The Compressed Rasengan

Then, like fragile glass, it was shattered with a single slash.

Squelch!

The blade slashed across Boruto's chest, blood spraying through the air like blooming red spider lilies.

The crowd erupted in screams.

The tremendous impact sent Boruto flying. He crashed through the arena's thick wall like a cannonball and landed among the spectators.

Screams rang out everywhere.

The crowd scattered in panic. The sounds of trampling feet and terrified cries blended into chaos.

Boruto lay amid the rubble, a deep gash in his chest that exposed bone. His pulsing organs were even visible inside.

He gasped for breath as his vision blurred. The world spun and crumbled around him.

Am I going to die?

No.

I can't die yet.

I promised Tsukihime I'd stay alive.

I still have to kill Hikaru.

I still have to...

"Get up."

A cool voice rang beside him, cutting through the chaos.

Boruto struggled to turn his head and saw Tsukihime standing at the edge of the rubble. She didn't reach out to help him. She only stared down at him coldly, her eyes filled with no pity, only an icy demand.

"Get up," she repeated. Her voice was quiet, but every word weighed like a thousand pounds. "You promised me."

Boruto gritted his teeth and braced both hands against the rubble-strewn ground, trying to push himself up.

He couldn't.

His body had reached its absolute limit. His nerves screamed, and his muscles spasmed.

"Get up!" Tsukihime suddenly shouted, her voice trembling with barely contained anger. "Do you think you're the only one who's lost someone? My brother fell just like this!"

"He said he wanted to live, too. And what happened? He died! He died in that so-called 'trial'!"

"Do you want to end up like him?! Do you want to become another