The coffin lid hit the floor, and another set of footsteps sounded in the stone chamber.
Itachi emerged from the darkness in an Akatsuki Cloak, fragments of white scales clinging to its hem. His Forehead Protector covered his left eye, but his right eye was already open.
Sasuke did not turn around.
He stared at the Array Disc beneath Kabuto's feet. The Kusanagi Sword remained embedded in the ground, lightning extending down its blade into the cracks.
"So this is the trump card you saved for me?"
"The Itachi you saw just now was only a Reanimated Body I temporarily awakened." Kabuto wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. "This one is complete."
"Two bodies prepared for the same person."
"To prevent any mishaps."
Kabuto raised a finger, and the runes on Itachi's chest lit up.
Itachi took half a step forward, then stopped.
"Kabuto Yakushi, release your control."
"You have no right to order me around."
"Then I'll do it myself."
Itachi raised his hands to form hand seals, but the moment his fingers came together, the runes on his chest tightened toward his limbs. His movement was forcibly interrupted, his right hand freezing before his chest as his finger bones clicked.
Standing behind the Array Disc, Kabuto looked a little more fatigued.
"You're already dead, Uchiha Itachi. The dead only need to follow orders."
"You're wrong."
Itachi raised his head, his gaze passing over Kabuto to settle on Sasuke.
"I still owe Sasuke an answer."
Sasuke pulled out the Kusanagi Sword, its tip scraping a spark across the ground.
"I don't need your answer."
Itachi looked at him.
"Sasuke."
"Shut up."
"Let me finish."
"When you were alive, I listened for thirteen years." Sasuke walked forward. "You said the village mattered more than our clan, that