When It Turns 9 o'clock

With the fighting paused, Sasuke presses Itachi to explain Izanami, and his brother walks him through how the jutsu operates, the troubled past of the Uchiha, their reliance on Izanagi, and the reason Izanami was ever devised. Itachi adds that Kabuto can only slip free of the technique once he stops running from who he is and embraces it. That answer frustrates Sasuke, who cannot understand designing a jutsu the target is allowed to escape.

Itachi replies that he wanted to hand Kabuto the very chance at acceptance that he never managed to seize while alive. Sasuke, who has long imagined his brother as flawless, grows angrier still, yet Itachi rejects that image of himself. The whole time, Kabuto keeps battling on within his own thoughts, unwilling to surrender.

Far from the cave, a grown Urushi speaks to a fellow fighter about the orphanage he once called home, wishing that Kabuto might be waiting there when he finally returns. Back at the cave, Itachi steadies himself to bring the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation to a close.

Itachi details the workings and origin of Izanami, tying it to the Uchiha's history and their use of Izanagi. He tells Sasuke that Kabuto's release depends on accepting his own fate. Urushi, now grown, voices his hope of reuniting with Kabuto. Itachi begins the process of ending the Reincarnation jutsu.

The chapter sits within the Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax arc and belongs to volume 61. Much of it is dialogue-driven, using the lull in combat to expose Itachi's philosophy on fate and the burdens he carried in life.