The boomerang had actually struck its own thrower.
"That marriage partner is?"
"It's the Shibayako you accompanied today."
Namikaze Minato patted Kakashi's shoulder, speaking earnestly:
"Don't judge people by their appearance. Shibayako may not look impressive, but she might be kind at heart. Learn to see the beauty in others' souls with your eyes."
Kakashi's face showed no ripple of change.
Compared to the matter with Rin, what did any of this count for?
He had already begun to let things slide.
Perhaps the moment he first wanted to abandon Nohara Rin, he should have died.
Or rather, he was already dead…
Seeing that Kakashi raised no objection, Namikaze Minato let out a sigh of relief.
Many things were beyond his wishes.
Yet this world was filled with too much filth.
Namikaze Minato didn't like doing this, but where there was light, there was bound to be darkness.
To protect the village, one had to shoulder that darkness as well.
Unknowingly, Namikaze Minato was no longer as naive as he once had been.
War was a meat grinder. Outside of Konohagakure, the smaller nations were in chaos—war-torn, their people barely surviving.
He had witnessed far too many tragedies.
But he refused to let those tragedies repeat themselves within the village.
"Kakashi, if White Fang-senpai were still here, he would surely be proud of you."
A flash of sarcasm crossed Kakashi's eyes.
Would his father truly be proud of him?
After all, his father had valued comrades above the missions issued by the village.
After his death, Kakashi had memorized the shinobi code backward and forward.
Literally backward—he could still recite it from the very last line.
He and his father had made utterly opposite choices. He had chosen… the village.
"I understand, Minato-sensei."
Kakashi's gaze dimmed, devoid of light. The usual calm and composure had vanished, replaced by a deep weariness.
Sometimes, he could understand the feelings that had driven his father to suicide.
The night had grown deep.
Namikaze Minato returned to his room.
Kakashi lay in bed for a while, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
The moment he closed his eyes, his mind filled with Nohara Rin's voice and smiling face, along with Obito's dying wish.
He dressed and stepped into the hallway.
Like a ghost, he wandered aimlessly.
Unknowingly, he arrived at the door to Nohara Rin's room.
He reached out, intending to knock.
His fingers brushed the cold wooden surface, yet no matter what, he couldn't bring himself to press down.
He… was scum who had betrayed his comrades.
Kakashi rested his forehead against the door, carefully savoring the chill of the wood as it seeped through his skin into his mind.
Only pain could briefly soothe his heart.
Inside the room, Nohara Rin was already sobbing uncontrollably.
She wanted Kakashi to comfort her, not Shimizu.
Yet Kakashi had acted as if he couldn't see, choosing to ignore her.
Before facing death, she just wanted to hear Kakashi say a single word of concern.
No action required—just one sentence.
A word of care for her drifting, helpless fate.
Kakashi had no idea how much she had sacrificed for him.
There was nothing left she could give!
Everything had been offered to the devil!
Nohara Rin's eyes were swollen red from crying. She whimpered softly, the purple markings on her cheeks smudged by her tears.
Shimizu had placed a sealing formula on the wall.
Its function was simple: soundproofing and vibration dampening.
Thud!
Shimizu's arm swept across Nohara Rin's neck, his tall frame blocking her path.
His other hand gently stroked her hair, tucking the strands that had fallen across her face behind her ear. Then, slowly, he layered another seal over the one on her abdomen.
"Tomorrow, only one seal will remain visible here."
Shimizu released her and spoke indifferently to Nohara Rin.
Extracting a tailed beast without death.
There had indeed been no surviving cases until now.
But that was only because jinchūriki were too rare, and experiments too few.
Even if Nohara Rin became the first to survive tailed beast extraction, outsiders would simply assume her constitution or chakra was special.
The shinobi world was full of bizarre kekkei genkai.
There were even physiques that could freely transform flesh into flowing water.
Surviving tailed beast extraction was hardly remarkable.
After all, Nohara Rin herself couldn't control the tailed beast's power. The only reason she hadn't collapsed yet was the Uzumaki clan's multilayered seals—and Shimizu's suppression through his pupil power.
From the moment Nohara Rin became the Three-Tails' jinchūriki, Shimizu had infused Sharingan pupil power into her body.
Otherwise, she would see the Three-Tails every night and hear its furious curses against humanity.
Konoha's higher-ups had been so quick to hand her over partly because of this consideration.
Sooner or later, Nohara Rin would lose control. Keeping her would make her a ticking time bomb.
"Minato-sensei and the others are right next door."
Nohara Rin pleaded, her voice trembling slightly.
"So what?"
Shimizu seized both her wrists with one hand and bound them together.
He turned her around.
A rustling sound followed.
Nohara Rin clenched her teeth, her forehead weakly pressing against the cold door. The icy sensation offered a fleeting moment of relief.
She endured the pain of Shimizu's actions, her body trembling, yet she could only suffer in silence.
"Rin, has Shimizu left…?"
At that exact moment, Kakashi outside the door finally mustered his courage. He wanted to ask Rin her true feelings, not for the sake of the village.
"Kakashi?"
Nohara Rin called out several times, but Kakashi on the other side seemed deaf to her voice.
Shimizu had set up a one-way barrier seal. Sounds from outside could enter, but nothing from within could escape.
Seeing this, he gathered chakra on the wall and scribbled a few adjustments. The seal's effects immediately weakened.
After a brief pause, Kakashi's voice came through again.
"Rin, are you already resting?"
Kakashi's heart sank with disappointment.
It seemed tonight would end the same way.
"If there's something you want to say, say it to Kakashi."
Shimizu brushed aside the short hair covering Nohara Rin's ear and exhaled warm breath against her earlobe.
"Mmm~"
Nohara Rin suppressed the urge to unleash a Water Release ninjutsu.
It was nighttime—releasing ninjutsu carelessly would draw complaints.
As a shinobi, one had to be a person of endurance.
Endure all pain.
Nohara Rin would uphold her nindō!
"Shimizu has already left, Kakashi… Do you have anything else?"
Kakashi outside the door heard Nohara Rin's voice and brightened.
Great—Rin wasn't asleep yet!
After a moment's hesitation, he said:
"Rin, can I come in to talk?"
Kakashi felt the door trembling at a steady rhythm.
His forehead clearly registered the vibration.
"Kakashi… If there's something, just say it here."
Nohara Rin's brows furrowed tightly as she clamped a hand over her mouth.
She feared that the next wave of pain might shatter her nindō.
Kakashi was right outside. The slightest sound now would destroy the image she had in his eyes.
Nohara Rin didn't want to see disappointment in Kakashi's gaze. She held back, refusing to let any noise escape.
"Rin, I… want to know your true will, not the result influenced by the village."
Kakashi's voice came again.
"Kakashi, this is the result of my own choice."
With Shimizu's help, Nohara Rin knew she wouldn't die.
In that case, it was merely like going on a mission trip.
"Your voice sounds weak. Have you been crying?"
Kakashi keenly noticed something off in Rin's tone.
He even pictured her crying behind the door.
Rin was just a kind little girl. Asking her to sacrifice herself was truly too cruel.
"Kakashi, I… I'm really fine."
Nohara Rin steadied her breathing as best she could, forcing her voice to sound calm. "If this is my fate, I will accept it."
"Obito made a promise to entrust you to me, yet I…"
Kakashi's words sent a pang of bitterness through Nohara Rin's heart. Tears slipped silently down her cheeks.
Even now, it was still about Obito's promise?
She was a living, breathing person.
Was it because of Obito's promise that Kakashi had never accepted her?
Nohara Rin felt it was a curse.
Ever since Obito's death, it had become an unsolvable curse.
Because Obito had feelings for her, he had given Kakashi his Sharingan in his final moments and asked him to protect her.
With Kakashi's personality, he probably believed she should have been with Obito—not him.
"Kakashi, I'm really fine… Mmph!"
Hiss~~~
Water seeped out from the gap beneath the door.
Kakashi's lifeless eyes stared as the flow grew.
Tears?
That was his first thought.
He quickly dismissed it.
Tears couldn't possibly produce this much water.
Rin must have been too upset and accidentally knocked over a cup.
"Kakashi… Please go. I need to rest."
"Rin, I…"
Kakashi's lips parted and closed, words catching in his throat. His hands hung limply at his sides, his heart filled with pain and helplessness.
He couldn't imagine what state he'd be in tomorrow to witness Rin's death.
Shimizu stood inside the room, watching Nohara Rin cry until her face was streaked with tears like rain-soaked pear blossoms. That devilish smile still played on his lips.
Endurance. He savored this moment—savoring Kakashi's ignorance and Nohara Rin's forbearance.
With a flip of his hand, he turned clouds into rain. The characters of the original story could not escape his control.
This complete mastery of the situation filled him with immense satisfaction.
No one could dictate his fate, but he would dictate the fate of all.
Shimizu's desires surged in this moment. Three-tomoe appeared in his eyes, and the bottleneck of his pupil power shattered once more.
Feeling his strength gradually rise, Shimizu couldn't help but feel a pleasant surprise.
There was a reason the Uchiha were feared and labeled madmen.
You never knew when an Uchiha might suddenly grow stronger.
"Rin, if you need anything, you must tell me."
Kakashi outside the door took a deep breath, then turned and dragged his heavy steps away.
"I will, Kakashi."
Nohara Rin replied, striving to keep her voice steady, free of tremor.
Shimizu whispered low in her ear:
"You really are a kind person. It moves me."
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