How could Obito, whose eyes are full of Rin, be fake!
After Uchiha Yi left, Kakashi leaned silently against the rough bark of a towering tree, his visible eye dim and unfocused. For a long time, he could not regain the calm composure expected of a Konoha jonin and former Anbu captain.
This conversation had shaken him to his core.
Uchiha Yi, disguising himself as Uchiha Obito, had revealed an avalanche of truths each one heavier than the last.
Among them was the most unforgivable of all: the Nine-Tails incident that plunged Konoha into chaos and bloodshed.
That night.
The night the masked man released Kurama.
The night the Fourth Hokage fell.
Even his teacher, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and his master's wife, Kushina Uzumaki, sacrificed their lives sealing the Nine-Tails to protect the village.
And "Obito" had calmly declared
He did it.
He controlled the Nine-Tails.
He caused it all.
In other words, the deaths of Minato-sensei and Kushina-san were directly connected to him.
How could that be possible?
Kakashi's first instinct was denial.
Impossible.
The Obito he knew would never commit such a crime.
The boy who was always late because he helped strangers on the road…
The boy who gave his Sharingan to a friend without hesitation…
The boy who cried loudly but loved fiercely.
That Obito?
The one who once dreamed of becoming Hokage?
He would never slaughter innocent villagers. He would never harm Minato-sensei.
And yet
No matter how much Kakashi tried to deceive himself, the reality was suffocating.
He had considered the possibility that this "Obito" was an imposter.
After all, the masked man had hidden his identity for years.
But the details.
The memories.
The tone of voice when he spoke about Rin.
The private moments only the two of them shared during the Kannabi Bridge mission.
Especially
Those eyes.
In Obito's remaining eye, Kakashi saw only one reflection.
Rin.
Not hatred for the world.
Not ambition.
Not even power.
Just Rin.
That obsessive, unwavering grief.
How could that be fake?
Some time ago, a mysterious Uchiha had stirred unrest in Konoha and exposed secrets buried beneath the surface of the village. He had even revealed that the death of Kakashi's father, Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha, may have involved political manipulation from within the higher ranks.
Whether Kakashi wanted to believe it or not, suspicion had already begun to circle him like vultures.
After this mission, regardless of his wishes, he would likely be forced to step down from Anbu.
He was already exhausted by doubt.
Now this revelation about Obito and Rin's death being manipulated during the Third Shinobi War added yet another crack to his faith.
The fall of the Uzumaki clan.
The gradual disappearance of the Senju name from power.
The extermination of the Uchiha clan.
One tragedy after another.
All roads seemed to lead toward the same direction
The Konoha leadership, once headed by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
For the first time, Kakashi's belief in the Will of Fire wavered.
Perhaps…
There were truths in Konoha he had never been allowed to see.
"Kakashi-senpai… should we continue the mission… or return to the village?"
Uzuki Yugao's voice trembled slightly. The secrets she had overheard were not minor intelligence leaks. They were world-shattering.
If word spread, it could destabilize the entire village.
"Before we return," Kakashi said slowly, forcing himself to regain composure, "I need your cooperation."
"If what we heard today reaches the village prematurely, it will cause chaos."
"So until I uncover the truth myself, no one else can know. Please."
He looked at his teammates steadily.
"What? Kakashi, are you planning to silence us?"
"Are you betraying the village?!"
Another teammate panicked, stepping back in fear.
Kakashi's eye twitched.
"I"
For a moment, he nearly cursed aloud.
"Will you let me finish?"
He exhaled sharply.
Using the Body Flicker Technique, he appeared beside the panicking shinobi and struck the side of his neck precisely. The man collapsed instantly, unconscious but unharmed.
Uzuki Yugao watched carefully.
"Does that include the Hokage?" she asked cautiously.
"The Uchiha incident hasn't settled yet," Kakashi replied gravely. "The village is already unstable because of the masked man's previous actions."
"If the truth about the Nine-Tails attack leaks now, Konoha could fracture from within."
This was not treason.
It was containment.
Regardless of whether his father's death was political.
Regardless of whether Rin had been turned into a weapon by the Hidden Mist Village and forced into his path.
Regardless of whether Obito's descent into darkness began with manipulation by unseen hands.
He would find the truth.
But not like this.
Not through panic.
The priority now was clear.
Find Obito.
There were things left unsaid between them.
Although "Obito" had revealed much, contradictions still lingered.
Yet those emotional cracks, that impulsive bitterness, that unpolished honesty
They matched the Obito Kakashi remembered.
Even years later, some traits had not changed.
"Because of Rin… do you want revenge against everyone responsible for her death?"
Kakashi's thoughts sharpened.
If Obito sought vengeance, then his most likely target was not Konoha first
But Kirigakure.
After all, Rin had been forcibly turned into the Three-Tails' jinchuriki by Hidden Mist shinobi, part of a larger scheme during the war.
Compared to invading Konoha, destabilized yet heavily guarded, the Hidden Mist Village might seem a more direct path for revenge.
"All right," Uzuki Yugao said after a long silence. "I'll trust you."
"Just in case," Kakashi added solemnly, "I will place a temporary memory seal on you regarding today's conversation."
She nodded.
At this point, there was no turning back.
Meanwhile.
Far from the forest.
Uchiha Yi, having flawlessly performed the emotional entanglement of love and hatred before Kakashi, felt as though he had just completed a masterful stage performance.
It was exhilarating.
He had carefully studied Obito's psychology.
The trauma of watching Rin die.
The hatred born from manipulation by Madara.
The twisted ideal of creating a world where Rin still lived.
To deceive Kakashi, one could not simply imitate appearance.
One had to understand the pain.
Especially that singular obsession
Rin.
Even in the original history, Obito's entire descent into darkness revolved around her death.
A boy who once cherished comrades above all.
A man who would later declare war on the entire shinobi world.
The same person.
Different heart.
Uchiha Yi smirked faintly.
He wondered
If the real Obito learned that Kakashi now suspected the truth, what expression would appear on his face beneath that spiral mask?
Shock?
Anger?
Or silent despair?
After all
How could Obito, whose eyes were filled only with Rin…
Ever be mistaken for someone else?