Day seven.
Shuo was jolted awake by a fit of violent trembling. It wasn't an earthquake; the guy inside him was acting up, making quite a racket.
He opened his eyes and looked down at his chest. That speck of faint black light shone painfully bright, pulsing as though it would burst through his flesh.
"Fuck, what the hell are you doing?"
Shuo swore with a frown, all his sleepiness gone.
The voice in his head was more urgent than usual, taut with tension. "He's approaching. He's coming this way."
Shuo froze for a moment. "Who?"
"My other half. Isshiki."
Shuo pushed himself upright, and the Fragments beside him instantly woke and crowded around him. Hand Princess Big crawled to his leg, the eye in her palm fixed on his chest. "What's wrong?"
Shuo didn't answer. He looked toward the horizon. That mass of black shadows was much closer than yesterday, and it was slowly moving straight toward Konoha's ruins.
"How long until he gets here?" Shuo asked gravely.
There was a second of silence inside him before the answer came. "One day. One day at most."
Shuo stood, took out a chestnut candy, unwrapped it, and tossed it into his mouth. As the sweetness spread, he chewed and looked toward the black shadows. "He's coming to merge with you?"
"Yes."
"What happens if you merge?"
This time, the silence lasted so long that even the Fragments held their breath before the voice finally sounded, muffled. "I'll become the complete Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, and then... devour you."
Shuo looked down at the pulsing black light in his chest, his tone calm. "What about you? Do you want to devour me?"
The voice inside him faltered, sounding stunned. "What?"
"I'm asking if you want to."
Everything fell utterly silent. All the Fragments