"Did we... hit him?" Kabuto asked uncertainly amid the lingering glow of the white flash.
"The Totsuka Blade definitely pierced him, but... I didn't feel it penetrate, and the sealing never activated," Itachi said calmly, his eyes closed.
Boom!! Suddenly, an unstoppable force blasted apart the Forehead Chamber protecting them!
"Ugh!!!" Itachi took the brunt of it and was hurled out through the back!
"Itachi...!!!" Kabuto cried urgently, but Jigen was already standing beside him.
He did not attack. He merely touched his abdomen, where the Totsuka Blade had struck.
A disk-shaped black protrusion sat there, connected to the Kāma markings spreading across his body. Its appearance somewhat resembled a Jinchūriki's sealing formula.
The black protrusion was cracking. Fragments with a texture like that of Black Rods flaked off intermittently, and through the spreading fissures, a churning black substance was faintly visible within.
"This is the Vessel Casket, used to reinforce Jigen, this inadequate 'vessel.' It is a treasure fashioned from the Ten-Tails' chakra and Yin-Yang Release. Only because of it has Jigen's mortal flesh withstood a thousand years of decay."
"Only because of it can he bear my divine power and divine techniques through intense combat."
"But just now... that sword nearly destroyed my casket!"
Previously, Jigen's casket had only begun to collapse after his fierce battle with Naruto and Sasuke.
Yet the sacred artifact, the Totsuka Blade... had gravely damaged it with a single strike.
"This means... even if I stop fighting now and return to my base to recuperate, Jigen's body will reach its end within a mere ten days!"
"I must find Orochimaru immediately... and inscribe Kāma on him."
"Heh. I suggest you stop dreaming about laying your hands on Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto adjusted his glasses, displaying his signature, softly sinister smile.
Jigen turned his gaze