The countdown reached zero.
Scenario begins!
In an instant, everything inside the scenario came to life.
The very next second— Poof!
Poof!
Two clouds of smoke erupted.
By the time they cleared, the two Iwagakure shinobi had already fled with Rin.
“Damn it!” Kakashi appeared where they had been almost immediately, but he was still one step too late.
“RIN!” Obito screamed at the top of his lungs.
He no longer cared about the mission or the war.
All he wanted was to chase after them and bring Rin back.
Kakashi immediately followed.
“Obito, don’t get too close.
They may be trying to lure us into an ambush.” Obito slowed down at once.
Then he looked at Kakashi in surprise.
“I thought you’d insist on completing the mission first.” A grin spread across his face.
“I knew I wasn’t wrong about you, Kakashi!” He excitedly punched Kakashi on the shoulder.
With Kakashi willing to help, Obito suddenly felt much more confident about rescuing Rin.
Kakashi, however, froze.
The words he had been about to say lodged in his throat.
Obito had died.
Rin had died.
Even their teacher had died.
Those painful memories surged back all at once.
Standing beside Obito again brought every wound Kakashi had buried over the years back to the surface.
Even if none of this is real…
Even if changing things here won’t change the past…
I won’t let you die again, Obito.
Kakashi took a deep breath.
Then he spoke.
“In the shinobi world, those who break the rules are considered scum.” He looked directly at Obito.
“But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum.” The moment the words left his mouth, Kakashi felt as though a weight had been lifted from his chest.
A faint smile appeared beneath his mask.
Obito stared at him in disbelief.
“That…
really doesn’t sound like something you’d say.” Kakashi’s gaze softened.
“A close friend taught me that with his life.” Obito grinned.
“Then that friend of yours must’ve been an amazing guy.” “He was.” Kakashi’s voice carried a trace of nostalgia.
“He really was.” A short distance behind them, Itsuki silently added his own thought.
Amazing enough to eventually become one of the masterminds behind half the disasters in the shinobi world.
Itsuki, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura moved automatically with Kakashi and Obito, always remaining a fixed distance behind them.
“Whoa!” Naruto suddenly realized something.
“Isn’t that what Kakashi-sensei told us during the bell test?” Sasuke watched Kakashi carefully.
“Maybe that guy is the one Kakashi-sensei originally heard it from.” He had noticed the change in Kakashi’s expression and tone.
Sakura nodded.
“Kakashi-sensei looks really sad.” Watching their teacher’s past unfold before their eyes made the three Genin feel as though they suddenly understood him a little better.
Kakashi and Obito continued tracking the two Iwa shinobi while discussing how they would proceed.
It didn’t take long for them to locate their enemies.
Obito appeared first, deliberately exposing himself as bait.
Just as expected, one of the Iwa shinobi emerged to intercept him.
Kakashi struck from hiding.
His blade flashed.
The enemy didn’t even have time to react before Kakashi drove the weapon straight through his heart.
One kill.
Clean and immediate.
Only after disposing of the enemy did Kakashi finally have the chance to assess his current condition.
My strength hasn’t been reduced at all.
Without the Sharingan constantly draining his chakra, his body felt lighter than it had in years.
His visual perception and ability to read movements had certainly declined, but physically, he felt better than ever.
If anything…
I might actually be stronger like this.
In the original course of events, Kakashi’s left eye had been damaged before Obito awakened his Sharingan.
But this time, Kakashi’s eye was perfectly intact.
And because the sequence of events had changed, Obito had never been pushed into awakening his Sharingan either.
The two exchanged a glance before rushing into the cave where Rin was being held.
The instant Kakashi entered, he exploded forward.
The remaining Iwa shinobi was caught completely off guard.
Forced into battle without preparation, he also underestimated just how experienced and ruthless Kakashi truly was.
That mistake cost him his life.
Kakashi’s blade swept across his neck.
His head separated from his body.
At the same time, Obito rushed over and freed Rin.
“Obito…
Kakashi…” Rin regained consciousness and immediately brightened upon seeing them.
“We need to leave.” Kakashi scanned the cave and its surroundings cautiously.
“We’re deep in enemy territory.
Staying here any longer is asking for trouble.” The three hurried out of the cave.
Nothing collapsed.
No enormous boulder came crashing down.
Obito walked out alive and unharmed.
Kakashi stared at him.
Even though he knew this was only a scenario, the sight still felt unreal.
“What?” Obito became uncomfortable under his stare.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” “It’s nothing.” Kakashi quickly turned away.
He discreetly wiped at the corner of his eye.
“Let’s go.” His voice had become slightly hoarse.
Then— Kakashi’s expression changed dramatically.
“Enemies!” Obito and Rin immediately tensed.
“Run!” Kakashi’s face turned grim.
Inside, however, he was even more shaken.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
In reality, after he and Obito left the cave, Rin had performed the transplant that placed Obito’s Sharingan into Kakashi’s damaged eye.
That procedure hadn’t been instantaneous.
It had taken time.
Yet in this scenario, the Iwa reinforcements were already arriving.
Far too early.
The timing didn’t match.
Kakashi suddenly remembered the second scenario mission.
Hidden Truth.
A chill crept down his spine.
The major difference this time is Obito.
His gaze fell on the boy running ahead.
Don’t tell me…
Were these reinforcements coming because of Obito?
Kakashi’s expression became increasingly heavy.
But why?
Obito was just an ordinary young Uchiha at this point.
He hadn’t even awakened the Sharingan.
No— In the original history, Obito had already awakened it by this stage.
But even then, a newly awakened Sharingan was hardly exceptional enough to warrant this kind of attention within the Uchiha Clan.
So what exactly was special about Obito?
Kakashi’s thoughts spiraled.
For the first time, the teammate he thought he knew so well suddenly seemed surrounded by unanswered questions.
“Damn it.” Kakashi snapped back to the present and looked around.
“We’re surrounded.” More than a dozen Iwagakure shinobi had already encircled them.
Voices came from every direction.
“A few brats actually dared to penetrate this far into our rear lines.” “Impressive.” “Unfortunately, this is where it ends.” “Capture them alive.
We need whatever intelligence they have.” “We cannot afford a mistake in this war.” Kakashi, Obito, and Rin stopped.
The three stood back-to-back.
“Kakashi…” Obito’s voice carried obvious nervousness.
“What do we do?” “You two protect yourselves.” Kakashi slowly inhaled.
“I’ll handle them.” He no longer had the Sharingan.
That made using the Lightning Cutter considerably more dangerous, since he couldn’t properly compensate for the tunnel vision created by moving at such extreme speed.
On the other hand, without the Sharingan constantly draining his chakra, his body felt far less burdened.
Against these enemies, it should still be enough.
But Kakashi couldn’t shake the terrible feeling growing inside him.
Then the battle erupted.
The ground shook.
Chunks of rock tore through the air.
Three Iwa shinobi rushed Kakashi.
A kunai flashed from his hand.
One fell.
Kakashi vanished with the Body Flicker Technique and appeared beside the second.
Another enemy dropped.
He immediately followed with a Fire Release technique.
The third was swallowed by flames.
Then Kakashi’s expression changed.
No.
Something was wrong.
Only a few of the enemies had attacked him.
Most of them had ignored Kakashi entirely.
They were going after Obito and Rin.
Kakashi spun around.
His pupil contracted.
Five or six Iwa shinobi had surrounded Obito.
Almost instantly, Obito was overwhelmed and severely wounded.
Rin had already been struck down and rendered incapable of fighting.
“OBITO!
RIN!” Kakashi’s eye went bloodshot.
Rage exploded through him.
“LIGHTNING CUTTER!” Chidori shrieked through the battlefield like a thousand birds.
Lightning erupted around Kakashi’s hand.
He charged into the enemy ranks like a furious beast.
Blood sprayed across the ground.
Bodies fell one after another.
Kakashi tore his way through the encirclement, leaving a trail of corpses behind him.
At last, he reached Obito.
And then he saw his condition.
Kakashi’s strength left him.
He collapsed to the ground.
One of Obito’s legs was gone.
There was a massive hole in his chest.
More than a dozen kunai protruded from his body, each buried in a vital area.
His body twitched weakly and involuntarily.
“Obito…” Kakashi’s voice trembled.
“OBITO!” Suddenly— A golden flash appeared.
Kakashi’s vision blurred.
Before he could understand what had happened, the battlefield vanished.
He found himself back inside Itsuki’s hall.
A system notification appeared immediately.
Scenario Complete.
Final Evaluation: B Congratulations.
Reward obtained: Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work.
Evaluation details— The appearance of the panel finally snapped Kakashi back to reality.
The scenario.
It had only been a scenario.
There was no Obito here.
No Iwa shinobi.
No battlefield.
None of it had been real.
But it had felt real.
Too real.
And the fury burning inside Kakashi hadn’t disappeared with it.
He turned sharply toward Itsuki.
“Why did it suddenly end?!” Kakashi glared at him, his voice filled with anger.