After the Ten-Tails exploded into fragments, three quiet days passed over Konoha's ruins.
It was not true silence, but the peculiar emptiness that followed a great battle-now and then, loose stones tumbled from broken walls, wind moaned through ruined houses, and an occasional shout rose in the distance, fading within two seconds, leaving an indescribable heaviness.
Shuo lay on that battered wooden board without moving for three days.
It was not that he did not want to move. His whole body was stiff, as though it had fallen apart, and he could not muster the slightest strength.
The Fragments surrounded him, keeping motionless vigil like a group of listless little guards.
Hand Princess Big crouched by his left hand, the eye in its palm fixed firmly on his face, never budging an inch; Hand Princess Small crouched on his right in exactly the same posture, even blinking in sync.
Hand Princess Three lay three meters away, its toes twitching occasionally, not daring to hop over for fear of disturbing him.
Hand Princess Four floated extremely low in the air, as though it might fall at any moment, its eye narrowed but not daring to close; Hand Princess Five's torso guarded the outermost perimeter, all thirteen eyes on its belly open, scanning every direction warily.
The smaller ears, noses, and toes huddled together, pale and quiet, lying there like little mushrooms growing from the ground.
Sai sat nearby with a notebook in his hand. He flipped through two pages and said, "Three days."
No one answered him.
"Water six times, twelve pieces of candy, eyes opened four times, only three seconds each time." He kept muttering to himself, still receiving no reply.
Sai looked at the motionless Fragments and sighed helplessly. "Can't you say something?"
Hand Princess Big slowly turned around,