"Eh?"
This situation feels a bit off.
Hearing that Hakushi wanted to teach him how to use the Sharingan, Obito's face immediately became suspicious.
"Aren't you a medical ninja? How are you going to teach me how to use the Sharingan?"
"I know a little about the Sharingan, just enough. Teaching a rookie Uchiha like you is more than enough of a challenge."
"Something about this feels really fishy. You said earlier that when Lin returns to Konoha, the village would hand her over to Hidden Waterfall Village—are you sure you aren't lying to me?"
Obito was deeply suspicious.
"Even if I am lying to you, do you really think Lin would be happy if she comes back to Konoha, is surrounded by old memories, and recalls her past? Would that really be happiness for her?"
Hakushi smiled, countering Obito with a question of his own.
Obito stared intently at Hakushi, feeling as if the words 'scheming' were written all over Hakushi's face.
"I get it. Tell me the whole story later. Right now, I need some time to calm down and think."
Obito was in a foul mood as he made his way down the stairs.
Hakushi didn't try to stop him. He'd said all that needed saying. The rest—well, letting Obito calm down on his own might be for the best.
He stuffed his hands into the white coat pockets as the rooftop wind ruffled his hair.
Soon after, Hakushi glanced to the side. At some point, a lone figure had appeared—cold and beautiful, with long black hair fluttering in the breeze. It was Ruri.
"Since the brothers Uchiha Madara, no Uchiha in decades has awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. Who would've thought that now, a twelve-year-old kid could jump straight from the Two-Tomoe Sharingan to the Mangekyo stage? If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it."
Ruri let out a long breath, a complicated emotion flickering in her gaze.
She'd always been confident that her Three-Tomoe Sharingan's donjutsu was no less powerful than the Mangekyo Sharingan. But when it came to the hierarchy of Sharingan, being surpassed by a twelve-year-old junior was a hard pill to swallow for her—a Uchiha ninja celebrated as a genius since childhood.
"All I can say is that he has a special talent for awakening the eyes. Otherwise, Madara wouldn't be keeping an eye on him."
That was Hakushi's response.
As for calling Obito the Uchiha clan's third member in history to ever unlock the Mangekyo Sharingan, well, that might not be accurate.
Hakushi knew, after all, that he had another pair of Mangekyo Sharingan with an unidentified owner, secreted away for his own use.
Strictly speaking, Obito's Mangekyo Sharingan was the fourth pair.
Of course, even this isn't completely correct, since the Uchiha clan's history stretches back a thousand years. In all that time, who's to say no other Uchiha had unlocked the Mangekyo Sharingan—just with no surviving record in the clan's historical texts?
"Tell me, am I getting old?"
Ruri suddenly asked, staring straight at Hakushi.
Hakushi coughed, smiling as he replied, "How could you be? Ruri, you're not even twenty-two yet—still young and beautiful. Obito is just one of the rare exceptions in the Uchiha Clan, not the norm. And awakening those eyes too early is not necessarily a good thing."
To awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan at twelve years old—truthfully, it was an astonishing feat.
When Ruri graduated Ninja School at twelve, her Sharingan had only just awakened to the Two-Tomoe stage.
"Awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan so young is definitely not a good thing. If that Lin girl weren't alive, who knows what terrible thing he'd do? You need to watch out when you're teaching him."
Ruri's expression grew grave.
Obito's emotions were stable now only because Lin lived—only then could he slowly suppress the negative emotions of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
This much, Ruri understood all too well.
"Don't worry—I won't let him go off the rails. I plan to take Lin as my disciple as well. That's the only way I'll feel comfortable using him."
It did seem a little manipulative, but Hakushi believed there had to be a chain fastened firmly around Obito's neck.
Until the darkness in Obito's heart was erased, that chain would be the best way to restrain him, to effectively prevent him from running amok.
And as for who held the key to that chain—without a doubt, Lin was the only one fit for the job.
Only Lin could really guide Obito. Even if he knew it was a trap, even if he knew it was restricting his freedom, he would gladly walk right in. Willingly let himself be bound.
"By the way, that little girl—has she really lost her memory?"
As she was about to leave, Ruri asked this out of curiosity.
Hakushi stood there silently for a long moment before finally answering, "Ruri, everyone has some memory they can hardly bear to recall. To survive something like that and still keep going—that requires tremendous strength. Whether she's pretending to have amnesia or really has lost her memory, it doesn't matter anymore."
Because even Obito—the one involved—chose to forgive Lin's selfishness back then. As outsiders, it wasn't their place to interfere in this matter.
The rest should be left to the two of them, to communicate and understand one another. That's the best way to resolve things. Anyone else would only make things messier.
◎
Konoha Chunin Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin are now listed as missing persons in the records.
After Kakashi returned to Konoha and reported everything, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, made the final decision on the matter.
At the same time, as Hokage, Hiruzen also disciplined Kakashi for leaving the camp without authorization—over the next two years, all of Kakashi's mission rewards would be confiscated.