90-Second Recap of Boruto Chapter 9 From My Phone Because My Clingy Dog Has Me Pinned to The Couch
Toupee Man says he detects Kurama’s chakra inside Himawari. Team 10 points out that this makes no logical sense. Toupee Man admits he’s as confused as they are, but he doesn’t really care if he eats a Kage or a child so long as he gets that chakra.
He tries to eat Himawari, but Team Ten saves her. Chocho becomes the first and only person in Konoha who has landed a hit on Jura.
Meanwhile, Kashin Koji tells Boruto that break time is over, and he has to go save Konoha again.
Once Boruto arrives, Kawaki wakes up from a dead sleep and tries to fight him. Boruto knocks him on his ass, then basically says “While you were partying, I studied the blade.” Then he runs off to save his sister.
Himawari asks Inojin and his Eagle Uber to drop her off alone outside the village so no one gets hurt on her account. The team tries to lecture her about the value of a functional self-preservation instinct.
Himawari has a spiritual awakening mid-conversation and meets Baby Kurama. The fandom proceeds to lose their minds.
Boruto wakes up in the interrogation chamber with Konohamaru and Ibiki. They've put jutsu sealing cuffs on him so he can't teleport away.
We see Inojin is doing okay. Himawari healed him almost perfectly with zero medical school training. I hope she gets to be Sakura's apprentice, but that's probably anime-episode material.
Meanwhile, Daemon taunts Kawaki about what he's going to do if Boruto tells the truth about Omnipotence. Kawaki says he'll kill Boruto if that happens. He'll also kill Boruto if he stays quiet. Kawaki's solution to every problem is fratricide.
Boruto is doing an exposition speedrun about the Ten Tails and their goals. He claims Naruto and Hinata are still alive, and Konoha's elders threaten to kill him for lying.
Ibiki then tries to torture the truth out of Boruto by punching him. You'd think a city ninja government with mind readers and shape shifters would have more sophisticated means of extracting intel.
Shikamaru watches the interrogation unfold. He knows he has to save Boruto, but not specifically why. Omnipotence really does give people goldfish memories I guess.
He asks Ino to do him a favor and patch him in to Boruto. Ino, who is standing over her comatose son's body, says she's not going to play telephone with a terrorist anymore.
So Shikamaru calls in Mitsuki, with the excuse that snake venom is more painful than punching. He slips Mitsuki the secret passcode for Boruto's cuffs. Mitsuki rushes in and pretends to attack Boruto, and one of his snakes boops the passcode into the cuffs with his little snake snout. Boruto then teleports to safety.
Everybody then turns around and yells at Shikamaru for his 'mistake'. Mitsuki is immediately forgiven because nobody expected him to be emotionally stable.
A short while later, Shikamaru gets a call from his brother in law. Kankuro says "Hey, sorry to bother you, but Gaara and his son Shinki both got that 'tree affliction'. Do you mind sending one of your protagonists over to help us out? I don't want to be like you and end up a placeholder Kazekage for the next three years."
We then get introduced to Shinki's tree clone, Ryu. And he's already wearing a spiky goth uniform with an ab window like all his tree friends. Good for him.
Okay so Toupee Man (Jura) is floating in the air, about to snipe Boruto a second time. Then Squid Face (Mamushi) casually pops his head out of Toupee Man's stomach and says he's needed back at base.
Even though Toupee Man has a clear line of sight on Boruto to snipe him a second time, he declares that he "must" retreat, because some divine force (i.e. the author) has declared Boruto must live.
We get a flashback to the days when Boruto used to cosplay Sasuke. He's on the run from nameless minions when this mystery toad appears before him. The toad demands Boruto pet him if he wants to live.
Boruto pets the toad, then gets summoned to Kashin Koji's location. Boruto says "Aren't you the guy who tried to kill me a few years back?" Kashin Koji apologizes awkwardly.
Kashin Koji says he knows about Eida's Omnipotence because he too got injected with super special DNA from Alien Jesus. His power is Prescience, which means he sees all possible futures.
Kashin Koji offers to help Boruto destroy Ten Tails. Thanks to his future sight, he can teach Boruto all the jutsu he would have eventually learned in the future. The two basically speed-run their way through a training arc.
Back in the present, Konohamaru decides to be a narc and put Boruto in handcuffs. Specifically, sealing jutsu cuffs invented by Amado.
Himawari wakes up and uses her newfound jinchuuriki powers to heal the nerve damage in Sarada's electrocuted hands. Honestly, I wouldn't mind if Himawari becomes the designated healer - it fits her personality, and I don't recall ever seeing previous jinchuuriki use their endless chakra reserves for support jutsu before.
Back at the treehouse of evil, Toupee Man wakes Notsuke back up. The Tree People all gather around a newly budding soul bulb, which is heavily hinted to be a clone of Shinki. So I guess Suna got attacked off-screen.
We won't know what Tree-Shinki's name will be until next chapter. The working nickname is Mr. Eyeliner, though I'm open to suggestions.
So Himawari has broken out of her tree prison, and she is absolutely DONE with everything.
She hops to the ground with her backwards foot already reset and healed. Then she uses her prehensile hair to lift Inojin off the spike.
Shikadai tells her to be careful, because it's risky to shake somebody with a gaping wound in their torso. But then he gets a better look and realizes Inojin is healed. How does Shikadai know his friend's okay? Because he can see Inojin's abs. (This is a running theme through the entire chapter.)
Himawari says she's not 100% sure she healed Inojin right, on account of she has never been to medical school, so Shikadai and Chocho should take him to a hospital. Himawari says she'll fight Toupee Man alone, because 'with great power comes great responsibility." I know that's not the exact translation Viz uses, but trust me, Himawari is basically pulling a Spiderman.
Chocho doesn't want to leave Himawari alone, but Shikadai convinces her Team 10 should quit while they're ahead. Chocho reminds Himawari she has to survive because they promised to go to the new pancake shop together. And Himawari responds, completely deadpan: "I haven't forgotten. I love pancakes."
Toupee Man is very confused. He knows these kids aren't idiots, so what is driving them to behave so irrationally? Is it the same phenomena that caused Himawari's sudden evolution? What could possibly-
POW! Himawari punches Toupee Man before he can spend the next 5 pages waxing philosophical about the mysterious power of friendship. Then she tries to shoot a Biju Bomb at him, because she is speedrunning the entire Jinchuuriki powerset.
Toupee Man shoots a Biju Bomb back. Poor Shikadai is basically running for his life while chakra nukes go off in the background.
Meanwhile, we see Notsuke on the ground, having just gotten his side blown out from Sarada's Chidori. He sinks into the the black bands, then comes out fully healed. Ikemoto demonstrates this point by dedicating an entire panel solely to Notsuke's chiseled abs.
Everyone starts grilling Notsuke. Who is he? How can he use Chidori? What is his connection to Sasuke? Notsuke then snaps that he doesn't know who he is. The whole reason he's hear is to figure that out!
Sumire warns everyone that Notsuke's target is likely Sarada. But her warning does absolutely nothing, as Notsuke sneaks a hand out of a black band and electrocutes his daughter. Sumire gets electrocuted shortly after and falls unconscious.
(I'm starting to wish Sumire had never been included in the manga. When she first showed up, I was excited, since an artificial jinchuuriki could have been an interesting foil to Boruto and Kawaki's artificial Otsutsuki status. Instead Sumire's been reduced to color commentary.)
Notsuke one-shots the scowling jonin. He turns to Mr. Goatee Man, who gulps and freezes in terror. He's defeated without Notsuke lifting a finger.
Konohamaru at least puts up a good fight. He reveals a new Rasengan shield that can withstand the Chidori's power. Notsuke still beats Konohamaru, but it takes him several hits instead of one.
Back outside the village, Himawari is losing, because while she is quite talented, she is fighting a god. Toupee Man does some kind of blink attack, and Himawari's shirt tears away. The attack was supposed to disembowel her, but as we can see by Himawari's abs, she is okay thanks to her near-instant healing factor.
Kawaki is trying to get there as fast as he can, while Delta roasts him for being weak. Then they see Boruto zoom past. He saves Himawari, then does a Flying Raijin to teleport to Sarada and Sumire's location, where he saves his love interests too.
On one hand, I wish the girls could have won their own fights. But Konohamaru lost too, so I don't think this is a sexism thing. I suspect Himawari and Sarada lost merely because they are not Boruto. Everyone in Two Blue Vortex loses their fights because they lack that protagonist swag.
Boruto makes his dramatic entrance, and the first words out of his mouth are to tell Konohamaru to keep Himawari safe. My man has his priorities straight.
Konohamaru gives Boruto a hard time, but Sarada shuts him down, reminding her old teacher that Boruto literally saved her life a second ago.
Meanwhile, Kawaki and Delta are levitating over the field where Himawari got her butt kicked. They see Toupee Man (Jura) but nobody else. Kawaki realizes that Boruto teleported their sister away, and now he has to fly all the way back to Konoha.
Boruto confirms Sarada's theory that yes, the tree-man who looks like her father and fights like her father is, in fact, related to her father.
Konohamaru is suspicious and tries to interrogate Boruto, who tells him to pay attention to the damn fight. Talking is not a free action here.
Notsuke (Hidari) comes back with some TenTails clones. Boruto and Sarada do some cool fighting, and Boruto's rasengan wounds Notsuke enough that he retreats into the claws.
We see how Notsuke is healing: He's been teleporting to the evil lair, and the tree fills up his gaping flesh wounds with wood. Except the wood is more like putty and becomes 100% healed flesh.
Notsuke comes back. Sarada and Konohamaru defend Boruto while he charges up the Planet Chakra - ie. the vertigo jutsu.
To be fair, Boruto doesn't hold back his Planet Chakra attack this time, so it looks a lot more impressive and basically rips Notsuke up into tiny pieces.
Notsuke's disembodied head falls to the ground, and Kawaki shows up at the last second to one-shot him and take all the credit. Notsuke then turns into seed-thing that looks like a spiky black garlic bulb.
Boruto shoves the bulb in his frog buddy's face. Kashin Koji has some kind of jutsu that lets him view the situation through the frog's eyes, and he confirms Boruto has what's called a thorn soul bulb.
Kawaki demands an explanation, and Boruto says with a 100% straight face: "I was told it's something that will save my master...who was turned into a tree."
Before they can use the thorn soul bulb, however, Toupee Man reveals he has a sniper jutsu. He shoots Boruto, then Sarada, then levitates the Notsuke's bulb back into his waiting palm. He then declares that Boruto knows too much and needs to die.
Vertigo. Boruto trained for three years and learned how to give his enemies a bad case of vertigo.
Sorry, I know this is supposed to be a serious, badass moment. And neutralizing someone by sabotaging the flow of their own chakra is pretty cool. But I see Code repeatedly pratfalling across the panels, and I can't help but laugh.
FYI, in real life severe vertigo can be extremely disabling. I actually had an older family friend who technically died because of it (she fell and hit her head while nobody was home). But in a shonen manga with lightning spears and giant snake summons, "defeat by dizziness" is a humiliating way to lose, even for Code.
So Team 10 and Himawari are flying out of the village. Shikamaru asks everyone in the surrounding area to help deal with the intruders. Props on him for not panicking that the tree-people are targeting his only child.
Last chapter, Kawaki was like "Boruto's the bigger threat. He is my brother-rival that I must kill." This chapter, Shikamaru tells Kawaki that the intruder is after Himawari, and Kawaki screams out "YOU SHOULD HAVE LED WITH THAT" and runs off.
Toupee Man goes after Team 10, while Not-Sasuke, or Notsuke, deals with the fodder. Notsuke is genuinely confused about why Konohamaru and the other ninja are trying to interfere with the Tree Peoples' snack time.
Konohamaru is confused because he was told by the Sensor Team that Sasuke was here. All he sees is a mysterious stranger with a bedazzled hoodie and fabulous abs. The Sensor Team informs him that Notsuke definitely has an Uchiha chakra signature.
Then Sarada and Sumire shows up. Notsuke sees Sarada and immediately tries to Chidori her. She dodges and Chidoris him back. (It's honestly one of the best moments in the manga so far, up there with Boruto using Flying Raijin.) Sarada has deja vu of her father trying to kill her on sight and realizes Notsuke is related to her father.
Meanwhile, Himawari is having a very inconvenient naptime on the Bird Express. Team 10 tries to wake her up, but she's busy chatting with Baby Kurama. She asks the fox demon how he got inside her, and he's like "Well, when a jinchuuriki and a Byakugan princess love each other very much..."
Then Toupee Man arrives and wakes Himawari up. He attacks the bird, which falls like a Boeing plane. Chocho inflates herself to be a human landing pad, so they get to the ground unharmed.
As Toupee Man approaches, Himawari desperately tries to activate her magical girl powers, and Kurama just tells her to believe in herself. Himawari follows his advice and attacks Toupee Man...who breaks her leg so that her foot is fully BACKWARDS and locks her in a stone prison. Just goes to show, even a helpful demon gives bad advice.
Inojin tries to save Himawari and gets immediately impaled. There are parallels to both Hinata's fight with Pain and Asuma's fight with Hidan, so it's unclear whether Inojin is about to become a love interest or a dead mentor. Either way, Himawari is mad enough to go straight to Bijuu mode to protect him.
So we start with Mitsuki waxing poetic about how he is the moon to Kawaki's sun. It's been three years and he has not found a more creative metaphor for his self-esteem issues.
Boruto asks where Kawaki is, and Mitsuki admits he sedated Kawaki because he would have no chance winning this fight. Boruto points out Mitsuki doesn't have a chance either (burn), and the two fight.
I wish that after all the buildup for Mituski's sage mode, we could have seen a more interesting fight. All he really does is throw snakes at Boruto, who cuts them up with his sword. Eventually Boruto wins, and Mitsuki accepts death.
Obviously Boruto doesn't kill him. Instead he points out that Kawaki is an asshole and doesn't deserve to be Mitsuki's sun. Mitsuki doesn't even need a sun, but if he really wants one, Boruto is happy to volunteer.
After years of being rejected by Kawaki, Boruto's kindness convinces Mitsuki to stop trying to kill him for 5 minutes. With this temporary reprieve, Boruto explains that no, he doesn't want to kill Kawaki, and he didn't kill Naruto or Hinata either. Then he leaves.
Boruto is still on the telepathy line with Shikamaru, and they have a chat. Boruto tells Shikamaru about omnipotence, but he reveals Sarada has already told him about it many times, and Shikamaru forgets afterwards.
This is huge, because it shows Sarada hasn't been wasting her time refusing to communicate - Omnipotence just undoes any progress she makes convincing people. It also shows Shikamaru isn't the closed-minded fool the earlier chapters made him appear to be.
Then, ironically enough, Shikamaru starts asking Boruto if he's SURE he doesn't want to kill Kawaki. Shikamaru would totally look the other way if he did. But Boruto is a shonen protagonist, so he insists he can defeat Kawaki through the power of brotherly brawling instead. Also, they kind of need Kawaki alive to let Naruto and Hinata out of the pocket dimension.
Then we close off with Toupee Man surrounded by books. None of them has the answer he seeks though, so he decides to visit Naruto. It's not clear if he realizes Naruto is in hammer space or if he's just going to awkwardly show up in Konoha asking where the dead Hokage is. I guess we'll find out next time.
