The Assassin, Mugino
Hey, Hima, what have you been working on—?
Don't talk to me!
I'm doing something very important right now!
I'm sorry!
'Kay!
It's done!
A vase?
What do you think?
Do you think Mom will like it?
I think it's cute, but why did you make Mom a—?
Oh! It's almost Mom's—!
That's right, her birthday!
I'm thinking of giving her this.
Have you decided what you're going to give her, Big Brother?
No, not yet!
It's payday today,
so maybe I'll look for something after my mission?
THUNDER BURGER
But it's unusual.
I can't believe we're taking on missions
without Konohamaru Sensei from tomorrow.
He said it was an urgent mission,
and that he had to leave the village today.
Now that Konohamaru Sensei isn't around,
it's up to me to lead Team 7!
With those expectations,
you're going to get yourself worked up for nothing.
I'm not going to tolerate
any unauthorized actions from you, got it?!
All right, all right.
See ya!
Yeah, see you later!
See you later, Boruto.
Flowers, huh?
That might not be a bad gift for Mom.
Sorry! Please clear the way!
Did something happen?
You look like you're chasing after someone.
Boruto?! What are you doing here?!
I'll help you, Mr. Mugino!
N-No, you don't have to do that.
I'm on a top-secret mission!
You're not getting away anymore, Mugino!
What's going on?!
I'm sorry.
Could you let me off the hook today?
You've got to be kidding me.
Listen up.
I'm gonna have you get everything in order
and payback the entire tab you owe my restaurant!
A… tab?
Even though he eats and drinks more than the average customer,
he always says,
"I've got an urgent mission! Put it on my tab!"
and leaves without paying.
So, you were the one being chased, Mugino?
What are you doing?
Don't worry.
Like I told you, I'll pay my tab on my next payday.
Payday is today!
You've got a good memory.
Take it. It's everything I've got.
You should have done that from the start.
Th-This is everything you've got?!
What's the meaning of this?!
To tell you the truth, earlier…
I ran into a kid who said he had a sick little sister.
I felt bad for him and
gave him my entire pay for this month.
Um… Who'd believe such an obvious lie?
You swindling, useless–!
You're making ridiculous excuses even now?!
It's the truth, so it can't be helped!
It's not my place to say this, but I'm sorry.
Despite all this, he's not a bad person… probably.
You a friend of his?
Huh? Well, yeah, I am…
Then take responsibility and pay his tab!
What?!
Thank you for your patronage!
This is all I have left now.
Thanks, Boruto. I'm really grateful.
"Thanks" isn't going to cut it!
I'm going to make sure you pay me back for this.
Don't worry about it.
I'll make sure to pay you back next month on payday.
Weren't you saying the same thing earlier?
Damn it!
Hold on a second.
W-What is it?
I've got nothing now.
Thank you.
I'll never forget what you've done for me!
Hey, that's gross!
Not only did you make me cover your tab,
but you made a genin pay for your meal!
Aren't you embarrassed?
I've hardly had anything to eat.
If I was hungrier, I'd have trouble on my mission.
It's already causing you more than enough trouble…
But if you can't pay your tab,
why can't you rely on Big Bro Konohamaru instead of me?
Haven't you been friends for a long time?
I couldn't do that.
Begging a friend for money is unethical.
Skipping out on your tab doesn't count as being unethical?
During our missions,
I thought you were serious and reliable.
I had no clue you were usually like this.
I am in your debt for the meal.
Right now, I'll listen to whatever you want to say about me.
Oh, yeah! Come over to my place.
It's fine. Just return the money I lent you.
Don't worry about it.
I'm a man who keeps his promises.
Don't make me laugh.
Also, there's a favor I'd like to ask of you.
I can't cover any more tabs, okay?
It's nothing like that.
What's the favor?
Well, let's save that for later.
First, please make yourself at home.
How am I supposed to do that?
Whoa, don't step there. The floorboards are rotting,
so you're gonna have a hard time getting your foot loose.
What a horrible place, ya know.
Still, I've never had a problem living here.
As long as I have a roof over my head,
I can keep the rain off of me.
I think all you have here is a roof.
But don't you think this gives you a sense of freedom?
What do you mean?
Whenever you obtain something,
you start feeling like you don't want to lose it
or you start feeling like you need more.
I just don't like being constrained by things like that.
I guess that's one way to think about it.
I don't really get it, though.
That's fine.
I want to live my life the way I was born—
without any possessions.
That's all.
What a nice view!
To think you'd have such a great view of the Great Stone Faces from here!
That's the reason why I live here.
What do you mean?
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.
He's the person I look up to.
FEUDAL
You could say, he saved my life.
Take a look.
Unlike now, when I was a child,
there was still a lot of war and strife.
Because of that, there were a lot of children
in the world who had lost their parents.
I was one of them.
You were?!
Yeah.
Lord Third took care of us like a parent.
He was a kind person, huh?
Tell me more!
It was all such a long time ago.
I've forgotten all about it.
You don't look as if you've forgotten.
You're quite perceptive about uninteresting things.
My childhood, huh?
Back then…
Amazing!
Look!
I tried to kill Lord Third.
FEUDAL
You tried to kill Lord Third?
What do you mean?!
Children were kidnapped
and used as tools for assassinations.
Back then, there were a lot of people who did that.
They used me to try to assassinate Lord Third
to turn the conflict in their favor.
The assassination was to take place
when Lord Third came to inspect a refugee camp.
They were waiting for a chance
when he wasn't heavily protected and when his guard was down.
I blended in with the droves of refugees.
From today,
you are part of the Land of Fire, just like me.
There's no need to worry anymore.
Lord Hokage!
In the future, I want to be a shinobi!
I see, I see!
I look forward to the day when I can meet you as one.
Will I be able to become
a strong and honorable shinobi like you, Lord Hokage?
I believe that you can!
I have a grandson who's about your age.
I'd be happy if you could be friends with him someday.
Yes, sir!
Please! Let me see Lord Hokage!
SHINOBI
You can't!
I want to give him these flowers!
You're so persistent!
What's the matter?
Well, it seems child picked these flowers for you, Lord Third.
You're the child I met earlier today.
I-I wanted to give this to you, Lord Hokage.
Why don't you come inside?
Thank you!
What beautiful flowers!
It must have taken you a long time to pick all of these.
I wanted to make you happy!
What's the matter?
Oh, I just wanted to let more air in.
It's rather humid, tonight, isn't it?
That was quite considerate of you.
Is there a flower vase somewhere?
Now, where was it?
I figured you were an assassin.
How did you know?!
Judging by your movements earlier, there's someone watching you, right?
Damn it! If I don't kill you—!
If you fail to assassinate me, you'll be killed, correct?
Judging by that Curse Mark,
that jutsu can be activated at any time.
Did he fail?
No, just wait.
In that case, there's only one thing I can do.
In this moment, they'll be caught off guard.
Did we do it?!
Despicable.
You deserve no mercy!
Lord Third, are you all right?
Yes. The ones behind this are over there.
You're the only one left now.
I'm so sorry.
Small children like you are being used as disposable weapons.
We adults are responsible for creating such a world.
I'm so sorry. Please forgive me.
FEUDAL LORD
If you bring this signed letter with you,
the Hidden Leaf will welcome you with open arms.
Please come whenever you feel like it.
Remember how I said that I have a grandson back at my village?
He's an impudent kid,
but I'd be very happy if you two became friends.
What's his name?
It's the same as my village. It's Konohamaru.
Afterwards, I couldn't decide what to do.
By the time I made my way to the Leaf…
Lord Third had already passed on.
FEUDAL LORD HOKAGE
The person who saved my life gave his life to protect his village.
So, at the very least…
FEUDAL LORD HOKAGE
After that, since I had Lord Third's signed letter,
I was able to enroll in the Hidden Leaf Academy.
I can't express my gratitude in words.
I had no idea that happened.
You're the first one I've told this story to.
So, not even Big Bro Konohamaru knows about this?
Of course not.
This story is too embarrassing to tell.
You said you didn't own anything,
but you have a turtle!
Earlier, a weird fortuneteller roped me into getting one.
So, one thing led to another and I got one.
What was the fortune?
The shadow of death follows a close friend of yours.
The only one who can cast that shadow away, is you.
Don't worry, it didn't come true.
Anyway, this is the favor I wanted to ask of you.
I'm going on a mission
with Konohamaru as a two-man team.
Please feed this guy until we're done with the mission.
Is that the urgent mission Big Bro Konohamaru mentioned?
We're investigating a suspicious crash
near the border of the Land of Fire.
I don't know the details, though.
Well, you told me an amazing story,
so I'll feed him for you in return.
Thank you.
The location's quite far, so we need to get going already.
However, when you get back,
you better pay me back for the tab I covered.
Don't worry about it.
I can't trust you at all.
Because of you, I can't even buy my mom a gift.
I'm so sorry about that.
If I hadn't run into that kid, I could have helped you.
You don't have to keep the lie going.
Who's there?
You're–!
Who is that?
Thank you very much for earlier!
Thanks to you,
I think I'm going to be able to get my little sister some medicine!
What?!
That story was true?!
I don't know if this is enough to repay you,
but I picked these flowers.
Please accept them.
You didn't have to go through all the trouble.
Thank you very much for everything.
Guess we're in much better times now.
Sorry for doubting you!
But I'm surprised you trusted him.
That kid's a total stranger, right?
That doesn't matter.
Whether it's a lie or the truth, I'll believe a child.
That's the responsibility of an adult.
You say such cool things!
He picked these for me,
but they'll wilt if I leave them here.
Could you take them?
Are you sure?
Yeah, this is more than enough for me.
I'll give you my key.
Please take care of things for me.
Okay, got it!
Well, Mr. Mugino, see you later!
See you later!
Mr. Mugino!
Look after Big Bro Konohamaru, okay?
You can count on me!
FIRE
Thank you for waiting.
At last!
The prototype is finally complete!
Is that the prosthetic arm we requested?
Yes, but of course, this is no ordinary prosthetic.
If possible, I'd like you to test its power yourself.
I'm sure you'll be surprised.
You seem quite confident of that.
It's my greatest masterpiece!
I've poured all of the Hidden Leaf's scientific knowledge into it!
That sounds amazing, ya know!
We'll think of a day to test it out.
Thanks for your hard work, Katasuke.
I'm looking forward
to seeing the look of surprise on Lord Seventh's face!
It was the right decision to return Katasuke to his former position.
There's no one in the Hidden Leaf
who's more familiar with Scientific Ninja Tools than him.
I'm relieved that he's in higher spirits than I expected.
Despite how he acts,
he's still undergoing mental checks
to see if he's under the influence of genjutsu.
He deeply regrets leaking information about Scientific Ninja Tools.
So, we still don't know who placed that genjutsu on Katasuke?
Yeah, we haven't been able to find any leads.
It seems they're quite skilled.
So? What are you going to do about testing the prosthetic arm?
Want to handle this by yourself?
I'm fine doing it on my own, but…
Oh, yeah!
Once my hand is healed, I want you to spar with me, Dad!
I've got the perfect partner in mind.
I'm home!
Welcome home!
Ta-dah! How's this?
I've brought so many flowers that they can't fit into your flower vase!
Good job, Big Brother! You're so thoughtful!
Mom is going to be so happy with our gifts!
Right?!
Thanks, Big Brother Mugino!
Everyone…
I believe some of you may have heard already, but…
We have lost the Vessel.
The time loss due to this type of mishap
certainly falls within the expected margin of error.
However, that Vessel is the one key
to fulfilling our most cherished wish as the Kara.
Recover it at all costs.
Next time on Boruto: Naruto Next Generations:
"The Vessel"
The Vessel