The Edo Tensei was beginning to dissipate.
This meant that the caster, the originator of the Edo Tensei, Kabuto Yakushi, was in trouble.
He was dispelling the Edo Tensei jutsu, which would release the souls of all Edo Tensei bodies on the battlefield.
In other words, all resurrected individuals would turn to dust, dust to dust, earth to earth.
Meanwhile, earlier, Itachi Uchiha and Lin Nan's clone had headed towards the lair of the man behind the scenes, Kabuto Yakushi.
Kabuto was also quite bold, knowing he had been exposed, yet he didn't run. He was truly brave.
However, he did possess the strength for it, as Kabuto had already achieved what Orochimaru never could – he had shed his snake form and ascended to become a dragon.
Of course, that was all in the past.
On the way to Kabuto's lair, Itachi Uchiha encountered Sasuke.
This scene allowed Lin Nan to spectate.
Why was Sasuke Uchiha here?
He was on his way to the battlefield, perhaps guided by destiny, which led to their encounter.
At this moment, Sasuke had just transplanted his brother Itachi Uchiha's Sharingan, greatly increasing his power.
The Sharingan of the Uchiha clan evolved when subjected to extreme emotional stimulation, becoming the Mangekyo Sharingan.
However, the Mangekyo was known as a cursed eye, and excessive use would lead to blindness.
Madara Uchiha himself had upgraded to Eternal Mangekyo only after transplanting his brother's Mangekyo.
Of course, this transplantation wasn't a simple removal and replacement; it was an integration. Otherwise, the brothers would have found a loophole, wouldn't that be awesome?
The arrogant Sasuke, after awakening his Mangekyo, was fooled by Tobi into joining the Akatsuki. He then carried out a series of missions. Feeling his power surge, he became reckless and stormed the Five Kage Summit.
After being thoroughly beaten, under Tobi's guidance, Sasuke had a battle with Danzo Shimura, the old man with the perpetually angry face who was the Fifth and a Half Hokage.
Later, he showed off in front of Kakashi, who came to his rescue.
As a result, his Mangekyo successfully went blind.
Similarly, for the Mangekyo, his brother used it for five or six years, while he used it for less than a month...
Sasuke, who had repeatedly sworn he wouldn't transplant his brother's eyes, truly started the transplantation process.
The Eternal Mangekyo upgrade was complete, and at this moment, Sasuke naturally felt he was invincible again.
He never expected that as soon as he transplanted his brother's eyes, he would immediately encounter his brother.
Itachi Uchiha did not acknowledge Sasuke; time was of the essence.
So, Sasuke chased after him, and the two engaged in a chase and dialogue.
Lin Nan, meanwhile, remained a bystander, silently observing.
Lin Nan and Sasuke had met a few times before. It was during the Konoha Chunin Exams. The Akatsuki had ordered Lin Nan and Tobi to disguise themselves as Leaf Village ninja and infiltrate the Chunin Exams, coincidentally gathering intel on the Nine-Tails.
That was also the first time Lin Nan saw the main characters.
He had also seen Sasuke later at Orochimaru's hideout; then there was his fated duel with Deidara, which Lin Nan observed from the sidelines.
Later, during the battle between Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha, Lin Nan had also been watching from nearby, though he kept his distance, only there to "steal skills." So, they shouldn't have known about him.
Itachi Uchiha might have sensed him, and Black Zetsu likely could have too.
Lin Nan suddenly felt that he hadn't missed any major events.
It seemed that the only time he wasn't present during the entire Akatsuki was when the immortal duo died. Otherwise, he seemed to have been there.
He might as well rename the book: The Entire Ninja World is Online Spectating...
Lin Nan was also spectating at the moment, but he saw a gigantic skeletal arm sweeping towards him.
Seeing this, Lin Nan casually used a similar skeletal arm to deflect it.
At this moment, Sasuke was showing potential to be a "skeleton bro."
"Lin Nan, like me, has broken free from the control of Edo Tensei. Now, he's accompanying me to the culprit's lair!" Itachi Uchiha explained for Lin Nan.
"He threatened me during my Chunin Exams!"
Sasuke Uchiha's gaze towards Lin Nan was filled with hostility, as if saying, "How dare you act so cool in front of me? Don't you know I'm the ultimate cool guy in this anime?"
This kid is quite vengeful.
"Hey, hey, you can eat anything, but you can't say anything! Did I threaten you? I clearly just utterly dominated you!"
Lin Nan smiled at Sasuke, as if to say, "What can you do to me?"
Hearing this, Sasuke's expression turned cold, and his Mangekyo Sharingan flared to life.
Lin Nan was just wondering what skills to use, so he immediately put on an intentionally annoying expression.
"Alright, we still have important matters to attend to. Sasuke, if you have nothing else to do, it's best not to follow us!" Itachi said.
The intention behind this was clearly to prevent Sasuke Uchiha from falling into danger, as Itachi Uchiha didn't know what kind of enemies they would face next.
However, these words were not taken well by Sasuke.
Seeing Sasuke's even more hostile gaze, Lin Nan was dumbfounded.
What kind of fantasy are you building in your head?
And so, with Sasuke on his left and Itachi on his right, the three arrived at Kabuto Yakushi's lair in silence.
Just as they were about to enter the lair, Lin Nan suddenly saw a white figure disappear behind a section of the mountain. His eyes lit up, but he didn't make a sound, instead following Itachi Uchiha into the cave.
It was narrow at first, only wide enough for one person, but after several tens of steps inward, it suddenly opened up.
The cave interior was quite spacious, damp and dark, with countless stalactites hanging down like the bloody fangs of a giant serpent, forming a monstrous maw.
"Kabuto Yakushi!"
"Hmm?" Itachi and Sasuke looked at Lin Nan.
Lin Nan scratched his head, "Did I not mention that the person we are looking for should be Kabuto Yakushi?"
"No!" Itachi Uchiha replied with certainty.
Sasuke also looked at Lin Nan with a cold expression.
Shrugging, Lin Nan said indifferently, "Well, it doesn't really matter. Sasuke, you know Kabuto Yakushi!"
"A piece of trash!" Sasuke sneered repeatedly.
Lin Nan, however, shook his head, "Since we were resurrected by him through Edo Tensei, he must have at least reached Orochimaru's level back then. We should still be careful."
"So what if it's Orochimaru? Didn't I cut him down?" Sasuke scoffed again.
Lin Nan and Itachi Uchiha exchanged glances and said no more.
Would Lin Nan say, "Actually, Orochimaru was just playing you. If your brother hadn't helped you at the last moment before dying, you'd probably be wearing eyeliner right now"?
Of course not.
Let him show off...
It's quite amusing.
As the three entered the depths of the cave, a figure quietly emerged from the cave entrance – it was none other than Lin Nan.
While they were talking, Lin Nan had split off a shadow clone.
He couldn't miss the battle between Itachi Uchiha and Kabuto Yakushi, but it seemed there was something else waiting for him right now.
Emerging from the cave entrance, a cold voice suddenly sounded.
"Are you... a human or a ghost?"
Lin Nan tried to turn around, but his body wouldn't move. He looked down and saw layers of paper wrapped around him like a mummy.