On the ruins of the Land of Fire Daimyo's Court.
The wind howled fiercely, sweeping up white ash and splinters from the ground and lashing them against people's faces.
The air reeked of burnt wood, mixed with a pungent stench of blood.
Yoru spat out the flavorless gum he had been chewing.
With a soft plop, it stuck to a broken red-lacquered pillar beside his feet.
He casually ground it beneath his shoe a few times, crushing it into a dark, sticky lump.
"Revived?"
Yoru turned and looked at Uchiha Itachi, who was half-kneeling amid shattered roof tiles.
His gaze was icy and utterly calm.
"Orochimaru, that old venomous snake, usually talks a big game. He couldn't even guard a door?"
"A few dead bones and a clone body, and someone could just walk off with them?"
Itachi lowered his head, his breathing somewhat heavy beneath the mask.
He supported himself with one hand on the ground, with traces of gray mud caught beneath his nails.
"It was this subordinate's oversight, Lord Yoru."
Itachi's voice came muffled through the mask, dry and hoarse.
"Black Zetsu didn't enter through the front entrance. It turned into a puddle of sludge and seeped in through the sewage pipes beneath the laboratory."
"Lord Orochimaru's poison gas traps had no effect on it at all."
Yoru curled his lips and gave a derisive snort.
"That old black sludge was willing to crawl through a cesspit just to save its master."
He reached into the pocket of his trench coat and pulled out a somewhat crushed pack of cigarettes.
He took one out and clenched it between his teeth.
"Never thought it would be so devoted."
Ōnoki stood nearby, clutching his lower back, completely baffled.
The old man was drenched in sweat and wiped his face