"You can keep pretending to be tough, but it has nothing to do with me."
The black-robed figure had expected those words. Though she truly did not want the man before her to do this, since he had already made his decision, she had neither the need nor the reason to stop him.
"So, what you meant just now was that Number 15 can be trusted?"
At that moment, the white-robed figure with flame patterns on his back suddenly steered the conversation back to that topic.
"What?"
Clearly, the black-robed figure had not expected him to abruptly shift the subject there. She froze slightly, and the word slipped out.
"Number 15 can be trusted, right? You said he had no ambitions."
The white-robed figure with flame patterns on his back spoke patiently.
"You've already made your own judgment, yet you still insist on saying it out loud... So, what about this Slug Sage Art clone of yours? Are you planning to release it?"
After expressing some disdain, the black-robed figure changed the subject again. She looked toward the Sealing Jutsu pyramid beside them, roughly twice a person's height.
"There's no need."
The white-robed figure with flame patterns on his back did not even glance at the Sealing Jutsu pyramid as he answered directly.
He seemed utterly unconcerned about that Slug Sage Art clone.
"Oh? In the end, he killed a spirit puppet—one belonging to the Fourth Kazekage, no less. Its purpose has already been fulfilled, hasn't it?"
The black-robed figure spoke with interest.
"Mm..."
The white-robed figure with flame patterns on his back did not deny it. He even answered quite readily.
It sounded as though he truly did not care whether the Slug Sage Art clone lived or died.
"So that was the hidden move you arranged. No, it