The White-Robed Man's Plan

In the forest, Sarada crouched low, adopting the standard shinobi running posture as she swiftly moved deeper into the woods.

Seven-Tails Chōmei: "Actually, my ability can make you fly."

Sarada: ...

Immediately afterward, Seven-Tails' chakra leaked out slightly, and three pairs of dragonfly wings extended from Sarada's back, gently flapping, gradually lifting her into the air and gliding.

Sarada felt a slight discomfort at the initial use of the wings, but relying on the 'lift-off' effect brought by the wings, she tiptoed and glided through the trees.

At the same time, her Sharingan constantly watched for traces around her. She didn't know the enemy's exact location, only a general direction.

But the forest was so vast. Sarada recalled the markings on the map, and if she continued in this direction, she would encounter about three or four more villages, all of which had extensive transportation lines.

Which meant these villages had Thunder Train services.

Thinking of this, Sarada couldn't help but worry that the guys who snatched her Sharingan would use the Thunder Train to leave this country.

If that happened, the search area would encompass the entire Shinobi World, and how difficult would it be to retrieve her eyes then?

"Damn it!" Sarada heavily exhaled a mouthful of stale air, her expression serious as she flew forward. She had now basically adapted to the state of flying.

Soon, she arrived at the location she sensed in the hotel. It was still deep within the forest area, the closest village being 'Shadow Shade Village', followed by 'Nest Hidden Village'.

These were almost two opposing villages, like a fork in the road, which made Sarada frown.

Which way should she go next?

Sarada landed in confusion. There weren't many footprints on the ground, suggesting that when she sensed the location of her eyes, the enemies were just passing by.

She stood there for a long time, wanting to use the Mangekyō's terrifying insight to find clues. It took her about ten minutes to fly here, so they shouldn't have gone far.

After thinking for a while, Sarada recalled Boruto's way of thinking. If it were him, he would simply use Shadow Clones to go to all four villages, right?

Now that she had Seven-Tails' support, her chakra was no longer in short supply, and her travel speed was very fast.

Without much hesitation, three Shadow Clones emerged from the smoke. The four of them nodded to each other and split up, while the main body headed to the nearest Shadow Shade Village.

On the other side, the White-Robed Man, who was in the same country—the Land of Birds—was leisurely heading towards the 'Land of Sky'.

He had been secretly watching when Sarada bought the map, curiously anticipating this girl's escape plan.

After all, it was better for her not to know the subsequent actions.

Her escape plan was basically within his predictions. He gave this girl enough opportunities to escape, solely for the sake of the 'fishing plan'.

There was no way he would show Sarada the battle plan from Boruto (cuan), since she couldn't understand Chinese characters anyway. (smirk)

He believed that even if Sarada was a waste, with her 'immortal' ability, she shouldn't have any problems.

At worst, she could only cause some trouble, such as exposing the existence of the Mangekyō, or exposing her own location.

However, the White-Robed Man probably didn't expect that Sarada originally had a chance to ask Konoha for help, but she gave it up.

Well, ahead was probably the newly built Sky Shinobi Village. He had come here to find a location for the [Moon] base.

According to the memories Orochimaru instilled in him, the Sky Shinobi Village was previously a tricky village. Leaving aside flying, the existence of 'Angkor Fortress' was enough to give the five great nations a headache.

First, the fortress itself contained terrifying attack methods—chakra energy cannons, which were attacks superior to the Tailed Beast Ball.

Second, there was Zero-Tail, a peculiar existence created by Shinnō, based on dark chakra, with a structure similar to Nue.

It was a pity that they provoked a Konoha genin and were destroyed by Naruto and Sasuke together. Zero-Tail also died in the fortress.

The White-Robed Man's purpose was to see if he could find Angkor Fortress and try to revive Zero-Tail, because humans could not completely get rid of darkness, so Zero-Tail was a kind of immortal existence like the Tailed Beasts.

After arriving at Sky Shinobi Village, the White-Robed Man randomly controlled some villagers with genjutsu and asked if they knew the whereabouts of the 'Old Sky Shinobi Village', but they didn't know.

Was he going to make a wasted trip?

The White-Robed Man couldn't help but frown, because with his methods, he couldn't find Zero-Tail's traces at all. Perhaps Boruto's own Jōgan could capture Zero-Tail's unusual chakra.

So, he reported this matter to Boruto, and then... after a moment of waiting, the note Boruto sent back only had two words.

No time!

White-Robed Man: ...

Although speechless, the White-Robed Man still did his job dutifully. After leaving a Flying Thunder God Technique seal here, he thought about going back to see if Sarada had encountered any trouble.

At this time, Sarada's main body, who was in Shadow Shade Village, keenly noticed a change coming from her shoulder. A special seal had been activated.

Could it be the method the White-Robed Man left on her? But when?

The scene flashed, and the White-Robed Man came to Sarada's side.

At first, the White-Robed Man was wondering how he sensed four targets, but when he saw Sarada's situation, he couldn't help but twitch his lips.

"Are you doing human trafficking? The price of Sharingan can indeed reach astronomical figures for ordinary black markets." The White-Robed Man sighed.

"But you are quite wise, knowing the value of the Mangekyō."

Facing the White-Robed Man's cold ridicule, Sarada felt tired and realized that he had always had a way to find her.

Sarada couldn't help but frown: "You deliberately let me escape?"

The White-Robed Man snorted coldly, mocking: "You really overestimate yourself. Taking you along is just a burden. You are not worthy to know some plans."

Seeing that Sarada wanted to say more, the White-Robed Man directly pressed her mouth and said coldly: "You better tell me the whereabouts of the other Sharingan, or I will deduct your Mangekyō."

Facing such an unreasonable inquiry, Sarada immediately pushed his arm away and retorted, "Looks like my eyes aren't so useless after all, are they?"

The White-Robed Man remained noncommittal, but quickly realized that the amount of chakra within this girl had actually increased significantly, and even the Tailed Beast chakra was continuously leaking out.

"Looks like you're not so useless either."

The White-Robed Man merely sighed slightly. With his abilities, he had already invaded Sarada's mind space and seen the Seven-Tails honestly sealed inside.

"What happened?" he asked Sarada.

Sarada's eyes quickly dimmed. "I encountered very strong enemies. The Sharingan... was taken."

"Oh?" The White-Robed Man showed a rare hint of curiosity in his eyes. "Were there many of them, exhausting your dōjutsu?"

"..." Sarada shook her head.

"Sealing techniques?"

"Neither." Sarada was a little embarrassed. "They seemed to be five... ninja."

"?" The White-Robed Man was stunned. "Five ninja, Shadow-level ninja?"

Sarada: "Maybe, probably, possibly, perhaps, seemingly, almost... yes, I guess."

The White-Robed Man pondered. To make a move knowing the opponent had the Sharingan, or even the Mangekyō, then the five people must have considerable courage and strength.

"So now?" The White-Robed Man looked around, and at the four marks he had just sensed.

"They originally wanted to destroy the body and eliminate the traces, but probably didn't expect me to survive by luck," Sarada said with a self-deprecating smile.

"Quite the epiphany. Tsk, tsk."

"My dōjutsu is 'Other Shore Mark.' Its specific ability is to blur the line between life and death, so theoretically, even if I'm beaten to dust, I can be resurrected.

But actually, even this Mangekyō was taken away, but as my ability was triggered, it grew back again."

Sarada explained in detail.

The White-Robed Man raised an eyebrow, observing this special eye. The pattern inside was in the shape of a blooming flower, making it extremely beautiful.

If Boruto and Orochimaru's deductions were correct, then it was very likely that Sarada's dōjutsu was preserved at the soul level, meaning that even if the eyes were taken from her body, it would not affect the continued maintenance of the Other Shore Mark.

In other words, unless the enemy had a means to endanger the soul, even killing or gouging out the eyes would be ineffective against Sarada.

"After I came back to life, I felt the existence of the stolen Mangekyō for a moment, so I chased after it."

Sarada lowered her head, looking like an honest person.

At this point, the White-Robed Man had roughly guessed the result. He knew the nearby terrain, the four villages, so the three extra sensed coordinates were probably Shadow Clones.

"Heh." The White-Robed Man chuckled softly, saying coldly, "Why do you think I would help you get your eyes back?"

"It might be useful to you, regarding the fusion of the Eternal Mangekyō," Sarada asked in a low voice.

A slight hint of surprise flickered in the White-Robed Man's eyes. He didn't expect that Seven-Tails Chōmei knew so much.