Chapter 185: Buried
Deep within the dense forests of the Land of Grass.
Kitahara Kaede hid within the canopy of a giant tree, suppressing his breathing to the absolute minimum.
Thirty meters ahead, Minato's four-man squad was on the move. The golden figure led the way, followed by Kakashi, Rin, and Obito.
Suddenly, Minato came to a halt.
A figure flashed out from the forest ahead, a kunai thrusting directly toward the group. But in the blink of an eye, it was over.
A flash of gold.
Minato vanished into thin air, reappearing an instant later behind the Iwa shinobi. A specialized kunai had already pierced through the back of the enemy's neck.
The corpse collapsed straight to the ground.
Minato retrieved his weapon and turned around, his expression remaining entirely unchanged. He looked at his three students.
"I can only escort you this far. I need to provide support at the main battlefield."
"Kakashi, you're the captain. Take care of them."
Minato's gaze shifted from Kakashi to Rin and Obito. Kakashi gave a short nod.
"Understood."
Minato smiled. "I'll be back soon."
Before the words had even fully left his lips, he vanished.
Kakashi raised a hand to adjust his mask. "Let's move."
Obito and Rin immediately followed.
Kitahara Kaede descended silently from the shadows of the canopy, trailing far behind them.
Half an hour later, the ground suddenly trembled slightly.
Kaede's gaze pierced through the layers of overlapping branches, looking forward.
The sounds of combat erupted. First came the clash of metal, followed immediately by the activation of an Earth Style jutsu.
Two Iwa Jonin lunged from the shadows, launching a pincer attack from the left and right.
Kakashi reacted with lightning speed, blocking one of them with his short sword. However, the other Iwa shinobi was faster; he bypassed Kakashi entirely, charging straight for Rin with singular focus.
"Rin!"
By the time Obito screamed her name, the Jonin had already seized Rin in his arms and leapt backward through the trees. Within seconds, the enemy disappeared into the depths of the forest, leaving behind only a patch of upturned earth and Rin's fallen forehead protector.
Kakashi retracted his blade, his expression grim. Obito rushed to where the protector had fallen, snatching it up and clutching it tightly in his fist.
"Kakashi, we have to chase them!"
"No."
Obito whipped his head around, staring at him in disbelief. Kakashi's face betrayed no emotion.
"The mission comes first."
"What are you talking about?!" Obito's voice spiked instantly. "Rin was kidnapped! Is this really the time to care about the mission?!"
"Because we are on a battlefield, we cannot let emotions dictate our actions," Kakashi replied flatly. "Destroying Kannabi Bridge is the order."
"Then what about Rin? We wait until the bridge is blown up to go back for her? Will she even be alive by then?!"
Kakashi didn't answer.
Obito's chest heaved violently. He glared at Kakashi with raw intensity.
"Rin was wrong about you."
"Fine! If you won't go, I'll go myself!"
"Obito!"
"Those who break the rules are scum, that's true... but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum!"
He spat those words and stormed off without a single backward glance.
Standing in the distance, Kitahara Kaede watched Obito's retreating back, then set off to follow.
***
Near a rocky cavern.
Obito hid behind a tree, attempting to scout the situation when a blurred shadow suddenly manifested behind him. A kunai slashed through the air.
By the time Obito noticed, it was too late. A deep gash opened across his shoulder. He stumbled and collapsed to the ground. Before he could scramble back up, a second blade descended toward the center of his back.
At that moment, a streak of white light flashed from the side.
Kakashi arrived just in time, parrying the lethal blow with his short sword. But the cost was high—the enemy's blade sliced directly across his left eye.
"Kakashi!"
Obito sprang up from the ground, watching as Kakashi knelt, clutching his left eye while blood seeped through his fingers.
In that instant, everything in his field of vision slowed down. The movements of the enemy, the drifting leaves, and even the droplets of blood falling from Kakashi's fingers.
His eye sockets flooded with a visceral crimson. Two tomoe slowly rotated.
The Iwa shinobi, preparing to deliver the finishing blow to Kakashi, had barely materialized when Obito lunged in front of him. Before the enemy could understand what had happened, Obito's kunai had already pierced through his chest.
Watching those eyes, Kitahara Kaede understood. The timing was perfect.
Shortly after, Kakashi and Obito charged into the cavern. They scanned the area and found Rin tied up at the very back.
"Two brats actually managed to take down Taiseki," Kakko remarked. A flash of surprise crossed his face, which quickly turned into a cold sneer. "But this is where it ends."
He formed hand signs, preparing to fight. However, facing the combined strength of an Uchiha with an awakened Sharingan and a Konoha genius, he quickly realized the gravity of his situation.
Obito saw through every one of his movements, while Kakashi's every strike was lethal. After a few exchanges, Kakko's heart was pierced by Kakashi's Chidori.
Driven by desperation to save Rin, Obito ran toward her.
"She's under a genjutsu," Kakashi said, stepping forward and forming a seal. "Release!"
"Kakashi... Obito?" Rin slowly woke up, looking at the two of them.
None of them noticed that Kakko, using the last of his strength, formed a single-handed seal.
"Earth Style: Rock Cave Collapse!"
Cracks instantly spiderwebbed across the ceiling, and massive boulders began to plummet.
"Get out!" Kakashi shouted.
But because of his blindness in the left eye, he had a massive blind spot. A giant rock fell exactly from his dead angle.
Obito captured the scene with perfect clarity. Almost instinctively, he lunged forward, using every ounce of his strength to shove Kakashi out of the way.
The boulder crashed down with a deafening roar.
The right side of Obito's body was pinned firmly beneath the stone. Blood surged from beneath the rock, quickly staining a wide area of the ground red.
Rin let out a heart-wrenching scream.
Obito's voice was intermittent, yet his tone was unexpectedly calm.
"Kakashi... when you... become a Jonin... I didn't give you anything... I owe you a gift..."
"Now... I'll give you... this eye..."
"For me... protect... Rin..."
Kitahara Kaede witnessed it all, his heart remaining unmoved.
Obito had to "die" here, following the original trajectory, to be unexpectedly picked up by Madara and become the Masked Man. Only then would Madara feel secure enough to disconnect his life-support tubes and wait for the final realization of his plan.
He watched as Rin, with trembling hands, transplanted the Sharingan into Kakashi. But Kaede's thoughts drifted further.
Once Madara is killed and Black Zetsu is dealt with... what then?
The ninja world would still be plagued by war. The internal strife between great nations over land and resources was the root of the tragedy.
Today it was Obito who "died"; tomorrow, there would be thousands more like him.
What he needed to do... was not to save a single person.
It was to completely overturn the table that manufactured these tragedies.
Previously, this had been a vague notion, but now, watching Obito be buried alive beneath the ruins, the thought became crystal clear and unwavering.
The cavern collapsed completely. Dense dust billowed from the entrance as rubble rolled across the ground.
Kakashi emerged from a side fissure, carrying Rin in his arms, his clothes covered in ash. Rin clung to him, sobbing violently as she looked at the collapsed entrance.
Kakashi's face was expressionless, but that new Sharingan was continuously weeping tears of blood.
Kitahara Kaede took one last look at the ruins. Then, he turned and vanished into the depths of the forest.
Shortly after his departure...
Within the shadow of the great tree's trunk, a pitch-black form slowly materialized.
It watched the direction in which Kitahara Kaede had vanished, remaining perfectly still.
After a long while, it merged back into the shadows and vanished.