That was close!
I can't just leave you behind.
I can't get caught here either.
I gotta get back to the rendezvous point as soon as possible, or else…
Ohnoki's Thoughts, Ku's Thoughts
Where am…I?
You're finally up, Old Man.
Boruto!
You saved my life?
I wasn't really trying to.
I didn't even realize I was carrying you.
Anyway…
What were you doing with those guys?
What the hell is going on?
I already told you. I'm doing it for peace.
I don't get it.
Because of them, a lot of Leaf shinobi died!
That is something I deeply regret.
But this is all for the sake of peace in the Ninja World.
It's also to help protect you, as well.
Why do we need to be protected?!
It's because you're weak.
Huh?!
Do you even know what I can do, Old Man?
I do.
Young people these days are weak and unreliable.
What did you say?!
I defeated the Otsutsuki!
Don't let it go to your head!
I have my own reasons for doing what I'm doing.
Though right now, you probably won't understand.
Oh, is that right?
I've had enough of this!
You're on your own from here!
I'm going back to my friends.
You can't.
What?!
I never thought we'd end up here…
What the hell are you talking about?
This is the Sanzu Plains.
It's surrounded by a powerful barrier.
Once inside, you can't get out easily.
You're just lying to keep me from leaving.
I'm not lying.
I don't believe you!
I'll just go out the way I came in.
Then go ahead and try!
What the hell's happening?
No matter how far I walk, I end up in the same place.
The Sanzu Plain is a Hidden Stone shinobi training ground.
The only way to get out is to find your individual "heart stone"
that lies somewhere here.
Then all I have to do is find that heart stone?
How about…
this one.
This will be my heart stone!
It's not that simple.
Then is there an easy-to-follow strategy?
Nope.
The heart stone's glow is visible only to self-reliant people
who truly confront who they are.
A person who is unwilling to train will never find it.
Are you serious?
Damn it!
In that case, I'll use my shadow clones to find a way out of here!
Shadow Clone Jutsu!
Hey…
Just so you know, you can't use jutsu within this barrier.
No jutsu, either?!
Just how important is this stone?
That depends on how you look at it.
It is, after all, just a pebble.
Just a pebble? With no powers?
It's not the stone itself that has value.
It's about how you found it.
The significance is in the process.
Wha—?!
That is so old-fashioned!
The young people in the village say the same thing.
They all mock tradition.
Nowadays, nobody comes here to search for their heart stone.
Huh? Wait a second…
When you say nobody…
You mean…?
That's right.
The two of us are doomed to rot in here without ever getting out.
Quit messing around!
There's no way we can accept that!
Well, that's our reality now.
Rather than finding an exit,
we have to think about how we can survive here.
EARTH
Have you found the master yet?
Regrettably, no.
I had the Akuta comb the area, but we still haven't found him.
Then assign more Akuta to the search!
But if we expand the search too far,
the villagers will become aware of the Akutas' presence.
That's what we have Kirara for.
Have her keep things quiet.
Lord Ku, there is a human saying,
that you just can't keep people from talking.
It means you can't keep rumors from spreading.
Then what would you do?
It's simple, really.
Eliminate every witness.
No. That would be against the master's wishes.
We must keep any harm to the humans, at an absolute minimum.
Then we will lead the search by the Akuta ourselves.
Requesting permission to head out.
I said no!
This is an important moment in realizing Master's plan!
Your task is to increase production of Akuta.
Use the Akuta to search for the master
—and do it secretly!
– Yes, sir! – Yes, sir!
What is all of this?
I collected all of this myself!
Isn't it quite human?
It is?
What?
You've lived among humans, but you don't even know?
No one I knew did anything like this.
Huh? Is that right?
That's weird.
That's not what the intel I gathered told me…
Hey, Mitsuki. What are you doing?
Kirara was showing me her things.
A messy room as usual.
Why don't you just dump all this stuff?
Keep your dirty hands off of my things!
Don't you see how wonderful these are?
Who cares? It's all trash.
I'll kill you.
Well, you can do that later. Right now, Lord Ku has orders.
He wants you to clamp down further
on information going around in the village.
Humph…
You'll never understand humans.
Hey, I've noticed things have been pretty noisy since yesterday.
Is there something going on?
I heard some Hidden Leaf shinobi came looking for you.
Lord Ku chased them away.
Anyway, when will I get to meet Lord Ku?
Things are pretty busy today.
I see. I can wait.
Shikadai.
Shi-ka-da-i.
I guess it's not working.
Okay… How about this one?
Cho-Cho.
Too hard, huh?
This is Cho-Cho. Do you understand?
Cho-Cho, the Chubs.
Chubs!
Chubs! Chubs!
Very good, Akkun!
Who's there?!
Sarada! Cho-Cho!
I'm destroyed. I lost weight.
Are you being pursued?
It's crawling with Akuta over there.
Where are Boruto and Shikadai? Aren't they with you?
Are you saying… they're not here yet?!
Maybe they're lost.
Should we look for them?
It's too risky to move right now.
We should wait and see first.
I can't walk another step!
Chubs!
I can't…
I'm so hungry, I can't move.
Damn it.
At this rate, I'll die.
So uncool. This just shows that I'm just all talk.
I'm so thirsty.
Water…
That's cold!
Oh, Old Man?!
Like I said… Looks like you can't survive here.
Come with me.
Huh?
Here's some water.
Drink.
You sure?
Just drink.
I feel alive again!
You're a lifesaver!
Wanna eat?
You sure?
Here.
A bug?!
It's a valuable source of protein.
It's quite good.
What?! Isn't there anything else?
If you don't want it, you can starve to death.
What will it be?
I'm not gonna die here!
Oh?
It's good!
What did I tell you?
Why did you offer me water and food?
Well, I figured I owe you for saving my life.
My conscience couldn't just let you die.
Old Man…
So?
Was I right, or what?
Well, never mind.
For now, lend me a hand.
There's a limit to how much food one person can forage.
For now, let's call a truce.
Quite a big change from this morning…
Still, it's amazing how much food is available here.
Sourcing provisions off the land is a basic skill for shinobi.
Didn't they teach you that at the Academy?
I read about it in a textbook, but we didn't actually do it…
If you keep a sharp eye out, you'll see it.
You found bamboo leaves and cicada shells, didn't you?
I get it! That means there's material for utensils, and insects we can eat.
You didn't realize that— and that's a problem.
My word…
Young people these days are all about book learning,
but no real-life resourcefulness.
Sorry about that.
So, you finally admit to your own shortcomings?
This and that are two different things!
Hot!
Don't rush!
Let it cool before you eat.
Unlike the old days, you have everything now.
But has that made you stronger in the true sense?
When we were young, it was a time of war.
There was constant fighting.
We were desperate just to survive.
That forged us
and became our strength.
Are you saying things were better when you were at war?
That's not what I mean.
But in a world at war, experience counts.
Especially in times like these,
if you don't exercise self-control and train constantly,
you won't be able fight enemies like Kaguya.
You've actually fought the Otsutsuki,
so you know what I'm talking about.
I don't ever want to see innocent people die again…
That's why I created Ku and the others.
Master… Dear Father…
We await your order.
Now that you mention it, he called you "Dear Father."
Is it because—?
That's right.
Ku was created from my cells.
He's man-made.
A synthetic human.
Don't be so surprised.
There's one like him among you, as well.
The technology that created Ku and those like him
is still in its infancy.
To perfect it, I need Mitsuki's help.
That's why I invited him here.
If my plan succeeds,
Ku and those like him will fight in your place.
They will dutifully protect all of you.
But…
I cannot bear the thought of promising young people like you
becoming casualties.
The plan is entering its final stages.
I'm confident Ku and the others can see it through
even without my presence.
I've finally come this far. Finally!
So, you're Ku?
We meet at last. I'm…
There's no need for introductions.
With your help,
we are about to gather vital data on your heart.
We're grateful to you.
But isn't there a Curse Mark on my heart?
It's an older Curse Mark.
It will take time,
but we'll eventually be able to complete the analysis.
We can do it now, because you've come.
I have one other reason for coming here.
I want to know the secret behind a will.
The secret behind a will?
You and I, we were created by humans.
Were our souls, as well?
Do you think the individual will inside of me
is something given to me by humans?
If you want to know the answer,
you should ask the human who created you.
However, it seems you haven't done that.
Why do you think that is?
I don't know.
They say humans go through a rebellious stage as they mature.
If that's true,
then your behavior is not all that unusual.
My will is a sign of maturing?
Or, you may have been programmed that way to begin with.
But what difference does it make?
To me, either way is fine.
My master possesses a noble purpose.
He needed an empty vessel to fill with that purpose…
That vessel is me.
This body that Master has given me could have been an empty one.
That is why I call myself Ku, as in "empty."
I'm told, once upon a time, vessels were called tsuki.
You and I are the same, Mitsuki.
An empty vessel…
Does being an empty vessel dissatisfy you?
There's no need to lament being "empty."
Emptiness expanded to its very limits looks down on all it encompasses…
It becomes sora…the sky.
Reading human books again?
Yeah, they're fun.
It says humans can overcome adversity depending on one's attitude.
I wonder if that applies to us?
Ridiculous.
That stuff's not going to make a difference in strength.
In the first place,
we Synthetics have nothing that we can call a soul.
Huh? Where's Mitsuki?
With Lord Ku.
I wanted to show him how beautiful I look with this new umbrella I got.
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY Quit doing stuff like that.
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY Just take over for the Tsuchikage like you're supposed to.
Huh?!
Don't tell me that when you're the one who's slacking!
Huh? Who's slacking?
I'm not the one having fun pretending to be human like you are.
I'm studying the human soul.
What can you understand about humans from a book?!
Both of you, shut up.
Humans aren't worth it.
Stop wasting your time on things like that.
– How dare you! – What?!
Okay, okay. That's enough.
I get that you're interested in humans,
but among us here,
the one who best understands humans is me.
Kakou…
When you're done, can I borrow that book?
I'm interested in books about humans.
Take it now if you like.
Sure?
Here you go.
Kakou?
It just started all of a sudden.
Kirara!
Kakou needs first aid!
Kirara?!
This isn't beautiful at all…
Damn it!
I can't be stuck here relaxing like this.
We really ended up in a bad location!
Like I told you,
to get out of the Sanzu Plains, you have to find your heart stone.
Does that thing really exist?
I just can't believe such a special stone is around here, somewhere!
Next time on Boruto Naruto Next Generations:
"The Heart Stone"
If you realize or grasp something while you're here,
you'll obtain the heart stone.
THE HEART STONE