"So, Uchiha Madara is right beneath my feet."
Kiyohara mused to himself.
The original story was vague on this part.Maybe Madara had White Zetsu carry Obito into the underground cave—and then tricked him into believing he "fell" down there himself.
Or maybe… Obito's eye had already begun to awaken Kamui,and he really did phase through the ground by accident.
"Are you okay, Rin… Kakashi…"
Half of Obito's body was pinned beneath the rock, only his head and left shoulder still visible.He turned to the others with his remaining eye.
"Obito!"
Kakashi's pupils shrank as he rushed forward, trying to lift the boulder off of him.
No matter how hard he pushed, the massive stone didn't budge an inch.
"Don't bother, Kakashi. I'm done for.My whole right side's crushed—I can't feel a thing."
Hearing that, Kakashi slumped against the wall, blaming himself.It was all his fault. Everything.
Kiyohara quietly watched the scene unfold from the side.
Was it moving?Sure, the bonds between the three were undeniably deep.
But…
In Obito's world, only Kakashi and Rin counted as people.Anyone else? Irrelevant. Disposable.
He'd kill his own teacher without hesitation. His teacher's wife, too.
Even though Kushina had been kind to him—offering rice balls, looking after him.
This was why Kiyohara never tried to befriend Obito:There was no point, and worse—it could attract Madara's attention, making him part of Obito's emotional collapse.
"Minato-sensei should be on his way by now."
Kiyohara thought.
Once he arrived, they could destroy the Kannabi Bridge together.That would complete the mission.
And with this, Kiyohara would have enough merit to qualify for Chūnin promotion.He'd probably only need to pass a simple internal test to advance.
"Is Daishi dead?"
Looking through the rubble, Kiyohara spotted a corpse partially buried beneath.Seems the lime powder he'd used earlier prevented Daishi from escaping—his head crushed by falling rock.
"Lucky."
He didn't hesitate. Looting time.
"Oh? Three hundred thousand ryō?"
Daishi had a thick stack of cash in his pouch—Kiyohara confiscated it immediately as a form of righteous taxation.
"Hmm?"
There was also a ninjutsu scroll.
Opening it revealed a C-rank technique: Earth Style: Subterranean VoyageA jutsu that liquified the soil to allow rapid movement underground.
"Looks like he was still learning it. Too bad."
If Daishi had mastered it, maybe he wouldn't have died like this.
Kiyohara kept collecting:the Iwa vest, kunai, shuriken, explosive tags—all sealed into his scroll.
"Kakashi, I want to give you my Sharingan.As your gift for becoming a Jōnin."
While Kiyohara looted, Obito began delivering his final words.
"Rin, use your medical ninjutsu.Transplant my Sharingan and cornea into Kakashi's left eye."
"Obito…"
Kakashi couldn't speak.
Rin wiped her eyes, fighting the grief of losing a teammate,and turned to Kakashi.
"Come over here. I'll begin the operation."
She pulled out her surgical tools.
Here it is. The hot-swapped Sharingan.
Kiyohara silently snarked.
The most ridiculous thing in the ninja world: the Sharingan.Practically a plug-and-play eye module.Doesn't matter who you are—it just works™.
Realistically, eye transplants are near impossible.The optic nerve is non-regenerative and composed of over a million microscopic fibers.
Perfectly aligning the donor's nerve to the recipient's brain?It's like trying to reattach a shredded fiber-optic cable with a million threads—without color coding.
Never mind immune rejection or restoring blood supply.
And yet Rin could pull this off in a dirt cave?Respect to the miracle of medical ninjutsu.
"Iwa ninjas are gathering nearby."
Rogue Kiyohara's spirit drifted back with intel.
"Got it."
Kiyohara nodded.
In the original timeline, they too were nearly wiped out before blowing the bridge—only saved by Minato's last-minute rescue.
Maybe… that was the point of the mission all along.
Let the kids draw attention—and then Minato shows up to wipe the map.
If Minato had gone himself from the start, the Iwa ninja would've all just run away.
"My chakra's almost recovered."
Kiyohara thought.
This mission brought him more than just credit.The biggest gain was real combat experience.
Rogue Kiyohara's advice was valuable,but he had to execute it personally for it to become his.
That was the software.
The merged talent from his future self + stimulant-boosted chakra?That was the hardware.
Now with both aligned, Kiyohara's strength had skyrocketed.
He could easily defeat his past self.Might even go one-handed for fun.
"Hmph, still alive huh?"
From the cave's other exit, Hikari emerged.
He'd bandaged his wounded arm and seemed surprised they weren't crushed.
"And you," he added, looking at Kiyohara."Using such a dirty trick to kill Daishi…"
Kiyohara was still picking through Daishi's gear. Hikari twitched at the sight.
"Tch. I'll kill the white-haired brat first."
Hikari noticed Kakashi's new eye.
His eyes glinted—if he could get a Sharingan, wouldn't that make him even stronger?
He raised both arms, each wrapped with a short blade tied to the wrists.
Kakashi stepped forward, filled with resolve.
"Kiyohara… let me handle this."
He walked past Kiyohara and raised his ninja blade.
"For Obito."
The next instant—both figures vanished.
CLANG!
They reappeared mid-swing, steel clashing.
Kakashi's inherited short blade—the one passed down from Sakumo Hatake—shattered.