After a brief moment of shock, Sarada and Sumire quickly covered their mouths, suppressing their surprise.
Though they didn't know why Orochimaru, who was supposed to be with Sasuke, suddenly appeared in the village, Sarada hurriedly ran to the window, opened it, and let Orochimaru in.
Orochimaru bit the window frame, retracting his elongated neck.
He effortlessly brought Kawaki and the others up to the second floor, entering Sarada's room.
"Kawaki! Why are you back?"
"Where's Boruto?"
"And Dad?"
"Who are they…?"
Seeing Kawaki and the others, Sarada and Sumire were even more shocked and immediately asked about Boruto and Sasuke.
Kawaki smirked slightly, annoyed that they asked about Boruto right away.
As expected, these women would only interfere with the brotherhood between him and Boruto!
Edo Itachi proactively introduced: "I'm Uchiha Itachi, and this is my friend Shisui."
Sarada was stunned: "Ah! Uchiha Itachi, you're…"
Though she had never met Itachi, she had heard his legendary name countless times!
The psychopathic clan slayer, the one-against-seven powerhouse, the brother-obsessed maniac, the weasel spy… and so on. This man was truly an anomaly in Uchiha Clan history, worthy of his own page, nearly rivaling Uchiha Madara in fame.
And the man her father had been searching for in the first half of his life!
"I'm your uncle. Your father is my younger brother."
Itachi answered, and Sarada's eyes lit up.
Compared to her loner father, she also wanted to meet other Uchiha Clan members.
Of course, not like that enchanting little fairy, Uchiha Hikari.
Itachi looked at Sarada with eyes full of admiration and affection, reminiscent of how he looked at young Sasuke.
"Really, Uncle? This is Edo Tensei? Orochimaru brought you back?"
"Yes. Hmm? Your eyes…?"
Itachi nodded but seemed to notice something, stepping quickly toward Sarada and closely examining her eyes.
"You've activated the Mangekyo?"
"Yes!"
Sarada was inwardly shocked. She hadn't expected Itachi's eyes to be so sharp. She hadn't even activated her Sharingan, yet he noticed?
"How did you activate it?"
"…"
Sarada felt awkward, finding it hard to explain.
She knew how senior Uchiha ninjas activated theirs—whether for friendship, family love, the clan, the village, or justice…
But she activated hers because of Boruto.
It was truly embarrassing to admit!
Seeing this, Itachi seemed to guess something and didn't press further, instead offering concerned advice:
"Forcibly activating the Mangekyo Sharingan has severe side effects, often causing an incurable blood disease. You should take care of your body and minimize using the Mangekyo's power to avoid blindness—"
Itachi was still advising when Orochimaru interrupted.
"Itachi, you don't need to worry about this. I have plenty of Hashirama cells. Mangekyo Sharingan blindness is no issue at all. Sarada, use it as you please. With me here, you won't go blind!"
Orochimaru grinned. With him around, was a little blindness a problem?
Itachi glared at Orochimaru, slightly displeased but not arguing too much.
After all, Sarada had no siblings and couldn't obtain an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Sooner or later, she'd face blindness issues, so Orochimaru's help and assurance were indeed better.
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you all talking about?"
"Where's my sister?"
"Hurry and save my sister!"
Daimon, lying on Kawaki's back, started shouting again. If not for his fear of the "killing weapon" in Orochimaru's hands, he might've been the first to rush off to find his sister Eida.
"Indeed, we should focus on the mission first."
Itachi still had a broad perspective. There'd be plenty of time to chat with his little niece later. For now, the priority was completing the mission.
Then, Itachi activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and cast a genjutsu on Sarada and Sumire, conveying the purpose and goals of their infiltration through the genjutsu.
This was certainly more time-efficient.
Sarada and Sumire trembled, snapping out of the genjutsu after a few seconds.
Now understanding why Itachi and the others returned to Konoha, they quickly explained:
"Sorry, as far as we know, Eida isn't in Konoha right now."
"Oh?"
"Last night, after she secretly met with us, not long after, Code… no… Otsutsuki Isshiki returned to the village and took Eida away again."
"He probably took her to continue capturing Bijuu."
"Eida guessed this too. Since the Bijuu's locations keep moving, the initial coordinates she provided wouldn't stay valid, so she suspected Isshiki would return and take her to provide accurate Bijuu coordinates anytime…"
Sarada's answer dimmed Daimon's eyes. He thought his sister was in Konoha, but she'd been taken away by Isshiki again.
Now, taking Eida back directly from Isshiki's hands would undoubtedly be even harder.
In contrast, Itachi and Orochimaru were much calmer.
As seasoned veterans, they always prepared for missions with the lowest psychological expectations and worst-case scenarios.
Eida not being in Konoha and not easily rescued wasn't too bad.
At least they'd met Sarada and Sumire, and they were all safe—that was already good news.
"Did Eida leave any other messages?"
Itachi asked again.
"Yes!"
"This was left by Eida separately."
"She said if Dad sent people to infiltrate Konoha to rescue her, give these coordinates to Dad. They're the latest accurate coordinates of Otsutsuki Isshiki's other dimension!"
Sarada pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Edo Itachi.
This was proof of Eida's loyalty and another gift she left.
She knew she'd likely be taken away by Isshiki again and might not have another chance to secretly meet Sarada and Sumire, so she gave this more critical information to Sarada in advance.
Of course, she didn't ask Sarada to send it through the summoning scroll in the morning.
Instead, she instructed Sarada to hand it over only when someone came to rescue her.
Eida genuinely wanted to join Sasuke's side and had already shown significant goodwill by providing much information. But she still hoped to see Sasuke's side show something in return. If they were willing to send people to rescue her—success or not—it would prove their sincerity in cooperating.
Then she'd provide Isshiki's other dimension coordinates to gain more favor and merit.
Itachi took the paper and confirmed with Orochimaru that it was indeed coordinates for a dimension outside the ninja world.
Though they couldn't 100% verify its authenticity, given Eida's prior behavior, it was likely genuine.
"Tch, what an interesting android!"
Orochimaru grinned, slightly admiring Eida.
Isshiki's other dimension coordinates were one of her key trump cards. Sasuke's willingness to rescue Eida was largely due to this critical information.
Yet, she proactively handed it over to them again.
Fascinating!
Wasn't she afraid they'd take the coordinates and abandon rescuing her?
No…
It wasn't that Eida was bold, but that she understood Sasuke and his side well!
With someone like Sasuke, the more you tried to threaten or control him, the more it backfired.
Conversely, if you proactively showed goodwill and offered help, he'd remember it.
Moreover, Eida herself, with both Senrigan and Omnipotence, was a vital trump card that could influence the battle's outcome. They likely wouldn't abandon her.
"Your sister can even pinpoint the exact location of Otsutsuki Isshiki's other dimension?"
Kawaki muttered softly, awed by Senrigan's terrifying power.
"Of course! My sister's the greatest. There's nothing in this world she doesn't know!"
"Then does she know where the Seventh Hokage is being held?"
"She should!"
"No! I feel your sister isn't omniscient. At least she doesn't know about…"
"Doesn't know what? Don't badmouth my sister!"
Daimon and Kawaki bantered playfully, the former wildly pulling Kawaki's hair, the latter smacking Daimon's butt hard.
"It seems the secondary target was achieved easily. What's next, Itachi?"
Orochimaru asked Itachi.
Itachi pondered briefly: "Retreat. Eida was taken by Otsutsuki Isshiki, and we don't know when she'll return. Staying here now is pointless."
"What about Sarada and Sumire? Should we take them?"
Orochimaru squinted and smiled, leaving the decision to Itachi.
If Eida was rescued, taking Sarada and Sumire wouldn't be an issue.
But if Eida wasn't rescued and they only took Sarada and Sumire, Isshiki would immediately know Sasuke sent people to rescue her upon his return.
That would shatter Sasuke's image of being unafraid of hostage threats.
Isshiki would surely use other Konoha hostages to threaten them.
Rescuing the entire village's population was even less realistic…
But leaving Sarada and Sumire there was undoubtedly just as dangerous.
Sasuke had already lost his wife, Sakura. Itachi, no matter what, didn't want him to lose his daughter Sarada too…
"…"
For a moment, even the resolute and bold Itachi couldn't help but hesitate.
*BANG!*
Sarada's room door suddenly burst open, and a figure rushed in.
It was, of course, Kakashi, the former Sixth Hokage, who had received the news.
Everyone in the room turned to look at Kakashi.
"You guys… Sss—!"
Kakashi saw the group of high-profile figures in the room and couldn't help but shudder, taking a sharp breath.
Orochimaru, Edo Itachi, Edo Shisui, and Kawaki—what were they all doing gathered in Sarada's room? Playing cards wasn't done like this!
Should I not have shown up now? Did I interrupt something important?
"Kakashi-kun, you're still as rude as ever!"
Hearing Orochimaru's tone, Kakashi's heart trembled:
"Did I come at the wrong time?"
"No, you came at the perfect time!"
Edo Itachi glared at Kakashi. Caught off guard, Kakashi had no time to resist the genjutsu.
Instantly, he fell into the genjutsu world, as if reliving a familiar feeling.
A few minutes later.
Kakashi snapped out of Itachi's genjutsu.
Since Kakashi's memories were fully manipulated by Omnipotence, viewing Boruto and Sasuke as enemies, his memories were very stubborn.
To ensure the new information and memories didn't fracture Kakashi's personality, Itachi had to be gentler, taking a few extra minutes.
Without Tsukuyomi, it was indeed a bit troublesome. Otherwise, Edo Itachi could've completed all genjutsu manipulation in an instant.
Kakashi, now awake, felt surreal. Though he'd heard Sarada and the others tell the truth before and had doubts himself several times, they were always erased by Omnipotence's continuous correction.
"So, the Hokage is really the enemy? Otsutsuki Sasuke and Boruto are Konoha ninjas? Everyone's memories worldwide were manipulated by Omnipotence?"
Kakashi was a bit dazed.
Though he now knew the truth, his memories were still slightly fractured, making him very uncomfortable.
It was like being suddenly told his parents were disguised aliens, and his real parents were on the run.
Without fully removing Omnipotence's influence, other methods would always have flaws.
"What? Don't believe me?"
Kakashi rubbed his throbbing head, not daring to look at Itachi again.
Every genjutsu gave him a headache—who could stand that?
"Kawaki, is all this true?"
Kakashi asked Kawaki. After all, Kawaki had memories as both the Hokage's biological son and adopted son; his words were undoubtedly the most reliable.
"Yes! Boruto's dad is the Seventh Hokage. Jigen and Code are just beasts stealing the Hokage's name!"
"So it's all true…"
Kakashi approached the window, looking at the Seventh Hokage Naruto's statue on the Hokage Monument in the distance.
His heart was almost convinced.
What else could he do? Naruto's face was too familiar and too important to him!
Every time he saw it, it stirred Kakashi's thoughts to some extent.
Moreover, the statues of the previous six Hokages matched his memories, but the Seventh Hokage's statue differed from his recollection, which was indeed odd.
Now, learning the truth through genjutsu, he could verify it with the Hokage statue, which couldn't be manipulated, sufficiently proving Jigen and Code's falsehood…
"But even if I know the truth now, it seems my memories will soon be corrected by Omnipotence again, right?"
"I have a way to temporarily make you immune to shinjutsu's influence."
"Hmm?"
"But it's a one-time chance. We need your help, Kakashi!"
Itachi sincerely requested, already forming a new plan in his mind.
"Then let's do it, as long as you don't stab me for three days and nights in the Tsukuyomi world again…"
Kakashi didn't hesitate. Once decided, he firmly trusted Itachi and the others.
Or rather, he trusted the Naruto statue on the Hokage Monument…
Itachi immediately released a summoned crow and activated the original Mangekyo Sharingan Kotoamatsukami, casting it on Kakashi!
"What are you going to do with Kakashi?" Orochimaru asked proactively.
"Of course…"
Before Itachi could finish, Sarada's shocked cry echoed in the room:
"Trouble! Otsutsuki Isshiki and the others are back!!!"
Everyone was startled, immediately looking at the surveillance monitor, and their expressions changed.