Sarada's Resolve

Sarada's Resolve

Mindscape.

The pitch-black space blurred the source of light, but with Sarada's arrival, this world began to glow.

The first thing she saw was the familiar Seven-Tails—Chōmei—behind her.

Like oil lamps filled with fuel, they only needed the tiniest spark to ignite lights capable of illuminating the world.

And the Tailed Beasts arriving one after another were those sparks. Every additional flame in this space meant another Tailed Beast had come here.

Before long, the Tailed Beasts who had received the news entered the mindscape. As usual, they formed a circle, leaving the empty space in the center for the Jinchuriki—the one entrusted with their power.

Clearly, Sarada was not that kind of existence. She was merely an ordinary Jinchuriki recognized by the Seven-Tails.

A total of eight Tailed Beasts had arrived. They looked at Chōmei behind Sarada, as well as Sarada herself, with confusion and a touch of surprise.

"Hey, Chōmei, you disappeared for a few days and ended up resonating with some brat like this?"

The Two-Tails, Matatabi, watched Sarada standing beneath Chōmei coldly, her heterochromatic eyes fixed on her with icy hostility.

"She's even an Uchiha?" The One-Tail, Shukaku, immediately looked displeased.

The other Tailed Beasts did not look much happier either. They even suspected that Chōmei had been bewitched by this brat.

"Now, now, don't be like that. The Uchiha's brutality is already in the past. As for Sasuke now, isn't he carrying out his duty to protect the Shinobi World too?"

Chōmei felt awkward. It had not expected the Tailed Beasts' prejudice against the Uchiha to remain so strong, though it remembered that it had felt the same way just a few days ago.

It believed Sarada would change their minds, just as she had made it acknowledge her!

The Tailed Beasts fell briefly silent and set the matter aside for now. Then two more figures arrived. Boruto and Naruto stood quietly in the empty space at the center.

"Long time no see, Boruto. Did you have fun on your school trip?"

"...It was fairly fun, I guess?" Boruto replied ambiguously.

Seeing Boruto's reaction, Naruto scratched the back of his head in confusion. "What happened?"

"We ran into some trouble while the cruise ship was sailing. A violent storm kicked up on the sea in the middle of the night. It was seriously unbearable." Boruto gave a brief explanation.

"Uh... that really doesn't sound ideal." Naruto understood.

"Stop!" Chōmei suddenly spoke, interrupting the father and son's small talk. Everyone turned their attention toward it.

Only then did the father and son notice the figure who should have been kidnapped. "Sarada? Are you okay?"

"It's a long story, but something more serious has happened. It concerns the safety of the Shinobi World," Chōmei said gravely.

"I was originally sealed somewhere in a valley by that so-called Moon, but later I was inexplicably transferred into this brat. Only afterward did I discover that she was actually Sasuke's daughter.

"Well, although there was plenty of confusion and mental turmoil, I still acknowledged her as a Jinchuriki."

That was already obvious. After all, being able to enter the Tailed Beasts' mindscape was enough to prove that the Tailed Beasts recognized her as a Jinchuriki.

Everyone silently waited for what it had to say next. Though intolerable things had happened on their side as well, Chōmei had called this gathering, so it was the "host" of this meeting.

Chōmei paused, then began recounting the shocking discovery. "The Ōtsutsuki may have already infiltrated the Shinobi World. Sarada and I encountered the Ōtsutsuki's 'followers,' which is why we hurriedly convened this meeting.

"And the reason I believe this is because among the enemies Sarada and I encountered, someone leaked the aura of an Ōtsutsuki. There's no way I could have sensed that wrong!"

"Then are you two okay?" Boruto asked worriedly.

"Well... being able to force the enemy to reveal an Ōtsutsuki ability is enough to show how powerful he was, so even I wasn't confident I could defeat him.

"But fortunately, the one who fought them was only one of Sarada's Shadow Clones. The reasons behind that are very complicated. In short, the enemies we encountered did not come from the Moon.

"Because Sarada's real body is currently following that White-Robed Man."

"Could they be other members of the Moon? After we lost contact with you, another Tailed Beast among us also went missing—the one absent from this meeting, Isobu!"

One of the Tailed Beasts spoke with a grave expression.

"What?!"

"Even Isobu? He lives in a deep-sea area nearly a thousand meters below the surface. Who could dive that deep?"

Chōmei was deeply shaken.

"Although we suspected that the Ōtsutsuki were behind it, the information Isobu sent back clearly stated that the other party was one of the Moon's members!"

"That's also why Boruto, despite being close to the scene, couldn't stop it. Even in my Chakra Mode, five hundred meters is already his remarkable limit!"

Kurama spoke with some regret, but also considerable pride.

"What's the use of that? You still watched Isobu lose contact right before your eyes." Shukaku retorted disdainfully.

Kurama: "Tailed Beasts don't die, so could you please die once? It might lighten our burden a little."

Shukaku: ...

"So that was why you said the trip wasn't enjoyable." Naruto suddenly understood.

"Ahem. So that means Sarada's situation is relatively safe right now, correct?" Boruto asked.

"...I suppose so?" Chōmei answered for her.

After all, she had not wanted to contact Naruto before. Perhaps she wanted to use this opportunity to temper herself properly.

Though Chōmei agreed, staying beside the terrifying White-Robed Man all the time still made it feel uneasy.

Maybe one day he would take Sarada's eyes and steal it away as well. After all, fusing the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan required another pair of Mangekyō, and as for blood relations, it believed the all-powerful Moon would have a way to solve that problem.

"You're roughly in a village somewhere in the Land of Birds, right? Wait there. I'll be there soon!"

Boruto stepped forward and placed both hands on her shoulders in reassurance.

Their eyes met. Amid Sarada's slightly shy gaze—after all, it was intimate contact between a boy and a girl—Boruto quietly took something away.

"!!" Sarada froze abruptly.

She felt a special strand of Chakra being removed from her shoulder. The White-Robed Man had also used the Chakra left there to find her location before. Could there be some connection?

Boruto keenly noticed the change in Sarada's expression. He guessed that the White-Robed Man had probably used this technique to appear beside Sarada instantly too.

After thinking about it, he explained, "This is the Flying Thunder God Technique. I left it on you the day we were preparing to set out and find your dad. Remember how I patted your shoulder really hard that morning?"

Listening to Boruto's explanation, Sarada recalled that such a thing had indeed happened. Boruto had even been carrying a lunchbox at the time.

"Later, when the White-Robed Man abducted you, Uncle Sasuke and I were able to find your location instantly because we had planted a Flying Thunder God marker beforehand."

"I see. No wonder Sasuke and Boruto suddenly appeared in the sky behind the White-Robed Man. But we didn't notice your presence at the time, did we?" Naruto asked thoughtfully.

"That was probably the White-Robed Man's eye technique too. Doesn't he often hide himself in some space and leave an illusion behind in reality that's immune to damage?"

"That's true."

Naruto knew that better than anyone. He had even tested the limit of how long the White-Robed Man could evade attacks, only to discover that he had hidden away for an entire afternoon.

"Then, Dad, I'll head back to the Hidden Leaf Village first. I'll bring you and Uncle Sasuke with me to rescue Sarada, okay?"

"Mm." Naruto nodded in affirmation.

"Actually, you don't need to come. Since I've already lost something, I'd be better off honestly acting as an undercover agent for now."

Sarada felt somewhat miserable. Her Shadow Clone had happened to disperse just as she arrived here, so the moment its memories returned to her mind, she appeared in this place.

"How can that be okay? You'll be in danger!" Naruto said anxiously. "We finally have news of you. Of course we have to find a way to get you out of danger!"

"I'm very safe right now."

"Why?!" Naruto was stunned.

"Because the reason the White-Robed Man hasn't killed me is that he wants to obtain the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. So he's waiting for me to grow stronger, then he'll take my eyes to help him achieve his goal of evolving his Sharingan."

"Uh... then you really are pretty safe." Boruto's mouth twitched slightly.

"What do you mean by that?! I'm already someone with one-and-a-half eyes awakened to the Mangekyō! Don't underestimate Uchiha talent!" Sarada declared arrogantly.

"Oh?" Naruto fell even more silent. More than anyone, he knew what awakening the Mangekyō meant. She had probably believed that he, Sasuke, and Boruto had all died at the scene.

"Sarada..." Naruto found it difficult to speak, but his attitude was resolute. "I'll definitely rescue you. How can I rest easy knowing you're staying beside the enemy?"

"But can you defeat the White-Robed Man as he is now?"

"..."

"So wouldn't it be better for me to stay hidden at his side and slowly gather information about his eye technique while searching for his weakness?"

"This..." Naruto's mouth went dry, unable to squeeze out even a single word.

"Anyway, I'm very safe right now. Remember to tell my dad and mom that I'm safe." With that, Sarada left the meeting.

"Boruto... I..."

Boruto cut him off directly. "Dad, you should think carefully about how you're going to explain yourself to Uncle Sasuke!"

After saying that, Boruto left decisively as well.

Naruto: ...

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