Chapter 156:
Konoha Training Ground.
Sarada sat on the lawn, resting her chin in her hands, watching the two people currently sparring.
Uchiha Shuyu and Uzumaki Boruto.
"Boruto looks kind of cool when he gets like this," Chōchō Akimichi said, mimicking Sarada's posture beside her. "Don't you think so, Sarada?"
"Huh?" Sarada looked toward Boruto and nodded. "Mm..."
Though she answered, her eyes remained fixed on Shuyu, who was skillfully dodging Boruto's attacks while looking for openings to counter.
"Speaking of which, Shuyu looks pretty average, doesn't he? Even though he's that strong…" Chōchō shook her head dramatically with a regretful expression. "I guess no one's perfect."
Sarada gave an awkward laugh, her lips twitching stiffly.
"Sarada," Chōchō suddenly said, turning serious.
"W-What is it, Chōchō?" Sarada adjusted her glasses uneasily.
"You're totally gonna marry Shuyu someday, right?"
"Huh? Huh?!"
"Well, you're both from the Uchiha clan…"
On that note, no one had more authority to speak than Shunhi. It was his fault for being young and reckless back then, leaving the clan so carelessly. He'd completely forgotten that for clans like the Uchiha, in order to prevent their Bloodline Limits from leaking outside, internal marriage arrangements were often made.
"Um…"
Sarada looked over at Shuyu.
Girls are always sensitive, and Sarada could vaguely sense the subtle care Shuyu had for her.
"If that's the case, then I can go after Boruto," Chōchō said, turning her gaze to him.
"Eh?" Sarada didn't know who Boruto liked, but she was sure it wasn't someone like Chōchō. "Then good luck, Chōchō."
"Shuyu, use your Mangekyō Sharingan," Sasuke, serving as the referee from the sidelines, suddenly ordered.
Aside from what he'd learned about the "vessels," Sasuke's biggest surprise this time was that Shuyu had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
To awaken it, a powerful emotional stimulus is required. According to Shuyu, it was when he saw his comrade in mortal danger that he unlocked his Mangekyō.
Thinking of this, Sasuke subconsciously glanced at Sarada sitting on the grass nearby.
Though she'd inherited his Sharingan and Sakura's monstrous strength, she still fell short compared to true geniuses.
"Susanoo!"
A red Susanoo suddenly enveloped Shuyu.
After several jutsu in a row were blocked by the Susanoo, Boruto decisively surrendered and said, "That's totally cheating! None of my jutsu work on Shuyu's Susanoo!"
"Susanoo is indeed powerful, but it has a fatal flaw—its enormous consumption of ocular power. Overusing the Mangekyō Sharingan can even lead to blindness," Sasuke said as he walked over.
"So that means Shuyu's going to go blind sooner or later?" Boruto asked, looking at him.
"Yeah," Sasuke nodded. "Unless he transplants and fuses the Sharingan of someone closely related to him. If both eyes fuse together, the Mangekyō evolves into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, which won't go blind."
"Shuyu's closest kin… don't tell me it's Uncle Shunhi?!" Boruto exclaimed.
Sasuke nodded and looked toward Shuyu. "That's just how the Uchiha are—tremendous power always comes at a cost that's hard to accept."
At that moment, Shunhi, who was serving ramen to customers at his shop, suddenly shivered.
Even though he had already cleaned up his record as former deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and now had the spotless résumé of a triple agent who'd infiltrated both sides for six years, he still felt an inexplicable chill.
Shunhi was puzzled.
"You okay, Uncle Shunhi?" Naruto asked curiously, noticing Shunhi's strange reaction.
"I'm fine, Naruto." Shunhi walked over with two bowls of ramen. "By the way, who's this kid? I don't think I've seen him in the village before."
"Oh, him? That's Kawaki. He's staying at my place for now," Naruto said while slurping his noodles.
Though Kawaki was resistant at first, after several failed escape attempts—easily thwarted by Naruto—he eventually gave up trying to run.
Because of Kawaki's repeated escape attempts, Naruto missed lunch and had to bring him to Shunhi's ramen shop to eat.
"This is… delicious…" Kawaki mumbled instinctively as he quickly finished his bowl.
"Right?" Naruto said, smiling with squinted eyes.
Konoha Training Ground.
Watching her father chatting enthusiastically with Boruto and Shuyu, Sarada's mood gradually sank.
Before she realized it, the distance between her and Boruto and Shuyu had widened.
To be Hokage, one must have both the resolve and the strength to protect the village.
Sarada certainly had the resolve. But strength...
"Hey, Sarada, where are you going?"
"Sorry, Chōchō. Something came up…"
Watching Sarada get up, Chōchō suddenly understood. "Don't take too long, okay, Sarada."
After all, even shinobi need to eat and drink, and when you eat and drink, well, you inevitably have to… dispose of the waste afterward.
Konoha Village.
Hydra Corporation.
"Get stronger?"
The Jar Merchant sat in his executive chair, looking at Sarada, who had suddenly appeared before him.
Though the initial novelty had worn off, card sales had stabilized, just as the Jar Merchant expected. Besides, he was already preparing to launch collectible card editions soon.
"Yeah. This is all the money I have."
Compared to the big-spending Boruto, Sarada was noticeably more financially stable—but not absurdly so. Her family still had a mortgage to pay, and she had her own shopping expenses.
"Hmm… becoming stronger instantly isn't possible, but this much money is enough to buy you a shot at power."
Every parallel universe represented an opportunity. That chill that had suddenly struck Shunhi confirmed to the Jar Merchant that the time to grow stronger had come.
"Like Boruto's off-village training..." Only the Konoha higher-ups knew about Boruto's journey to the parallel universe. As for the appearance of a second Nine-Tails, the village had classified it as top secret and never disclosed the truth.
"So when do we leave?"
"...Now."
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