Gato was dead.
He had died ugly.
He had died without dignity.
The merchant who had oppressed the Land of Waves for so many years had not been judged by the villagers, nor executed by shinobi.
Instead, he had been used as fuel for escape by the monster he had believed he could work with.
Inari stared blankly at Gato's corpse.
"He... died?"
Shin-getsu put away his Mangekyo.
A trail of blood from his left eye slid down his cheek.
"Dead."
Inari was silent for a long time.
He had thought he would be happy.
But when he actually saw Gato dead, he found himself feeling more lost than anything else.
Naruto climbed up from the ground and dusted himself off.
"That black thing got away?"
Shin-getsu nodded.
"Part of it did."
Sasuke froze.
"Part of it?"
Shin-getsu walked to the edge of the bridge and crouched down.
A small piece of black matter still remained on the bridge deck.
After being severed by the Mangekyo, it had not managed to escape in time.
That chunk of black sludge was still twitching faintly.
Like the tail of a dead insect.
Haku frowned instinctively.
"What is that?"
Shin-getsu took out a Sealing scroll.
Kakashi immediately understood and helped him unfold it.
Shin-getsu formed seals with one hand.
The Sealing Technique lit up.
The black matter was slowly compressed into the center of the scroll.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.
The runes on the scroll were corroded with scorched marks.
But it was sealed in the end.
[Obtained Black Zetsu Fragment.] [High-level Yin Release contamination detected.] [Can be used to track the residual path of Black Zetsu's main body.] [Can be used to analyze the control chain of the Fourth Mizukage.] [Warning: This substance poses an extremely high risk of mental contamination.]