In the dense forest, Sarada crouched slightly and sped deeper into the woods in a standard shinobi running stance.
Chōmei said, "Actually, my power can let you fly."
Sarada: ...
Then, a small amount of the Seven-Tails' Chakra leaked out. Three pairs of dragonfly wings extended from Sarada's back, fluttering gently as she gradually rose into the air and glided forward.
It was Sarada's first time using wings, so she still felt slightly uncomfortable. She merely relied on the lift they provided, springing from tree to tree as she glided through the forest.
At the same time, her Sharingan constantly watched for traces around her. She did not know the enemy's exact location, only their general direction.
But the dense forest stretched incredibly far. Recalling the markings on the map, Sarada knew that traveling in this direction would bring her to three or four more villages, all of them with extensive transport routes.
In other words, those villages had Thunder Train stations.
Thinking of that, Sarada could not help worrying that the people who had taken her Sharingan might use the Thunder Train to leave this country.
Once their trail spread across the entire Shinobi World, how difficult would it be to recover her eyes?
"Damn it!" Sarada let out a heavy breath, her expression stern as she flew onward. She had basically adapted to flying now.
Very quickly, she reached the place she had sensed from the inn. It was still deep within the forest. The nearest village was Shadow Shade Village, followed by Nest Hidden Village.
The two villages were practically split in opposite directions, like a fork in the road. Sarada frowned deeply.
Which way should she go next?
Sarada landed in confusion. There were not many footprints on the ground. When she had sensed the location of her eyes, the enemy had probably only happened to pass through here.
She lingered there for a long time, hoping to use the Mangekyō's terrifying perception to find some clue. It had taken her over ten minutes to get here at flying speed. They could not have gone far.
After thinking about it, Sarada recalled how that brat Boruto thought. If it were him, he would definitely decisively use Shadow Clones and visit all four villages.
With the Seven-Tails supporting her, her Chakra was no longer lacking, and she was traveling quickly now.
Without further hesitation, three Shadow Clones emerged from the smoke. The four nodded and split up, while the original headed for the nearest Shadow Shade Village.
Meanwhile, the White-Robed Man, who was in the same country as her—the Land of Birds—was leisurely making his way toward the Land of Sky.
When Sarada had bought the map earlier, he had watched silently from the shadows, eagerly anticipating her escape plan.
After all, it was better that she did not know about the subsequent operations.
Her escape route had basically been within his predictions. He had given the girl every chance to escape solely for the sake of the fishing plan.
It could not be helped. He had openly let Sarada see the battle plan Boruto had passed over, since she could not read Chinese characters anyway. Evil grin.
He believed that no matter how useless Sarada was, with her ability of immortality, she should not get herself killed.
At worst, she could only stir up some trouble—such as exposing the existence of the Mangekyō, or exposing her own location.
However, the White-Robed Man might never have expected that Sarada had once had a chance to seek help from the Hidden Leaf Village, but had given it up.
Well, the newly established Sky Shinobi Village should be up ahead. He had come this time to choose a location for Moon's base.
According to the memories Orochimaru had instilled in him, the Sky Shinobi Village had previously been quite troublesome. Setting aside flight, the existence of Angkor Fortress alone had been enough to give the Five Great Nations a headache.
First, the fortress itself contained a terrifying attack method—the Chakra Energy Cannon, an attack that surpassed even a Tailed Beast Ball.
Second, there was the Zero-Tail, a Tailed Beast created through Shennō's research. It was a peculiar existence based on dark Chakra, and its structure was similar to Nue's.
Unfortunately, it had provoked Hidden Leaf Village genin and been destroyed by Naruto and Sasuke together. The Zero-Tail had also died within the fortress.
The White-Robed Man's purpose in coming was to see whether he could find Angkor Fortress and attempt to revive the Zero-Tail. Since humans could never completely cast off darkness, the Zero-Tail was an immortal existence similar to the Tailed Beasts.
After arriving at the Sky Shinobi Village, the White-Robed Man randomly controlled some villagers with Genjutsu and asked whether they knew the whereabouts of the Former Sky Shinobi Village. Unfortunately, they did not.
Had he come all this way for nothing?
The White-Robed Man frowned. With his methods, he had no way to track the Zero-Tail's traces. Perhaps only Boruto's Jōgan could detect that abnormal Chakra of the Zero-Tail.
Thus, he reported the matter to Boruto. Then, after waiting a moment, the note Boruto sent back contained only two words.
No time!
White-Robed Man: ...
Though speechless, the White-Robed Man continued doing his job dutifully. After leaving behind the technique formula for the Flying Thunder God Technique, he decided to go back and see whether Sarada had run into trouble.
At that moment, Sarada's original body in Shadow Shade Village keenly noticed a change coming from her shoulder. Some special technique formula had been activated.
Could it be the method the White-Robed Man had left on her? But when had he done it?
In a flash, the White-Robed Man appeared beside Sarada.
At first, the White-Robed Man had wondered why he sensed four targets. But when he saw Sarada's condition, the corner of his mouth could not help twitching.
"Did you get involved in human trafficking? A Sharingan really can fetch a sky-high price on the average black market," the White-Robed Man remarked.
"But you were quite wise. You knew how precious a Mangekyō is."
Faced with the White-Robed Man's cold mockery, Sarada felt exhausted inside and only then realized that he had always had a way to find her.
Sarada could not help frowning. "You deliberately let me escape?"
The White-Robed Man snorted coldly and mocked, "You really think too highly of yourself. Bringing you along would only have made you dead weight. There are some plans you are not qualified to know about."
Seeing Sarada about to say more, the White-Robed Man directly covered her mouth and said coldly, "You had better tell me where the other Sharingan is, or I'll take your Mangekyō."
Faced with such an unreasonable question, Sarada immediately pushed his arm away and teased, "Looks like my eyes are not completely useless after all, aren't they?"
The White-Robed Man neither confirmed nor denied it, but he quickly noticed that the amount of Chakra inside the girl had increased significantly. Even Tailed Beast Chakra was continuously leaking out.
"Looks like you are not entirely useless."
The White-Robed Man merely commented casually. With his ability, he had already entered Sarada's mental space and seen the Seven-Tails obediently sealed inside.
"What happened?" he asked Sarada.
Sarada's eyes rapidly dimmed. "I encountered very powerful enemies. My Sharingan... was taken."
"Oh?" The White-Robed Man rarely showed such curiosity. "Were there many of them? Did they exhaust your ocular powers?"
"..." Sarada shook her head.
"Sealing techniques?"
"Neither." Sarada looked somewhat embarrassed. "There seemed to be five... shinobi."
"?" The White-Robed Man was stunned. "Five shinobi? Kage-level shinobi?"
Sarada said, "Maybe, probably, perhaps, possibly, seemingly, more or less... yes?"
The White-Robed Man pondered it. If those people had acted despite knowing that she possessed a Sharingan—and a Mangekyō at that—then the five of them must have possessed no small amount of courage and strength.
"And now?" The White-Robed Man looked around at the four marks he had sensed earlier.
"They wanted to destroy the body and erase the evidence. They probably never expected me to survive by luck." Sarada smiled self-mockingly.
"You have gained quite a bit of insight. Tsk, tsk."
"My ocular technique is Other Shore. Its specific ability is to blur the boundary between life and death, so theoretically, even if I were reduced to dust, I could revive.
"But this Mangekyō was actually taken too. It only grew back after my ability was triggered."
Sarada explained everything honestly.
The White-Robed Man raised his brows and examined that unusual eye. The pattern inside resembled a blooming flower and looked exceptionally beautiful.
Based on Boruto and Orochimaru's deductions, Sarada's ocular technique was likely preserved on the level of the soul. In other words, having her eye taken from her physical body did not affect the continued existence of Other Shore.
That meant unless the enemy possessed a method capable of harming the soul, killing Sarada or taking her eyes would be ineffective against her.
"After I revived, I sensed the stolen Mangekyō's presence for an instant, so I chased after it."
Sarada lowered her head, looking thoroughly obedient.
At that point, the White-Robed Man had roughly guessed the result. He knew the nearby terrain: four villages. Therefore, the three extra coordinates he sensed were probably Shadow Clones.
"Heh heh." The White-Robed Man chuckled softly, then said coldly, "Why do you think I would help you get your eye back?"
"It might be useful to you too, for the fusion of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan." Sarada asked in a low voice.
A barely perceptible flicker of surprise passed through the White-Robed Man's eyes. He had not expected Seven-Tails Chōmei to know so much.
Before you continue