Chapter 4: Where's Your Sharingan?
The rain was still falling.
Drip... drip... drip...
Kakashi didn't linger and returned to the Hatake compound.
It was empty.
The rather large house was filled with an air of desolation and coldness. At the same time, there was the faint smell of dust, a sign that no one had lived here for a long time.
Putting down his luggage, Kakashi went back to his own room.
Without hesitation, he opened the bottom drawer of his desk.
"As I thought, it's still here," Kakashi said softly, looking at the object in the drawer.
Inside was a broken sword.
The shattered blade had been carelessly placed in this drawer as if it were trash.
In the dim light, the fractured blade seemed to emit a silent gleam.
Who would have thought that this was the sword of the once-famous Sakumo Hatake, Konoha's White Fang, who had suppressed the entire shinobi world with just this single short sword?
After his death, his own son had not only managed to break it but hadn't even a single thought of reforging or repairing it, instead tossing it into this forgotten corner.
Carefully, Kakashi collected the broken pieces, one by one, and placed them on the desk.
He wiped the dust off them.
The gloom faded, and the bright, snow-white blade was revealed once more.
Looking at this familiar glint, Kakashi couldn't help but gently stroke the broken edge.
Now that he had lost the Sharingan, he had to quickly pick up the sword skills he had abandoned for two years.
Kakashi couldn't understand why his original self had abandoned his father's blade to choose the Sharingan, which didn't even belong to him. It wasn't as if the two couldn't be used together.
However, he was here now.
This sword would once again bloom with the light of Konoha's White Fang.
It was just that the sword was broken and needed to be reforged.
And Kakashi also felt this sword was a bit too short; it was more appropriate to call it a dagger than a sword.
Kakashi carefully packed the broken blade. He planned to visit the Uchiha clan to seek the help of the Ninja Cat clan after paying his respects to Minato Namikaze.
The Ninja Cats were renowned as master smiths in the shinobi world. Their ninja tools were all of a high standard.
However, the Ninja Cats were the exclusive summons of the Uchiha clan. It was rare for an outsider to obtain a weapon from them.
Thinking of the Uchiha clan, Kakashi's expression became a little strange.
During the Nine-Tails attack, the three-tomoe Sharingan had been clearly visible in the house-sized eyes of that ferocious, terrifying beast.
And throughout that night, not a single Uchiha had come to help seal the Nine-Tails.
Never mind the villagers; even many Konoha shinobi likely held suspicions about the Uchiha clan.
If Kakashi wanted to go to the Uchiha clan to find the Ninja Cats to reforge the White Fang, it was best to do it as soon as possible.
Otherwise, the mastermind who had prevented the Uchiha from joining the battle would soon make their move.
Contacting the Uchiha clan at that point would inevitably lead to some nasty rumors.
But even so, Kakashi didn't really care.
Rumors?
Forget the original Kakashi; hadn't he seen enough of those in the information-bombarded era of his past life?
He'd seen it all.
With this thought, Kakashi put away the broken pieces of the White Fang, grabbed some money, and went out.
He bought some fruit from a street-side shop and then went into a nearby flower shop.
Kakashi had originally intended to buy only two bouquets of white chrysanthemums, but he paused for a moment and bought one more.
The cemetery was located in a corner of Konoha. Although it was a bit remote, it had a quiet and tranquil feel.
There weren't many people on the road.
Even though the village had just suffered heavy casualties, nearly half a month had passed.
The living were destined to look forward.
To wallow excessively in the grief of the departed was to teeter on the edge of self-destruction.
Many new gravestones had been added to the cemetery. A white chrysanthemum was placed in front of each one.
Kakashi glanced at the new tombstones, then walked toward the Memorial Stone at the very front.
Minato Namikaze's grave was easy to find. As the Yondaime Hokage, his grave was right next to those of Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju.
It was a joint grave for Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.
Kakashi placed the two bouquets of white chrysanthemums and the fruit he had bought in front of the grave. He crouched down, looking at the photos on the tombstone.
In his memory, this golden-haired, blue-eyed man always seemed to wear a gentle smile. But the man on the tombstone had a calm expression that Kakashi had rarely seen.
"You didn't have to die..."
Kakashi respected Minato Namikaze, but he didn't understand him.
The Eight Trigrams Seal and the Four Symbols Seal would have been enough to re-seal the Nine-Tails. Why did he have to follow his wife in death?
Leaving this one sentence behind, Kakashi turned and left without hesitation, walking to a corner of the cemetery based on his memory.
But as he looked at the fresh, dew-covered white chrysanthemums in front of the tombstone, Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly.
Rin was an orphan. After her death, besides Kakashi, very few people would come to see her.
His eyes scanned the surroundings. There was no one else, only rows of neat tombstones. But the white chrysanthemums proved that someone had been here.
Kakashi impassively crouched down, looking at the gentle and sweet girl on the tombstone.
This was a girl who would rather die herself than let her comrades be harmed.
To have such a fanatical and crazed... admirer...
It must have been an extremely painful thing for her.
Kakashi had already guessed who the visitor was.
Obito Uchiha.
The instigator of the Nine-Tails attack.
"I'll come and see you again... next time."
Kakashi patted the tombstone and then left the cemetery, his hands in his pockets.
As he was leaving, his gaze subconsciously fell on a nearby gravestone.
"Maa, I forgot about you today."
"I'll bring you flowers next time."
"Old man."
He gave Sakumo Hatake's tombstone a quick glance, then left.
The cemetery seemed to return to its peaceful state.
Not long after Kakashi left, a dark figure emerged from the small woods near the cemetery.
The person was dressed in black and wore a single-eyed mask with a tiger-stripe pattern.
A single scarlet eye under the mask stared at Kakashi's retreating back.
He silently walked to Rin Nohara's grave. Looking at the bouquet of white chrysanthemums Kakashi had placed, the chest under his black robes heaved slightly, as if he was suppressing some great anger and pain.
He picked up the bouquet and, as if venting, threw it viciously to the side.
...
[Emotional Fluctuation from Obito Uchiha +1]
[Chakra +1%]
"Who are you?"
A sudden voice shattered the cemetery's silence.
Kakashi, who had supposedly left, now stood at the cemetery gate. His pair of black eyes stared at the masked man with a trace of coldness.
"I see. You sensed my presence?"
The man silently, slowly turned to look at the white-haired boy who had returned. A hoarse and deep voice came from Obito Uchiha's mouth.
"As expected of the famous... Sharingan..."
"Where's your Sharingan?"