Kabuto adjusted his glasses and shook his head regretfully:
"If it were only a physical illness, even a kekkei genkai disease, I'd be confident of developing a treatment to alleviate it. Kimimaro's case gave us a wealth of data back then, but damage to the soul... modern ninjutsu is almost powerless against it."
He paused, then added, "Even if you used Living Corpse Reincarnation to change bodies, your soul would still carry those cracks. After entering a new body, the damage would remain, and might even worsen faster because of incompatibility with the body."
A brief silence fell over the laboratory.
But Itachi's expression remained calm, as though he were listening to someone else's medical report.
He slowly asked, "How much time do I have left?"
Kabuto looked at Lin Ze. Only after seeing him nod did he answer truthfully:
"At the current rate of deterioration, about five years if you don't use the Mangekyō frequently. If you force your ocular power into use during combat... that time will shorten, possibly to only around two years."
Two years.
At that number, the faintest flicker passed through the depths of Itachi's eyes, but they soon returned to calm.
He had long been prepared to die at any moment. He simply hadn't expected that, in the end, he would fall not to an enemy, but to his own kekkei genkai.
"Two years... that's enough."
Itachi spoke softly.
He suddenly raised his head, looked at Lin Ze, and asked a seemingly unrelated question. "Lord Lin Ze, what is your attitude toward... Konoha?"
Lin Ze was slightly taken aback.
He understood what Itachi meant-Itachi was asking what stance Lin Ze would take if, one day, he moved against Konoha.
Lin Ze fell silent for a moment.
He had spent more than ten years in