It's impressive how the author gave three new protagonists, showed UN, showed a lot of valuable information, showed more content that promises interesting readings for the future (The Prime Minister, Shiro Kumogakure could be actually real, The Koshin Kaiji could be actually real), made an interesting plot with Kato, and still is just not enough to fill the void left by the dry humor and the special way of being of Kuro Kumogakure.
I know it's just a theory but, apart from the intertextual reference to another old shinobi manga from the sixties, I personally believe that Chapter 68 is the way for the author to express the pain he felt for the loss of his father a couple of years ago, that also affected greatly the development of his previous work. He shares a portion of his pain from the irreversible loss of a loved one through his work, with the audience.
For this reason chapter 70 is very significant for me and I return to it from time to time to process. There is some reality reflected in this fiction.