The Chunin Ninja Exams Are Approaching

Boruto tugged at Ye's sleeve with the force of someone pulling up a radish, his eyes blazing with excitement.

"Uncle Ye! How exactly do I activate it? Just give me a hint!"

Seeing the boy look like he was ready to "slay his father to prove his way," Ye was speechless to the extreme.

Back in his previous life, he had only watched clips of that lousy anime. The conditions for activating the Jōgan were even more elusive than Schrödinger's cat—where was he supposed to make something up on the spot?

Yet not the slightest ripple appeared on his face.

With a flick of his wrist, Ye unhurriedly pulled his cuff from Boruto's grasp.

He did not answer immediately. Instead, he smoothed out the wrinkled cuff, leaving Boruto's eager eyes hanging.

"This eye transcends common sense. It cannot be forcibly pried open with a mere set of instructions."

Ye's voice was calm and even. "The time has not come, and it cannot be forced. If obsession drives you to stimulate it by force, at best your chakra pathways will recoil; at worst, both your eyes will be destroyed."

As he spoke, he raised two fingers and lightly tapped the center of Boruto's forehead.

Boruto froze on the spot.

That touch had carried almost no force, yet the instant it landed, something truly stirred deep within his right eye.

Like a fish at the bottom of a lake turning over before sinking back into darkness.

The feeling was far too real to dismiss with the word "bluff."

Boruto lowered his head and looked at his fist, clenched so tightly it had turned white.

He had not obtained any secret shortcut, but Boruto touched his right eye again. The shoulders that had slumped when the Byakugan and the Nine-Tails were mentioned finally