When Kakashi and the others returned to Konoha, it was the early morning of a rest day.
White steam rose from the chimneys of every household.
Villagers could be seen yawning and greeting each other as they went out to shop.
The team disbanded, and Minato went to the Hokage Building alone to report on the mission.
After leaving the building, he went straight to Kushina's house.
He wanted to give Kushina a surprise and be the first person to say good morning to her that day.
But when he knocked on Kushina's door, he saw that her eyes were red and swollen, as if she hadn't slept all night.
When she looked at him, there was a glint of tears in her eyes.
Minato's heart tightened.
He quickly entered the house, locked the door, and grabbed Kushina's arm to offer comfort.
"What happened?" he asked in a deep voice.
"Minato..."
Kushina's lips trembled.
Even though her rational mind had long accepted the inevitability of death in a shinobi's life, her heart still grieved.
What's more, this was a child that she and her sister, Kana, had cared for deeply.
"Naraku... is dead."
Minato's eyes widened slightly.
His breathing faltered for a moment.
He paused for several seconds before asking, "...Is this news confirmed?"
"Might Duy went on a mission with Naraku, and he reported it personally."
Another red-haired figure walked out of the room.
She was a little thinner than Kushina, holding a damaged forehead protector against her chest.
Kana's voice was hoarse from crying, her tone soft but stiff.
"Lord Minato... Kakashi is back, isn't he?"
"Kana, why don't we wait until tomorrow to talk about it?"
Kushina forced a smile, trying to stop her sister, who seemed on the verge of an outburst.
"Don't worry, Sister Kushina, I won't fight with Kakashi."
Kana shook her head.
She lowered her gaze to look at the Konoha symbol on the metal plate, her long hair falling forward to obscure her expression.
This was Naraku's memento, which she had retrieved from the Hokage Building.
Might Duy had searched near that cliff for two days.
He only recovered this forehead protector, which had been snagged on the edge of the rubble.
He had almost burst into tears when he handed it to her.
"Naraku definitely wouldn't want me to blame Kakashi."
"If that child sees us from the afterlife, he might even blame himself for it."
"He was just... such a silly boy."
As she spoke, Kana choked up again.
The tears she thought she had exhausted welled up once more, streaming down her cheeks.
She could no longer suppress her sobs, pouring out her regret and self-blame as she teetered on the verge of collapse.
"I just regret it so much... I regret that I saw something was wrong at the time, but I didn't dare to ask."
"If I had been more direct, like you said, Sister, would they have reconciled sooner?"
"If they had, Naraku wouldn't have... felt like he was all alone when he died."
After leaving the team, Kakashi went straight to the hospital.
He was always a little uneasy when speaking with his father.
The anxious and irritable emotions made it impossible for him to concentrate, so he ended the visit in a hurry.
Originally, he thought about resting at home that day.
However, when he walked out of the hospital, he saw a familiar person standing by the roadside.
She was holding something in her hand, quietly watching him.
"Kana?"
He strode over.
The more he saw the tired and sad look on her face, the more he felt an ominous premonition in his heart.
It wrapped around his internal organs and embedded itself deep in his flesh and blood.
He vaguely realized something, but he forcibly pulled his thoughts away, forcing himself not to think too much.
"What... what's wrong?"
He didn't even realize that his voice trembled when he spoke.
"Kakashi," Kana said in a hoarse voice, traces of redness from crying still visible at the corners of her eyes. "Naraku is dead."
It was as if a clap of thunder had split the sky above Kakashi's head.
His face suddenly turned pale.
A strong wave of dizziness struck, separating him from the world.
He could only hear the gurgling flow of blood in his ears and his own rapid, heavy breathing.
"What... what?"
He took a step forward, his legs so weak that he almost couldn't stand.
The hands he placed on Kana's shoulders couldn't exert any strength, and his trembling became more and more intense.
"You said... what happened to Naraku...?"
Kakashi held on to the last glimmer of hope, suspecting that he had misheard.
But Kana shattered this illusion, repeating it once more in an unmistakable tone.
"Naraku is dead. He is gone."
The red-haired girl had already run out of tears.
She stared at Kakashi's dazed face for a long time, then looked at the withered tree not far behind him.
High in the branches, two sparrows were huddled together, preening each other's feathers.
Her voice was hollow and erratic.
"Kakashi, do you know?"
"When Naraku saved me, when we were both about to give up, he told me how good Konoha was."
"He told me how prosperous it was, and how kind the people of Konoha were."
"At that time, I thought, 'Really? How could there be such a good place?'"
"Later, after listening more closely, I realized that although he was talking about Konoha, all he said was 'Kakashi, Kakashi'..."
"He didn't mention anyone else at all."
"In truth, Naraku didn't care about anything else. He only cared about you."
"Why, Kakashi?"
Tears slid down Kana's chapped eyes, mixed with a tinge of red.
"Why... why did Naraku have to die?"
Why did he fall into that abyss alone, with so many regrets...?
Her words were like the mournful cry of a bird weeping blood.
They turned into cold blades, carving Kakashi's heart piece by piece until it was riddled with holes and bleeding profusely.
The world seemed to stand still at this moment.
Only boundless darkness and cold remained, enveloping him and gnawing at his soul.
Kakashi felt an unprecedented emptiness, as if a part of himself had also shattered and disappeared, turning into dust in the wind.
He didn't know how he made it back home.
When he came back to his senses, he was already standing in the living room.
His right hand was tightly gripping a damaged forehead protector.
The broken edge cut through his palm, and blood dripped onto the floor, forming a small pool.
Naraku is dead?
He vaguely recalled the news he had just heard and looked around blankly.
A ray of sunlight sneaked in through the crack in the window and hit the pure white long sword on the rack.
That was the chakra blade that his father had forged for Naraku.
Would it never be used again?
Kakashi suddenly ran over, without thinking, and strapped both his and Naraku's swords to his back.
I'm going to save him! I have to save him!
...Why?
There is no 'why'! Naraku is more important than the mission!
...Then why did you force him to choose the mission like others, instead of you?
Kakashi stopped.
The memory of that night reappeared.
He looked at the words and deeds of his past self and whispered, "Yeah, why?"
Clearly, I chose the wrong path myself... Why did I use this method to force Naraku to choose the 'correct' one?
Why didn't I ever consider his feelings?
Crack—
An extremely subtle sound came from the depths of his mind.
Then, Kakashi heard the call with incomparable clarity.
"Kakashi!"
Turning his head to look in the direction of the sound, he saw a thin figure emitting a faint warm glow running from the distance, holding up a wet towel.
It was the six-year-old Naraku.
"I think that one looks better."
The figure sitting on the outer corridor looked a little older, pointing to the empty sky and smiling sideways at the empty spot beside him.
It was the seven-year-old Naraku.
"Why is it always my turn?"
Another shadow with a forehead protector poked his head out of the kitchen.
He was holding a handful of fresh vegetables, looking at him with puffed-up cheeks, but his hands did not stop working.
It was the eight-year-old Naraku.
"Look, it will protect me."
A young shadow about the same height as him came over.
He raised his right hand high to show him the amulet hanging there, signaling him to take out his own.
It was the nine-year-old Naraku.
"I..."
Kakashi subconsciously touched his chest.
Then he remembered that he had thrown the amulet away himself.
The shadows surrounding him gradually disappeared.
Only the last one remained, wet all over, standing alone and helpless in the courtyard with endless confusion and emptiness in his eyes.
"Kakashi... I'm sorry... It's all my fault..."
"Naraku..."
Kakashi murmured softly.
His head hurt more and more, but he still subconsciously retorted.
"No..."
Crack—
Another fracture sounded.
His true self, which had been struggling in pain all along, finally broke through the shackles at this moment.
It shattered the technique that had sealed his heart.
Endless light burst out from the cracks in the barrier, liberating his soul.
Kakashi shed tears.
"...It's not your fault."