In the darkness, a few oil lamps flickered weakly, their light dim, but just bright enough for Sarada—half-awake and disoriented—to see the massive form in front of her.
An enormous silhouette towered over her.
The Seven-Tails—Chōmei—confined within a red-barred cage.
"Human girl, you don't seem to be on that Uchiha's side."
The chakra pouring from Chōmei's huge body washed over Sarada like a suffocating tide.
At first, Sarada was groggy and confused. She thought it was just some twisted nightmare where the tailed beast she'd helped capture had come back for revenge.
It was like that… except, because of the seal, it couldn't really hurt her.
"You're… the Seven-Tails…?" She frowned. "Wait—how did I get here?"
She pinched her arm hard. The sting was real. The pressure, the murderous intent pressing on her from the giant in front of her, was all too clear.
"Don't even know what you've done? Or just pretending to be stupid?!" Chōmei snapped impatiently. More chakra surged out between the cage's bars, making breathing difficult for her.
Sarada was forced back step by step under the weight of that sinister chakra. This was her mental space, yet she felt completely powerless.
Good, Chōmei thought.
Whether it was because she had argued with that masked man or something else, the separation from him made Chōmei think it had found an opening—to seize the host's body and send out its coordinates.
If it succeeded, Naruto would sense it and come.
"So you finally realized it, annoying Uchiha," Chōmei growled when she named him.
He strained again, tailed-beast chakra flaring, trying to burst through the cage—only to be crushed back by the seal at the crucial moment.
Seeing that, Sarada slowly calmed down.
So this is… a seal, she realized. Did that man in white… seal the Seven-Tails into me?
Once she understood that much, her confusion faded. Her Mangekyō pattern glinted as she stared up at the gigantic beast without backing down.
"I don't care how you ended up in my body," Sarada said coldly, "but I won't let you insult my family."
"Your clan?" Chōmei snorted. "The Uchiha have never been good people."
Now that it was sealed, it knew exactly what came next—it would be used as a chakra battery, drained again and again by its new host.
"You…!" Sarada glared at the Seven-Tails, furious, but she had no idea how to fight it here.
Her Mangekyō ability could save her life, but it wasn't offensive. Facing the beast that had just pelted her with Tailed Beast Balls, she could only remember the overwhelming force of its earlier bombardment.
"…"
Sarada finally let out a small sigh, turned her back on Chōmei, and began thinking about how to leave this place instead of arguing.
Chōmei blinked in surprise.
She didn't scream, didn't threaten, didn't try to torture him for chakra. Instead, it remembered her throwing herself into the Tailed Beast Ball's blast earlier, forcing her own eye technique to keep her alive.
So that's it, Chōmei thought. A fledgling Uchiha… with a defensive Mangekyō.
He watched in silence as she walked away.
…
Outside, Sarada jolted awake on the bed as if ripped out of a nightmare.
The room was dark except for faint embers. Crickets chirped outside, their song soft and rhythmic. Night had fallen completely.
Through the thin paper sliding door, she could see the glow of lanterns outside. The street beyond was still lively—voices, footsteps, merchants calling out. The evening was just getting started.
Sarada took a deep breath and moved to stand, wanting to step out and clear her head.
That was when she heard it—
The soft hiss of something cutting through the air.
A thrown weapon! she realized instantly.
She focused on the sound. The tomoe in her Sharingan spun to life, sharpening the darkness just as several kunai tore through the paper door, glinting as they came straight at her.
Sarada sprang from the bed in a panic, twisting her body to the side. The kunai ripped into the bedding where her chest had just been—aimed directly at her heart.
Landing lightly, she quickly scanned the room, her gaze narrowing toward the torn paper door.
Her Mangekyō watched the entrance warily. None of this made sense—if the man in white had come for her, there would be no need for a cheap kunai ambush.
With his power, he'd just bind her with Wood Release, then follow with a giant Rasengan…
She waited.
No one came through the door.
Instead, she heard a sudden noise—above. In the next instant, flames burst to life around her, roaring up and lighting the room in an instant.
The searing heat hit her before she could move. With no time to dodge, she did the only thing she could.
Her Mangekyō flared.
—The Other Shore.
Flames engulfed her body, clothes, and hair, catching instantly. At the same time, a figure dropped down from the ceiling, watching her burn with a satisfied sneer.
Sarada staggered out of the flames, her body still on fire, pain lancing across her skin. She gritted her teeth, snatched up a kunai heated red-hot by the blaze, and charged.
"As expected of the cursed Uchiha clan," the enemy said, almost impressed. "You're merciless—even to yourselves."
He moved his hands quickly through seals, but Sarada's eyes caught every sign.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
A large water dragon surged into existence, twisting and coiling as it lunged toward her.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Sarada moved just as fast, her own seals completed. Her Great Fireball roared forth, powered by far more chakra than usual.
Flames exploded through the already burning house. Fire met water with a thunderous impact, steam billowing out in thick, white clouds that swallowed everything.
Her Mangekyō glowed ominously in the haze, a beacon that clearly revealed her position—but Sarada didn't care. The mist couldn't block her vision.
Kunai clashed within the steam—sharp, rhythmic clinks echoing like a twisted melody. Sparks flashed, briefly lighting silhouettes.
Sarada's taijutsu was awkward and unrefined. After only a handful of exchanges, her body was covered in new cuts and slashes, blood soaking into the tatami.
Blood mist mixed into the steam, staining it a dark, rusty red and further clouding her attackers' vision. Their movements slowed, warier now.
Like a lost soul wandering through a crimson fog, Sarada's Mangekyō gleam dimmed behind the blood—but her perception remained razor-sharp. She launched into another round.
She tightened her grip on the kunai. Her arm was smeared with blood—her own—but strangely, the wounds along it were slowly knitting back together.
And still, Sarada drove the blade into her flesh again and again, adjusting angles and timing.
Pff—!
The kunai plunged into an enemy's shoulder. He'd twisted at the last moment—battle instincts screaming—so what should have pierced his heart ended up lodged against his scapula instead.
He cried out, stumbling back.
Sarada moved to press her advantage—
But the tatami beneath her suddenly split open.
The floor gave way. Off-balance, she dropped, and before she could stabilize herself—
"Wind Release: Vacuum Bullet!"
The air warped. A torrent of hyper-compressed air bullets shot toward her as she fell.
Bang—!
Clusters of bloody holes burst open across her body. The impact and pain hit so hard she couldn't hold back a scream.
She crashed to the ground face-first, barely able to move. Her body had almost no intact patch of skin left—her clothes shredded, and what lay beneath marred not by beauty, but by torn, blood-soaked flesh.
Still, she was breathing. Gasping, choking—
but alive.
She heard footsteps.
Through the blur of pain, Sarada saw five figures closing in.
They didn't rush her. They just walked, voices dripping with contempt.
"So this is the last survivor of the Uchiha clan," one said. "She's awakened the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan—pity she's still just a little pup."
Another laughed. "Lucky for us, she's still young. Given a few more years, with this clan's terrifying talent, she'd be trouble."
"Now that she's in our hands," someone said coldly, "we take her eyes and go."
They watched her squirm in the rubble, not an ounce of mercy in their gazes—only hatred and grim satisfaction, as if they were finally settling a long-nursed grudge.
They didn't dare get too close. If they weren't worried that heavy ninjutsu would reduce her to unrecognizable chunks, they would've gladly blown her apart.
Instead, they drew kunai from the pouches on their thighs.
Like in a training exercise, they hurled them in a practiced rhythm.
Steel sank into Sarada's back—pinning her to the floor.
"Aaaaaaahhh—!!"
Sarada screamed, the sound ripping out of her throat.
When she'd faced the Seven-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball, she'd almost died instantly. She'd barely felt the impact before her Mangekyō rewrote the result.
But now—
She felt everything.
Every wound. Every tear of skin. Every drop of blood as it flowed from her broken body.
It was torture.
And for someone who possessed a power that refused to let her die…
It was far, far worse.
---
A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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