An hour later, Obito pulled out the syringe, finally free from the torment of Hanzo the Salamander's venom.
Kabuto Yakushi and the White Snake Sage were still tinkering with Sasori's corpse, wondering whether reviving Sasori with Impure World Reincarnation would bring back a puppet corpse or restore his entire flesh-and-blood body.
The two of them argued endlessly over it.
Zetsu slowly crawled up from the ground.
"Three pieces of news."
"First, Lin Qing appeared at the border of the Land of Fire, killed Kitsuchi, and set up a 'Mad Fish Trap' in the waters between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water. The Land of Fire's forces can only fight by going around that sea."
"Second, Pain's team went to capture Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. Unexpectedly, he was too alert, and they failed to capture him. However, they successfully obtained a sufficient amount of Gyuki's chakra."
"As for Itachi and Kisame's second team... they failed completely and are currently on the run."
Obito let out a soft sigh. "They're useless."
"You mean Kisame?"
Obito shot Zetsu a surprised look. "Why would you think that? I've never seen a more reliable teammate than Kisame."
There were two kinds of reliability.
One was strength like Lin Qing's—the ability to strike back from the brink no matter how dire the situation.
The other was having clearly visible limits, both upper and lower. So long as tasks suited to their capabilities were assigned to them, they would carry them out steadily and thoroughly, without a trace of carelessness.
Kisame was the second kind of reliable.
"I meant Itachi."
Obito said, "He's unwilling to become a mere tool, yet he doesn't have convictions firm enough to stand on their own.
He always does things he doesn't want to do while pretending