"Huh… why am I back here again?"
Boruto looked around in confusion as he realized he had once again entered his mental space.
"This is your own mind, brat. Don't you know how to come and go by yourself?"
Momoshiki sat nearby, calmly sipping tea as he teased him.
"Didn't you drag me in here?" Boruto asked.
"Why would I waste my time pulling you in here every day? You never even responded to what I told you earlier."
Momoshiki answered with clear disdain.
"Then does that mean I came here on my own? Why would I do that?"
Boruto scratched his head in confusion.
"That sounds like your problem, not mine," Momoshiki replied helplessly.
Boruto looked around the space again.
"By the way… why does my mental space look like this?"
"Obviously because I remodeled it. If I'm going to live here, I might as well make it comfortable."
Momoshiki lifted his teacup and took another sip.
Boruto crossed his arms and examined the grassy landscape.
"What's the point of filling a mental space with grass?"
He paused, then suddenly seemed inspired.
"Actually… I have a better idea."
Momoshiki watched as Boruto began altering the environment around them.
Within moments, the peaceful grassland transformed into something entirely different. Screens, consoles, and strange devices appeared everywhere.
Momoshiki frowned.
"What is all this? Why would you fill your mind with electronic equipment? Don't you already have these things in the real world?"
"It's not the same," Boruto replied confidently.
"When I'm at home, my mom keeps nagging me whenever I play games. But in the mental world it's different. Nobody can control me here. I can play as long as I want."
Momoshiki shook his head slowly.
"You're hopeless."
Then something suddenly crossed his mind.
"Speaking of games… I suddenly remembered that storyline involving Hikari Uchiha. When did that happen again?"
After thinking for a moment, Momoshiki turned toward Boruto.
"Hey, brat. Have any new games been released recently?"
Boruto paused while adjusting one of the game consoles. He turned around.
"Actually, a new VR game should be coming out soon. In the game you can exchange points for a real necklace. It's supposed to be the same one Lady Tsunade once gave my dad."
"Himawari really wants that necklace, so I already preordered the game. But it hasn't been released yet."
"I see," Momoshiki said quietly.
"What do you mean by that?" Boruto asked suspiciously.
"Nothing."
Momoshiki quickly changed the subject.
"So? Are you done setting things up yet? You've been working on this forever."
Boruto proudly crossed his arms.
"This is my masterpiece! I designed an entirely new game based on ideas from all the games I remember. Ha! I'm a genius!"
He immediately began enthusiastically explaining his creation to Momoshiki.
Momoshiki listened with mild curiosity.
"Interesting. But if the game is boring, I'll kill you."
Boruto laughed.
"That's impossible! A game designed by the great Boruto Uzumaki will definitely be the best game in the world! And if you kill me, won't you die too?"
He puffed out his chest proudly.
Momoshiki smirked slightly.
"Then let's try it."
"Alright!"
Boruto instantly launched the game and began teaching Momoshiki how to play.
"To move, press this. To jump, press this…"
Time passed quickly inside the mental world.
By the time morning arrived in the real world, Boruto had spent the entire night gaming in his mind.
He had absolutely no intention of getting out of bed.
"Hey, brat," Momoshiki said lazily. "It's already morning outside. Aren't you supposed to get up and train?"
"Just let me finish this round," Boruto replied. "Then I'll leave."
Momoshiki sighed.
"I suggest you leave soon. Otherwise something unpleasant is about to happen."
Boruto did not look away from the game.
"What could possibly go wrong?"
Momoshiki answered calmly.
"Your mother is about to walk into your room."
Boruto froze.
"What?!"
He panicked instantly.
"Hurry hurry hurry! I need to get out! I need to leave!"
Momoshiki looked at him with amusement.
"Idiot. If you want to leave, just leave. Isn't this your own mental space?"
Boruto suddenly stopped.
"Oh… right."
He scratched his head awkwardly.
"How did I forget that?"
Momoshiki shook his head and chuckled.
"What a reckless kid."
But moments later, Momoshiki's expression suddenly changed.
Something felt wrong.
"Wait… why did I just sense Hinata walking toward Boruto's bedroom?"
His eyes narrowed.
"That shouldn't be possible."
He immediately began examining Boruto's condition through the Karma seal.
A moment later, he found the answer.
"Karma extraction progress… twenty eight percent?"
Momoshiki frowned.
"How is it this fast? It's already more than a quarter complete."
"How much time has passed?"
He quickly calculated.
"At this rate, I should already be able to communicate with Boruto through direct telepathy."
"I need to confirm this."
After a moment of focus, Momoshiki reached out mentally.
"Brat. I need to ask you something."
"Huh? What's going on?"
Boruto suddenly heard the voice in his head and jumped in shock.
At that exact moment, Hinata, who had just entered the room, looked startled as well.
"Boruto? What's wrong?"
"N nothing, Mom! It's nothing!" Boruto replied quickly.
He turned his attention inward.
"Wait… was that Momoshiki?"
"Yes," Momoshiki replied calmly.
"This kind of mental communication only becomes possible once the Karma extraction reaches a certain level."
"I need to ask you something important."
"How many days has it been since the battle?"
Boruto thought for a moment.
"Hmm… it should be more than half a month."
"Half a month? Are you sure?"
"Of course. I only took the bandages off my hand a few days ago."
Momoshiki fell silent.
"That's bad."
Boruto frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't I tell you before? Once Karma extraction is complete, I will take over your body."
"But you also said you wouldn't do that!"
"What I want and what Karma does are two different things."
Boruto's eyes widened.
"So even if you don't want to take over… once the extraction finishes, it will still happen?"
"Correct."
Momoshiki continued calmly.
"Normally the extraction shouldn't progress this quickly. But because you and I have been interacting inside the mental space so often, the process has accelerated."
Boruto swallowed nervously.
"So… do you have any solution?"
"Stay out of the mental space for the next two days," Momoshiki replied.
"I need time to think."
"…Alright."
Meanwhile, after Boruto's sudden reaction earlier, Hinata had been quietly observing him.
She noticed the constant changes in his expression. Confusion. Fear. Frustration.
After thinking for a moment, she gently asked,
"Boruto… what happened just now?"
"N nothing. Really," Boruto said awkwardly.
Hinata looked at him with concern.
"If there's something you can't handle on your own, you can always tell Mom, okay?"
But seeing that Boruto clearly did not want to talk about it, she decided not to push him further.