Sasuke's Story: Star Lines
What's with that attitude?
Say something!
Be careful from now on!
Are you all right?
I'm fine.
The guards have been singling you out recently.
Did you do something to get Zansul's attention?
You've been warned already.
But if this is how you'd prefer to do things,
I'll have no choice but to enhance surveillance.
Look forward to that.
Who left their post over here?!
Oh no!
Let's get going!
Sasuke, doesn't it hurt where you got hit?
You should go to the infirmary to get yourself checked out.
Jiji, why the sudden concern?
Well, the doctor who just arrived is really pretty.
For real?!
Yeah, I went to get patched up yesterday.
That's when I saw her...
Not only was she really beautiful, but she was also kind.
I was shocked.
She's also single.
How could you tell?
She wasn't wearing a ring!
Ooh, that's big news!
You were thinking of using Sasuke
as an excuse to see her, weren't you?
Heh, ya got me.
Well, when you're stuck in a place like this,
you need to find something fun to talk about, right?
Ganno, wanna come with us?
I'll pass.
But if you want something fun, I've got something.
What is it? You're making me curious.
Zansul's room apparently has a cellar.
A cellar?
What's so special about that?
There's a rumor that Zansul has a shady secret hidden in there.
Someone just made that up, right?
I prefer the doctor.
About that... What's Zansul's secret?
Who knows?
I don't know any more than that.
Sasuke's caused quite a bit of trouble for me.
It's fine.
I can just make another one.
I knew it...
It's gonna be difficult getting past that.
Sharingan!
That settles it. Genjutsu doesn't work.
KUNAI
SWORD
KUNAI
The wounds from before have disappeared...
Or is it a different one?
But...
Poison?!
His claws were covered in poison.
It's all right now.
Well, the doctor who just arrived is really pretty...
How are you feeling?
Sakura!
You're the new doctor?
What are you doing here?
Come on, give me your arm.
I came to inform you that your mission has changed.
I'm going to draw some blood.
My mission's changed?
Kakashi Sensei found a book in the capital city of Redaku
that gives an account of the Sage of Six Paths' illness.
Here's a copy of the relevant passages.
The Sage of Six Paths...
afflicted with a curious illness, traveled to the Land of Redaku,
and thus did meet the astronomer Tatar.
One evening, Tatar spied a meteorite approaching the land.
A glittering light spilled forth from the broken meteorite,
which immediately freed the Sage of Six Path of his illness.
Tatar named the source of this power, "Ultra Particles."
In short, the Sage of Six Paths was cured of his illness
because of the meteorite fragments called "Ultra Particles."
Yeah.
It says that the Sage of Six Paths hid the Ultra Particles in
"a part of the sky that fell to earth."
"A part of the sky that fell to earth"?
We have no idea what that's referring to.
"Any who would seek out this power,"
"must revel with the Map of the Heavens."
Is the Map of the Heavens some kind of book?
I think that Naruto's illness
is a symptom of having a Tailed Beast within his body.
If that's the case, those Ultra Particles
would have the power to alleviate that symptom.
I'll get them for sure.
Are you feeling all right?
I'm fine.
The fact that you're vulnerable to this poison
must mean it's a substance found only in this land...
Go back to the village immediately.
It's too dangerous here.
Dangerous?
Don't underestimate me!
I know how strong you are.
But I can handle this on my own.
Besides, there's something going on behind the scenes
at this Observatory.
It's strange that there are dragon beasts here
that should be extinct.
I'm sure that there's some sort of scheme at play.
That's all the more reason I should stay.
You need a partner for missions
that can't be solved with just brute strength.
I saved you earlier, didn't I?
I could have dealt with that on my own.
You have a bad habit of refusing help from others.
But it's kind of cute too.
Do what you want.
But I'm kind of happy that you were worried about me.
Because even if we can't be together,
we're still husband and wife.
Whoa!
What are you doing this late?
I-I got blisters on my fingers from working in the morning,
so I got permission from the guard.
That aside, you two...
...are married?!
Sasuke, you were married?!
I didn't say I was single.
Anyway, why's your wife working here as a doctor?
W-Well...
I wanted to see him!
And this place doesn't allow any visitors, right?
That's why I decided to get a job here as a doctor.
Ah! That makes sense!
Aren't you surprised?
Why would I be?
That's totally normal, isn't it?
A husband and wife are supposed to always be together!
Jiji...
Don't tell anyone that Sakura is my wife.
I got it.
If anyone finds out that she's married to an inmate,
she won't be allowed to stay here.
But I never expected you to be married.
You should have told me sooner!
The truth is, I have a fiancée.
She's currently working in the capital city of Redaku.
Once I've served my sentence, we're getting married!
And we plan on staying together forever.
The doctor came all the way here
because she wanted to be with you, right?!
I'm not so sure about that.
I'm away from home often.
How long are you usually away?
The longest time was several years—
Are you serious?!
For some people, their marriage would just naturally disintegrate!
I didn't just decide to leave her behind.
Sakura is needed inside our village,
but I'm needed outside of it.
Still...
Aren't you worried some creep
might start hanging around while you're away?
No.
You trust her a lot, don't you?
But I still think that a married couple
should stay together.
Even if you aren't worried,
you don't know how the Doctor feels.
You should at least give her a ring.
We've got cloth passes, so he won't attack.
It was a good idea to get one from Sakura.
As long as we have this, we have a bit of freedom.
But if we take our sweet time, the guards will beat us up.
Let's head back already.
One question...
Do you know anything about
a book called the Map of the Heavens?
Map of... the Heavens?
I've never heard of it.
I'm sure it's in the library.
Why don't you ask Penzila about it?
Why him?
Huh? You don't know?
Aw, man!
"Aw, man" yourself!
Damn it! I lost!
Now then, I'll be taking these cigarettes as you promised.
Gambling during your lunch break?
Hello.
Who are you?
I'm the new doctor in charge of the infirmary.
Doctor?
Don't worry, I'm not on patrol.
I'm looking for a book.
As a librarian, Mr. Penzila, would you mind helping me?
Just leave it to me.
It's a book called the Map of the Heavens...
Map of the Heavens?
Found it. This is it.
Basement stacks... I-24.
Oh, the basement stacks...
You won't be able to see those.
Why not?
The books stored in the basement are really valuable.
It's locked up tightly.
Do you have the key?
Well, yeah.
But you need Zansul's approval to borrow them.
If he finds out I let you in without permission,
he'll send me to solitary.
I see.
Sorry, but you should just give up.
In that case...
Why don't we gamble for it?
Huh?!
What are you—?!
If you win, I'll slip you as many smokes as you want.
But if I win, you lend me the key.
Go ahead and choose a game you're good at.
Don't tell me you're running away from my generous offer.
Okay, fine, fine!
I'll play.
That's what I like to hear!
What shall we play?
Well, isn't it obvious?
We're playing Star Lines.
Star Lines?
Star Lines is a standard game here at the Observatory.
It's played with a deck of 60 picture cards that come in 12 suits
and the goal is to construct different hands.
Can I take a look?
Certainly.
Once your hand is dealt, you swap cards between each other...
to construct your hand.
Well, do you get it?
I'm set!
Thank you.
Okay.
Also, this is the list of hands.
Doctor, are you sure about this?
It'll be all right.
My master taught me how to gamble.
Wasn't Tsunade notoriously awful at gambling?
All right, let's do this.
Doctor, beginners should keep that list handy as a reference.
I've already memorized it.
What?!
If I get the "Star" or "Earth" hands,
I can't lose, right?
That's more than enough.
This is why I hate newbies!
There's no way you'll get such a strong hand!
You're joking, right?
A-Amazing, an Earth hand!
This is the first time I've seen this.
Th-That's impossible!
She must have been cheating!
Let it go.
Huh?
A match is a match.
I lost.
Once you're done,
return it immediately.
Thank you.
About that game of Star Lines...
How did you win?
What I did took plenty of effort.
Effort? How?
Memorization.
Those cards were bent or damaged in some way.
Each one was slightly unique...
So, right from the start, I pretended to inspect the deck
while I memorized all the cards.
All 60 cards?
Yup. I learned this technique when I was training with my master.
Lady Tsunade's a sore loser,
so whenever I played a game with her, it would never end.
I didn't know what to do.
So, I would memorize the cards and always bring it to a draw.
Then Lady Tsunade would get bored and end the game.
Hey, is Jiji getting enough sleep?
He was sleeping when I slipped out of my cell.
Why do you ask?
He keeps making excuses to come to the infirmary.
We just have casual chats about things like his fiancée.
But I still think that a married couple
should stay together.
Even if you aren't worried,
you don't know how the Doctor feels.
Sasuke?
What's the matter?
Does...
the fact that I'm always away on missions...
and that we're away from each other,
even though we're married...
make you worry?
What's all of this out of the blue?
You surprised me!
Forget I asked.
It doesn't make me worry.
But...
There are moments when I want you by my side...
sometimes!
Wear that.
This is a...
Sasuke!
Thank you!
So, these are the basement stacks...
I-24...
I-...
Found it!
MAP OF THE HEAVENS
This is the "Map of the Heavens."
I sure hope this book holds some sort of clue.
An ink painting?
It's similar to Sai's works.
It's a technique taught in the Land of Fire.
12 ink paintings, huh?
These paintings...
match the cards from Star Lines.
And if you look closely,
the designs look like constellations.
I see...
The "Map of the Heavens" is exactly as its name suggests.
Since there are 12 of them,
maybe they drew the constellations
that appear in the sky throughout the year.
Tanuki...
Cat...
Monkey...
This lineup...
Feels familiar somehow.
And not just from the designs on Star Lines...
I've seen them before in the past.
Umm...
So, this is the ninth one...
The ninth one is a watch fire...
What an odd painting...
Why is the fire spreading out like this?
They look like nine... flames.
That's it!
Did you figure something out?
These are Tailed Beasts!
What?!
This painting of the watch fire...
The flames are split nine ways.
This isn't a watch fire, it's the Nine Tails!
I see.
If that's the case...
The focus of this painting isn't the tree trunk itself,
but the rhinoceros beetles gathered on it.
Yeah.
The clay vessel this cow is looking at
is most likely an octopus trap.
There's probably an octopus inside.
If these ten are Tailed Beasts, then what about the remaining two?
Are they the astronomer Tatar...
and the Sage of Six Paths?
I suspect the Sage of Six Paths himself
drew the Map of the Heavens.
It looks like we're gradually getting closer
to the Ultra Particles.
Yeah.
But we still don't know how the information
from the Map of the Heavens
is connected to the "part of the sky that fell to earth,"
where the Ultra Particles are located.
Are there any other suspicious places we haven't checked?
Zansul's room apparently has a cellar.
The cellar in Zansul's room.
The director's room has one?
It's only a rumor, but it could exist.
But his room is heavily guarded.
We need to think of some way to get around that.
Yes, that would be the perfect opportunity!
Tomorrow, the Prime Minister's messenger
will be arriving from the capital to meet with Zansul.
I see. We can take advantage of that.
If I disguise myself as the messenger
and meet with Zansul,
we should get a chance to slip into the cellar.
Disguised as the messenger from Redaku,
Sakura will only have a few minutes to distract Zansul.
In that short amount of time,
I have no choice but to sneak into his cellar
and successfully find any clues to the Ultra Particles.
Next time on Boruto: Naruto Next Generations:
SASUKE'S STORY: THE SECRET IN THE CELLAR
"Sasuke's Story: The Secret in the Cellar."
The sound of wings?
What is this place?!