"Found it."
Naruto opened his eyes and said calmly, "A red-haired delinquent. He appears to be dealing with the Divine Tree."
Hearing Naruto's conclusion, Eida—standing at a distance—narrowed her eyes slightly. Her wariness toward Naruto increased once again.
Eida possessed Senrigan, allowing her to observe Code's situation as well.
But she knew very well that all of her abilities originated from Ōtsutsuki power and artificial modification.
Naruto, on the other hand, had detected Code through his own cultivation.
In theory, Naruto's abilities were far more complex and varied.
In other words, Eida had no way of judging how deep Naruto's power truly ran.
What unsettled her even more was that she could clearly sense Naruto's interest in the Ōtsutsuki Clan—and that interest could very easily transform into killing intent in the near future.
Without knowing how strong Naruto really was, the only thing Eida could do was keep her distance.
However…
Kawaki was standing right beside Naruto.
And she absolutely could not allow Kawaki to fall under Naruto's control.
Unfortunately, no one noticed the thoughts racing through Eida's mind.
After confirming Code's location, Boruto spoke up.
"Code is connected to the Divine Tree. We should hurry."
"Hm." Naruto nodded lightly and casually flicked a Flying Thunder God kunai into the air.
The kunai instantly transformed into a streak of light and vanished beyond the horizon, causing everyone present to twitch involuntarily.
They were all ninja. They had all thrown kunai before.
But throwing one so casually—so fast that it vanished beyond naked-eye perception—how terrifying did that level of strength have to be?
However, not everyone wanted things to proceed so smoothly.
Kawaki, having recovered from Naruto's restraint, glared at Boruto and said coldly,
"You should know my goal, Boruto. How dare you come back to Konoha? Are you looking to die?"
Boruto clearly wasn't in the mood to deal with him. He replied indifferently,
"Dying in Konoha wouldn't be too bad—but not today. Let's deal with Code and the Divine Tree first. We can settle our business later."
Boruto's feelings toward Kawaki were extremely complicated.
This man had taken his life, his future, everything he once had—but all for reasons that weren't entirely his own.
Moreover, they shared the same ultimate goal. And since Uzumaki Himawari appeared to be safe, Boruto didn't want to hate anyone anymore.
Right now, he only wanted to uncover the truth behind the Ōtsutsuki Clan—and drive them out completely.
Kawaki wasn't willing to let Boruto off so easily, but he remained extremely cautious of Naruto standing beside him.
He also knew by now that Naruto wasn't from this world.
Because of that, Kawaki no longer felt the same reverence toward Naruto as the Seventh Hokage.
After all, Naruto looked about the same age as them.
Still, Naruto's overwhelming strength was impossible to ignore. Kawaki didn't dare attack Boruto rashly with Naruto present.
After all… Boruto was his child—
…Wait. That didn't make sense.
Just as Naruto waited for the Flying Thunder God kunai to reach its destination, a figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the group.
"That's—Code?" Boruto stared in surprise. "You actually dared to come back?"
Code had escaped moments ago, yet he returned almost immediately.
And this time, he was clearly injured.
Kawaki temporarily put aside his hostility toward Boruto and said thoughtfully,
"The reason he came back is probably because whatever's on the other side of his Claw Marks is more terrifying than us."
Those words made everyone frown instinctively.
Kawaki then turned to Eida.
"What happened?"
His tone was harsh, but Eida was still willing to share information for Kawaki's sake.
She gently closed her eyes, activating Senrigan.
The very next second, her body trembled violently. She stumbled back two steps, her face turning pale.
"What is it?" Kawaki asked impatiently.
Eida spoke with visible shock.
"The people who were devoured by the Divine Tree… they've all become manifestations of it. Their goal is to consume the Ōtsutsuki Clan—and they're heading straight for Konoha."
"Consume the Ōtsutsuki?" Kawaki sneered.
"If they really can do that, it'll save me a lot of trouble."
Daemon pouted and said lazily,
"Any enemy that can scare my sister has stronger fighting power than you. You'd better be careful, kid."
Kawaki glanced at Daemon and ignored him entirely.
Seeing everyone talk as if he didn't exist, Code felt deeply insulted.
"The Divine Tree has awakened," Code said coldly. "It reshaped the bodies of the ninja it devoured. Their strength is insane. Either way, I'm leaving. You all can keep chatting."
With that, Code prepared to escape.
In the next instant, Boruto flashed in front of him and slammed a compressed sphere of chakra into his chest.
Code didn't look severely injured, but his body staggered uncontrollably.
"What are you doing?!" Code snarled.
"You still have time to deal with me? When the Divine Tree's incarnations reach Konoha, all of you will die!"
Naruto, who had remained silent until now, spoke calmly.
"Step back, Boruto."
Boruto instinctively retreated.
The next second, three Naruto shadow clones appeared around Code simultaneously. They formed hand seals together, and a white barrier instantly rose, sealing Code inside.
Code's expression changed drastically. He activated ninjutsu repeatedly—but no matter what he did, he couldn't sense the outside world.
"A fine research subject," Naruto said with a slight nod. Then he turned his gaze toward the horizon.
"Let's deal with the Divine Tree's manifestations first. We'll interrogate him later."
Everyone followed Naruto's gaze.
Four tiny black dots had appeared on the horizon.
They rapidly expanded, gradually taking on human forms.
Seeing one of the towering Divine Tree incarnations, Eida couldn't help but retreat instinctively.
She knew exactly what their purpose was.
These beings were the self-awareness of the Divine Tree itself. As a newborn lifeform, it was driven purely by instinct and curiosity.
Among them, the one who had once been Bug possessed a primal desire—to devour Eida, who carried Ōtsutsuki power.
Four Divine Tree incarnations were approaching Konoha, each with a different target.
For the first time in her life, Eida felt genuine fear.
"It's lively here," one of the Divine Tree incarnations said as it descended slowly.
Its voice was low and magnetic. "Is that my target?"
Kawaki sensed overwhelming hostility. He looked up—and his expression twisted with rage.
"Jigen…!"
Boruto quickly warned him,
"Calm down. They're just special Claw Grimes—people the Divine Tree devoured. Something went wrong with the Divine Tree, and Code is the cause."
Inside the barrier, Code scoffed silently while desperately searching for a way out.
Just as the incarnation resembling Jigen was about to strike Kawaki, a calm voice interrupted it.
"So this is part of the Divine Tree? Interesting."
The incarnation turned toward the voice.
From its perspective, a humanoid monster overflowing with terrifying chakra stood calmly below—
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to [Carlos Henrique Shura] for joining my Patreon page!🎉Your support means the world to me. 🙏
You can visit my Patreon page:
Patreon.com/PhoeniXcel
There are 10+ advanced chapters available for you to read.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.
📢 Check out my new Naruto fanfic!
[One Piece: Pirate Chat Group]