Kakashi spotted a burning flame behind Uchiha Akainu, stretching in a straight line for tens of meters.
At Akainu's feet lay a broken kunai.
This only solidified Kakashi's belief that Uchiha Akainu had just been in a fight.
Wait a minute! Isn't this...
Kakashi suddenly froze. Wasn't this Rin's grave?
His gaze quickly shifted to the tombstone beside Akainu, and a sigh of relief escaped him when he saw it was perfectly intact.
However, a fresh bouquet of white flowers placed by the tombstone made Kakashi pause for half a second, a hint of confusion in his eyes. He then looked at Uchiha Akainu again, startled, as if he'd just stumbled upon something incredible.
But that's not right... Rin and Akainu weren't from the same graduating class; Rin was three years older!
He'd never noticed any connection between them before!
Before Kakashi could even speak, Uchiha Akainu's calm voice cut through the air: "Obito Uchiha put the flowers there."
The moment Kakashi's realization dawned, he suddenly froze.
Kakashi: "???"
"...Obito?!" Kakashi's gaze instinctively landed on another tombstone not far away.
That was Obito's grave.
"Surely you haven't forgotten Obito Uchiha, meow? Kakashi Hatake?" Kuromaru's sharp, peculiar tone chimed in, "If I recall correctly, you two were both Minato-sensei's disciples."
Kakashi recognized Kuromaru, Uchiha Akainu's ninja cat. A few of his own ninja dogs had even gotten a beating from this cat before.
When the topic of "Obito" came up, Kakashi momentarily set aside the reason for his visit to Uchiha Akainu. He stated, "You might be mistaken. Obito... he died at the hands of enemy ninja during the Third Great Ninja War."
"Then let me ask you, is his body in that grave?" Kuromaru's counter-question made Kakashi instinctively shake his head.
It was a cenotaph; Obito's body was never found.
There wasn't even an ounce of Obito's ashes beneath that tombstone.
"Kakashi Hatake." Kuromaru leaped onto Kakashi's shoulder, making him nearly sink.
—That's one fat cat!
This was a thought Kakashi didn't vocalize.
Kuromaru's four paws pressed against Kakashi's side mask. It narrowed its cat eyes and challenged him, "Are you questioning Lord Akainu, meow? Do you think Lord Akainu would lie to someone like you? Are you questioning Absolute Justice?!"
Kakashi paused, stunned.
He suddenly remembered... the rumors about Uchiha Akainu's eyes, how they could see information others couldn't. How they could see the past evil of others, and even their future evil.
And what's more...
Tonight, Uchiha Akainu had demonstrated the terrifying power of his Mangekyo Sharingan in front of many people.
This only further elevated the credibility of Uchiha Akainu's "eyes that see sin."
Kakashi was baffled.
His purpose in meeting Uchiha Akainu was actually quite simple, with no hidden agenda; he just wanted to thank the man in person.
Even though it was too late, Uchiha Akainu had at least allowed Kakashi to uncover the truth behind his father's death.
Although he'd spent years living in a daze, even closing off his heart and refusing to mention the name "Sakumo Hatake" in front of others... deep down, dark conspiracy theories would often flash through his mind, but he had no proof.
Until tonight, when one of Danzo's "crimes" was revealed by Uchiha Akainu, and Danzo immediately lost his composure...
Kakashi chose to believe Uchiha Akainu.
That's right!
If he believed Uchiha Akainu when he said his father's death was connected to Danzo, why was his immediate reaction disbelief when the other man said Obito Uchiha was still alive?
Could it be...
Was Obito truly alive, just as Uchiha Akainu claimed?!
"Obito Uchiha isn't dead," Kuromaru's cat face, full of disdain, declared in a shocking tone while Kakashi was still stunned. "And... not only is that guy not dead, he's become a deeply sinful villain. Lord Akainu said that the 'evil' within Obito Uchiha is so immense it's practically turned black."
Kuromaru's voice was low, and Kakashi could even smell that the cat had definitely eaten fish today, judging by the strong fishy scent.
"Oh, and by the way, meow," Kuromaru added, "Lord Akainu just said that Obito Uchiha once turned his blade against the Fourth Hokage. Perhaps the Fourth Hokage's death is connected to him, meow."
Kakashi: "!!!"
Kakashi felt as if he'd been struck by lightning.
Outside Konoha
Obito had swiftly left Konoha Village, but the sense of unease that Uchiha Akainu had instilled in him still wouldn't subside.
He lowered his gaze to his hand, a third of which was missing.
The occasional burning pain made him inhale sharply.
"Obito, don't oppose him for now," Zetsu's voice came from behind him. "He's very strong. His Mangekyo Sharingan jutsu is also incredibly strange, unlike any I've ever heard of. Without absolute information, fighting him would put you at a severe disadvantage."
As he spoke, a White Zetsu clone detached itself from Zetsu.
Obito pulled out a kunai and casually sliced off a small portion of the White Zetsu clone's hand.
Gritting his teeth, Obito then cut away the charred, carbonized part of his own wound, and fresh blood began to flow.
He grafted the White Zetsu clone's hand onto his own.
Under the powerful healing ability of the First Hokage's Wood Style cells, in just a few breaths, the bleeding stopped. Without even needing to manually set it, the small portion of the White Zetsu clone's hand had already grown onto his, with flesh and bone connecting.
He hadn't heard a single word Zetsu said.
He only had one question: How did Uchiha Akainu know so much about him? Did he hear it from someone else? Or did he learn it through his Sharingan?
Lost in thought, Obito's meaningful gaze flickered towards Zetsu.
"Hey, hey, hey..." Zetsu immediately understood his implication and grumbled, "I'm a special being born from Lord Madara's powerful will, and you're the Uchiha descendant who inherited his will. How could I possibly betray you?!"
"Hmph... you better not have."
Obito snorted, his face dark.
"Akainu... sir."
Kakashi knew Uchiha Akainu was technically his junior, but he couldn't bring himself to call him by his first name. They weren't close, and there was probably a significant power gap between them.
Kakashi now believed ninety percent of what Kuromaru had said.
Perhaps this was one of the benefits of Uchiha Akainu's unwavering adherence to "Absolute Justice"; at least in terms of "credibility," Uchiha Akainu was undoubtedly number one in Konoha.
Kakashi took a deep breath, unable to maintain his composure.
Though Kuromaru had stopped speaking, its words echoed relentlessly in Kakashi's mind, making him restless.
Kakashi's voice was tinged with an uncontrollable urgency: "Could you... could you tell me about Obito's misdeeds and sins?"