In the dense forest, Sarada crouched low and sprinted forward in a classic shinobi run, slipping deeper and deeper between the trees.
You know, Chōmei's voice echoed in her mind, I can actually make you fly.
Sarada: …
A moment later, a small amount of the Seven-Tails' chakra seeped out. Three pairs of translucent, dragonfly-like wings unfolded from her back, trembling once before beating more steadily.
She rose off the ground, a little shaky at first, then glided forward in long, swift arcs.
It felt awkward, her body unused to this new way of moving, but she quickly learned how to lean into the "lift" of the wings, weaving through branches and over fallen logs.
Her Sharingan spun as she constantly scanned for traces, but she still didn't know the enemies' exact positions—only the rough direction in which her stolen eye had fled.
The forest seemed endless.
Sarada recalled the map she'd memorized earlier. If she kept moving this way, she'd hit three or four different settlements, each with its own trade routes and transport lines.
Which meant one thing—
They could easily hitch a ride.
A carriage, a train, even a Lightning Train line.
If those thieves used the Thunder Train to leave the country…
Once the trail extended into the wider shinobi world, tracking down her stolen eyes would become exponentially harder.
"Damn it…" Sarada muttered, jaw tight as she pushed her wings harder.
She had adapted to flying by now, cutting through the air with increasing control.
Soon, she arrived at the position she'd sensed when she first awakened again in the burning inn. It was still deep within the forest. According to her mental map, the nearest settlement lay off to one side, with another village further off in the opposite direction—a fork in the road.
She landed lightly, frowning.
There were only faint footprints on the ground—fresh. The enemy had passed through not long before she arrived.
She stood still for a long time, letting her Mangekyō capture every detail: bent grass, broken twigs, scuffed dirt. Even flying at top speed, she'd spent more than ten minutes getting here.
They shouldn't be far.
If it were Boruto… she thought.
He wouldn't hesitate. He'd just use Shadow Clones and go after every possible route at once.
With the Seven-Tails backing her, chakra was no longer a problem. Flying also reduced physical strain.
Sarada pressed her hands together.
With a puff of smoke, three shadow clones appeared beside her. The four of them nodded at one another wordlessly and split up in different directions.
The original body turned toward the closest settlement.
…
Meanwhile, the white-robed man from the Land of Birds was strolling unhurriedly toward the Land of Sky.
He had watched Sarada buy that map in secret, calmly letting her execute her "escape plan."
After all, it was better if she didn't know what he was really planning.
Her little getaway had unfolded exactly as he'd expected. He had deliberately given her plenty of chances to slip away—for the sake of his "fishing plan."
He'd even shown her Boruto's battle plan without hiding it.
Because she couldn't read the script it was written in anyway. (Heh.)
In his judgment, no matter how badly she wasted her talent, that Mangekyō ability—"immortality"—meant she wasn't in any real danger.
Even if she caused a big incident, at most i,t would expose the existence of her Mangekyō or reveal her general location.
What he hadn't expected was that Sarada would actually have a chance to ask Konoha for help—
—and choose not to use it.
…
Up ahead lay the newly rebuilt Sky Ninja Village. This time, he'd come to scout a potential base location for Moon.
According to the memories Orochimaru had implanted in him, the old Sky Ninja Village had once been troublesome for the Five Great Nations. Their ability to fly was annoying enough, but the real problem had been their floating fortress—Ancor Vantian.
First, Ancor Vantian housed a terrifying weapon: a chakra cannon capable of output beyond even a Tailed Beast Ball.
Second, it contained the artificial tailed beast known as the Zero-Tails, created by Shennō. A strange being made of pure dark chakra, structurally similar to Nue.
Unfortunately for them, they had provoked the wrong village.
Naruto and Sasuke had destroyed both the fortress and the Zero-Tails back when they'd still been genin on paper.
The white-robed man's goal now was to see whether the ruins of Ancor Vantian still existed—and whether the Zero-Tails could be revived.
After all, as long as there was darkness in humanity, the Zero-Tails—like the tailed beasts—would never truly disappear.
…
Upon arriving at the new Sky Ninja Village, he casually cast genjutsu on a few villagers, asking whether they knew anything about the old Sky Village's location.
They didn't.
"A wasted trip?" he murmured.
Even with his abilities, he couldn't sense any trace of the Zero-Tails. Maybe only Boruto's Jōgan could pick up that kind of abnormal chakra.
So he sent a report to Boruto.
And after a short wait, a reply came.
Just two words.
No time.
White-robed man: …
He sighed, but did his work anyway. He left a Flying Thunder God mark in the area, then turned his attention back to his other "project."
Time to see if Sarada had managed to get herself killed yet.
…
Back in the settlement Sarada had chosen, she suddenly felt something tingle on her shoulder—some kind of special formula being activated.
A seal? she realized. Did he tag me before I ran off? Since when?
Space twisted.
The white-robed man appeared beside her in a flash.
At first, he'd been confused—he had sensed four different signals—but seeing her standing there, tired and worn out, he understood immediately.
"The black market must be thriving around here," he said dryly. "A single Sharingan can fetch a fortune."
He looked at her closely.
"But you knew the value of a Mangekyō, too. Clever."
Faced with his cold sarcasm, Sarada finally realized that he had been watching her the whole time.
She frowned. "You… let me go on purpose?"
He snorted. "Don't flatter yourself. Dragging you along would've been dead weight. There are plans you're not qualified to know."
Sarada opened her mouth to argue, but he was already in front of her, one hand clamping over her lips.
"You'd better tell me where the other eye is," he said, voice dropping, "or I'll just take your remaining Mangekyō."
Sarada slapped his hand away with a scowl.
"So my eyes aren't so useless after all, huh?"
The white-robed man didn't respond directly. Instead, his gaze sharpened as he sensed her chakra properly for the first time.
It had increased dramatically—and beneath it flowed a distinct tailed beast chakra.
"So you weren't as useless as I thought," he murmured.
With his abilities, he'd already slipped into her mental world and seen the Seven-Tails sitting quietly behind its bars.
"What happened?" he asked.
Sarada's expression darkened. "I ran into some very strong enemies. They took my Sharingan."
"Oh?" he said, eyebrow lifting slightly. "A group attack? Did they drain your eye power completely?"
"…No." Sarada shook her head. "They didn't use anything like that."
"Sealing techniques, then?"
"None." She hesitated, embarrassed. "Just… five shinobi."
"Five?" He paused. "You mean five Kage-level shinobi?"
"Maybe. Probably… maybe. Kind of. Sort of… yes," Sarada mumbled.
The man in white went quiet.
If they dared attack despite knowing she had the Sharingan—maybe even a Mangekyō—then those five had to be both confident and capable.
"And now?" he asked, glancing around at the scuffed earth and the faint traces of her clones' fading chakra.
"They tried to erase everything. Burn the inn, destroy the evidence." Sarada let out a humorless laugh. "They probably never thought I'd still be alive."
"You've certainly seen a lot in one night," he said, clicking his tongue. "Tsk tsk."
"My Mangekyō ability is called 'Other Shore,'" Sarada said quietly. "It blurs the boundary between life and death. Theoretically… even if I'm turned to dust, I can still be revived."
"But in this case, they even took that Mangekyō—
and it still grew back when the ability triggered."
She explained it as clearly as she could.
The man in white studied the eye pattern in her left socket—petal-like, blooming like a flower. Beautiful, but hiding something terrifying.
If Boruto and Orochimaru's deductions were correct, then Sarada's eye technique was anchored not in the physical eye, but in her very soul. That meant that even if someone removed the eyes, the "Other Shore" would still function.
Unless the enemy had a way to attack her soul directly, gouging her eyes or killing her would accomplish nothing.
"After I came back," Sarada continued, "I sensed my stolen Mangekyō briefly. I followed that trail here."
She lowered her head, looking unexpectedly meek.
By now, the white-robed man had pieced most of it together. He knew the lay of the land—four different settlements in this region—so the extra chakra signatures earlier had clearly been her shadow clones.
"Heh." He gave a short laugh, then said coldly: "And why do you think I'd help you get your eye back?"
"It might be useful to you," Sarada said quietly. "For… fusing an Eternal Mangekyō."
A flicker of genuine surprise crossed his eyes.
He hadn't expected the Seven-Tails' new host to know that much.
---
A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
Support: patreon.com/Narrator_San