Ever since Kakashi returned to the past, more than three years had gone by. He stared at the sky, feeling a cold pressure spreading in the air. "That suffocating feeling again… looks like it's finally here."
A week later, in the morning, Kakashi was out on the street as usual when the already frigid air turned even colder. "Could it be…? I need to move—Rin will be in danger."
Kakashi reached Rin's place. "Rin! Rin!"
"Kakashi, what brings you here?" Rin's cheeks were flushed as she spoke. Kakashi didn't waste words. He stepped forward. "Rin, come with me. Don't stray far from me today." Hearing that, Rin's face reddened even more and she lowered her head in silence. Realizing how his words might sound, Kakashi hurried to add, "Ah—don't get the wrong idea, Rin. I mean, I want you to come out and hang out with me today." "O-oh, r-really?"
"Yeah, come on." He took Rin's hand and led her toward the shelter. Seeing where he'd brought her, Rin asked, "Kakashi, the shelter?"
"That's right. Stay here today. Don't come out." No sooner had he finished than a series of thunderous booms shook the air. Even inside the shelter, the noise was deafening.
Hearing the chaos outside, Rin seemed to understand. "Kakashi, you knew something would happen today, didn't you? I know you mean well, but if a shinobi of Konoha stands by while the village faces destruction, they might as well be dead." Kakashi froze, then said, "I understand, Rin. But don't worry—I won't let you die." A long-lost smile touched Rin's face, her cheeks faintly pink.
"Let's go, Rin." "Un."
"Hey, you two! Orders from above—you're not allowed to join the fight!" A jōnin guarding the shelter moved to stop them, but Kakashi flickered out of sight.
At the front, countless Konoha shinobi were laying down their lives for the village and their comrades. Kakashi's chest churned at the sight. "Nine-Tails, I'll stop you."
He drew the Blood Sword and flared open the already boiling Sharingan in his left eye. With that blood-red eye and the crimson blade, he looked like a god of war. Glancing over, he saw Rin treating the wounded with full concentration. "Rin, I'll do everything I can to protect you and the village."
Elsewhere, the Sandaime Hokage looked at Minato, whose resolve was set. "Is there no other way, Minato?"
Already the Yondaime, Minato's gaze was firm. "I plan to seal part of the Nine-Tails' chakra into Naruto. That technique can't seal all of it—the fox is too strong. Besides, I want my son to one day use that power to protect Konoha."
"Minato—no, Yondaime. On behalf of the entire village… thank you." The Third bowed slightly. Minato hurried to lift him. "As Hokage, it's my duty and my responsibility."
"Yondaime…" The Third's eyes grew wet as he watched Minato's back.
With a shunshin, Minato appeared before infant Naruto, smiling gently as his hands flashed through seals. "Naruto, I'm going to begin the sealing."
Just then, a black figure streaked past. "Yondaime Hokage, I won't let you take the Nine-Tails."
"You—?" Minato blinked, and the man in the spiral mask snatched Naruto away. Minato's brows knit. "Damn it. I have to get Naruto back." The masked man, well aware of Minato's intent, laughed. "Try me, Minato. I've been looking forward to this."
Minato's eyes narrowed. He drew a special kunai and, with a flicker, appeared behind the man. "Rasengan." "Heh. Such a low-level technique won't work on me." The Rasengan passed through the masked man's body. Minato didn't flinch. "A space-time technique, huh? You can't hold that state forever. Then watch my space-time."
Another flicker—Minato appeared in front of him. "Hiden—Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God)." He didn't strike the masked man; instead, with a feint, he snatched Naruto back in an instant. "As expected of the Yondaime," the masked man cackled, watching Minato in the distance holding the baby. "Even a chakra-hungry space-time jutsu like Hiraishin, and you wield it so freely. But even if you save Naruto, you can't change the village being destroyed."
The words had barely left his mouth when Minato appeared right before him and pressed a hand to his chest. The masked man stiffened. "This is… Keiyaku Fūin (Contract Seal). You're severing me from the Nine-Tails—but how did you mark me…?" Then he spotted a Hiraishin kunai at his feet and understood. "I don't care who you are," Minato said coldly. "If you want to destroy Konoha, I won't allow it." The instant he severed the link with the Nine-Tails, Minato followed with a Rasengan—but it passed through the man again. "Very well. We'll see how this ends." Space warped around him, and he vanished. Minato frowned. "The priority now is sealing the Nine-Tails. I'll have to leave the rest to the Sandaime." With a swish, Minato disappeared with Naruto. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!" A giant toad appeared. "Let's go, Gamabunta."
Watching the Yondaime arrive on the battlefield, Kakashi whispered, "Minato-sensei, this time I'll fight for Konoha too." Then he turned toward the rampaging Nine-Tails. "Blood Slash—Scarlet Dance!" Crimson blade in hand, he flashed around the fox like lightning. The beast howled again and again, but the wounds closed at once. "What? No effect?" Kakashi was taken aback, then understood—this was the Nine-Tails, bearer of the most terrifying chakra in legend. He steadied himself, recalling moves from the "Hatake Blood Sword." "If that's how it is… let's try this. Blood Slash—Devour."
He rushed in, each cut without hesitation. With every strike, a thread of his own chakra sank into the fox's body. After a brutal exchange, he felt the chakra he'd sent in hook to the Nine-Tails' own, and a powerful suction yanked it back—now tinged with the fox's power. "You brat! You dare steal my chakra!" the Nine-Tails roared, gathering power in its maw. Kakashi's face changed. "A Bijūdama (Tailed Beast Bomb)…" He whirled and shouted, "Rin, look out!" With a leap, he scooped her up and sprinted. "Boom!" The sphere slammed into the ground, gouging out a massive crater. They had escaped—barely.
"Thank you, Kakashi," Rin said, eyes on the wounded. "I have to keep treating them." "Go, Rin."
Suddenly, Kakashi's voice cracked. "Rin! Look out!"
A giant claw descended over Rin—of course it was the Nine-Tails. "Rin!" Kakashi flashed to her side. "Rin, I'll protect you. Even if it kills me, I—" Rin cut him off. "Kakashi, you have to live. Even if… for my sake." With that, steeling herself for death, she shoved Kakashi away. "No—!" Kakashi's scream split the air. "Why… why didn't I change anything? That masked freak—this is your doing. I'll cut you down with my own hands." He hadn't seen the masked man, but after living through it once, he knew. The man had even claimed to be "Madara." Fury consumed Kakashi. "Masked man! One day I'll take your life!"
Dragging the blade, he charged the Nine-Tails. "Blood Slash—Scarlet Dance!" His rage sent the Blood Sword boiling. He hacked madly at the fox as his Sharingan spun faster and faster. His Mangekyō had already awakened, but now, around the shuriken-like pupil, three tomoe blossomed—Eien no Mangekyō Sharingan (Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan) opened.
Clarity returned. He scooped Rin into his arms. "I'm sorry, Rin… I was useless. But I promise I'll live on—for you. I'll avenge you and kill that man." Then he flickered to Minato's side. "Minato-sensei, how can I help?" "What—?" Minato stared, stunned by Kakashi's speed. "How…?"
"Sensei, what do you need? I want to help."
"Kakashi, I need the Nine-Tails immobilized to proceed."
"Leave it to me. Mangekyō Sharingan—Kūkan Gōri (Space Freeze)." With his evolved eyes, Kakashi's grasp of space-twisting dōjutsu had deepened. The air around the Nine-Tails warped, then crystallized as if frozen.
"Mangekyō Sharingan… Kakashi, you awakened it…" Minato was stunned. Few in the Uchiha had awakened it—yet an outsider had.
A bleak light passed through Kakashi's eyes. "Rin… is dead."
Minato understood. "I know what you're feeling… I feel it too. Everything Rin did was for the village. From here on… I'm entrusting Konoha to you."
Kakashi flinched. Minato's hands flashed through a final seal. "Fūin—Shiki Fūjin (Sealing—Reaper Death Seal)!" A grim specter loomed behind him. Its hand thrust through Minato's belly into the void and clenched. The Nine-Tails howled as its power waned.
Kakashi looked at the fox. "Even if you're going, remember my name—Kakashi. Dōjutsu—Kūkan Kyōsatsu (Space Strangle)!" The Nine-Tails roared and thrashed…
In the end, the Nine-Tails was sealed. The Yondaime fell. His wife perished when the beast was ripped from her body. Rin left this world as well. On the surface, nothing had changed. But Kakashi now possessed the Eien no Mangekyō Sharingan (Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan) and, through the Blood Sword's accident, had taken in a quarter of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
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