Heavy breathing filled the eerily silent inn. The wounded girl struggled to raise her head, her blurred vision streaked with blood and tears, staring helplessly at the approaching figure.
He looked down on Sarada with disdain as he stepped closer—yet with caution. He reached his hand toward her eyes, intending to pry the Mangekyō out directly.
Another man suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"Idiot! The Sharingan can use genjutsu. Are you trying to get caught in it by staring straight into her eyes?!"
"Ooh!"
The man jerked back in terror, cold sweat soaking his back. He quickly withdrew his hand and turned around.
"I almost let this brat trick me," he muttered shakily.
"What do we do now? How is she still alive?!"
Their frustration grew.
All five turned their backs to her, listening quietly to her ragged breaths. They waited for the sound to vanish.
Time crawled. Minutes dragged into hours.
Finally, one impatient attacker turned to check—
—and froze.
Sarada was still pinned to the floor…
But her injuries had nearly completely healed.
Only the kunai embedded in her back remained—but even those were being slowly pushed out by regenerating muscle.
"A monster…" he whispered.
The others rushed over.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me a dying kid got up again—"
Their voices died as they saw her healed wounds.
"She—she really can come back to life…?"
"Tch, whatever! Do it now—take her eyes!"
One man leapt behind her, landing silently.
He placed a blood-slicked hand on her back, then leaned in from behind—avoiding her line of sight—to gouge out her eyes.
Pff—!!
A crisp sound.
Even he was shocked for a moment.
He had pulled it off.
In his palm lay the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō Sharingan—their pride, their power.
"Hahaha!"
He burst into wild laughter, turning immediately toward her other eye.
The remaining tomoe—just a single one—still gleamed faintly. Even so, it was a priceless treasure from a nearly extinct bloodline.
"Got it?"
The other four turned at the sound.
Sarada screamed.
"Ah—!!"
So this was what she was—
without the white-robed man beside her…
Useless.
Powerless.
Unable even to protect her own eyes.
A new wave of pain ripped through her—like hot water flooding her nerves. The optic nerve tore violently as her eye was ripped away. The agony shook her entire body.
She trembled uncontrollably.
But to her attackers, she no longer mattered.
They stared reverently at the stolen Sharingan, placing each eye carefully into a clean container—terrified of damaging even a single fiber.
They burst into triumphant laughter, smashing bottles in celebration. They grabbed glasses, toasting to their success.
Sarada—now blind—lay limp on the floor.
She didn't notice the heat at first.
But then—
Fire.
They used Fire Release to ignite the inn. Flames roared through the wooden structure, racing along the walls. They intended to burn both her and all evidence.
Fire swallowed the building.
Outside, no one noticed—
Or no one cared.
Her Mindscape
Chōmei stared at Sarada's ruined, blood-drenched form, stunned.
She lay motionless, robbed even of the ability to cry.
Chōmei muttered in disbelief:
I thought I had it bad…
but you—
I'm ashamed to complain!
Even a tailed beast couldn't bear watching this.
"Girl," Chōmei rumbled, "do you want revenge?"
Sarada's body outside was burning.
She was dying—
And Chōmei should have been freed upon her death.
Yet for some reason, a faint ache stirred in the Seven-Tails' chest.
Madara Uchiha had once enslaved the Nine-Tails—treated him like livestock. All tailed beasts feared the Mangekyō for that reason.
Chōmei had always hated the Uchiha.
Yet seeing a Mangekyō wielder—a proud child of that clan—pinned down like trash and robbed of her eyes…
It enraged him.
If a Mangekyō user gets their eyes taken this easily,
he thought bitterly,
doesn't that make all tailed beasts look worthless?
Sarada's trembling voice broke the silence.
"I… I do. I want revenge. But not yet. I… will become strong. As strong as my father."
Her voice shook, but her words were firm.
"I'll take revenge. Anyone who insults my clan… must die.
For the last pride of the fading Uchiha."
In the mindscape, Sarada struggled up, her hands gripping the red bars of Chōmei's cage. She leaned weakly against it, her breaths thin and fading.
"I'm… sorry," she whispered. "I don't know how you ended up inside me. But… I think you'll die with me now."
She slid down, sitting against the bars, feeling her life draining away.
Chōmei went completely silent.
What are you doing? he thought.
You're a Uchiha! You're supposed to stand up and scream about tearing your enemies apart. Isn't that how your clan works?!
He shook away the intrusive thought.
"Then how will you take revenge?" Chōmei asked. "You're about to die."
Sarada didn't answer.
Speaking felt like it would steal the last of her breath.
Her heart drifted toward despair—
a vast, empty white plain
cold
silent
endless.
Chōmei felt all of it.
He finally said quietly:
"As a tailed beast… I'm not that heartless."
He never thought he'd say such words to a Uchiha.
"I can release a small amount of chakra. Enough to contact the other tailed beasts. Hokage Naruto will sense it. He'll find you."
"You could survive. You might even gain Konoha citizenship if you cooperate."
"Only if you live… can you take revenge, girl. Even without your eyes."
Chōmei wondered:
But will a proud Uchiha accept living with such humiliation?
Sarada remained silent.
Chōmei sighed.
"She must be too devastated to go on…"
After all, awakening a Mangekyō at eleven or twelve meant she was an unparalleled prodigy.
He spoke more gently:
"Listen, girl. Tailed beasts don't die. If you die, I'll just return to the world outside and live again. That's how it works."
Sarada blinked.
"…If I die… you'll be freed?"
"Yes. I won't die with you."
Sarada suddenly sat straighter.
"You'll be free?! Why didn't you say that earlier?!"
Chōmei: ??!??
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A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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