"So it was those madmen who just won't leave us alone!" Boruto clenched his fists, anger blazing in his eyes. "Why do they have to cause trouble everywhere?"
"One more thing, Boruto. Take this."
Sasori extended a puppet arm and held something out to Boruto.
It was the Digivice that had helped Boruto in the illusion. Now, faint silver lines like the traces on a circuit board ran across its casing.
Boruto took it. It felt slightly heavier than before.
"I modified and strengthened this device using some of the data I observed about the rules governing Uchiha Hikari's 'inner world' during this incident."
Sasori explained, "If you encounter another space created by an illusion, or trouble involving the Digital World, it might help you in ways you don't expect."
"Consider it a thank-you for saving Sunagakure."
Boruto studied the transformed Digivice in his hand. He sensed a familiar warmth stirring faintly within it, and put it away with care. "Thank you, Sasori. I'll take good care of it."
Sasori nodded, then waved a hand. Child Emperor understood at once and said to Boruto and Shikadai, "We should head back. Lord Kazekage is still waiting for news."
The three of them left the laboratory, their footsteps fading into the distance.
Sasori of the Red Sands stood still, his electronic eyes fixed on the passage where Boruto had disappeared.
After a long while, an almost inaudible sigh echoed through the empty laboratory.
"It seems the currents beneath the Shinobi World's seemingly stable skies are fiercer than I thought."
He turned toward the main screen, with its vast, star-filled sea of data and monitoring nodes scattered across the land.
"When the time comes, even I, who claim to be 'undying and indestructible' and pursue eternal art, may be swallowed and crushed by