Multiple Shadow Clone Rasengan Barrage

He slammed his palm against the snake's chest.

The Rasengan exploded at point-blank range.

"Get... out of my way!"

Boom!!!

The snake flew backward, crashing through three trees so thick it would have taken several people to wrap their arms around them. He coughed up blood and passed out, his life hanging in the balance.

Boruto didn't finish him off.

He shook the blood from his hand, turned, and continued toward the center of the forest.

Behind him, Tsukihime jumped down from a tree. She looked at the unconscious snake, then at Boruto's retreating figure, her eyes filled with shock and worry.

"Corruption..." she murmured. "He really has gone down that path. He's willing to sell his soul for power."

At the center of the forest,

a hundred ordinary clan members huddled together in an open clearing, trembling. The elderly, women, and children clung to one another, despair in their eyes.

They all knew what was coming.

Death.

Nothing but death.

"I don't want to die..." a little girl sobbed.

"Someone, please save us... Gods, please save us..."

"No one's coming. We're doomed to die here... That's the Ōtsutsuki Clan's rule..."

Just then, a silver-haired girl stepped forward.

She looked only twelve. Her frail body swayed in the wind, but her gaze was remarkably resolute.

"Stop crying," she said. Her voice was young, but full of strength. "Crying won't help. Tears can't save your lives."

"We have to escape."

"Escape?" someone said bitterly. "Where to? Hunters surround us on all sides, and a barrier has sealed off this forest."

"Then we fight for our lives." The silver-haired girl clenched her little fists. "That's better than waiting to die. Even if we die, we should take a chunk out of them first!"

Her name was Tsukine, and she was twelve years