The wind swept past the desolate stone cliffs outside Ryūchi Cave. The setting sun on the horizon looked like a pool of spilled blood, dyeing the scattered rubble a vivid red.
Kabuto Yakushi collapsed onto the ground, his eyepatch long gone, the snake scales on his face gradually receding. He gasped for breath like a dead fish freshly hauled ashore, unable to even lift a finger.
"It's over." Kabuto pulled a dark, fishy-smelling summoning scroll from his robes and casually tossed it onto the ground. With a bitter laugh, he said, "I can't work this damn job for another day."
Kakashi flicked his wrist, and a kunai lodged firmly beside the scroll, flipping it into the air.
"That contains the complete formula for Impure World Reincarnation and the Coordinates to undo it in reverse." Kabuto rested both hands behind his head and lay flat on the ground, his tone carrying the utter resignation of someone who had given up on everything. "All the rotten things I did are in there. Kill me or torture me, do whatever you want. I'm tired anyway."
Without wasting words, Kakashi took out a sealing tag, firmly attached it to the scroll, and stowed it in his ninja tool pouch. He turned toward the two brothers nearby, then tactfully retreated more than ten steps, leaving them some space.
At the same time, fifty kilometers away at the East Valley Defense Line.
White specks resembling fireflies filled the sky. The Edo Tensei Shinobi, who had been fighting themselves red-eyed moments ago, now seemed to have had their power cords forcibly unplugged. Their bodies crumbled like dry mud weathered for thousands of years, falling away in flurries.
Asuma Sarutobi's body had already turned half-transparent. He felt around in his pockets and, failing to find a lighter, could