The light went out.
It did not fade slowly. It vanished in an instant, as if someone had suddenly flipped the light switch.
The entire ruin, all of Konoha, even heaven and earth went black. It was so dark that no one could see their hand in front of their face, so dark that it left their minds reeling, until they almost forgot who they were.
Sai stood where he was, completely motionless, the orange candy wrapper in his palm clenched so tightly that it crumpled and his knuckles turned blue.
His eyes were open, but he could see nothing. Still, he could sense that Shuo was just ahead-ten meters away, or twenty? He could not tell.
He slowly edged forward, one step, then another, until he suddenly stepped on something soft. It felt neither like rubble nor like wood from the ruins.
He crouched and reached out to feel it. His fingertips touched a hand. It was Shuo's, bone-chillingly cold, without a trace of warmth.
"Shuo..." he said, his voice so hoarse it barely sounded like him, as though it had been scraped with sandpaper. No one answered.
He lifted that hand and held it tightly against his cheek. It was still cold, so cold it made his heart race with unease.
At last, a light appeared in the distance. It was Tsunade, running toward them with a torch, stumbling as she went, her voice choked with tears. "How is he?! Where's Shuo?!"
Sai said nothing. He simply crouched there, holding Shuo's hand, motionless as a stone statue.
Tsunade rushed over and looked down, her heart sinking sharply-Shuo lay on the ground with his eyes closed, his face white as paper. The purple marks on his chest and palms were completely gone, without a trace, as though they had