The sudden knock on the door startled Sarada and Sumire, the covert agents.
Sarada quickly turned off the computer monitor, while Sumire hurriedly hid the secret documents on the desk inside her clothing.
"Who is it?"
"It's me."
"Mitsuki?" The two girls sighed in relief but remained on edge.
"Can I come in?"
"Come in."
Mitsuki entered, his eyes scanning Sarada and Sumire with a hint of curiosity.
He couldn't understand what the two of them were doing in this small room in broad daylight.
He'd heard some ninjas liked watching strange things on computers during the day—were they secretly studying something?
"What are you two doing?"
"Nothing, just looking at the computer together!"
"Hmm~~~"
Mitsuki fell silent. Unexpectedly, his guess was correct, so he didn't press further.
Though he didn't have such needs himself, he could understand his teammates' behavior.
"Mitsuki, what's up?"
Sarada awkwardly changed the subject.
"Shikadai and Chōchō said they haven't seen much of you two lately and were a bit worried, so they asked me to check on you."
The younger generation of Konoha had good bonds. Since Sarada and Sumire had been busy gathering intelligence and planting bugs, they rarely appeared, making their friends slightly concerned.
Especially after they were attacked by Otsutsuki Boruto, and Lady Hinata was killed before their eyes.
Everyone was worried that Sarada and Sumire would be too devastated to recover.
"We're fine, just a bit tired lately and wanting to rest more."
"If there's any problem we need help with, we'll definitely let everyone know."
Sumire explained sweetly. Compared to Sarada, her acting was far better.
"Good to know you're okay. By the way, have you heard the war report from Kumogakure?"
"Just found out."
"Kumogakure lost. Konoha will likely be dragged into the war soon. Those damned Otsutsuki Sasuke and Otsutsuki Boruto—if I meet them again, I'll definitely take revenge for the Seventh Hokage and Lady Hinata!"
Mitsuki gritted his teeth angrily. How dare they take Uzumaki Kawaki, his moonlight's radiance? Utterly despicable!
"Mitsuki… you…"
Sarada wanted to defend herself but didn't know where to start.
Her father and best friend were both seen as targets to be killed by Mitsuki, making her heart uneasy.
"Hmm?"
"It's nothing, the enemy is indeed cruel!"
"Alright, one more important thing."
Mitsuki pulled a scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Sarada.
"This?"
"Father asked me to give it to you."
"Lord Orochimaru? What is it?"
"I don't know. Father seems to have just returned. Now he's apparently off on a mission. He sent this to me via summoning jutsu, saying it's for you alone."
"Lord Orochimaru gave it to me personally? What's inside?"
"No idea. Open it and see for yourself. I'm leaving; if you need anything, find me anytime."
Mitsuki, true to his nature, wouldn't peek at the scroll. After completing his task, he left.
Sarada looked at the scroll in her hand with suspicion. She didn't know if Orochimaru's memories had been altered, nor could she fathom why he sent her a message personally.
Had he met her dad, Boruto, and the others outside?
Sarada hurriedly opened the scroll, and all its information unfolded before her eyes.
Once she finished reading, the seal on the scroll activated, and black Amaterasu flames erupted, quickly burning the entire scroll to ashes.
"This? Uncle Sasuke's Amaterasu? A message from Boruto and the others?"
Sumire recognized the Amaterasu, her heart leaping with joy, and hurriedly asked:
"What did the scroll say?"
"It's indeed a message from Dad and the others through Orochimaru. They've regrouped, and Orochimaru found a temporary way to counter memory manipulation. They also repelled Code together, so we don't need to worry…"
Sarada felt truly relieved, excitedly recounting the scroll's information.
Of course, Sasuke didn't include battle details or some bad news in the scroll to avoid upsetting his daughter too much.
"That's great!"
"Lord Sasuke and the others really won!"
"How's Boruto? Is he okay?"
"Boruto's safe too. They're all in Kumogakure now."
"That's a relief!"
Sumire finally felt at ease, at least certain of Boruto and the others' safety.
"Oh! One more thing—Dad gave us a new mission!"
"What mission?"
"He told us to secretly approach an android named Eida who's with Code, without being detected. She's the user of the Divine Technique that manipulates everyone's memories! And she has a special dōjutsu that can monitor the entire ninja world—nothing can be hidden from her Senrigan!"
"What? Then our conversation now and the cameras we secretly installed—haven't they all been exposed?"
Sumire was shocked, cold sweat breaking out.
They didn't know about Eida and her Senrigan, which is why they conducted covert spying activities.
They thought they were moving silently, but in Eida's eyes, it was practically out in the open.
"Don't panic. Dad said Eida and Code aren't entirely aligned. She's only being threatened by Code. As long as our actions aren't noticed by Code, she might not detect us; even if she does, she might not report us."
"Oh, that's good then…"
"In short, our main target next is that Eida. Dad told us to secretly approach her: either recruit her, get the coordinates of Code's other dimension, or find out her activity patterns and send the times she's alone to Dad and the others."
"Secretly approach Eida under Code's watch? That's too dangerous…"
"Dangerous or not, we have to do it. Now we at least have a clear goal. To restore the world to how it was and take everything back, we must take risks!"
Sarada grew more spirited, inheriting Sasuke's tenacious character. Once a decision was made, she'd strive with all her might to achieve it.
"I understand! I'll fully support you. Let's restore the world to how it was!"
The two held hands, deeply appreciating each other from the bottom of their hearts.
The situation was looking good; it felt like Boruto was almost out of the picture.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
In the Raikage Building in the Land of Lightning, former Kumogakure.
More than half a day had passed since the great battle, and Kumogakure had been completely seized and destroyed by the Kara Organization.
However, the level of destruction and damage to the village was far less than Kirigakure's.
After all, this time, Sasuke didn't need to activate Six Paths Susano'o and slaughter endlessly.
Initially, the aggressive Kumogakure would've resisted more fiercely than Kirigakure.
Many Kumogakure ninjas preferred death over surrender.
But it didn't matter. After Orochimaru revived the recently fallen Fifth Raikage Darui with Edo Tensei, all problems were resolved.
Seeing Sasuke's unmatched Six Paths power, Darui had already given up hope.
At this point, to reduce casualties in Kumogakure and preserve more living forces, he was forced to temporarily become a traitor to Kumogakure, voluntarily joining the suppression forces.
With the Fifth Raikage as a guide, along with his advice and assistance, the efficiency of eliminating stubborn elements naturally skyrocketed, swift and stable.
In just half a day, Kumogakure was fully under control.
The mission to destroy Kumogakure was complete!
Of course, the ruthless and cautious Sasuke left no gaps.
Before fully securing Kumogakure, he had dispatched another thousand-man force, led by his clone, straight to the residence of the Land of Lightning's Daimyō.
He was preparing to seize this opportunity to eliminate the troublesome Daimyō and all the nobles!
To ensure no bothersome village restoration movements in the future.
He would die eventually, and Sasuke didn't want the kind-hearted Naruto to be deceived again by selfish, foolish Daimyōs and nobles.
Better to kill them all now to avoid future trouble.
"Sensei? What are you writing?"
Boruto entered the Raikage's office, seeing his sensei Sasuke writing rapidly.
"Writing a letter to Sarada and Sumire, so Orochimaru can pass it to Mitsuki via Reverse Summoning Jutsu, and Mitsuki can deliver it to Sarada."
"Are Sarada and Class Rep okay? Will the enemy take out their anger on them?"
"They should be fine. Sakura's death will make Isshiki know that hostage threats are useless against me, so he shouldn't trouble other hostages…"
"What if Sarada finds out about her mom…"
"I told you, I won't tell her about that for now. It's for her own good. By the way, do you want to leave a message for them?"
Sasuke handed the written scroll to Boruto, gesturing that he could add something.
Boruto clenched his fists, ultimately putting the scroll down. What more could he say now?
Write a letter to reassure Sarada and Sumire not to be afraid, to wait for him to return and save them?
Too embarrassing!
He couldn't even save his mother, or Aunt Sakura…
Let alone the two of them in the heart of the enemy's den.
Boruto used to boast and say grand things, but now he could no longer utter such pretty words.
"Don't lose heart. We will win."
"Got it! We'll definitely win! Sensei, when are we attacking Iwagakure?"
"Soon. But there's one question I want to ask you."
"Ask away, Sensei."
"Do you still remember Hikari?"