[The Sky Base]
Yakushi Kabuto looked up at the ceiling.
"Gone?"
"Yeah."
The White Snake Sage held his pipe in his tail, shook off the ash that had built up, then stuck it back in his mouth. He lifted his chin slightly and tapped the television with his scalpel as he said, "Told you this thing would work."
"When Ryosuke is with someone, the moment he spies on us, he'll be subjected to strange looks, forcing him to stop using that weird little vine."
Kabuto thought for a moment and asked, "What if there's no one around him?"
'"No one?" heh heh.'
The White Snake Sage sneered. "Ryosuke is a young man in the prime of his life. If there's really no one around him, what do you think he'd be doing?"
Kabuto froze for half a second, then exchanged a look with the White Snake Sage. One man and one snake both revealed sleazy, snickering smiles.
But after laughing for a bit, Kabuto started to feel that something was off.
"That's not right."
He looked down at his lower body.
"I'm also a young man in my prime. How come I've been watching for so long and there's not even the slightest reaction?"
The White Snake Sage blew out a puff of smoke. "You… I figured that since you're going to become an immortal anyway, I might as well cut out your 'lust reactor.'"
"What?!"
"That's not important."
The White Snake Sage waved the scalpel and squinted as he looked toward the east.
"I can feel it. The other me has already awakened. I'm very curious what kind of choice it will make..."
Kabuto grabbed the bottle labeled "Orochimaru" and threw it over. With a duang, it smashed into the White Snake Sage's head.
"Choice my foot! Hurry up and put my 'reactor' back in!"
———
Ryosuke and Jiraiya were walking toward the treatment room.
"No. 18 has woken up," Jiraiya said. "But its condition is really bad."
Previously, No. 18's body had been in an extremely weak state, rejecting healing ninjutsu, medicines made from pearl jam, and even senjutsu.
Thankfully, that state had remained stable and hadn't worsened further.
But just now, after waking up, No. 18's body had begun to collapse uncontrollably.
Snake scales, flesh, blood, like necrosis, were peeling off and rotting away, piece by piece, chunk by chunk.
Jiraiya mimicked No. 18's tone, "'Call that bastard Ryosuke over here. Before I die, I have extremely important intelligence that I must tell him! Otherwise, I won't be able to rest in peace!', That's what No. 18 said."
"What intelligence?" Ryosuke asked.
"It refuses to say."
Ryosuke stopped walking.
"It's not afraid I wouldn't be at the institute?"
"It said something about that too."
Jiraiya took a deep breath. "It said this secret can only be heard by you. If you're not here… it would rather take the secret to hell."
When Ryosuke saw White Snake Sage No. 18, only half of its body remained. The entire snake was soaked in orange-red pearl jam nutrient fluid, yet it still couldn't stop the process of disintegration and decay.
"Ryosuke."
No. 18's voice was hoarse and weak. "Have everyone leave. What I'm about to say, I can only say to you alone."
"No rush."
Ryosuke reached out and placed his hand on No. 18's decaying body. A wisp of Ripple spread out.
"It's useless, Ryosuke. Last time, I used power beyond my limit."
"You should have seen it at Mount Myoboku, those idiots who tried to control power that wasn't theirs, were eroded by natural energy, and turned into stone."
"For someone like me, who has already become an 'immortal,' that kind of punishment is even more severe. It's an irreversible collapse. So don't waste time. Listen to me..."
White Snake Sage No. 18's voice abruptly stopped.
It slowly twisted its head, looking at the body that had stopped decaying. Carefully sensing the changes in its body, it suddenly raised its head and stared at Ryosuke.
"You... you stopped my genetic collapse?!"
Ryosuke wiped the snake blood off his fingers. "You got lucky. The timing of your awakening was just right."
If it had been any earlier, before Ryosuke underwent the Kars trial and stepped onto the path of becoming an ultimate lifeform, there was no way he could have stopped No. 18's genetic collapse.
And if it had been any later, Ryosuke would have gone out on inspections, organizing and adjusting the world's direction, and No. 18 would have had no choice but to wait for death with its secret.
No. 18 looked at the body that was slowly regrowing under the nourishment of the nutrient fluid and fell silent. After a long while, it asked Ryosuke, "Why did you save me?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Ryosuke replied.
No. 18 said, "You know I was about to tell you an extremely important secret before dying.
"You saved me, aren't you afraid I won't tell you now?
"Even if you were going to save me, you could have chosen to listen to the secret first, then start the treatment."
Ryosuke tilted his head slightly as he looked at No. 18. After listening to it finish speaking, he chuckled softly.
"There's not so much this and that. Why did I save you? Because..."
Ryosuke pointed out the window.
The afternoon sunlight slanted in, warm and peaceful.
"You're a hero who saved the world."
"Without your plan and your help, even if I could defeat Toneri, a lot of people would have died. The unit behind that casualty number might have been millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions."
"Besides, no matter what the future holds, no matter what the past was like, at this moment, we are comrades who fought side by side."
White Snake Sage No. 18 had its mouth half open.
The Way of the Present.
Ryosuke had actually used its own way to answer its question. This was really…
"Turning heaven and earth upside down."
The doctors and Jiraiya had already withdrawn from the treatment room, leaving the space to Ryosuke and the White Snake Sage. In the empty room, No. 18's sigh, laden with complicated emotion, was especially clear.
Ryosuke pulled over a chair and sat down in front of it.
"So, what exactly is this 'secret intelligence' you mentioned?"
No. 18 hesitated.
Before dying, it wouldn't have mattered.
Now that it was alive again, it was truly conflicted about whether to tell Ryosuke the information.
Seeing its hesitation, Ryosuke waved his hand. "If you don't want to say it, then don't."
"Give me a cigarette."
Ryosuke tossed one over.
No. 18 took a look, it was a lollipop. It clicked its tongue, but didn't fuss over it. It tore open the wrapper and stuck it into its mouth, the exposed stick making it look like it was smoking.
"You know, because of the sage art I cultivate, I can know everything that's happening in the ninja world right now."
Ryosuke nodded.
"You also know I've lived for a very, very long time, long enough to witness Kaguya's descent, her peak, and her downfall."
Ryosuke nodded again.
No. 18 took a deep breath and got to the point.
"I witnessed the entire process of Kaguya attacking her companion."
The ease on Ryosuke's face vanished.
"Attacking? Not counterattacking?"
"She was the one who attacked her follower?"
No. 18 let out a snort. "Follower? That arrogant woman was the follower! But that doesn't matter. What I want to talk about isn't their hierarchical relationship. What I want to say is..."
"The Otsutsuki who descended into the ninja world together with Kaguya…"
"He's not dead yet."