Kakashi stood in the mirror dimension and watched the Ancient One's body go limp.
The lifeless form crashed against one of the floating mirrors. The lightning spear that had pierced her chest dissolved into bright white sparks that scattered like dying fireflies.
The purpose of the jutsu was fulfilled. A huge hole remained in her torso. Blood dripped slowly from the wound and pooled on the reflective surface beneath her.
Kakashi looked at her with sadness in his eyes. The five lightning clones vanished in small bursts of electricity. Silence filled the mirror dimension.
It made Kakashi sad to kill the Ancient One. It was one of the decisions he knew that he would regret in the future.
She was someone who protected Earth from mystical threats for centuries. Demons, vampires, other dimensional entities, and countless other horrors had tried to enter this world. She had stopped them all. She had raised generations of sorcerers who guarded the planet. She had built Kamar-Taj into an organization that worked in secret, without payment or fame, just to keep the balance and protect Earth.
Earth needed sorcerers and the Ancient One for mystical threats. The Avengers were strong against physical threats like aliens and monsters, but they were not ready for mystical dangers. Magic worked by different rules. Curses, possession, dimensional entites, demons, those things could destroy the world without ever firing a single bullet.
The Ancient One and Kamar Taj had been the shield against that darkness for hundreds of years.
Kakashi knew the conversation could have taken another route if he had not been so forward with his threat. Maybe she would have listened calmly. Maybe they could have found common ground. But he would never have thought that the Ancient One would come at him with lethal intent. He had thought of her as someone with a lot of wisdom. Someone who saw the bigger picture and chose peace over pride.
Someone who would talk instead of fight. He had misjudged her badly. That hurt more than the wound she had given him.
Before Kakashi could think more, the Eye of Agamotto on her chest opened.
Kakashi backflipped in alert as he thought, 'Now what is it?'
A soft green glow poured out of the artifact. The light surrounded her body.
Kakashi watched with wide eyes. The hole in her chest closed. The burns from the lightning spear faded. The blood that had spilled flowed backward in her body, as if time itself was rewinding. Her breathing started again. Her eyes opened.
She stood up slowly and looked at him with the same calm expression she always had.
Kakashi stared at her in shock. His mind raced to understand what just happened.
'Was it a healing spell?' he thought. "No. She was definitely dead. No one casts spells after death. That means she had already prepared something with the Time Stone. But that spell should be…'
His eyes widened as the realization hit him.
"Time Reversal," he whispered. "Is something like that even possible?"
For the first time in many years, Kakashi felt his worldview crack. He finally understood how Tony Stark must have felt when he saw the Susanoo or the gravity orb.
Seeing someone reverse time itself was beyond anything he had ever experienced. It broke every rule he knew about. Chakra could heal wounds, but it could not reverse time as far as he knew. This was impossible. And yet it had happened right in front of him.
The Ancient One dusted off her robes as if nothing serious had happened.
"I believe you have many questions," she said politely. "Especially why I chose to fight you for such a foolish reason. Oh and I can only reverse the time around my body back by a few seconds. I am not very skilled with the use of eye of agomotto or time stone. At least not as skilled as what my successor would be."
She said as if he had not just killed her and she was not trying to kill him.
Kakashi recovered his calm. "I thought Kaecilius possessed you. He is the one I most associate with stupid decisions in Kamar-Taj."
The Ancient One chuckled softly.
"That was a good one. You are learning to loosen up, Mr. Kakashi. It is good for you compared to when you first arrived in this reality."
Kakashi just grunted in response.
The Ancient One continued. "To answer your unspoken question, I attacked you to test whether you were truly ready for the future. I never doubted your strength. I know what you could do. You did not give me any chance to dodge that lightning spear, even when I saw it coming in the future. You have improved greatly since you first came here."
Kakashi thought, 'She is revealing her abilities herself. Now what is she playing at.'
Ancient one had paused and looked at him with gentle eyes.
"I wanted to see whether you had the conviction of what is required to be done. And you do have the strength to do what is required for a safe future for this world and this universe. You proved that by killing me. It was a justified act. I acted like a stupid lunatic. So do not feel bad about it."
Kakashi stayed silent. The words helped a little, but the weight of what he had done still sat heavy on his chest.
He took a slow breath.
"Could you not simply look into the future to see how I would handle things instead of… whatever this was?" he asked.
-----Author Notes---------
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