"They're coming!" Shikadai shouted. He pulled Boruto against the wall, and his flashlight beam snapped toward the bend where the sound had come from.
A middle-aged man in a khaki archaeological vest and sun hat came scrambling around the bend. He looked battered, but he moved with remarkable agility.
He still gripped a geological hammer and a notebook with curled edges.
"Get out of the way!" The moment the man spotted Boruto and Shikadai, alarm spread across his face, and he shouted.
What charged around the bend behind him made both boys suck in a breath.
It was a giant centipede! Its shell was an ominous dark red, gleaming with a cold, metallic sheen under the light.
Its body was over ten meters long and as thick as a barrel. Countless legs raced along its sides, scraping against the stone floor with a teeth-grating clatter.
It raised its hideous, jawed head almost to the ceiling. Savage red light flashed in its compound eyes as it pursued Jackie Chan like a runaway truck.
"Shikadai!" Boruto's pupils contracted. Combat instinct instantly took over.
"Got it!" Shikadai propped his flashlight against the wall, his hands already flying through hand seals. "Shadow Imitation Technique!"
The passage was dim to begin with. In the faint glow of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon pattern, Shikadai's shadow stretched and twisted, caught the giant centipede's vast shadow across the wall and floor, and wrapped around it!
The charging centipede went rigid, its momentum forcibly halted.
It hissed in fury. Countless legs thrashed against the invisible hold with a creaking sound, but for the moment, it could not break free.
"Now's our chance!" Boruto instantly created two Shadow Clones, which overlapped with him.
"Boruto Stream!" A fierce whirlwind erupted beneath his feet. Propelled by its recoil and the synchronized boost