WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 172, "A Signature of Fear," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
In the Boruto series, one of the shocking things to remain concerning Konoha is the fact that the village still hides key information about ninja and mini-wars that took place decades ago. It echoes the sins of old, per what the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, did by covering up certain things about the Uchiha Clan. One example is how Naruto hid Ōnoki going rogue on the alliance, giving him a hero's burial instead.
However, Episode 172 of the anime has blown the lid open even more. Team 5 may have just exposed the village's dirtiest secret yet while seeking an autograph from the sinister Orochimaru.
Orochimaru may be redeemed now after helping to fight off Kaguya's army in the last war but he's still under intense scrutiny by Yamato and Co. It's an uneasy alliance as Naruto knows he could break bad anytime. Clearly, Konoha still fears him and his scientific experiments. Nonetheless, they're at peace with each other. He gets to run his projects with Log and Mitsuki, undisturbed, so long as he doesn't cross ethical boundaries again.
But in this episode, a sick young shinobi, Nattou, asks Iwabee, Metal Lee and Denki to prove their bravery by getting a game card signed by Orochimaru. Many ninja collect these cards, with Orochimaru's history altered to make him the legendary Sannin that fought with Jiraiya and Tsunade. It has some indiscretions but it's mostly been sanitized. Still, it's obviously not sanitized enough as it scares Team 5, who takes on the challenge to prove to Nattou he shouldn't fear things like surgery.
As such, they break into the Hokage's admin building, which is made a more serious crime seeing as Naruto has crucial files there. Denki hacks into the database as they need to find Orochimaru's location, which only Naruto and his inner-circle know. This allows them to discover Orochimaru's secret missions, his kills and his Akatsuki war crimes Konoha has suppressed. The youngsters are especially shocked to learn that Orochimaru led the attack on the ninja exams when Naruto was a kid, killing the Third Hokage and the Kazekage at the time. They have to go meet the villain to inspire hope in Nattou but now they'll do so with intel that could damage the alliance.
Konoha has worked with various nations to hide certain details and by knowing all this, the kids could be kidnapped and interrogated by rivals, or even by enemies, interested in starting a civil war. Seeing as they also know where Orochimaru's lair is, that location could be extracted by the many folks who still want him dead. In short, they've placed themselves at risk, as well as Konoha and the protection program.
Shockingly, when they show up, the guard lets them in rather than querying how they found the lab. They should be reprimanded for endangering so many people back home, not to mention they've exposed everyone to the bloodthirsty terrorists, Kara, and their shady Doctor.
Sadly, though the kids don't know it yet, they just put a target on their backs. Once word gets out, it'll be a tough mess for Naruto to clean up.
