"Damn it!" Shikadai's face changed as he struggled desperately. "It's Uncle Gaara! He must be nearby! I miscalculated!"
"Even though this world has changed him, he may still have some of his real-world combat instincts and memories! He knows the weaknesses and limits of Scientific Ninja Tools!"
Shinki roared and pushed his Magnet Style to its limit, trying to use the surrounding Iron Sand to support them or pull them free.
But Gaara's sand held far stronger Chakra and will. Shinki's Magnet Style was no match for it.
All he could make were a few tiny Iron Sand platforms around them, which the quicksand kept swallowing. They barely slowed the sinking and kept everyone's mouths and noses above the surface so they could breathe, but there was no breaking free!
The quicksand's pull was terrifying, as though countless hands were dragging them down.
They sank deeper and deeper, past their waists, then their chests... The sand had reached Boruto's neck. Nameless was smaller and nearly submerged.
"Boruto... Shikadai..." Shinki's voice grew muffled in the shifting sand. He was struggling to hold on too.
Above the quicksand, a figure slowly descended from the sky and landed on a stable patch of sand.
Gaara looked down coldly at the four struggling figures, with only their heads and parts of their shoulders still exposed. His gaze finally settled on Nameless.
At the sight of Gaara, Boruto tried to shout something, making one last attempt to reach him.
But Gaara had no intention of listening. He slowly raised his right hand, then drove it down!
Boom!!!
The pull of the quicksand vortex surged several times over, like the jaws of the Abyss snapping shut!
"Ah!" Their cries vanished beneath the sand.
Darkness and crushing, suffocating pressure closed in on Boruto from every side! Coarse