Friends (End)

The alien dimension was a place of gray and desolation.

White, vine-like branches intertwined densely, a chaotic mess of intersections and constructions, interspersed with branches all around, like the tangled roots beneath some giant trees.

Boruto, arriving shortly after, finally reached Nue's space. In Sage Mode, he quickly sensed Nue's location and spotted Sumire Kakei's figure not far above.

She stood on a neatly chopped tree stump, connected to a spectral Chakra, the other end linked to Nue.

Here, Nue's size was not as enormous as it was outside, becoming much smaller, more like a large canine animal.

Nue warily watched Boruto, as if it had encountered the most terrifying enemy of its life. It hadn't gained any advantage in the battle outside, and had almost lost its life in the process.

Boruto didn't bother to communicate with it. His purpose here was simply to reinforce the seal on this place, hiding this alien space from the starry sky.

He raised his hand and quickly formed hand seals, "Sage Art: Water Style: Water Prison Cage!"

A pool of water rose from beneath Boruto's feet, flowing freely like moldable clay. Boruto used it to engulf Nue's form, restricting its movements with water pressure.

After completing this, Boruto floated into the air, placing seals around the space, intending to completely isolate the aura of this place.

Soon, Boruto and Sumire met again, silently gazing at each other, without a word. Sumire just unwillingly watched Boruto apply seals to this place.

"Nue is a dangerous creature, it's more threatening than you think."

After a long while, Boruto said to Sumire.

"I know, the power generated by a self-detonation of a complete Nue is no less than a Shinra Tensei from the Akatsuki leader," Sumire said with some pride.

"No, compared to Nue's real danger, destroying Konoha is insignificant," Boruto refuted.

"?" Sumire was puzzled.

While applying the seals, Boruto explained, "Nue's formation involves forbidden techniques. I don't know if you've noticed, but the space beneath your feet is not within the scope of the Shinobi World.

It's a peculiar alien space somewhere in the starry sky."

Sumire frowned, listening to Boruto with interest.

"This place itself has nothing to do with the Shinobi World. It was only through Root's methods that it was forcibly connected here. They wanted to use Nue's power to destroy Konoha without knowing anything about this place.

But they underestimated Nue's danger and disastrous nature. Nue itself is not that powerful, you can see that from my battle with it."

"That's just because you're too strong," Sumire said.

Boruto shook his head, "Do you know where this is, and what kind of trouble it's connected to?"

"What does that have to do with me? I'm Nue's master, not the master of this place," Sumire said coldly. "I just want to destroy Konoha and complete my revenge."

She really is stubborn, Boruto casually manipulated the surrounding gravity, 'grabbing' Sumire and bringing her in front of him.

"You finally want to kill me? Well, we are enemies after all," Sumire stared intently at Boruto without fear.

Boruto's brow furrowed slightly, not out of anger. After all, her ignorance wasn't her fault. Currently, only he, as a transmigrator, knew the danger of Nue.

He sighed, and a light snap of his fingers echoed in the air—he released Nue's restraints.

"Class Rep, Nue's danger is negligible. I could even release it and let it grow, or I could directly help it grow to its complete form.

None of that is a big deal. Its value is not even as great as the Tailed Beasts."

Sumire frowned, looking at Boruto, who was sighing, a trace of anger welled up in her heart, "You look down so much on Nue, which almost destroyed Konoha?"

"Don't you understand, Class Rep? Nue's threat isn't great to me, so why do you think I'm bothering to explain it to you here?"

Sumire was silent. Why was he doing this? She only saw Boruto placing seals in this space, as if to hide it.

She originally thought that Boruto wanted to exile her to this world, after all, loneliness was the most terrible torment in the world.

"Because this alien world is connected to a real enemy, they are true gods, strong individuals on the same level as Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, the God of Chakra.

Exposing the location here is equivalent to presenting the Shinobi World to the Ōtsutsuki. Do you think that with the current power of the Shinobi World, it can withstand the descent of possibly more than one Ōtsutsuki?"

"This...!!" Sumire was stunned.

"But... the meaning of my existence..."

"No buts." Boruto interrupted her, his firm gaze meeting Sumire's, he said, "Putting aside this negligible identity, you are still a Konoha shinobi, my classmate.

You have your own path to walk, you have a great group of friends, and you still have to manage troublemakers like me and the other restless elements in the class.

So Class Rep, you are not alone, and you don't need to carry out the orders of the deceased. From the moment they died, you were free, you only belong to yourself now!"

"Wuwu..." Crystalline tears streamed down Sumire's face.

For someone hiding in the darkness, burdened with a mission she didn't like, having someone understand her was undoubtedly a kind of salvation.

She was also very aggrieved, she wanted to desperately shout to the world that this was not her intention, she just wanted to be an ordinary Konoha ninja, and then meet teammates she could entrust her back to and grow together!

Boruto continued to arrange the seals, ensuring that the space was completely sealed without any omissions, preventing the coordinates from being tracked.

Sumire sobbed and cried beside him. There was no one else here, so she could safely vent her emotions. She had never confided so freely.

For a long time, until Sumire didn't want to cry anymore, she wanted to wipe the tears from her face, but realized that there were too many tear stains, so even her sleeves were wet.

"Okay, don't be sad, Class Rep. Come back to Konoha with me, you're still our classmate."

Boruto wiped away her tears and gently rubbed her head to comfort her.

"But I can't go back to who I was now. I released Nue with the goal of destroying Konoha. My purpose in growing stronger was for revenge. To me, this was always a war!"

"You accomplished all the missions you were burdened with, but I stopped it all."

Sumire Kakei: ...

"So, you can always trust my abilities. I can, and I will, protect you!"

"But... I know your secret," Sumire Kakei said softly.

"So, it's our shared secret. In exchange, I'll help you conceal the fact that you released Nue, and you can just quietly play the role of a passerby. You only know Boruto and know nothing about the leader of 'Kara'."

"Why would you help me so much?" Sumire Kakei didn't understand. He could have just killed her to eliminate all potential problems.

Wasn't he afraid that she would reveal everything?

Seeming to see Sumire Kakei's question, Boruto softly asked, "Would you want to reveal me?"

Sumire Kakei quickly shook her head. Boruto was her savior, after all, and she couldn't do something so against her conscience.

"Then that's it. A good partnership is built on mutual trust!" Boruto smiled.

Having chips of equal value is the starting point for establishing a good partnership. But there's another factor: value.

Sumire Kakei was well aware of her strength. She had no value to Boruto as he was now. He didn't need her to pay a price to balance the scales of cooperation.

Perhaps he just... pitied her.

Sumire Kakei's pupils dimmed, losing some of their hope. The light in her eyes was buried by reality, disappearing without a trace.

Boruto: ...

Do all girls have delusions?

Why does she look like her whole family died?

"What else is there to worry about, Class Rep? Come back to Konoha with me, and you can go to class normally tomorrow!"

"But... the pattern on my back." Sumire Kakei temporarily put these distracting thoughts aside and focused on thinking about how to go back with him.

"Emm, leave it to me."

Boruto gently raised his palm, hovering behind Sumire Kakei. The Jōgan activated, and the palm covered in pale blue light gently touched Sumire Kakei's back. The cool touch combined with the warm palm made Sumire Kakei's delicate body tremble slightly.

——Jōgan: Divine Purification!

"Although I don't know how effective it will be, I still want to try," Boruto explained after doing all this.

The Ox-Head Heavenly King pattern melted like ice and snow meeting the scorching sun after encountering the purification light emitted by the Jōgan. Along with it, Sumire Kakei's determination for revenge and her will to avenge her father also dissipated.

"How did you do that?!" Sumire Kakei was shocked. She could feel the connection between Nue and herself constantly blurring until it disappeared completely.

"Believe in yourself," Boruto said. "Those things that people always think are impossible to do, they haven't even tried them personally before making presumptuous judgments. But in reality, it's not that complicated, is it?"

"...You succeeded, and you're talking about great principles!" Sumire Kakei didn't agree, because if you can't do it, you can't do it.

"Actually, you can become stronger, by yourself, and by it," Boruto said, pointing at Nue.

"Nue? But my connection with it has been severed?"

"You can still sign a summoning contract," Boruto said helplessly, scratching his head.

"Oh, oh..."

With that, the two left, everything was quiet, as if nothing had happened.

Nue Arc, End.