
Anbu Captain was stunned for a moment: "Not yet--"
"In his left inner pocket," Boruto said, "There should be an old album with a black cover and cotton binding."
Three minutes later, the news came back: It had been found. It was the code book. Together with the document, the content that could be deciphered was far more than expected.
Sarada turned his head, his eyes searching. "How do you know where it is?"
Boruto thought for a moment and then said softly, "Shiki noticed it when he first met Yamada at the port. Yamada touched that booklet three times, and each time he subconsciously protected the left side. I thought it was an ordinary little move at the time, but now that I think about it..."
He stopped.
This is an observation left by Shiki, not his own. But that observation only exists in his memory now, and there is no other place in the world where it can be found.
Sarada didn't urge me, and neither did Naruto.
Birds began to chirp outside the window, and it was almost dawn.
Boruto stood up, walked to the window, put his hands on the window sill and looked out. The village was not awake yet, and there was no one on the road. The morning breeze blew by, bending the branches, and then gently let them go.
"Dad," he spoke without looking back, "that star," he raised his hand and pointed in the east-north direction, "What's the name of the brightest star?"
Naruto came over to take a look, thought for a second, and said honestly, "I don't know."
"Shi knows." Boruto put his hand down and smiled self-deprecatingly, "Forget it, I'll check the book another day."
He turned around and walked back, with no special expression on his face, just a kind of calmness after the rain has passed and the sky has cleared up.
"How long until daybreak?"
Sarada glanced at the light outside the window. "About an hour."
"Then rest first. When daybreak comes, I have something to say in front of Yamada. After that, we will go back to Leaf."
Naruto raised his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"
Boruto pressed the corner of his mouth - it wasn't a smile, it was more like biting an idea tightly and not letting it out yet.
"That's a good thing," he said. "I wanted to say something for Shi that he didn't have time to say."
No one asked any more questions.
The three of them each found a place to lean against. The stronghold became quiet, except for the chirping of birds outside which became increasingly louder and louder, as if the darkness was being pushed in the direction of light little by little.
Boruto closed his eyes. It was still empty inside, but this time he didn't reach out to touch the gap.
Just leave it empty.
Empty is also a state, not damaged, but left blank.
After daybreak, he still had things to do.