The Hatake Compound
Kakashi Hatake sat rigidly on the porch of his home, staring blankly at the wooden floorboards. The psychological toll of the village's engineered rumors had finally fractured his stoic facade.
Throughout the afternoon, several of his friends had visited, offering hollow reassurances that no one believed the slander. Kakashi had not spoken a single word to any of them.
Might Guy, Kakashi's closest rival and friend, had stood quietly in the corner of the room. Unlike the others, Guy did not offer empty platitudes. He lacked his usual boisterous energy. Guy understood that this was not a simple misunderstanding; it was a targeted political strike against Kakashi's honor. Recognizing that words were useless, Guy had simply placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder and left the compound to give him space.
Now, Kakashi sat alone in the encroaching twilight.
In his hands rested the White Light Chakra Sabre—his father's legendary weapon. It was broken, snapped in half during a mission years ago. Kakashi ran his thumb over the jagged edge.
Kakashi's Internal Monologue: The rumor is a calculated lie, designed to break my loyalty and force a reaction. If I remain in the village and do nothing, I validate their slander. I allow my father's memory to be used as a political weapon by the same administration that drove him to suicide. There is no diplomatic solution. I can no longer serve a village that weaponizes its own dead.
As the moon rose, casting a pale glow over the courtyard, Kakashi made his decision. He stood up.
First, he wove a hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu."
System Explanation: A high-level technique that divides the user's chakra to create a solid, physically real duplicate.
He sent the clone to the market to purchase groceries. Meanwhile, the real Kakashi entered his kitchen and began to clean. He moved with meticulous precision, sweeping away years of accumulated dust. He had not cooked a meal in this house since the day his father died.
Twenty minutes later, the clone returned with ingredients and dispelled, transferring the items to the real Kakashi.
Kakashi prepared a traditional meal: four dishes and one soup. He arranged them neatly on the dining table. He sat down, pressed his hands together, and bowed his head.
"I give thanks for the meal," he whispered into the empty house.
He ate slowly and deliberately. For thirty minutes, he allowed himself to remember the days when Sakumo Hatake sat across from him. When the meal was finished, he washed the dishes, dried them, and placed them back in the cupboards.
Kakashi walked to the front gate and locked it from the outside.
His visible eye hardened, shedding all hesitation and replacing it with lethal intent. He strapped his father's broken blade to his back.
"Father," Kakashi muttered, his voice cold. "I am going to avenge you now. Danzo is first."
Kakashi channeled chakra into his legs and vanished, utilizing the Body Flicker technique to streak toward the ruins of Root Headquarters like a flash of white lightning.
***
The Ruins of Root
Thirty minutes later, on the outskirts of the village, Danzo Shimura stood furiously before the charred remains of his underground facility.
"Fu!" Danzo barked at his subordinate, Fu Yamanaka. "Have the casualty and asset loss reports been finalized? I need exact numbers!"
Danzo leaned heavily on his cane. The destruction of his base had cost him decades of research and millions in black-market funds. Because the base personnel had been wiped out by Jin Uchiha the previous night, Danzo had been forced to recall his deep-cover sleeper agents from across the continent just to handle the cleanup and begin rebuilding.
Fu bowed respectfully. "We are compiling the data now, Lord Danzo. The structural damage is—"
A sudden, blinding flash of white light interrupted him.
Danzo's combat instincts, honed over decades, flared. He threw himself backward.
Slash.
Blood sprayed across the dirt. Danzo crashed to the ground, his left arm cleanly severed at the shoulder.
Danzo's Internal Monologue: An assassination attempt! I barely dodged. But fortune favors me; he severed my natural left arm. If he had targeted my right arm—the one implanted with Hashirama Senju's cells and my reserve Sharingan—my combat capabilities would be crippled.
Danzo scrambled to his feet, clutching his bleeding stump, and glared at his attacker. "You. Kakashi Hatake."
Kakashi did not speak. His Sharingan spun violently in his left eye, tracking Danzo's movements. He lunged forward again.
"Hiruzen was a fool to keep you!" Danzo roared, retreating behind his guards. "Kill him!"
The recalled Root operatives instantly swarmed Kakashi.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Jutsu!"
"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"
"Secret Art: Mind Body Disturbance!"
Kakashi engaged the mob flawlessly. His blade moved in a deadly blur, cutting down six elite operatives in the span of three minutes. However, the tide of the battle quickly turned against him.
System Explanation: Kakashi is an elite Jonin, but he is not an Uchiha. His body cannot naturally deactivate the transplanted Sharingan, resulting in a constant, severe drain on his chakra reserves. In a prolonged battle against multiple opponents, his stamina is his greatest weakness.
Kakashi's breathing grew ragged. His chakra reserves plummeted to dangerous levels. If he dragged the fight out, he would die to attrition. He needed to end it immediately.
He dropped his father's broken sword and rapidly wove hand signs. He thrust his right hand downward, gathering highly concentrated, screeching lightning chakra into his palm.
"Raikiri!" (Lightning Blade)
Using the last of his physical strength, Kakashi sprinted through the enemy formation, his Sharingan predicting and avoiding their strikes. He closed the distance to Danzo in a fraction of a second.
Thrust.
Kakashi's hand plunged directly through Danzo's chest, destroying his heart. Danzo's body went limp.
Kakashi pulled his arm free, panting heavily. It was over.
Two seconds later, reality warped.
Danzo's corpse vanished into mist. Kakashi's eye widened in shock as Danzo materialized completely unharmed ten meters away.
System Explanation: Izanagi. Danzo sacrificed one of the stolen Uchiha Sharingan implanted in his right arm to rewrite reality, negating his own death.
"A valiant effort," Danzo sneered coldly, though he was internally infuriated at having to waste another precious Sharingan.
Kakashi's knees buckled. His chakra was completely depleted. He collapsed onto the dirt, unable to move his limbs.
Kakashi's Internal Monologue: He revived? A forbidden jutsu. I have no chakra left. I failed.
He looked up at the night sky as the remaining Root operatives drew their blades and closed in to execute him.
"Forgive me, Father," Kakashi whispered, closing his eyes. "I did my best. Let it end here."
Just as the blades descended, a thunderous voice shattered the silence of the forest.
"The First Gate: Gate of Opening—Release!"
"The Second Gate: Gate of Healing—Release!"
"...The Seventh Gate: Gate of Wonder—Release!"
System Explanation: The Eight Inner Gates. A forbidden taijutsu technique that removes the body's natural chakra limiters, granting the user exponential physical power and speed at the cost of severe, potentially lethal bodily damage.
A shockwave of pure, explosive blue energy erupted into the clearing, blowing the Root operatives backward.