(The gears of fate slowly start to turn.)

Chitose walked out of the training grounds with his backpack slung over one shoulder, the corner of his mouth showing a bruise that was blue and purple in color. As he looked up at the sky that had already turned a shade of orangey red, he saw Boruto leaning with his back against a tree, hands in his pockets and head lowered, not far from him.

The sunset shone down on Boruto, stretching out a long black shadow from where his feet touched the ground. Chitose paused in his steps for a moment before, in the next instant, Boruto lifted his head to look at Chitose. Seeing the latter's disheveled appearance, dirty clothes, and the bruise at the corner of his mouth, Boruto couldn't help letting out a mocking laugh.

Chitose glanced at him indifferently, his dark eyes calm as he asked, "Where are Shikadai and the others?"

Having been rebuffed, Boruto rubbed his nose as he answered, "They were just chased away by Lord Sixth's shadow clone."

As Chitose walked towards Boruto, upon hearing his words, he halted in his tracks, stunned for a moment.

He had already gone all out, even resorting to using his Sharingan that he had more or less figured out the workings of. Other than those ill-omened eyes and the things he had grasped while in "that place", he had completely revealed everything he was capable of before the Sixth Hokage. Yet even so, he still hadn't been able to force the man to use his full strength. He had kept his guard up the entire time, yet astonishingly, he had failed to notice the process of the shadow clone being created.

The gap was far too great.

After spacing out for a while, Chitose glanced again at Boruto, who was hesitating as if he had something to say. Raising a brow, he asked, "What's the matter?"

Since they were chased away, this guy was probably included as well. Coming back on purpose, what was he planning to do?

Sensing that his intentions were seen through, Boruto stiffened for a moment before, seemingly out of stubbornness, lifting his head wanting to directly ask Chitose. But Chitose had already walked over to a spot a few steps away during this time, and the moment their gazes met, Boruto felt the fighting spirit he had just pumped himself up with instantly deflate like a punctured balloon.

Hemming and hawing for a long time, he finally squeezed out a small voice when Chitose frowned slightly in impatience, "Y-You... what were those 'techniques' you used...?"

His bright blue eyes glanced sideways, darting back every now and then as if to gauge Chitose's expression when he asked his question. Seeing that he remained expressionless as always, Boruto grew somewhat apprehensive as he stole even more glances at him.

Looking at Boruto's various reactions before him, Chitose felt somewhat amused and also rather touched.

Unable to restrain his curiosity yet afraid of asking inappropriate questions, this side of Boruto that was unexpectedly not as reckless as usual and instead considerate of others...

And this sort of Boruto seemed a little cute to him. Seeing those eyes akin to a small animal's, the corners of Chitose's lips curved up faintly as he replied indifferently, "That's alchemy."

"Alchemy?" Boruto echoed in puzzlement.

Chitose closed his eyes briefly before opening them again, suppressing the fleeting turmoil in their depths, "It's a technique my...mother taught me. It isn't ninjutsu."

That's right, alchemy. Chitose's mother, Minako Yatogami, was an extremely outstanding alchemist, bearing the title "Alchemy of Thorns". As the name suggested, she was able to utilize all materials around her to form spikes and thorn-like weapons for attacking and defending. The sharpness and durability of her thorns, paired with her bizarre and elusive application, allowed Minako to rely on her own capabilities to become a military officer of considerable prestige at a young age, holding the rank of Colonel*.

Her innate talent in alchemy had even received affirmation from the supreme commander of the military. She was regarded as a genius alchemist with an extremely promising future, one invested with high hopes.

She could have continued on as an alchemist, living out her life in her original world. Until she arrived here and met Uchiha Itachi.

And as the son of the genius alchemist, Chitose was already playing with all kinds of transmutation circle models as toys before he had even learned how to crawl. He started learning alchemy as soon as he began to speak. By the time he was 10 years old, his level in alchemy had already received acknowledgment from his mother. He had grasped over a thousand types of transmutation circles, and after ten years of ceaseless practice day after day, his speed in drawing transmutation circles had reached an unbelievable level.

If 13-year-old Itachi's speed in weaving hand seals was already quite remarkable, then 10-year-old Chitose's speed in drawing transmutation circles was undoubtedly the leader amongst alchemists.

He was able to complete an extremely complicated transmutation circle within one second during battle, allowing him to unleash techniques almost without obstruction.

And the "thorns" he had inherited from his mother were undoubtedly one of Chitose's most adept and preferred fighting methods.

However, his most formidable alchemy was the "elemental alchemy" that he had grasped while in "that place", able to transmute even the air itself.

That was his real trump card besides those ill-omened eyes, as well as something he had never revealed before anyone.

Chitose walked slowly towards home with his head lowered, hands in his pockets, mind going over and analyzing every single movement of the battle with the Sixth Hokage earlier, carefully considering what would happen if he countered in a different way.

Unknowingly, he had arrived at the Uchiha residence. And Boruto, who had silently accompanied Chitose the entire way, finally spoke up once more at this point, "Chitose, you'll be training with Lord Sixth from now on, right?"

Chitose's train of thought was interrupted as he returned to his senses. Glancing at Boruto who was staring fixedly at him with blazing eyes, somehow seeming extremely serious, he shifted his gaze away, "There's no need for you to worry. I won't fall behind in our cultivation together—"

"No, there's no more need."

Boruto cut Chitose off rather curtly. The latter was taken aback for a moment, turning to look at Boruto doubtfully, "What did you say?"

"I said, don't come train with us anymore. Understand?" Boruto lowered his head slightly, eyes fixed on the ground beside him, hidden by his bangs so Chitose couldn't see the emotions in them.

Chitose turned to face Boruto directly, watching him silently without saying anything, only staring intently. Sensing Chitose's gaze, Boruto lifted his head, directly colliding with Chitose's eyes which had become somewhat unfamiliar and gloomy. An inexplicable chill rose in his heart, "Y-You... Why are you looking at me like that?"

Chitose still didn't speak. He took a step forward, closing the distance between them. Taking advantage of being half a head taller, he looked down at Boruto condescendingly, cold eyes fixed unwaveringly on Boruto's, the warm orange glow of the sunset reflected in those bright blue orbs. Yet he remained silent.

Boruto was frightened by his actions at first before growing somewhat uncomfortable under the frigid gaze he hadn't seen for a long time. But recalling his original intention for saying those words, his heart steadied as he stubbornly met Chitose's eyes with his own.

The path home from school was exceptionally tranquil today, quiet to the point Boruto could hear both their breathing. As he held Chitose's gaze, he also inadvertently noticed Chitose's looks that any girl would be envious of. Examining him up close from a distance closer than ever before, Boruto suddenly became aware of the sound of his own heartbeat for some reason.

All of a sudden, Chitose took a step back with lowered eyes. A low voice sounded faintly in the air, "I see."

Hearing that hoarse voice, Boruto was stunned for an instant.

Something in his heart stirred slightly.

He watched as Chitose turned expressionlessly to walk towards the Uchiha house, footsteps no different from usual as he opened the door and entered before closing it behind him. At the same time the sound of the door closing rang out, Sarada's "Welcome back!" could be heard. Boruto stared blankly as that black-clad figure disappeared behind the door, unable to return to his senses for a long time.

Just now, for a split second, he had felt... that figure wrapped in the welcoming words, was so very...lonely

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***

The next day.

"You idiot!!!!"

Early in the morning, an enraged yell from a boy rang out in the ninja classroom.

Boruto stared blankly at Shikadai who was slamming the table and shouting at him, "How could you say that to Chitose!? He'll definitely think we want to exclude him! You should have at least explained the reason to him properly! And you didn't even ask about why Lord Sixth is teaching him and that secret mission and everything..."

Seeing Boruto's shocked and incredulous expression, he asked in disbelief, "Don't tell me you didn't consider it might turn out this way?"

Seeing Boruto's continued stunned silence that shifted into an expression of horror, Shikadai completely gave up and sighed heavily as he rubbed his forehead.

"Anyway, first we need to figure out a way to find Chitose and explain things clearly to him. We're his friends."

Shikadai's words echoed in Boruto's ears for a long time. His friends? Since when have he and that guy already been considered friends?

They were clearly still...bickering every day and getting on each other's nerves. But...

Boruto suddenly recalled that faint smile at the corner of Chitose's mouth after the battle with Kakashi. Then he remembered those eyes which had become heavy and icy-cold again yesterday. He also remembered that figure which had stirred an inexplicable sense of loneliness within him for some reason.

His heart ached sharply for that figure.

He slammed the table heavily and stood up with a "humph", shocking his classmates as he charged towards the classroom door. He wanted to immediately go find Chitose and explain things clearly to him.

He understood very clearly that although they still didn't get along, he didn't want... he didn't want Chitose to misunderstand him! He didn't mean that he didn't want to train together anymore! He only wanted to avoid holding Chitose back!

He raced to the classroom door like a cannonball and was just about to dash out when in the next moment, a man's chest appeared before his eyes. He was shocked and tried to brake, but couldn't halt his momentum in time. The two of them were just about to collide.

At the critical moment, the person swiftly dodged to the side, avoiding Boruto. He then grabbed Boruto's arm and gave it a hard yank. As Boruto stumbled towards him, he let go of Boruto's arm and steadied him with a hand.

Finally able to stand firmly, Boruto also quickly realized the person was none other than Chitose who had just arrived at school.

He was clearly exhausted from intense early morning training. Aside from the two new white bandages pasted on his left cheek, there was also a bruise at the corner of his mouth in a different spot from yesterday's. However, these did nothing to diminish his good looks in the slightest.

Boruto stood an arm's length away from Chitose, staring blankly at those fatigued yet still icy cold eyes. For a time, he surprisingly couldn't find his voice and simply forgot to speak until Chitose shifted his indifferent gaze away towards something behind Boruto. He then walked past Boruto from his side.

In that instant they brushed shoulders, Boruto's pupils contracted before he hurriedly turned in reaction, "Chitose!!"

The clear sound of the door closing cut Boruto off, instantly dimming the brightness in his blue eyes.

Clenching his fists tightly with some effort, Boruto lowered his head. In a daze, it felt as if that thin wooden door was separating two worlds.

***

Boruto believed that even though he had failed that morning, he would still have chances to properly explain things to Chitose. However, the reality was he had completely missed every single opportunity — or rather, he had messed up every opportunity himself.

Ever since Kakashi had begun teaching Chitose for some unknown reason, Boruto clearly sensed Chitose was becoming extremely busy and exhausted. After class, Chitose would always rest his head on a hand with eyes closed, sleeping. During lessons, although he remained awake, from Boruto's observations as his desk neighbor, he was able to comprehend the entire lesson and homework within ten minutes of the start of each class. Then, he would unabashedly look through all kinds of scrolls and notebooks whose contents included fire style ninjutsu, genjutsu, shurikenjutsu...

Through extremely attentive observations, Boruto surmised that Chitose returned injured every day.

He recalled Chitose stating his hobby was self-improvement during his self-introduction. At that time, he hadn't considered deeply about it, but thinking it over now together with Chitose's performance, Boruto couldn't help but wonder about the reason why he was so desperate to become stronger.

Connecting this to how he deliberately concealed his birthday as well as that "secret mission", Boruto only felt the mysteries surrounding Chitose were growing and attracting him more and more, making him eager to unravel them one by one.

But...

Boruto listened absent-mindedly to Moegi's lecture at the podium, eyes the color of cloudless skies secretly glancing left at the side profile of the sleeping black-haired boy with his head propped by a hand.

Ten minutes prior, this person had still been awake, half-lidded eyes lowered as he read a scroll on his desk.

Boruto looked at the furrowed brows of Chitose even in sleep and pursed his lips.

This guy Chitose... was exhausted to this extent every day. He had previously still been able to remain alert during lessons but now... he was worn out to this degree.

He saw the dark circles under his eyes stand out even more prominently against his fair complexion. Yet in Boruto's eyes, there was an allure in the boy's sickly state.

Without realizing it, as he gazed at Chitose's side profile, Boruto's mind wandered. Suddenly, the obsidian eyes resembling polished black jade stones opened sharply without the slightest blur or hesitation, looking straight at him. Their eyes collided and Boruto was so shocked that his own eyes widened before he swiftly shifted his sight back to the blackboard, pretending to be listening attentively to the lesson. However, without knowing why, his ears stealthily turned a shade of pink.

——I totally can't speak at all when meeting Chitose's eyes! Boruto's simple brain only knew that whenever their eyes met, he would become extremely self-conscious for some reason, only wanting to shift his own eyes away. But when Chitose really wasn't looking at him anymore...

Chitose glanced strangely at the odd Boruto before turning back to his scroll.

And Boruto, upon sensing Chitose had retracted his gaze, only then slowly relaxed his taut body. When he really wasn't watching him anymore, a shallow displeasure would well up instead.

Much later, Boruto finally understood this feeling of displeasure signified "loss".

Then, with Boruto unable to voice the explanation and also unwilling to let Shikadai and the others explain on his behalf, one month passed.

***

Hokage's Office

Naruto stood with his back facing his desk and the expansive view of Hidden Leaf Village, complex emotions swirling in his tranquil eyes. After a long while, he finally heaved a deep sigh.

"Chitose, do you really have to do this?"

Standing behind the desk across from him, the boy gazed steadily at Naruto's back, tone resolute, "Yes."

Naruto turned around, glancing through the academic report on Chitose that Moegi had brought over from the academy.

Using the difficulty level of the ninja school's graduation exam as a benchmark, Moegi had independently prepared—

——a graduation exam for Chitose.

And the result was unexpected yet also expected by Moegi and the others.

A perfect score.

Theory, taijutsu, shurikenjutsu, chakra control ability, survival skills... even the basic ninjutsu.

This kid... his excellence simply left one dumbstruck. In just a mere three months, his standard already met that of a jōnin*... No, Chitose's original strength was probably already nearing jōnin level. And after coming into contact with "shinobi", he had absorbed all the knowledge he was currently able to access with the speed of a sponge soaking up water, rapidly enhancing himself.

Now, not to mention Chitose's taijutsu —— his genjutsu with the boost from his Sharingan could already easily take out Chūnin and even some Jōnin. For ninjutsu, Chitose was already adept at using four C-rank fire style jutsu and two B-rank ones.

And those two B-ranks were actually enhanced versions of his C-rank techniques that Chitose had unconsciously unleashed during a fight with Kakashi before learning of their ranks and names from a flabbergasted Kakashi.

Furthermore, combined with his massive reserve of academic knowledge... For someone of Chitose's level to continue staying at the ninja academy really was rather pointless.

But Naruto's original intention was not for him to simply increase his abilities...!

Feeling somewhat troubled, Naruto turned back to look at Chitose as he tentatively tried asking, "Chitose, could you and Boruto and the others...have had some misunderstanding...?"

In these past three months, the progress in the boys' friendship that had at one point already gratifyingly developed to the point they were inseparable had stalled. For some unknown reason though, ever since Chitose had started training under Kakashi, the group of boys had completely fallen apart.

Chitose had begun relentlessly cultivating himself, heeding no advice. He had self-studied and completed the entire ninja school curriculum in just one month before requesting early graduation. Meanwhile, Boruto was obviously distracted every day, worries apparent over that someone.

Chitose's movements hitched before he lowered his eyes under Naruto's concerned gaze. "There's a little...already resolved...misunderstanding."

Naruto was surprised.

Already resolved misunderstanding? In Naruto's view, what did that signify?

Unbeknownst to Naruto, in a place he couldn't see, Chitose's downcast eyes contained fluctuating gloom.

He wasn't stupid. Moreover, he had faith in his own judgment. The friends he had chosen would definitely not be the sort to exclude him because of differences in ability.

That day when Boruto had told him he "didn't want to train together anymore", he should have waited for an explanation. Indeed, he should have. However, Boruto's words had suddenly reminded him... that he still had something to do.

Yes, he still had something extremely important. His most important friend, who had never abandoned him no matter what happened... he couldn't immerse himself in the care of family and friends and forget about him. That would be too selfish, wouldn't it?

He must find him as soon as possible! He can't lose that guy after losing Sumire!

So, he trained like his life depended on it, wanting to graduate quickly. After that, despite knowing Boruto's true feelings, he still didn't give him a chance to explain, unilaterally distancing himself.

He needs time to train, needs to improve himself as quickly as possible, but he can't tell anyone the reason for his desperate training.

He instinctively hides his past, only because these new people in his life are like sunlight, too beautiful. He fears that his dark past might create any distance between them and can't bear to tarnish them.

Especially his newly acquainted friends with clear souls. And now, in these four years of living a fate worse than death, his friends who went through thick and thin together are the ones he misses the most.

Thinking of his current situation, he can't suppress the desire to train and the urge to leave the village. And to find him, there's only one way.

Chitose suddenly raises his head, eyes bursting with an unusually determined light, "Please allow me to become a Genin!"

The method to traverse worlds can only be found after leaving the village!

At the same time, in the Hidden Cloud Village, far from the Leaf Village, a bald, sharp-eyed young man is bidding farewell to family and friends.

"Hanzo, do your best in the Hunter Exam!" an elderly lady with a kind smile says to the young man.

The young man named Hanzo nods with a smile, then confidently raises his thumb, "Just watch me!"

At almost the same time, a teenager on Whale Island catches a big fish, a sign that he can participate in the exam.

On the desolate Kukuroo Mountain, a silver-haired young man injures his own mother and escapes from the family territory.

At this moment, from the second the black-haired boy said he wanted to become a Genin, the gears of destiny slowly began to turn.