Sasuke did not answer immediately.
He just stood there, his dark eyes looking at Kabuto calmly, and the corners of his mouth slowly raised a vague arc.
"What do you think?"
And these three simple words were like the straw that broke the camel's back.
Kabuto's pupils shrank suddenly.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but nothing came out.
Because something about him is broken.
Not physically, but something deeper.
The belief that had supported him for so many years completely collapsed at this moment.
Lord Orochimaru... Dead?
That immortal being... the man he had followed for so many years... is really dead?
His mind went blank, and there was only a buzzing in his ears.
The surrounding battlefield, the ice sculptures, the huge ice flower, the two people standing in front of him... everything became blurry and distant.
He knelt on the ground, lowered his head, and looked at his hands.
How many people had these hands disemboweled? He had lost count.
He thought he had been numb for a long time, thinking that those screams, those pleas, and those eyes that were getting colder on the operating table were just numbers to him.
But now, when the person he had been following fell, he suddenly felt that he had nothing left.
"Lord Orochimaru..."
His voice was hoarse, almost inaudible.
But Ning Xue heard it.
He stood there, looking at Kabuto's kneeling figure on the ground, looking at those empty eyes, without a trace of pity in his heart.
He thought of the mountains of corpses in the cellar.
I think of that twelve-year-old girl, lying naked among the corpses with her empty eyes open.
Thinking of those people who were locked in cells with eyes so numb that they couldn't even feel fear.
Reminds me of the innkeeper's expression on his face.
I think of those old people huddled in the corner, those young people who were dragged away, those children who would not cry in order to survive, and even more so, the tragedy of Konoha.
Orochimaru is dead.
But his accomplice is still alive.
Ning Xue took a step forward.
The footsteps were very light, but in Kabuto's ears, they sounded like the bells of death.
Kabuto's body trembled suddenly.
He woke up from his trance, raised his head, and looked at the white-haired man walking towards him.
Although the exposed eye was completely closed, no emotion was shown.
But he can still feel it.
There was no anger, no hatred, or even murderous intent.
There is just a chilling... absolute calmness.
Kabuto's pupils shrank suddenly.
He recognized that look, that of the executioner.
It's the kind of look that shows you have decided to kill someone without any hesitation.
"Wait..."
Kabuto instinctively wanted to speak, to say something, but Ning Xue was too lazy to listen.
Because he knows that what such people say is nothing more than "I was forced too", "I just obeyed orders", "Lord Orochimaru saved me" and the like.
Because those who were disemboweled by him did not have the opportunity to say these words.
Ning Xue quickened his pace.
Kabuto's body trembled violently.
He wanted to run, but his legs seemed to be nailed to the ground and he couldn't control them at all.
No... not disobedient.
It's his brain telling him.
Can't run away.
The person in front of me is the person who has been fighting Lord Orochimaru for so long.
Even if he seems exhausted now, even if Chakra is almost exhausted, even if he tries his best, he still has the strength to fight, he may not lose.
But there is a Sasuke next to him.
Kabuto glanced at Sasuke subconsciously.
Sasuke stood there with his arms folded and his face expressionless, as if he was watching a play that had nothing to do with him.
But Kabuto knew that if he took action himself, Sasuke would never stand idly by.
He even killed Orochimaru, would he still care about killing one more of himself?
Fear surged into his heart like a tide, drowning Kabuto's whole body.
But the reason he once had as a spy was instantly withdrawn by fear.
Ning Xue is already less than five meters away from him.
Four meters.
Three meters.
Two meters.
Kabuto took a deep breath and began to tense up slightly.
He began to think calmly, thinking about how to get out of this predicament.
Just after the opponent staggered for a moment, his body instantly shot back like an arrow from a string.
He ran so fast that he almost left an afterimage.
But Ning Xue is faster than him.
The moment Kabuto turned around, Ning Xue was already chasing after him.
But at this moment.
"Boom--!!"
A violent explosion suddenly exploded at the feet of Ning Xue!
Rubbles and dust rose into the sky, and the airwaves caused Ning Xue to fly sideways.
He flipped around in the air, landed on the ground, staggered two steps, and barely managed to steady himself.
His brows furrowed tightly, Byakugan turned on instantly, his vision penetrated the smoke and dust, and swept towards the ground.
Underground, several white figures were walking quickly.
Their speed is astonishingly fast, and they can move through the mud with ease like fish swimming in water.
Their bodies are white and have seaweed-like hair.
White Zetsu.
Ning Xue's pupils shrank slightly.
A certain memory deep in the memory is evoked.
He thought of his friend watching those guys who were crazy about celebrities in the short video, and complained, "White Zetsu army is coming."
When he asked what White Zetsu was, his friend just explained casually.
"Just a mass-produced soldier with white and green hair."
But what does it look like? He has never seen it with his own eyes.
"Boom--!!"
Another explosion exploded beside him.
Ning Xue dodged sideways, and gravel brushed against the corner of his clothes.
He raised his head and looked in the direction where Kabuto was escaping.
I saw that the embarrassed figure had run nearly a hundred meters away and was quickly approaching the hills in the distance.
Ning Xue gritted his teeth and was about to continue the pursuit.
"Boom--! Boom--! Boom--!"
Three consecutive explosions exploded on the ground in front of him, and smoke and gravel formed a barrier, blocking his way.
Ning Xue had to stop.
He stood there, watching the smoke and dust that was gradually dissipating, watching the white figures underground diving deeper, watching the figure of Kabuto in the distance getting smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared behind the hills.
"... Damn."
He cursed in a low voice and clenched his fists loudly.
Where did those white things come from? Why did they appear at this time?
Are you here to save Kabuto? Or are you here to... disrupt the situation?
Ning Xue Don't know.
All he knew was that he almost killed a scumbag.
But now, that person ran away.
Sasuke walked slowly to Ning Xue's side, looked at the direction where Kabuto disappeared, was silent for a moment, and then spoke in a calm voice.
"Keep up the good work."
Ning Xue glanced sideways at him, a little speechless.