Watching Sarada's dōjutsu inflict small physical damage, Makoto sensed something was wrong.
The Uchiha Clan's dōjutsu weren't like RPG skills where you had to grind levels to increase your damage output.
They came fully baked right out of the box, practice and development only refined the user's chakra efficiency and technique.
Unless someone scored a Six Paths cheat code, the baseline power of the eye remained unchanged.
This meant that Sarada's dōjutsu's weak offensive capabilities weren't due to her recent awakening or lack of practice.
This was already the full extent of her dōjutsu's power.
This was weird.
Orochimaru cultivated Sarada using Sasuke's cells mixed with Ōtsutsuki DNA.
Plus, the psychological trauma she just endured was definitely on par with her ancestors' suffering.
Logically, she should have manifested a power capable of leveling a village.
Could it be that Sasuke's "useless ability" gene got passed down to her too?
As Makoto pondered this, his sensory abilities twitched.
For Makoto, no one in the Shinobi World could match his perception of space-time distortions.
'Right on cue.'
Makoto snapped his head toward the VIP Kage seats.
Up on the balcony, the Raikage was staring blankly at his suddenly severed arm.
At the exact same second, the Raikage in the photograph was torn apart by Sarada, right at the shoulder.
"Okay, that's enough. Calm down. don't actually assasinate the raikage!" Makoto snatched the photograph from her hands.
"Half of what you saw was fake—just some degenerate fiction from Kakashi's novel."
Crazy Diamond activated, restoring the torn photo in a flash.
Up on the balcony, the Raikage's arm snapped right back onto his shoulder.
The muscle-head blinked, rubbing his bicep.
'Did some bastard just cast a genjutsu on me?'
"HUH?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN HALF OF IT WAS FAKE?!" Sarada demanded, her head spinning.
"It means Naruto didn't actually turn into a breeding sow for the Hidden Cloud. The Cloud was just cooperating with us to traumatize Sasuke into awakening his Mangekyō," the Anbu operative explained dryly.
"If I'm not mistaken, one of your eyes can lock onto photographs and tear them apart, while the other synchronizes the damage inflicted on the photo with reality. Is this what you wanted? The Eye that Reflects the Heart indeed, its ability.... to tear reality?" Makoto broke down the true nature of her Mangekyō.
It had a slight connection to Space-Time Ninjutsu, but it actually belonged to a higher-level, reality-warping "Rule-based" category.
A lot of the Ōtsutsuki Clan's abilities operated on similar nonsense rules.
Sarada combining both eyes into a Rule-based technique was impressive.
However, in a solo fight, the ability was highly restrictive.
She'd need to carry a camera at all times, and her opponents couldn't be speedsters.
She had to capture their image, then use her dōjutsu to lock onto the photo and tear it apart.
Against someone like Namikaze Minato, she'd get taken down before the camera even flashed.
Of course, even if Sarada possessed a combat-oriented Mangekyō, Minato would still wipe her out before she could blink.
It wasn't that the Mangekyō was weak, the Flying Thunder God was just an unfair technique.
Sarada could be protected as a strategic asset, letting others photograph formidable enemies.
For example, they could photograph a resting Ōtsutsuki and bring it back for Sarada to rip apart.
While this tactic was underhanded, it was a solid loophole.
Sarada's abilities were strong and Sasuke's were incredible for tracking.
'But wait.'
Makoto realized the terrifying synergy.
Sasuke's abilities were unmatched for stalking, and Sarada's were reality-breaking.
When the two combined their strengths into a father-daughter tag team, the results would be terrifying.
Sasuke would use his Heavenly Fox to locate targets globally, while Void Sight printed their image.
Sarada would then just rip the photograph in half!
How was anyone supposed to counter a combination like that?!
It was like one person having the power to instantly locate anyone on earth, and the other having the power to erase them from existence without ever throwing a punch.
Makoto deduced this so quickly because the powers were clear references to a certain bizarre adventure manga.
The dad had the thorny clairvoyance power, and the kid had the photograph trick.
Those two characters were natural enemies, so there was no worry about them teaming up.
But here, they were father and daughter!
What grudges could they possibly hold to prevent them from cooperating?
Well... that was a loaded question.
As Makoto sweated over this realization, he noticed Sarada's expression.
"..."
Sarada didn't care that this guy just casually analyzed her reality-warping dōjutsu before she even understood it herself.
She had a much more pressing question.
"If the Hidden Cloud breeding story is fake... what about the rest of it? Dad and the Seventh Hokage... Sasuke and Naruto..." Sarada asked, her voice trembling with fragile hope.
Makoto shattered her dreams with a single, simple question.
"Why do you think Sasuke awakened the Mangekyō over Naruto in the first place?"
"..."
Right.
What better proof of their twisted, intense romance could there be than a biological mutation triggered by the threat of losing him?
'Sigh.... life is tough.'
Sarada sighed, her dead eyes shifting to the restored photograph in Makoto's hand.
"Um, could I have that back? I want to see where they are... and I need to meet the Uchiha Sasuke of this timeline."
"Meet him, and then what?" a voice echoed from the shadows behind Sarada.
"STOP THEM! And... that Uchiha ancestor was right! We can't let these cursed, twisted bonds continue to ravage the Shinobi World! I'll replaced Uzumaki Naruto as Hokage! I'll fix Konoha and and cure the entire shinobi world!" Sarada clenched her fist, declaring her unhinged crusade.
"Excellent!" Senju Tobirama's lips curved into a rare, genuine smile as he slow-clapped, stepping out of the shadows.
"You are a inherently kind Uchiha... kid. I'll help you hunt down Sasuke right now."
"HUH?! YOU'RE THE SECOND HOKAGE?!" Sarada finally realized who the ghost was.
She recognized his scowl from the Hokage Rock!
"Indeed, it is I. I slapped a Flying Thunder God seal on Sasuke earlier, allowing me to teleport to his location at any moment to snap his nec—I mean, assist him." Tobirama nodded sagely.
"I see. Then could we wait a little bit?" Sarada pointed down at the arena. "I want to wait until Sasuke reaches his destination. Otherwise, I'll just be talking to him alone on a boat. Besides... I want to watch this match."
The next team scheduled to compete was Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka.
Sarada felt her father was a lost cause, drifting further into depravity.
She wanted to see if her mother showed any signs of being normal in this timeline.
"Very well," Tobirama said, taking a seat next to her. "I've always been extremely lenient with the good Uchihas."