Chapter 126: Look at him, he looks like a dog!
"…"
Obito's bewildered face left Kakashi silent for a heartbeat.
In that instant, a storm of thoughts crossed Kakashi's mind. The relationship between Las Noches and Konoha. The strange balance between a "separate" organization and its "main" village. The tangled logic of alliances, funding, grudges, and pride. The simple fact that far too many of them were victims of the Konoha system, even when they pretended otherwise.
Las Noches had never truly escaped the Land of Fire's reach. Konoha received funding from the Fire Daimyo, yes, but Las Noches did too. In some ways it was even more important than Konoha, because it did not just take money, it produced it.
As a form of protection and leverage, the Fire Daimyo collected an annual maintenance fee from the Land of Whirlpools and treated Las Noches as a parallel administrative entity to Konoha. That alone explained why Konoha's attitude toward Las Noches stayed so hostile. To Konoha, it felt disgusting, like swallowing something you never wanted in your mouth. People the village once ignored had left, built their own faction, then came back strong enough to profit from the same system that looked down on them.
How were the original residents supposed to feel?
We bullied you because we thought we were stronger, and now you are proving you were never weak. Of course that makes us look ridiculous.
Even for something as childish as saving face, Konoha and Hueco Mundo had spiraled into an almost irreconcilable conflict.
Hueco Mundo's people wanted the truth of the world. Just as importantly, they wanted the ones who ostracized them to finally face a question: were they truly cursed, or were they simply victims of a rotten gaze?
Konoha's people, meanwhile, carved out their own future with desperation. They would rather die than lose face. Under those pressures, the relationship between the two sides was not exactly "sworn enemies," but it was certainly not friendly either.
They were tangled beyond clean separation. The chaos inside Konoha, and its united posture against outside threats, were both linked to Las Noches. The strongest village in the world had begun to run at full throttle, and once those engines started, they did not stop easily.
Kakashi understood that this was what Aizen wanted. A chaotic, complicated world where Konoha, Las Noches, and Root all existed as necessary gears. Danzo's Army Without Borders was the same. Most major villages called its members traitors, and treated its ideals as betrayal of homeland and nation.
In this era, everyone's choices mattered, and everyone had reasons to keep pushing.
Just as Aizen hoped, the world had become a grinding millstone that kept speeding up. People were swept into its torrent, studying through the night, working until their bones ached, moving for their own ideals and for the world's future.
That was why Konoha and Las Noches had to stay hostile.
If they openly reconciled, Konoha would become an undisputed superpower again. The other Lands would unite against it. A full Ninja World War could erupt overnight. Nobody wanted that. So even though both sides knew the truth, they had to glare at each other, because it was the only "correct" way to keep the world stable.
But what good was it to explain any of this to Obito?
Obito would just blink and go, "So you can still come back, right?"
So after a moment, Kakashi gave him a simpler answer.
"Because I'm happier there. Doing research is something I enjoy."
"Oh, I get it." Obito grinned around his shaved ice. "Then can Rin and I visit you sometime to hang out?"
"If I have time, sure."
"Great." Obito's eyes lit up. "I've been telling you I don't have time to visit, but if you can't come, we'll just come to you."
"…"
Obito beamed, gave a big thumbs up, and looked like he had solved the world's hardest riddle.
Kakashi sighed and lowered his head to finish his shaved ice.
Not long after, the bell rang again. Another wave of genin streamed out of the building. On the steps, a girl with two small markings on her cheeks and a gentle smile spotted them and waved brightly.
"Kakashi!"
"Rin, you're out!" Obito shouted, waving back so hard he nearly leaned into orbit.
Before he could say anything else, Rin dashed forward and threw her arms around Kakashi.
Tears spilled down her face instantly.
She clung to him like she had found something she thought she lost forever. Her fingers dug into the white fabric of his coat, and her voice shook with a mix of joy and grievance.
"Three years," she sobbed. "It's been three years, Kakashi. You said it wouldn't be long. You said online you'd come when you had time. Why are you only here now? Do you know how lonely I've been?"
"Ah… sorry." Kakashi's voice went softer. "I've been busy with Aizen."
"I know you and Lord Aizen have been doing big things," Rin sniffed, glancing up at him through tears. "But you've been lying to me for three years. Can't I be a little spoiled?"
"…Go ahead."
Kakashi sighed and let her cry against him.
He understood her.
Genius or not, some truths were obvious the moment you looked.
Rin liked him, a lot. Obito liked Rin, a lot.
But Kakashi did not feel romantic longing right now. He treasured his childhood and those friendships, even the memory of Might Guy screaming about youth until your ears hurt.
Yet compared to those feelings, Kakashi realized something unsettling.
What pulled at him now was farther than love. Farther than village bonds. Farther than the entire ninja world.
He wanted to know if the sealed lifeform Aizen had hinted at truly existed beneath the planet's crust. He wanted to know if the moon above was an artificial signal tower. He wanted to know if the sun could one day be harnessed as a pasture light source. He wanted to know what it felt like to travel among the stars.
Every time he looked through optical instruments at that endless sea of lights, he felt the limits of shinobi power.
Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi, could uproot mountains and grow forests from nothing. But compared to a whole planet, even that power was tiny. Even if Hashirama spent every day destroying peaks for a lifetime, he could not erase a third of the world, not to mention cleanse its biosphere.
Aizen had shown Kakashi a spectrum far more vast. It made Kakashi feel like he belonged to a different world from his old friends.
So when Rin cried in his arms, Kakashi only felt helpless affection, the doting softness of childhood friendship, not romance.
As they stood there, a group of dark skinned Cloud kunoichi passed by, glanced over, and started snickering.
"Hey, isn't that the guy who cried over his girlfriend earlier?"
"Look at him just standing there while his crush hugs someone else."
"Poor thing. He looks like a stray dog."
"Want us to help you, kid?"
"…"
Obito clenched his fists but did not answer.
He did not care about their ridicule. If Rin was happy, that was enough. The rest of the world could laugh itself hoarse for all he cared.
When the Cloud kunoichi finally grew bored and moved on, Obito let out a slow breath. Rin was wiping her eyes now, her arms loosening as she stepped back from Kakashi.
Obito walked forward and looked at Kakashi with sudden seriousness.
"Kakashi."
"Hm?"
"Let's duel. Chakra Network, Duel Mode. Right now."
"Obito, what are you doing?" Rin snapped, stepping between them before Kakashi could respond. Her cheeks were still damp, but her glare was sharp. "Today's the first day we've reunited. We are not starting a fight the second we meet again."
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