The instant the black chakra opened its eyes, all three false heartbeat sources went silent.
Black Zetsu had not kept searching for the core from afar.
He had been hiding inside it all along.
The synchronized contractions previously recorded by the isolation box had only come from the tendrils he had left outside.
Once the Heart Restriction opened fully, the true black will surged outward through the tube in Obito's back.
The Medical Ninja immediately stepped back half a pace.
He was not fleeing the stone table.
He was clearing a straight path for the Sealing Squad, as the contingency plan required.
Four isolation spikes dropped simultaneously, confining the black shadow to a one-foot radius around Obito's back.
Kakashi's left eye did not pursue Black Zetsu.
The three outer stabilizing rings still needed Kamui to hold them in place.
If he shifted his gaze, Obito's right side would collapse before the enemy did.
Black Zetsu had counted on precisely that.
A thin strand stabbed toward Kakashi's left eye.
Itachi's kunai intercepted it from the side.
The black strand clung to the metal and crawled along the kunai toward his wrist.
Itachi did not let go.
He drove the kunai into an unclaimed sealing plate prepared beforehand, then used Fire Release to burn through the chakra connecting him to the metal.
The black strand plunged into the empty plate, and the first isolation seal immediately closed.
Another black shadow burrowed toward the ground.
The Stone Warehouse had no soil, but shadows lay beneath everyone's feet.
He split along those shadows in eight directions at once, trying to prevent the Sealing Squad from identifying his main body.
Shisui activated his Sharingan.
He did not try to control Black Zetsu.
The white-background genjutsu covered only Obito's consciousness, confirming that Obito himself was still