Denki was indeed much easier to convince than Shikadai. All it took was a simple explanation of being assigned a special task from his father in which he was to help him investigate forbidden jutsus as a way to prove his capability as a shinobi. The bespectacled boy ate the lie right up, without asking too many questions. It sounded reasonable enough, Boruto was Lord Seventh's son after all, and Denki didn't know how else the blond could have obtained information on the Age Regression Jutsu of all things. Any sort of information on forbidden jutsus was extremely restricted and not easily accessible.

It was true, though, that someone like Denki might be able to dig up more than a couple of things on the topic since he was the heir to the Kaminarimon Company, which was in charge of digitalizing and archiving Konoha's history and achievements. Boruto, on the other hand, didn't have any of those direct connections, unless of course, Lord Seventh himself, provided him with that information. Denki did find it weird though, that Boruto was tasked with such a mission, given that he was only a genin, but he didn't think too much of it. Lord Seventh wasn't exactly known for being very conventional and Denki was never one to refuse to help friends in need.

Technically, Denki himself wasn't exactly allowed to read through the restricted archives of Konoha, which included knowledge of forbidden jutsus. Still, seeing that the Hokage gave Boruto this particular mission, he figured he wouldn't be scolded for hacking his way into the archives. As expected there wasn't much information to be found, but they did come across a couple of texts that described the usage of the Age Regression Jutsu, mostly restating what was on the scroll. However, they did provide Boruto with more insight as to how to perform the jutsu accurately and they explained the reason the jutsu was forbidden in the first place. It was all Boruto needed to know.

The Age Regression Jutsu is a super advanced technique primarily used for undercover missions but due to its negative applications during the Second Shinobi War where it was used for terrorist attacks as it facilitated infiltration, all Kages agreed to prohibit its use as a part of the peace treaty.

Well, that worked out well for them, huh?

Boruto couldn't suppress his snicker, as far as he knew there were a total of four Great Shinobi Wars. So much for "peace."

He made sure to voice as much to Denki, "I guess even without the Age Regression Jutsu, conflict persisted."

"It would seem that way," answered the brunette with a small grimace.

It was upsetting, but war and battle were common occurrences in the world of Shinobi. No matter how many "peace treaties" were signed, how many corrupt leaders were killed, or how many jutsus were prohibited, the cycle of violence continued. New evil organizations arise to replace the old ones, deadlier jutsus are created, and those slighted pursue the path of vengeance. It was the way of the world. Their parents experienced that cruel reality firsthand during the Fourth Great Shinobi War.

However, thanks to Lord Seventh, their current world has been experiencing fifteen years of peace in a row. That was one of the main reasons Lord Seventh was so praised, as much as previous Hokages had tried, none of them were able to successfully bring about an era of peace and maintain it for so long. Denki could admit he held a deep admiration towards Lord Seventh for that very reason. Some might consider him to be "soft" and "weak-hearted", but in Denki's opinion, it took much more will and strength to choose peace over violence than to give into the torturous cycle. It's easier to kill one hundred people than to protect one hundred people, and Denki couldn't be more grateful that Lord Seventh chose to be the difference. He hopes that his generation will never have to see the horrors of the world, he hopes Lord Seventh's, their parents', efforts pay off.

"Well… disregarding the failed peace treaty, it would seem that the Age Regression Jutsu requires the mastery of the art of transformation and also an understanding of time manipulation, in order to be used. Quite difficult. And from what I gather, it can have some pretty bad side effects if it's used incorrectly, but nothing deadly…" said Denki in an attempt to prevent himself from dwelling too much on depressing topics. Besides he didn't think he could continue hacking much longer before others noticed a breach in the systems, so they had to hurry.

"Really? How do you know it's not deadly?" questioned Boruto. If that was indeed the case, then the jutsu would work out perfectly for what he had in mind! (While he had thought about hurting his father, he wasn't trying to kill him.)

"If it were a deadly jutsu, it would be labeled as such in bold red letters, but it isn't. So although the scroll says that the Age Regression Jutsu poses a threat to its users, I don't think it's referring to death. However, its use is still not recommended, I wonder what side effect it has that's so awful to make it a forb-"

Boruto stopped paying attention to Denki's ramblings. He didn't care what the scroll said about side effects as long as it wasn't deadly, besides the jutsu wasn't actually banned because of "negative effects" as they recently learned. It was simply because of a condition on a peace treaty to stop infiltration, and that was it. Nothing major. Now he just needed to learn it.

"Say Denki, would mastering the Transformation Jutsu count as becoming a 'master of the art of transformation'?"

Although the blond had rudely cut off Denki in the middle of theorizing possible side effects, the brunette didn't seem to mind and took a moment to ponder Boruto's question before answering. "In theory, I believe that would count, yes! After all, the Age Regression Jutsu is simply a more advanced version of the Transformation Jutsu."

Boruto grinned and clapped Denki in the back as a sign of appreciation. Let's go! I've already developed my Transformation abilities quite a bit in order to perform the Sexy Jutsu and whatnot, this will be a piece of cake!

"Thanks for all your help, Denki! That's all I needed to know!"

The brunette flushed at the praise but lamented not being able to help Boruto much more than that. "No need to thank me. I'm sorry I couldn't find more information," he said, dismayed.

"It was more than enough, Denki! So don't go around blaming yourself, information on forbidden jutsus is limited after all. I appreciate you helping me with this, you didn't have to," replied the blond. And it was true, what he asked of Denki was no easy task. He was so glad he had such loyal friends that always had his back.

"Well you know I could never say no to a friend," said Denki with a smile, and not much later they parted ways. But not before Denki promised not to mention anything to his father, Lord Seventh, or anyone else for that matter under the pretext that Boruto wanted to surprise Lord Seventh with his findings. Lying to Denki made Boruto feel a bit bad with how honest and kind the bespectacled boy had always been to him, but there was no other way. Perhaps after the whole ordeal was done and over with, the blond would tell him the truth. For now, his main focus lies in mastering the Age Regression Jutsu.

He already had a decent grasp on transformation techniques, he could read a couple of books on time manipulation since he just needed to understand the basics, and the actual hand signs were written in the scroll. It was going to be a walk in the park! Boruto was confident that if he continuously practiced the technique over the span of two weeks, he would be able to master it, regardless of how advanced it was stated to be. Maybe he could even do it sooner, if his father could master the Shadow Clone Jutsu from a simple scroll, then surely he could do the same with the Age Regression Jutsu!