"Itama, I'm sorry..."
The reanimated Yuna's sorrowful voice rang out in the study.
A smile appeared on the reanimated Itama's sallow, cracked face. "It's all right. Thank you, Yuna."
Orochimaru was not yet very adept at maintaining his Clone Technique, so his clones sometimes vanished temporarily.
Before Orochimaru's new clones arrived to "speak," Yuna and Itama's spirits had some free time to chat.
Yanbai had been quite decent about it. Before having Yuna and Itama assist Orochimaru, he had personally awakened their consciousnesses and objectively explained to Itama what had happened back then.
Yanbai had told the truth.
And so, in chronological order, the events became this:
"One, Itama fell unconscious. Yuna stayed faithfully by his side, persuaded the concubines who wanted to leave to stay, and led all the women and children in caring for Itama."
"Two, worried about Itama's 'condition,' Yuna remembered the all-powerful Yanbai. After assessing the situation, she decided to risk disturbing him, hoping he would lend a hand because Itama was his older brother."
"Three, drawing on the clanspeople's sympathy and their admiration for her devoted care of Itama, Yuna incited them to make trouble at the Princess Mausoleum."
"Four, on the way to the Princess Mausoleum, they encountered Tobirama Senju. Yuna angered him, prompting him to summon the ancestors and utterly destroy Itama's reputation."
"Five, the ancestors confirmed that Itama would never wake up. His women began to waver, divided up his property, and scattered."
"Six, to preserve Itama's dignity, Yuna killed him, then took her own life to join him."
And then came the present: the two of them had become lovers united in death, summoned by Tobirama Senju to serve Yanbai.
Yes, the whole sequence sounded so reasonable that even Yuna nodded in confirmation. That was "how it happened."
"The ancestors