"What is one thousand minus seven?"
"Fuck you, kid!"
"You're a lunatic! A complete lunatic!" Uchiha Shin shouted, his voice filled with rage and pain.
Boruto, however, was completely immersed in his strange interrogation. He didn't even flinch at Shin's insults.
"Wrong answer. Continue the punishment."
His tone was ice cold. The black knife plunged mercilessly into Shin's calf.
Boruto twisted it slowly, savoring the sound of tearing flesh.
[From Uchiha Shin's emotions, the progress bar increases by 369 points]
Uchiha Shin let out a piercing scream. "You... you..."
His words broke apart under the weight of the pain.
"What is one thousand minus seven?"
After countless stabs and agony, Uchiha Shin's resistance finally began to crumble. Through trembling lips, he muttered, "...Nine hundred... ninety-seven..."
"It's still wrong." Boruto sighed softly, shaking his head with mock regret. Then, without hesitation, he stabbed Shin's other calf.
[From Uchiha Shin's emotions, the progress bar increases by 450 points]
"What is one thousand minus seven?" Boruto repeated, his voice eerily calm.
"I... I don't know!" Uchiha Shin gritted his teeth and spat the words out, blood dripping from his lips.
Boruto glanced at the wounds rapidly closing. So that's it—Hashirama's cells. That's why he heals so fast.
He tightened his grip on the knife. "Then let's increase the pain."
"Go on. What is one thousand minus seven?"
Time passed slowly.
The torture continued. Uchiha Shin's body trembled, his consciousness blurring. His head hung low as he muttered random numbers through cracked lips.
"...996... 985... 007... 250... 521..."
The answers made no sense. His voice had lost all focus.
Boruto frowned. "Why is the progress bar dropping? Is he breaking already?"
He stared at Shin's unfocused eyes and exhaled slowly. "Looks like you've adapted to ordinary pain. Let's see how you handle something sharper."
Blue lightning crackled to life around the black knife, sizzling violently as chakra flooded through it.
The moment the blade touched Shin's skin, electricity surged through his body.
Uchiha Shin screamed and convulsed violently, the diamond chains rattling under his desperate struggle.
"AAAHHH—!!"
His entire body spasmed under the shock, the air filled with the smell of burning flesh.
[From Uchiha Shin's emotions, the progress bar increases by 1336 points]
Boruto's eyes lit up. "Heh... it really works."
Then, with a twisted grin, he whispered, "Feel the pain. Think about the pain. Accept the pain. Know the pain!"
He tilted his head mockingly. "Now tell me, Shin—how many floors does it take to carry a bag of rice?"
At that moment, Sarada had already defeated all of the clones deeper in the base. She followed the echo of screams and arrived at the open chamber.
When she entered, her eyes widened slightly.
Boruto, cloaked in the power of the Rinnegan's Heavenly Path, stood over the bloodied and bound Uchiha Shin, lightning dancing in his hand.
"Boruto... don't you think that's a bit too cruel?" Sarada said softly.
Boruto turned toward her, calm and unbothered. "Sarada, did you finish cleaning up the clones?"
She nodded. "Yeah. They were pathetically weak. Even with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, they couldn't last a minute."
Meanwhile, in Orochimaru's laboratory…
Orochimaru spoke slowly, his tone casual yet chilling.
"Shin was once one of my many test subjects. But he escaped long ago."
He looked at Naruto and Sasuke.
"The arm that Danzo used—the one embedded with countless Sharingan—that came from the same body series as Shin's prototype."
Naruto's expression darkened. Sasuke asked, "Clone? Then why does he call himself Uchiha?"
"That's just his delusion," Orochimaru replied. "Even though his Sharingan are replicated, he has an obsessive attachment to the Uchiha name... especially to your late brother, Uchiha Itachi."
Back at the base, Boruto's gaze was sharp and unyielding.
"Sarada, he's our enemy. When dealing with enemies, we can't hesitate. If we were weaker, we'd be the ones screaming right now."
His tone carried no pity. Lightning flickered around his hand as Uchiha Shin's agonized groans filled the air.
Sarada hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "I understand, Boruto. But since he can't fight anymore... maybe we should just end it."
Boruto's eyes glimmered. "End it? Not yet. He's still useful."
He's the perfect source for progress points.
Just as he thought that, several figures stepped out from the shadows.
Boruto turned his head slightly. "Clones, huh? So you're all finally here."
Uchiha Shin's eyes widened in relief. "You're here! Save me!"
But instead of rescuing him, the clones approached in silence—each holding a weapon.
Without hesitation, one clone drove a blade straight through Shin's heart.
"Wha—what are you doing?" Shin gasped, eyes wide with disbelief. "I'm the real one!"
The lead clone's voice was calm and emotionless. "Useless bodies should be discarded. That's the lesson you taught us, Father."
"You... why..." Shin coughed up blood, staring at them in horror.
"Your pupil power has weakened. You're no longer of any value," the clone said coldly.
From the darkness, more clones appeared—dozens of them. Some were thin and frail, others massive and grotesque, like twisted reflections of the same man.
They surged forward like an army of shadows.
"Why are there so many?" Sarada exclaimed.
Boruto didn't seem surprised. Through his Jōgan, he could already see every living presence in the base.
"When…" Shin looked up weakly, his vision fading.
"We've already surpassed you," the lead clone said. "Father, you're no longer needed."
Blood dripped from Shin's lips. His heart was failing, his life ebbing away.
As death closed in, he no longer looked at his clones. His fading eyes turned toward Boruto.
"I'm... going to die..."
Boruto frowned slightly. Damn... the progress bar isn't even full yet.
With his final breath, Uchiha Shin whispered, "Kid... one thousand minus seven... what's the answer?"
Boruto paused, taken aback by the question. Then a small, wry smile crept across his face.
"You're dying, and that's what you want to know?"
He looked down at him, eyes glowing faintly. "Fine. The answer to one thousand minus seven... is one versus seven."
Uchiha Shin's lips curled into a faint, peaceful smile. "So that's it... one versus seven... Uchiha Itachi..."
With that final whisper, his head fell forward, and the last spark of life left his eyes.