Caught off guard, Chōmei let out a bitter laugh.
"So you're really going to die right in front of me?"
Sarada didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
She simply leaned there quietly—her silence already the clearest response.
Outside, the flames devoured the inn.
Her body was burning away, inch by inch.
She was truly dying… right before the Seven-Tails' eyes.
Chōmei: …Unbelievable.
For a tailed beast that would simply reform somewhere else even if its host died, this shouldn't have mattered—yet he felt an inexplicable heaviness sink into him.
He watched Sarada's fading life the way one watches a mirage dissolve into wind—unreal, distant, yet painfully clear.
And for the first time… he understood.
He understood why Gyūki stayed with Killer Bee.
Why did proud Kurama choose to remain with Naruto?
Because right now, Chōmei felt the same absurd, ridiculous thought forming in his own mind:
He wanted to stay inside this human and help her take revenge.
"Hey, human," Chōmei huffed, trying to hide his own confusion, "I don't even know your name yet."
Sarada lifted her head slightly and regarded him with a weary expression, almost as if to say: You're asking that now?
But of course it mattered to him.
Few humans in his long life ever held the power to suppress him.
If she were dying, he at least wanted to know the name of the one bold enough to stand against him.
"…Uchiha Sarada," she whispered.
Chōmei froze.
The name stirred something in memory.
"So it is the Uchiha. Evil clan," he muttered. "I just didn't expect something like you to appear out of their ashes."
He sighed.
"When you die… I'll avenge you. At least then you won't die so unfairly."
After all… wasn't she now his comrade?
Sarada showed no reaction.
Chōmei frowned. Her life was slipping away too slowly—it felt like watching a flower wilt petal by petal, a drawn-out misery.
Then Sarada suddenly asked, weakly, "Why does everyone curse the Uchiha? What did my clan do…?"
Chōmei hesitated.
If she were going to die soon, she wouldn't survive a long explanation. So he gave her the simplest, most recent example.
"For instance… your father," Chōmei said. "Sasuke. Even if he's different now, he once restrained all nine of us tailed beasts and tried to create a world under his control."
Sarada froze.
"You're saying… my father threatened the entire ninja world?"
Chōmei blinked.
"Wait—your father is Uchiha Sasuke?!"
Sarada nodded blankly.
"?!?!?!"
Chōmei nearly lost it.
"Why didn't you say that earlier?!"
Sarada remained silent.
Seeing her this close to death, Chōmei panicked.
If Sasuke finds out I let his kid die, I'm finished!
He slammed himself against the seal.
"Don't you dare die on me! You still need revenge!"
He roared, flooding chakra through the seal in a desperate attempt to protect her barely clinging body.
Maybe—
Maybe it wasn't too late.
Sarada stared, dazed.
"You hated the Uchiha. You wanted freedom. So… why save me now?"
"…"
Chōmei nearly burst into tears.
"Please—stop talking like that! I'm sealed, I can't break out and help you! Don't give up now—just stay alive!"
His chakra erupted from the cage, surging like a crashing tide, wrapping around Sarada's fading "soul," stabilizing her flickering life force.
But…
Her body was almost entirely charred. Beyond recognition.
Even so, she was still alive.
"Your body is ruined. How are you still living?" Chōmei stammered.
Sarada blinked in confusion.
She should have been dead. She couldn't feel her body at all.
Why was she still… here?
Chōmei: As expected of the Uchiha. Monsters… absolute monsters.
"My Mangekyō ability was… immortality," Sarada murmured. "Maybe… the effect is still lingering."
"Immortality? Nonsense!" Chōmei barked. "Your eyes are gone. How can an eye technique keep working after the eyes are removed?!"
The mindscape fell quiet.
Sarada sat still, knowing she could remain alive a little longer, but not expecting any miracle.
"Could it be that… one of your allies left something in you?" Chōmei muttered. "That masked Uchiha who beat me down?"
Sarada sighed. "He didn't help me. He only used me… as a hostage. To threaten my father and the Hokage."
"So that's how it is!" Chōmei huffed.
He suddenly felt awkward, remembering how he'd insulted her earlier—and the fact that he had misjudged her completely.
Sarada continued absorbing chakra. It flowed into her like an ocean, filling every pore of her scorched body.
"You're… recovering?" Chōmei whispered. "Why? How?"
His chakra wasn't capable of this.
Even Kurama's healing chakra couldn't regenerate a body like this—not this fast.
But then—
A faint red glow lit Sarada's left eye.
The pattern of her Mangekyō reappeared—
clear and perfect.
Chōmei stared.
"H-hey—this isn't healing anymore. This is resurrection!!"
—The Other Shore!
Sarada's body, blackened like charcoal, cracked—
—and began to regenerate before his eyes.
Chōmei: This is too much!!
But her right eye…
The single tomoe had vanished.
It was nothing but a normal black pupil now—unable to awaken the Sharingan.
What was lost must be reclaimed.
Sarada understood that perfectly.
She never imagined her "Other Shore" eye would be this overwhelming. Even after being stolen, even after death, the eye's power still lingered inside her body—keeping her alive, regenerating flesh, restoring chakra.
Chōmei trembled.
Everything I said earlier… was pointless??
Sarada sensed his frustration and turned toward him.
"You said we're friends, right? And right now… I need your strength. My good friend."
Chōmei stared.
He felt scammed.
Completely scammed.
Even the seal weakened as she smiled at him.
This was too fast. Too easy.
"…Fine," Chōmei mumbled. "Do we tell Naruto? Maybe he can help."
Sarada hesitated… then shook her head.
"No. I think I'll need him to help me grow faster later."
"The Uchiha who kidnapped you?"
Chōmei blinked.
"Mm."
Back in reality—
Sarada's eyes opened.
One Mangekyō.
One normal eye.
The last flames of the inn burned around her, black smoke curling toward the night sky.
She hadn't been unconscious long.
The attackers hadn't gotten far.
Her clothes were completely burned away. She had no choice but to "borrow" a new outfit from the ruins.
And then—
She sensed it.
Her stolen Mangekyō—
just a flicker, far away—
before its presence vanished entirely.
Sarada clenched her fists.
She sprinted toward the village's edge.
The attackers had run for another town, and chasing them would bring new problems.
Worse still…
They may have already sold her eye.
---
A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
Support: patreon.com/Narrator_San