The Izanami Activated

Brushing off Itachi's warnings, Kabuto boasts to the brothers that he grafted the DNA of numerous shinobi into himself, among them the Sound Five and Orochimaru. He then hurls their signature techniques at Itachi and Sasuke, who parry the opening assault with ease before Tayuya's genjutsu snares them. Kabuto follows up by drawing out Orochimaru's white snake form and sending it against the pair.

Working together, Itachi and Sasuke break free of the illusion, but Kabuto catches Itachi off guard and cuts him in two, weeping as he insists a genius could never understand him and vowing that nothing will obstruct his path. Even as Itachi's body knits back together and he flings his sword, Kabuto's navel snake intercepts it. Sasuke's fireball is doused by Kabuto's water technique, and Kabuto strikes Itachi again while claiming genjutsu holds no power over him. Then the exact same sequence begins to replay, and Kabuto senses the déjà vu, only to realise too late that every moment has been unfolding inside his own mind, sealed within the inescapable loop of Izanami.

Kabuto reveals the extent of his self-experimentation, attacking with the combined jutsu of the Sound Five and Orochimaru's snake form. Itachi and Sasuke escape Tayuya's genjutsu through their coordinated effort, though Kabuto still manages to wound Itachi and press his advantage.

The turning point comes when events start looping on themselves. Kabuto grows aware of the repetition and understands he has fallen into Izanami, the technique Itachi designed to lock an opponent in a recurring cycle until he confronts and accepts who he is.

The episode adapts chapters 585 and 586 and forms part of the Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax arc. It pays off Itachi's earlier setup of Izanami, contrasting it with the forbidden Izanagi through its purpose of forcing acceptance rather than rewriting fate. The recycled sequence of Kabuto's assault is used deliberately to illustrate the jutsu's looping nature.