Achoo!
"I never thought someone who defeated the pinnacle of the ninja world would catch a cold?"
On the street, Sarada walked beside the white-robed man through the dim shopping district. A cool night breeze swept through, brushing her cheek with a chill.
"After all, I'm still just a mortal," the white-robed man replied with a soft smile. "A cold can kill me. A kunai can kill me. I'm not invincible."
Sarada didn't hesitate—she pulled out a kunai and stabbed toward his waist.
But the blade passed straight through.
No resistance. No flesh. No sound.
Just an afterimage.
"Curious about my eye technique?" the white-robed man asked with a mocking tilt of his head.
Sarada nodded without any shame. "You defeated my Tou-san and the Seventh Hokage… because you can't be touched, isn't that right?"
The white-robed man's eyes narrowed slightly, a cold edge surfacing beneath his casual posture.
"It seems you've become quite bold since resonating with the Seven-Tails," he said. "Don't forget—the only reason it's inside you is that I put it there."
Since his organization had yet to build a proper containment site, the Tailed Beasts could only be sealed into human hosts for now.
Sarada understood. A beast that enormous couldn't hide anywhere except inside a person.
The white-robed man continued walking leisurely, as if explaining their mission out of boredom—almost hoping Sarada would hate him for it.
Sarada lowered her gaze, her Mangekyō glimmering faintly. In a voice softer than the breeze, she murmured:
"The Mangekyō only awakens when the heart breaks. And the moment mine awakened… was planned by you, wasn't it?"
A faint wind swept the empty street. The faint glow of early dawn crept across the rooftops. Sarada remembered everything she saw in her illusion: Naruto collapsing, Sasuke being torn apart, Boruto dying—
Only for it to vanish like smoke.
She now understood what the Seven-Tails had said about the Uchiha awakening their eyes.
"Perhaps," the white-robed man answered lazily.
They walked down the silent commercial street. All the shops were shut. No lamps lit. Not a soul in sight. Only wind, footsteps, and Sarada's low, trembling voice.
She did not know whether she should thank him for giving her the Mangekyō…
or hate him for shattering her world to do it.
Finally, she exhaled shakily.
"How much longer are we going to walk around like this?" she asked. "Even if we keep wandering the streets, we'll never find the enemy. My other eye… who knows where they've taken it by now?"
The white-robed man chuckled.
"What do you mean by searching?" he asked. "Haven't we simply been strolling and chatting this whole time?"
Sarada froze.
Her lips trembled, but she said nothing. Because she couldn't.
Because she was still a hostage.
…
Tōrō Village.
Kakkō stared at his three companions—Taiseki, Jirō, and Renga—panting on the ground, physically shaken after unleashing too many large-scale ninjutsu in a row. Even with their modified bodies, they couldn't fire techniques endlessly.
He had been relying on his stone armor to block attacks while using the stolen stabilizer crystal to absorb chakra-based jutsu.
Yet one teammate was missing.
Had he died in the explosion earlier?
Suddenly, heavy, ragged breathing came from behind.
"Cough—cough… that was close…"
From the collapsed building staggered Taiseki, coated in dust, limping toward them.
"What happened here? Did you three start arguing over the prize?" he asked suspiciously.
Three-on-one, from the looks of it.
Taiseki clearly suspected someone had turned on the group.
"Taiseki! Good, you're up! Listen—those three might be under genjutsu!" Kakkō called out urgently from atop the earthen platform.
Taiseki frowned. He looked from Kakkō—barely scratched—to his gasping teammates, then back again.
"Who are you trying to fool? You're the one acting strange," he said, throwing a shuriken.
It bounced off Kakkō's stone armor with a clank and fell uselessly among the scattered weapons on the ground.
"Think, Taiseki!" Kakkō yelled. "If they weren't out of chakra, they'd be attacking you right now."
Taiseki's gaze flickered. He turned slowly toward Jirō, Renga, and Gozu.
"You three… want to kill me?"
"What the hell are you talking about, Taiseki? We're comrades!" Jirō shouted. "Don't let that bastard twist your mind!"
Taiseki chuckled darkly.
Even Kakkō felt his stomach drop.
So you only want to kill ME…?
The air thickened with suspicion and killing intent.
Kakkō swallowed. He needed to break the illusion—or whatever madness this was—before he was torn apart.
He yelled:
"Taiseki! Check their chakra flow. Put a hand on their shoulder—if they're under genjutsu, your chakra will disrupt it!"
Still conflicted, Taiseki did as told. He placed a hand on Renga's shoulder and pushed chakra inside.
A long silence.
Then Renga exhaled and muttered:
"Kakkō… should die."
Kakkō: ??
Is the Mangekyō's genjutsu that strong…
Or do they just genuinely want me dead?!
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A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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