Chapter 271: Right, Obito?
In the eastern forest, Kakashi crouched atop a thick branch, his body completely concealed by dense leaves.
Because of the strange pulsing in his Sharingan, he had chosen a position closer to the battlefield than the others.
Every detail of the fight below entered his vision clearly.
And what he saw filled him with instinctive dread.
The masked man was far too strange.
The kunai had clearly struck his body, yet passed through as though piercing empty air.
Every attack failed to touch him.
Kakashi had seen many secret techniques, but never an ability like this.
It wasn't the Substitution Technique, nor was it Genjutsu.
That man was almost as though...
As though he could hide his real body in another invisible place, leaving only an illusory image behind.
At that moment, Kakashi's left eye pulsed strangely again.
He raised a hand and pulled up his forehead protector.
The Sharingan was exposed, its gaze passing through a gap in the leaves toward the masked man.
Just as Kitahara Kaede and the stranger crossed one another during their exchange, the man happened to turn his face.
His exposed right eye entered Kakashi's view.
Kakashi froze on the branch.
It was a Sharingan.
No—not merely a Sharingan.
The black pinwheel pattern rotating within it was identical to the design in Kakashi's left eye.
How could that be...?
Kakashi's thoughts dissolved into chaos.
The Mangekyou Sharingan.
This was the eye Obito had left him. On the day Rin died, it had changed uncontrollably.
Yet now, this mysterious man possessed an identical eye.
How could two completely matching Mangekyou Sharingan exist in the world?
***
In the western forest, Terumi Mei hid behind a tree, her gaze locked on the battle below.
Kaede stood in front of the Jinchuriki, facing the bizarre enemy from several paces away. Neither moved recklessly.
Mei knew Kaede was strong. She also knew he never acted without confidence.
But the man opposite him was disturbingly unnatural.
Two elite Kirigakure guards had failed even to touch the edge of his robe before a single powerful Fire Style technique sent them flying.
Mei shifted her weight forward on the branch, ready to move, then forcibly stopped herself.
No.
Kaede had given an order. No one was to act before receiving his permission.
She hated watching him face danger alone while she could only stand by.
But she understood even more clearly that if she disrupted his plan, Kaede would be displeased.
Rin stood beside her.
She couldn't understand the masked man's technique at all. Every one of Kaede's evasions looked perilously close, leaving her heart lodged in her throat.
After a while, she finally couldn't help turning her head and asking in a whisper, "Mei-senpai, will Kitahara-senpai... really be all right?"
Mei froze at the form of address.
Senpai?
Without revealing anything, she swept Rin with a glance. The inexplicable caution in her heart loosened slightly.
This person called her senpai, meaning she was younger.
And when she spoke about Kaede, her voice carried only respect and worry.
It seemed they weren't involved in the kind of relationship Mei had imagined.
Mei returned her attention to the battlefield, a faint smile appearing on her lips.
"If he dares to do this, then he must have a way to handle it."
The instant she finished, Kaede's voice traveled through the forest.
"Mei, bring her over."
Mei turned toward Rin.
Rin was completely bewildered. She instinctively pointed to herself.
"Me?"
Even Kirigakure's elite couldn't withstand an enemy of this level. What could she, a Medical Ninja, possibly accomplish?
But Kaede had brought her all the way from Konoha. Clearly, he hadn't done so merely to let her sightsee.
Rin stopped overthinking. She drew a deep breath and stepped from the shadows.
Mei didn't follow. She remained where she was and watched Rin approach Kaede one step at a time.
On the other side, Obito had already been preparing to act again.
He had long since noticed the people hiding around him, but they were nothing more than small fry. They couldn't stop him.
Once he reached the target and activated Kamui, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki would be pulled into the alternate space without resistance.
But Kaede had suddenly called out a black-cloaked figure from hiding. The move made Obito pause.
What exactly was this man planning?
Kaede clearly understood the weakness of Kamui and hadn't shown the slightest panic during their exchange.
Yet instead of pressing his advantage, he had summoned someone who appeared to possess little combat strength.
Obito's vigilance toward the approaching figure grew.
The person in black soon stopped beside Kaede.
Rin looked up at him, her voice carrying confusion through the mask.
"Kitahara-senpai, what's going on?"
That clear, gentle voice traveled through the forest and entered every person's ears.
Kakashi abruptly straightened in the eastern canopy.
That voice...
Impossible...
Obito reacted even more violently.
The Sharingan beneath his mask trembled sharply.
Every thought in his mind collapsed into disorder.
Rin?
No! Impossible!
He had seen it with his own eye!
He had seen Kitahara Kaede's technique pierce her chest. He had watched her collapse into a pool of blood!
He hadn't even had time... to touch her one last time.
That image was the nightmare that tormented him whenever he closed his eye.
So how could this be possible?
How could someone speaking with Rin's voice be standing here?!
Obito stared fixedly at the cloaked person, his breathing becoming rapid and rough.
Genjutsu!
It had to be Genjutsu!
Or Kaede had deliberately found a substitute with a similar voice!
Yes. That had to be it!
Obito forced himself to calm down, his gaze turning dark again.
Kaede didn't watch his reaction. He calmly turned toward Rin.
"Haven't you wanted to know why I prepared everything in advance, and why I brought you to Kirigakure?"
Rin listened silently, the unease in her heart becoming increasingly intense.
Kaede continued.
"The answer is standing before you."
He slowly turned, looking at the masked man.
"Once you know who he is, you'll understand everything."
Rin followed his gaze.
The man wore a black robe and a mask that exposed only one blood-red eye.
She was certain she had never seen him.
Then why would Kaede say that learning his identity would explain everything?
The doubts in Obito's mind also multiplied.
After the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, no one in the world except Madara and White Zetsu knew he was alive.
Yet Kaede had been far too certain from the beginning. He had asked whether Obito came alone, and he was clearly prepared for Kamui.
What was this man trying to do?
Obito suddenly laughed.
The sound began softly, then grew louder and increasingly manic.
"Ha... hahahahaha!"
"Interesting. This is truly interesting!"
He looked at Kaede, his words filled with hysterical mockery.
"Are you putting on this mysterious performance because you want me to believe you know who I am?"
Kaede didn't answer. He simply stood where he was.
Obito's laughter continued for a long time, as though he were trying to conceal the turmoil in his heart with the sound.
Gradually, it faded.
Only wind rustling through leaves and the Jinchuriki's restrained, painful breathing remained in the forest.
Kaede finally spoke.
"You and she have met before."
Obito's body paused almost imperceptibly.
Kaede turned his gaze toward the eastern canopy.
"You and I have met as well. More than once."
Kakashi's breathing became completely disordered within the shadows.
Kaede looked back at the masked man, without the slightest hint of humor in his expression.
"Isn't that right?"
"Uchiha Obito."