Rasengan!
Using his hand seals as a covert signal, Boruto silently passed on the warning about the incoming puppet to Sarada, who was standing across from him.
At the same time, his other hand—hidden behind his back—tightly grasped a swirling mass of chakra that was steadily growing in size.
He was planning to land a solid blow on the approaching puppet.
More importantly, this Rasengan had been infused with Lightning Release, rendering it completely invisible during both its charging and attacking phases.
Even better—this Rasengan could be thrown without needing to be held in hand.
"It's here!"
Suddenly, a blurry black figure emerged from the void at extreme speed. Its arms transformed into two sharp spikes as it lunged directly at the crew working on construction.
Boom!
With a dull thud, the black figure twisted in mid-air, its attack motion interrupted as though it had been struck by an invisible force. Immediately afterward, a powerful burst of lightning exploded outward.
The figure was revealed.
It was a creature just over two meters tall—halfway between human and tree-like in form—identical in design to the other puppets they'd destroyed.
But there was one notable difference: much of its body was scorched black, and several areas showed signs of crude patchwork repair.
Clearly, this was the same puppet that Sasuke had once crippled using his scientific prosthetic arm—the one that barely managed to escape.
However, due to the puppets' rudimentary intelligence, they would seek materials to repair themselves outside of battle. That's why it appeared mostly restored again.
In truth, though, the damage had been too severe back then. The divine tree branches that made up the puppet's body were unable to cover and reconnect the injured sections. As a result, some parts of its body no longer had the ability to absorb chakra.
And it was precisely this weak spot that got struck by the invisible Lightning Release Rasengan—bringing the puppet down.
Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Jutsu!
At the same moment the puppet appeared, Sarada launched her attack from the opposite side.
The other ninja in their squad used the opening in the skirmish to escort the support personnel to a safer position.
Flames engulfed the puppet—but to no effect.
The puppet's hand shifted again, transforming into a large shield that absorbed Sarada's jutsu entirely.
Then, from within its body, it launched three sharp grafting branches. As soon as they stabbed into the ground, they rapidly grew into a towering grove of trees.
Boruto activated his breathing technique. A strange glow flashed in his Jōgan, and a surge of Gentle Fist energy burst from both hands.
Boom!
Using the breathing art, he struck with the purest force extracted from his body.
The divine tree branches could no longer absorb the blow. The puppet was blasted backward and sent flying.
Fire Style!
Learning from her mistake, Sarada didn't use ninjutsu this time. Instead, she activated the scientific ninja tool strapped to her arm.
A mixture of fire oil and compressed air engulfed the puppet midair—and the combo was instantly ignited.
Wrapped in a blazing inferno, the puppet let out a hideous screech like burning wood...
Boom!
Its charred black body—completely burned on the outside—crashed to the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Boruto closed in instantly. A rapid barrage of Rasengans struck the puppet in succession.
Although most of the energy was absorbed by the divine tree branches, the repaired parts were completely destroyed.
This exposed the weak internal structure Sasuke had damaged earlier.
Most crucially—the core that bore the carved "Scar mark" was now fully exposed!
Whoosh!
Though caught off guard, the puppet's combat intelligence was far from low.
In an instant, it activated the Scar mark technique and teleported behind Sarada. One of its arms morphed again, revealing an internal energy weapon.
A silver-blue beam shot straight toward Sarada's lower back!
Boom!
A figure suddenly appeared, blocking the beam with a burst of pale blue energy. It was Mitsuki—who had activated Sage Mode at the critical moment.
Though he couldn't completely stop the beam, he bought enough time for Sarada to dodge.
Massive sparks crackled into lightning serpents and lunged at the puppet.
Boom! The lightning snake struck the ground, blasting open a massive crater.
But the puppet vanished again, teleporting with the Scar mark.
When it reappeared, it was already behind Boruto—its weapon fully charged. A thick beam of energy fired straight at him.
"Not good!"
A ninja shouted, but no one could help in time. None of the ninja present were strong enough to tangle with the puppet directly—rushing in would only cause more chaos.
The laser engulfed Boruto's figure, seemingly vaporizing him completely!
But then—Boruto's real body suddenly appeared behind the puppet.
He had already planted a Flying Thunder God mark on the puppet during his earlier close-range assault. What looked like a series of deadly Rasengans had just been a diversion!
Now!
Boom!
Boruto activated his breathing technique and slammed his fist forward. The pure energy from his body shattered the exposed core of the puppet completely.
Teleportation was no longer possible.
Immediately after, Sarada unleashed an enhanced composite jutsu using her scientific ninja tool, while Mitsuki followed up with a Lightning Release technique empowered by Sage Art.
Both attacks were cleverly designed to bypass chakra absorption.
The puppet was overwhelmed by the barrage—reduced to shattered debris on the ground.
...
The entire battle had lasted less than ten minutes, yet it left everyone present in complete shock.
From the scientific ninja helping install the chakra cannon, to the younger ninja following Boruto's team for training—none could believe what they'd just witnessed.
To face off so closely against a creation of the Ōtsutsuki clan—and to witness this seemingly unstoppable war machine fall at the hands of the three strongest shinobi of the new generation...
Everyone present found their belief in the shinobi world's ultimate victory reaffirmed.
At the same time, several of them—after closely observing the battle—gained new insights and even created their own techniques or strategies from what they'd seen.
Before long, Sasuke and Neji arrived, having sensed the disturbance in this area.
After confirming that the puppet was completely destroyed and that Boruto's team was safe, they were left with a lingering question:
Until now, the puppet attacks had always been swift and elusive—one strike and retreat—thanks to their unpredictable spatial teleportation abilities.
Only top-tier Kage-level shinobi could hope to survive such ambushes, let alone mount a counterattack.
Not to mention, ever since Sasuke and Neji began their joint pursuit, the puppets had essentially gone into hiding. Even when they did strike, they never lingered—just one attack before fleeing.
So why had this puppet remained in the area for so long? Why did it get caught and killed by Boruto's group?
Granted, Boruto and the others had grown significantly stronger—and this particular puppet had been damaged by Sasuke previously.
It was certainly possible it would meet its end here.
But the real question wasn't whether it could die.
It was—why did it keep trying to attack Boruto's team for so long?
There were chakra cannons all over the place. This one, still under construction, wasn't special in any way. And among the scientific ninja present, there wasn't anyone on the level of Amado.
In short—there was no valuable target here worth killing.