Fusion Degree (Seeking Subscription~)

"Looks like they've left."

Kakashi withdrew the hand resting on his sword hilt and silently watched the three figures vanish from where they stood in a vortex, unable to stop himself from shaking his head.

Not getting any information out of Orochimaru left Kakashi somewhat frustrated, but at least they hadn't come to blows with Obito and the others. That was already a very good outcome.

Though he knew perfectly well that even if they had fought, nothing much would have happened, it was better to avoid trouble when possible. Kakashi had no interest in making things difficult for himself.

Turning back to glance at Naruto, who had already run to Gaara's side, he helplessly rubbed his head.

Even without going over, with his Sharingan activated, he could clearly determine Gaara's current physical condition.

The One-Tail was no longer inside this Imp. Obito and the others had clearly extracted it from his body, and there was only one fate for a Jinchuriki who lost their Tailed Beast.

Death!

Sixteen years ago, when the Nine-Tails Incident erupted in Konoha, Uchiha Kei and the others had fought desperately to seal the Nine-Tails back into Kushina's body precisely to prevent her death.

Now that this Imp, Gaara, had lost his Tailed Beast, he wasn't some descendant of the Senju or Uzumaki clans. Naturally, he couldn't hold on for long. He had already lost all signs of life.

"Teacher Kakashi." Sasuke quietly walked to Kakashi's side and sighed. "Looks like we were too late. Not just us—they were too late as well."

"Yeah." Kakashi looked up at Yoshitake and the others rapidly approaching, then nodded. "We were quite late. It's a shame we couldn't save him."

Whether they had saved him or not wasn't that big a deal. This wasn't some mission that had