Chapter 933

The Uchiha clan was ostracized by the rest of the village for being too powerful, as if it were only natural.

Fortunately, the clan members had always taken pride in their own bloodline, so even when they learned of the village's fear and estrangement toward them, they would only proudly lift their heads.

That's right — we are strong!

You should be afraid of us.

But it is precisely because of this pride in their bloodline that the thing the clan members fear most deeply is having their Kekkei Genkai stolen by outsiders; this is something they have been guarding against for a very long time.

For this reason, the clan even established an eye storage vault. As long as a fellow clansman who has awakened his eyes dies in war, the clan members will spare no effort to bring his corpse back.

This tradition has been preserved to this day. The vast majority of the eyes rest quietly in the storage room, with only a few scattered outside — for example, the fellow villager known as the Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi, who has one Sharingan that is right within reach yet cannot be taken.

And now, according to the words of that troublemaker from earlier, it is still a fellow villager — Lin Cheng, one of the Three Legendary Shinobi — who was exposed last night for secretly researching the Sharingan, and her research material was none other than the eyes of Uchiha Fugaku's younger sister, Uchiha Fujiang, who had vanished during the Nine-Tails incident.

Lin Cheng returned to her research institute expressionlessly, and the next instant firmly shut out all the pointing, gossiping gazes of those people outside the door.

"You've returned, my lord Lin Cheng!" said Yakushi Kabuto, who had already learned everything and arrived here in advance.

As usual, he waited for her in the laboratory, clearly showing no interest whatsoever in those matters of the world.

She was already effectively under house arrest. Not to mention leaving the research institute — at this moment, every word and every action of hers in this laboratory was being closely monitored by the Leaf Anbu. However, Lin Cheng had no time to bother with these sensational events right now; this was not the moment for her to appear in her true form.

What Lin Cheng found hard to accept was that she truly had not anticipated Kaguya would scheme against her like this.

Or rather, this unscripted turn of events was exactly the outcome the other party had wanted.

From the very beginning, when Black Zetsu led her to meet that so-called acquaintance — only to discover it was the masked man from back then — Lin Cheng had immediately engaged the other in combat.

At first, the masked man was chased and beaten by her, shouting exaggeratedly. There were clearly many lethal strikes, yet every time she pierced him it was like stabbing through air…

Even though back then Mizuki had mentioned in the incident report the terrifying fact that the other party could almost be said to be immune to physical attacks, it was still hard to accept without seeing it firsthand, so Lin Cheng remained unwilling to give up and tried to use the Kusanagi Sword to pierce a few holes in him.

But when Black Zetsu emerged from the ground a second time and said that since they were all acquaintances, they might as well sit down and have a proper talk.

After that, the other party immediately dropped that unruly manner, completely changing from the wretched fleeing appearance moments ago, stomped once on the ground, and used the force to fly over.

Just as Lin Cheng cast aside all other thoughts, channeled her chakra into the Kusanagi Sword, and prepared to deliver a fatal blow to this fellow, the two figures overlapped — and then in an instant separated. Lin Cheng clearly watched the other party pass straight through her body.

She immediately tightened the chain in her hand viciously, and the next instant she felt a sudden pressure at her waist — sure enough…

The other party was dragging a clearly modified chain behind him, and from the moment she first attempted to activate Sage Mode to break free and failed, Lin Cheng understood that the other party clearly knew her very well — the gap in intelligence was completely one-sided.

"There's nothing to lament about being outmatched," said Lin Cheng, bound up tightly, just like that.

Uttering those words, she allowed the other party to sling her over his shoulder. The next instant, Black Zetsu pulled them both into the shadows, and when they reappeared they were already at a place not far from Konoha — standing on a treetop, one could see Konoha's walls clearly.

Clearly, the masked man and Black Zetsu had already reached an agreement beforehand.

Carrying out Kaguya's next order. And before leaving, that masked man tossed her a box, then without any explanation, directly activated his space-time ninjutsu and vanished, leaving not the slightest trace behind. No one told her what was inside that box.

Lin Cheng had originally intended to throw it away directly, but before leaving, Black Zetsu instructed that this thing was entrusted by Kaguya for her to keep, and from the way it spoke, she could use it freely as long as the item remained intact when needed. So, out of curiosity, she reluctantly put it away.

Unfortunately, things always deviate — or perhaps this was the development Kaguya and the others had originally hoped for. After Lin Cheng returned alone to the research institute.

What she saw upon opening the box was an eyeball soaking in a preservation tube of nutrient fluid, with even the optic nerve fully intact, and a label stuck on the transparent container.

Carrying this thing on one's person is no different from making a piece of clothing out of explosive tags and wearing it close to the body.