Watching Rin Nohara die at Kakashi's hands, Obito felt his entire world collapse. The girl he loved most had died just like that.
Worse yet, she had died by the hand of his best friend.
In an instant, the blood-red pupils of Obito's right eye shifted. His two tomoe merged into three, and then those three tomoe transformed into a singular, strange sigil that resembled a shuriken.
This was Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Rin..." In the distance, Kakashi stared at the fallen Rin Nohara. His left eye spun involuntarily, manifesting its own Mangekyō Sharingan in that heartbeat.
However, Kakashi was not of the Uchiha Clan. Under the sudden, violent surge of the Mangekyō's power, he was instantly overwhelmed and plunged into unconsciousness, collapsing to the ground.
"Take them both right now!" The Mist Ninja nearby reacted quickly, moving to seize their prizes.
"You all... must die." A strange, distorted figure entered the Mist Ninjas' vision.
"It's a Konoha ninja!" one of the Mist Ninja barked, startled for a moment. "Kill him!"
Boom!
Obito slammed his foot into the earth, charging toward the Mist Ninja with ferocious speed. One half of his body was covered in a mass of gnarled, wooden branches.
"Kill him!" The Mist Ninja unleashed a barrage of shuriken at the boy. To their horror, the blades passed directly through Obito's body as if he were a ghost. He took no damage at all.
This was the power of his eyethe ability of the Mangekyō Sharingan, Kamui.
Bang! Obito's fist slammed into a Mist Ninja's chest. Suddenly, countless wooden branches erupted from within the man's body, impaling him from the inside out.
Wood Release: Cutting Technique!
"Die!" Several Mist Ninja descended from above, their long blades stabbing into Obito's form.
They felt no sensation of steel entering flesh. Instead, it felt as though they were striking solid rock.
"Wood Release: Great Spear Tree!"
Countless trees spiraled out of the ground with violent force, instantly shredding the Mist Ninja who stood in their path.
A few moments later...
Every Mist Ninja in the clearing lay dead. The ground was a literal river of blood.
Obito stood over Rin Nohara's body, a tear of blood leaking from his right eye. "Rin... without you, I am already in hell."
He stood there in silence, staring down at her like a frozen statue.
"Rin, we will meet again. I promise." Obito finally turned, stumbling away from the site of the massacre. He remembered everything Madara had told him. "Rin, we will surely meet again..."
Obito vanished into the distance.
Unseen by the boy, two figures slowly emerged from the shadows.
"I didn't expect this plan to go so perfectly. It's even more satisfying than I anticipated," the middle-aged Madara said with a cold smile.
"Indeed. That was the Mangekyō just now, wasn't it? It felt like some sort of space-time power," White Zetsu added thoughtfully.
"It is the Mangekyō, the supreme power of the Uchiha Clan," Madara laughed. "With this, achieving my plan will be much easier."
Madara turned to his companion. "In the future, White Zetsu, I expect I will have to leave much of this in your hands."
"You aren't dead yet, it's too early to say that," White Zetsu said, shaking his head. "You still have quite a bit of teaching to do for that kid, Obito."
"Of course. Ninjutsu, Six Paths Jutsu, all of it. Obito is a blank slate right now. Aside from the Mangekyō, I need to give him other weapons," Madara's eyes flickered with a burning intensity. "Because he is to be another Madara Uchiha."
"Shall we go reclaim the Three-Tails now?" White Zetsu asked directly.
"Let's go." Madara smiled faintly.
The two quickly reached Rin Nohara's corpse. With the host dead, the Tailed Beast would easily emerge. Although Madara had tampered with the seal, it wouldn't hold for long.
"Time to reclaim the Three-Tails." Madara wove a series of hand seals, quickly resealing the Three-Tails that had been trapped within Rin.
"Should we kill this one too?" White Zetsu asked, looking over at Kakashi.
"We cannot. He is the witness," Madara smiled coldly. "The witness who will ensure Obito carries a deep despair for this world. He is the proof of Obito's descent into hell. How could we kill him?"
"Fair enough," White Zetsu shrugged.
"Then let us leave." Madara and White Zetsu vanished into the shadows.
Madara didn't bother with the bodies of the Mist Ninja. They were meant to die from the beginning.
The bloodied clearing was a scene of utter desolation, the pools of gore beginning to dry under the open sky.
"Where am I...?" Kakashi groaned as he slowly pushed himself off the ground. His eyes fell upon Rin's body, surrounded by the corpses of the Mist Ninja.
"Rin." Tears began to stream down Kakashi's face. He remembered now. He had killed Rin, even if she had forced his hand.
"Rin, I'm taking you back." Kakashi picked her up in his arms and began to walk, leaving one heavy footprint after another. He didn't even stop to wonder why the Mist Ninja were dead.
First Obito was gone, and now Rinhis only remaining teammatewas dead too.
The blow was nearly fatal to Kakashi's spirit. He felt as though his mind and body were on the verge of a total collapse, filled only with a sense of deathly silence.
"Those who don't treasure their comrades are trash..." Kakashi gave a bitter, hollow smile as he slowly left that place of sorrow behind.
Before long, Kakashi arrived at the Konoha encampment.
Minato Namikaze quickly discovered the situation. Seeing Rin Nohara dead and Kakashi looking like a hollow shell of a human being, Minato took a deep breath. He realized he had to make a request of the Third Hokage.
Inside a certain tent in the Konoha camp, two men were seated: Minato Namikaze and Tianyuan.
"Tianyuan, Rin died this time as well," Minato said softly.
"Rin is dead." Tianyuan was stunned for a moment. He hadn't expected things to still end this way. "What about Kakashi?"
"He isn't physically injured, but his current state makes him unfit for combat," Minato said, shaking his head. "That's why I want you to help me write a letter to the Third Hokage. We need to send Kakashi back to Konoha to recuperate."
"Understood. Let Kakashi go back for a while," Tianyuan replied quietly.
"Thank you, Tianyuan." Minato looked exhausted. After all, two of his students were now gone.
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