Academy Entrance Arc

In the anime, Boruto came across Denki Kaminarimon who was being bullied by some kids. After rescuing him, they become friends and insist that Denki stands up to his father for being forced to join the Academy against his will. The next day on route to begin his studies at the Academy, Boruto unknowingly awakens his dōjutsu and notices a dark shroud surrounding Denki. As he follows him onto a Thunder Rail carriage, Boruto stops Denki from taking revenge on the bullies from the previous day and divert the carriage from crashing. Boruto and Denki then depart with the bullies and take the carriage to the Academy's entrance ceremony, where they manage to crash it into his father's stone face, leading to him receiving a two-week suspension. For the next two weeks, Boruto is home-schooled by Hinata. After returning to the Academy, he is placed in Shino Aburame's homeroom, and introduces himself to his classmates, to which they begin talking negatively about him for being under the impression Boruto gets special treatment for being the Hokage's son. He soon met Iwabee, who views Boruto negatively. Through the heated encounter, the two decide to fight each-other in a match. Upon barely defeating Iwabee within the rules he set in place, his classmates view Boruto differently then they did initially.

Later, when Boruto's recklessness caused some property damage, Shino decided to have Boruto and other students help repair to the Hokage Rock. The following day, Boruto, along with Inojin and Shikadai found Metal Lee, who was acting unusually aggressive. Boruto's dōjutsu activated, noticing the same dark chakra surrounding Lee that Denki had. With a group effort, they were able to subdue Lee long enough for the dark chakra to leave him. After apologising to Lee for the other day and applauding his remarkable combat skills, the group became much closer. Later, concerned about how only he could see the dark chakra, he asked Hinata more about the Byakugan. Later, while the students began learning about the Summoning Technique, Boruto caused tension between the girls and boys of his class, leading to Shino organising a race to capture a flag between the two groups. In the climax of it, Boruto attempted to use the Summoning Technique, leading to the Ghost being summoned. As it began causing havoc, Konohamaru Sarutobi subdues the beast. Afterwards, the girls win the competition and make peace with the boys.

Boruto facing Shino.

On another day, Boruto met the new transfer student Mitsuki, who he found strange. After his welcoming party, Boruto alongside other students subdue a construction worker at the academy who was being possessed. Boruto, Mitsuki and Shikadai Nara. were later called to the training field by Shino for an extracurricular class. Once their teacher appeared, Boruto noticed he was being possessed. As the students were being attacked by their teacher, they came up with a plan to subdue him. Once they defeated him, Shino ends up rescuing Mitsuki and Boruto who were on the verge of drowning in their attempt to defeat Shino. Later, as Shino voiced his decision to resign as teacher despite being possessed, the students convinced him to reconsider, apologising for their earlier statements.

Later, growing concerned about this repeated and seemingly random attacks, Boruto and Shikadai begin discussing, trying to figure out the source behind them and why apparently only Boruto could see it. Later, they along with Mitsuki find several of the girls confronting Magire Kakuremino, a shy boy that is a student from a different class. As the boy was stalking Sumire lately, Chōchō insisted that he be more forward with his feelings. When Magire meekly asks her out, Sumire turned him down, leaving him distraught and running away in shame. The following day, various creepy messages are left for Sumire. While Boruto and the others decide to watch over her, they are systematically separated from Sumire. Eventually, the perpetrator is revealed to be a possessed Magire, who kidnaps Sumire. Boruto and the others soon find them, where Magire quickly attacked them with his concealment skills. Eventually, Chōchō was able to reach Magire, noting that such an indecisive nature will never win anyone over. Accepting the fact that his methods of trying to make Sumire like him were in poor taste, the Ghost was rejected from Magire. As Magire began to apologise for his actions, he fainted which was the result of severe chakra drain caused from his possession.

Later, as Boruto continued to wonder about the nature of his shadow spectre attacking everyone and why only he could see it, he ultimately fell asleep. While dreaming, he was approached by Toneri Ōtsutsuki, who warned him of an impending danger and that Boruto's eye is the key to stopping it. Upon waking up and seeing his dōjutsu for a moment in a reflection, Boruto became overjoyed at the prospect of being a great hero. He began acting like the action movie hero Kagemasa. When his family approached him about his new attitude, he insisted that he had finally manifested his Byakugan. Naruto noted that it was very unlikely since Boruto had no prior training for it. However, admitting that Himawari did achieve such a feat prior, they decided to talk to Hiashi about this. Upon arriving at his grandfather's home, the doting grandfather quickly smothered his grandchildren in hugs, which was quickly repeated by their equally doting aunt Hanabi. As Himawari played with Hanabi, Boruto and Naruto explained the nature of their visit. After Hiashi gave a similar explanation to Naruto's about the unlikeliness of Boruto's powers being the Byakugan, he decided to test his grandson with a sparring match.

Boruto sparring with Hanabi.

Hanabi then stepped in, insisting to spar Boruto herself, which was agreed. Quickly, the heiress showed her might, easily overwhelming Boruto and countering all his assaults and tactics. Hanabi began mocking Boruto into revealing his speculated Byakugan. While Boruto's performance forced Hanabi to fight more seriously, he was ultimately defeated soundly. This led everyone, including Boruto to sadly conclude that he in fact did not awaken his Byakugan. Afterwards, it was decided for Boruto and his family to stay the night. After dinner, Boruto began pouting alone, wondering if his dream from earlier was meaningless. Hanabi then approached him, seeing how down he was. Realising that Boruto's goals weren't just about proving himself to his father, but also a personal problem, she insisted that Boruto continue trying to figure out on his own and only ask for help after he tried his hardest.

Deciding to get some air, Boruto wandered into the village, where he bumped into Sarada. Suddenly, Boruto's eye activated again, noticing someone with the dark shadow again. He decided to follow, discovering that it was Kagemasa, the famous movie star. Much to Boruto's shock, the celebrity had become very fat. Kagemasa began attacking Boruto, take his frustrations out on the fact that his movie series was going to be cancelled because of his increased weight and poor dieting. As Kagemasa pinned Boruto down, he was saved by Sarada. As Boruto explained the situation, while she didn't fully believe the story, she did trust that Boruto wasn't lying. Following Boruto's plan, Sarada launched a shuriken assault on Kagemasa. Knowing that the movie star would dodge, Boruto disguised himself as one of the shuriken, letting him get close enough to knock out Kagemasa, purging the Ghost. The following day, after hearing that Kagemasa was getting back in shape and saving his movie series, a proud Boruto got over not having the Byakugan, determined to figure out the truth about his eye.

After learning that his father was beginning an investigation of his own on the random attacks, Boruto became determined to figure out the truth behind the shadow, which Boruto decided to call the "Ghost", before Naruto. Alongside Mitsuki and Shikadai, they even resorted to skipping classes with a faked excuse. Due to Mitsuki's poorly written excuse, Boruto was quickly found out and confronted by his visibly angry mother. The following day, Boruto was scolded by both Hinata and Shino, the latter of which decided Boruto would have to take after-school classes to make up the lost time. Later, Shino assigned his class to tail other workplaces to better understand non-shinobi life. Seeing Boruto's desire to continue patrolling the village, he subtly convinced Boruto, Shikadai, and Mitsuki to try the postal service. While sorting stamps, they heard on the news that another attack happened at the water purification plant, where Sumire was. Boruto and his friend quickly rushed to her aid.

Boruto's team begin their mission to find the Ghost perpetrator.

After learning that Sumire was okay, Boruto and his friends were approached by Naruto. Realising that the children were conducting their own investigation on the attacks, the Hokage decided to show them what became of people who were possessed by the Ghost for prolonged periods, requiring intensive care from near-complete chakra depletion. While Naruto insisted they stay out of this matter, Shino appeared, insisting that Naruto not underestimate his students after seeing what they were capable of, and Naruto agrees to leave the matter to Shino. As Boruto and his friends continued their post work and tried to find the Ghost, they soon learned that the creature was intentionally attacking in areas far away from Boruto as he is the only one who could see it, from which Shikadai deduced that they were being spied on. Deciding to get help from their classmates to better patrol the village, they left the post office, anticipating that the culprit controlling the Ghost would go after the post chief Komame. Half the team went after the retreating masked culprit while Boruto and his half stayed to subdue the possessed Komame. While saving the post chief, the Ghost and the culprit ultimately got away.

As classes continued, Mitsuki continued to show noticeable interest in Boruto, ultimately asking if he can join him for dinner at his house, which he agreed to. On that night, Boruto was surprised to learn that Naruto would actually be joining them for dinner for a change. However, as dinner began, Naruto learned that a strange chakra was being dispersed throughout the village, prompting him to leave. Boruto was furious at this, seeing his father leave at the slightest notices. Seeing Naruto's duties as Hokage as someone who would sacrifice those closest to him for the sake of the entire village, he was determined to stop the Ghost before Naruto to prove his father wrong on his methods. Mitsuki then revealed he knew who the culprit was. Mitsuki claimed that it was Sumire. While Boruto rebuffed such a claim, he explained the nature of his investigation. Suddenly, there was a large earthquake, followed by the emergence of the Ghost, now in a tangible form, which attacked the village. Boruto quickly rushed off to help. Mitsuki told Boruto that they can stop the creature if they kill the summoner. Boruto refused to kill his friend, prompting Mitsuki to restrain him with a snake clone, which he defeats after Mitsuki leaves.

Boruto fighting Nue.

When he finds Mitsuki, he stops him by clashing with Sumire. She proclaimed that the girl they knew never existed. As Boruto's Dōjutsu actives, Nue arrives from a portal and takes Sumire into its dimension, leading to Boruto and Mitsuki following her. Inside, Boruto began looking for Sumire, only to be attacked by Nue. As his right eye realised the weak point the creature, Boruto and Mitsuki manage to immobilise it, leading to Sumire stepping in to defend it. Talking her out of revenge, Boruto comments that Nue won't blow them all up as it viewed Sumire as its parent. Letting go of her anger, the Gozu Tennō is weakened, leading to the dimension they reside in to begin crumbling. Boruto reached for Sumire and convinced her to join in escaping. When they arrive back in Konoha, Sumire is taken into custody by Sai Yamanaka. Before leaving, Boruto informs Sumire that Nue had survived.

Sometime later, Boruto realised that his eye's power had seemingly disappeared completely. Later, Shino decided to change up the 3-man teams for their next challenge to determine the optimum pairings for graduation. Mitsuki insisted on staying on Boruto's team and also teamed-up with Lee. As rumours about Sumire's fate began to spread, Boruto confronted his father about it. Naruto insisted that while he has to think about the whole village and he does not have absolute say, he will help Sumire. The following day during the team challenge to capture a flag, Mitsuki and Boruto's teamwork managed to win their match. Afterwards, to everyone's joy, Sumire returned to the class.