Suddenly, the masked man felt his eye technique abruptly cut off—his intangibility ceased!
The swirling vortex that distorted space vanished in an instant, and Kakashi was already charging straight toward him.
It was too late to dodge the Raikiri.
"Zzzzt—!"
Kakashi's right hand pierced directly through the masked man's chest. Blood burst from the wound, gushing onto the ground below. The earth beneath them was soon soaked in strange, pale-white blood.
The masked man kicked Kakashi away and staggered back, clutching the gaping hole in his chest. Beneath the mask, his expression twisted in agony.
But his eyes weren't on Kakashi—the man who had just run him through—they were locked onto Uchiha Hikaru.
This guy... he's the real threat! His Mangekyō ability actually disrupts space itself. My intangibility is useless against him!
Kakashi, now standing off to the side, noticed the odd, gray-white blood pooling beneath the masked man and frowned in concern. Despite having his heart pierced, the man was still alive.
No... Kakashi realized. That sensation just now—it didn't feel like I hit a human body. It was more like... a plant. Even the blood looked like some kind of sap.
At that moment, Uchiha Hikaru raised a hand, summoning the ninja sword, as scarlet light flickered in his eyes.
"Tear him apart."
The masked man reacted instantly at the sight of Hikaru raising the blade.
He retreated and formed hand seals with both hands.
"Wood Style: Spindle Tree Wall!"
Massive wooden trunks burst from the ground, interweaving into a defensive wall that shielded the masked man.
"Crack—Hiss!"
Hikaru brought the blade down, sending out three meter-long, jet-black crescent slashes that ripped through the air. The gusts from the strikes blew his black hair back like a storm.
The Wood Style defense was shredded like paper. The slashes punched through the wall and struck the masked man's chest.
His black cloak was torn to ribbons. The gray flak jacket beneath it—already punctured—was slashed clean through. His torso was gashed deeply: three long wounds stretched from his right shoulder across to his left ribs, exposing the pale-white bone beneath.
"This is—!"
Kakashi stared at the masked man's wounds. The left side of his body looked human—but the right side… it was that same gray-white plant-like material, just like the blood on the ground. A thick scar in the center of his torso resembled a stitched seam.
"Obito!? Why is it you!?"
Uchiha Hikaru released the hilt in his hand, dispersed into white mist, returning to the seal in his right palm.
"One Mangekyō Sharingan… it looks like Itachi's intel was right. A space-warping technique tied to the Sharingan… You must be Uchiha Obito.
The one behind the Nine-Tails attack also had a Mangekyō Sharingan. That was you, wasn't it?"
Hikaru stepped back to the shattered window frame and perched on it, casually revealing Obito's identity.
"I'm right, aren't I, Uchiha Obito?"
He flashed a smile—mocking, almost friendly—and stared straight at the man before him.
The masked man raised his right hand and took off the mask. There was no longer any point in hiding. The mask had lost its meaning.
"How do you know all this?"
His voice was calm, detached—as though it had nothing to do with him.
Obito narrowed his eyes at Hikaru, clearly displeased at being discovered so easily.
To Kakashi's shock, the gashes on Obito's torso were already beginning to heal—at a speed visible to the naked eye.
His identity had been exposed, his plans thrown into chaos by the Uchiha clan's deputy leader. He needed to escape quickly, Obito thought.
But Hikaru's Mangekyō was still active, and Obito could still feel the spatial blockade preventing him from using his Kamui.
Damn it. If only he had both eyes… With the full power of the Mangekyō, he might be able to overpower this technique and escape.
His gaze drifted toward Kakashi.
Kakashi, meanwhile, was frozen. Obito… was still alive. But how had he ended up like this?
Could it be… Had Obito really killed Minato-sensei and Kushina-sensei during the Nine-Tails attack, just as Hikaru claimed?
A thousand questions surged in Kakashi's mind—and finally burst out:
"Obito! If you were alive all this time… why didn't you come back to the village?! Why betray everything?! Why did you kill Minato-sensei and Kushina-sensei!?"
Kakashi dashed forward, fury blazing, and slammed his blood-soaked right fist into Obito's face.
Obito stumbled back, turning his head from the blow.
"Tch."
He spat out a mouthful of blood, wiping his lips with his left hand.
"If you want to keep calling me by that name, go ahead. It doesn't mean anything to me anymore."
"Whether I'm alive or not—it's irrelevant."
He sneered.
"And why?"
"If you want a reason… it's because you let Rin die."
"You killed Rin with your own hands. So don't stand there pretending you have the right to question me."
His words—and the dead look in his eyes—stabbed deep into Kakashi's heart.
The memory of Rin's death surged back with brutal clarity. Kakashi stared at his bloodstained right hand, and the image before him blurred with the past.
That moment—the pain, the loss—was reborn.
Tears welled up and slid down his face.
"Yes… You're right. I killed Rin. I failed to protect my comrades."
Uchiha Hikaru, watching from the side, let out a quiet sigh.
"No, Kakashi. You're not the same man you'll be nine years from now. You still have room to grow."
"Kakashi, Rin chose to die by your hand—she used your Chidori to end her life. She did it to protect Konoha from the Three-Tails. Don't blame yourself. Don't let her sacrifice be in vain."
"I'm sure Rin wouldn't want to see you like this in the afterlife."
Kakashi wiped the tears from his cheeks with his left hand and steadied himself.
He stood tall and looked Obito in the eye.
"Hikaru, you're right. Rin was a hero of the village. I can't betray her memory."
His voice turned cold and resolute as he drew a kunai with his right hand, gripping it in reverse.
"I won't let you win, Obito. Even if you've abandoned everything, I'll still carry out what we once believed in!"
A renewed fighting spirit burned in his eyes. He dropped into a ready stance, keeping Obito within his sights.
"My father's will. Rin's hope. Your dream, Obito—I'll protect the village and my comrades, no matter what!"
His words were like steel—unbreakable.
Obito stared at Kakashi and suddenly laughed.
"Hahahahahahahaha!"
Then his expression twisted into bitter rage.
"She decided to die at the hands of someone she loved… to protect the Hidden Leaf."
"No matter what words you say— to me, the you who could not protect Rin is an imposter."
"To me, Rin is someone not meant to die. So the dead Rin…is also an imposter."
"Rin is only Rin— if she's alive! "
His voice rose to a furious roar, echoing in the ruined chamber.
"The Shinobi System, the village, shinobi themselves— they created these circumstances!"
"What caused me to despair... is this world itself!"
"THIS COUNTERFEIT WORLD!"
He raised both hands to the hole in his chest, clutching it tightly.
"Look at me! There is nothing in my heart. I don't feel pain any longer . All that remains is a single desire…"
"To reshape this world. And destroy this cursed shinobi system!"
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