Time ticked by, second by second.
The chakra flowing from the Kiri ninja's palms grew weaker. When the final wisp of chakra merged into Rin's body, his figure went completely slack. His eyes rolled back, showing only whites. The chakra that had been sustaining him throughout his adult life simply stopped. His body collapsed to the cave floor.
All signs of life were gone.
On the operating table, a faint heartbeat echoed from Rin's chest. Weak at first, but it grew stronger with each passing second.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Her chest began to rise and fall in shallow breaths that gradually deepened and stabilized into a normal rhythm.
"It worked," Kenji breathed. He nudged Kakashi, who seemed frozen in place, staring at Rin. "Go on. Wake your teammate."
Kakashi snapped out of his fugue state like someone had slapped him. He rushed to the operating table, nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste. His hands were shaking as he reached out and gently shook Rin's shoulder.
"Rin? Rin!"
For a moment, nothing happened. His breath caught in his throat, fear spiking through him. What if it hadn't worked completely? What if she was alive but couldn't wake up? What if...
Rin's eyes slowly opened.
They were unfocused at first, staring blankly at the cave ceiling. Then they drifted down to Kakashi's face hovering above her.
"Kakashi?" Her voice was weak, but it was her voice.
"Rin!" The name burst out of Kakashi like a sob. "You're really awake! You're alive!"
Whatever composure he'd been clinging to shattered completely. He pulled her into his arms, holding her tight, tears streaming down his face and soaking into her hair. The overwhelming relief of having her back left him unable to form coherent words. He just held her and cried.
Rin's arms came up slowly, still weak, but she returned the embrace. Her own tears started flowing, though whether from joy, confusion, or fear, even she probably couldn't say.
Kenji watched the two of them cling to each other.
This was the first time since arriving in this world that he'd altered a major plot point. Rin was supposed to be dead. He'd changed that.
But then his brows furrowed.
Obito had already fallen. He'd witnessed Kakashi's Chidori pierce through Rin's chest. That image was seared into his brain. Even if he somehow discovered Rin was alive, would it matter? Could it even bring him back?
He doubted it.
The Obito who'd loved his teammates was gone, replaced by something twisted and broken that wore his face. And even if, by some miracle, seeing Rin alive did break through the madness and restore his sanity... Madara and Black Zetsu would never allow it. They'd spent too much effort manipulating him, shaping him into their weapon. They needed a pawn driven by hatred and despair, not a sane Obito who might question their plans.
Obito couldn't be redeemed. His actions defied all logic and morality. Especially the Nine-Tails attack.
Even now, thinking about it made Kenji's jaw clench. The Eye of the Moon Plan hadn't even officially started at that point. So why risk everything to assault Konoha and steal the Nine-Tails? If the goal was gathering tailed beasts for the Gedo Statue, the logical move would be to start with the One-Tail. Shukaku was in Suna, far from Konoha's protection. But instead, Obito had chosen to attack the most heavily defended village in the shinobi world, on the night their jinchūriki was at her most vulnerable, with the clear intent of killing both Minato and Kushina. The same Minato and Kushina who had treated him like family. Who had welcomed him into their home, fed him, cared about him when his own clan barely acknowledged his existence.
How did you go from that to orchestrating their deaths? What possible logic justified such betrayal?
There was none. Only madness.
And yet in the original timeline, he'd been given a redemption arc. Forgiven by Naruto, allowed to help in the final battle, and granted reunion with Rin in the afterlife like his crimes didn't matter.
It was obscene.
If anyone deserved sympathy, it was Kakashi. The man had lost his father as a child, watched his best friend get crushed by a boulder, been forced to kill a teammate with his own hand, and then lost his beloved teacher and the woman he'd considered a mother figure in the Nine-Tails attack.
All of that suffering, and he'd never broken. He never blamed the world, or decided that everyone else deserved to suffer because he hurt.
Meanwhile, Obito's actions had caused countless tragedies. The Nine-Tails attack, the Uchiha massacre, the Blood Mist era in Kiri, and the Fourth Great Ninja War. Tens of thousands of deaths, maybe hundreds of thousands, all traceable back to one man's inability to cope with loss.
"Thank you, Kenji-senpai."
A soft voice pulled him from his thoughts.
Rin had extracted herself from Kakashi's embrace and was standing in front of him now. She bowed deeply.
"Thank you for saving my life."
"Don't mention it. I don't deserve it," Kenji said, waving off the thanks. "You're too young to die like that. The world needs more medics like you."
He let her straighten up, then his expression grew more serious.
"I overheard your conversation with Kakashi earlier, before you..." He paused, searching for the right words. "Before you chose to throw yourself onto his Chidori. Why did you do that? You should know that Konoha has plenty of powerful ninjas. Dealing with whatever was done to you couldn't have been impossible. Why not ask for help?"
Rin's face went pale. She sank down into a crouch, hugging her knees to her chest.
"Because they put a curse mark on me. I couldn't fully control my own body anymore."
She took a shaky breath.
"I wanted to tell Kakashi more, but the curse wouldn't let me. Every time I tried to explain, the words just... wouldn't come out. My throat would close up. So the only option I had was to let his Chidori pierce my heart. The curse mark was embedded in my heart specifically. When the heart was destroyed, the mark would disappear with it."
"Rin... Why didn't you find a way to tell me? I could have—"
"I'm sorry," Rin interrupted. "I tried. But I just... I couldn't."
Tears leaked from the edges of her eyes, running down her cheeks.
Kenji spoke slowly, "So someone used a curse mark to control you. They not only planned to use you for something, they may have specifically intended for you to die by Kakashi's hand. That kind of manipulation suggests a deeper scheme."
"Why would anyone do that?" Rin asked, looking up at him with confused eyes. "Why target us this way?"
Kakashi was equally baffled.
Kenji couldn't exactly explain Madara's and Obito's conspiracy. The truth was too complicated and unbelievable. And telling them might put them in even more danger if the wrong people found out they knew.
"For now, don't worry about the why," he said instead. "What's important is making sure whoever did this doesn't realize you survived. If they find out you are still alive, they'll definitely come back to finish the job."
Kenji walked over to his transport puppet and opened its storage compartment. He pulled out a complete ANBU uniform and a white cat-face mask, then returned and handed them to Rin.
"Change into this and wear the mask. Hide your identity for now. As far as the world's concerned, Nohara Rin died today."
Rin took the uniform, staring at the mask. She was dead. She'd have to stay dead, at least publicly, or risk being hunted.
"Understood," she said quietly.
Kenji had the transport puppet begin gathering the medical supplies and equipment scattered around the cave. He also collected the other unconscious Kiri ninja he'd captured earlier. The man might prove useful for interrogation or other purposes back at the Konoha camp.
Rin carried the ANBU uniform deeper into the cave where she'd have privacy to change. Kenji and Kakashi waited near the entrance, neither speaking.
After a few minutes, Rin emerged.
The transformation was complete. The dark ANBU uniform fit her frame well, practical and form-fitting without being restrictive. The cat-face mask concealed her features entirely, leaving only her eyes visible through the slits. She looked exactly like any other anonymous ANBU operative.
If Kenji hadn't known it was her, he wouldn't have been able to identify her.
"What about the clothes you changed out of?"
"Here." Rin handed over her old outfit.
The fabric was torn and soaked with blood, exactly as it would be if she'd died the way everyone thought she had. He took the bundle and laid it out on the cave floor, smoothing the fabric flat.
Then he summoned his Wood Release puppet, and let it channel Wood Release chakra.
Vibrant green branches erupted from its palms. They writhed and twisted, burrowing into the bloodstained clothing and filling it out. The wood shaped itself with disturbing precision, forming a human-sized structure that matched Rin's build exactly.
The technique was more sophisticated than a standard Wood Clone. Those were designed for combat, with only rudimentary human features. This, however, required fine detail work, creating something that could pass visual inspection at close range. He had considered using this, along with his Mind Clone, to impersonate Rin. But then it was too risky. The Mangekyō Sharingan would detect that something was amiss, and if discovered, the Wood Release would be exposed. Then there would be suspicion of him knowing the plan, otherwise, why go to such lengths? And after that, he'd have to explain to Kakashi and Rin why he did it, possibly to the Hokage as well. Just too many cons.
The branches condensed and hardened, taking on the texture and color of flesh. Within moments, a "corpse" lay on the cave floor. It wore Rin's torn and bloodied clothes. Its chest bore the same wound from Kakashi's Chidori. Even the facial features matched perfectly.
It looked exactly like Rin would have if she'd actually died.
"Wood Release..." Kakashi stared at the mimic corpse, his visible eye wide. He wisely kept his questions to himself, just filing away the information for later.
"Amazing," Rin whispered, her voice muffled slightly by the mask. As someone from a civilian background with no special bloodline abilities, she'd never witnessed anything like this. Looking at the "corpse" that resembled her so perfectly created a strange, unsettling feeling in her chest.
It was like looking at her own dead body. Which, in a way, it was supposed to be.
"Alright," Kenji said, gesturing to the mimic corpse. "As of now, Nohara Rin is officially dead. That's what everyone will believe."
He turned to address the masked Rin directly.
"You're going to carry your 'own corpse' back to the Konoha camp with us. Try not to speak along the way. The less you interact with others, the lower the chance someone recognizes your voice or mannerisms. Is that alright?"
Rin hesitated for just a moment. The idea of carrying a fake version of her own dead body was deeply unsettling on a psychological level. But she understood the necessity.
"Yes," she said firmly.
She stepped forward and lifted the mimic corpse, positioning it on her back the way she might carry an injured comrade. The wood was lighter than an actual human body but still substantial enough to be convincing.
Kenji gave the cave one final scan, making sure they weren't leaving behind anything that might reveal what had really happened here. The transport puppet had gathered all the important items. And the real Kiri ninja's corpse was already being taken care of by one of his puppets.
"Let's go," he said.
The three of them filed out of the cave in silence. Kakashi led the way. Rin followed in the middle, carrying her "corpse." Kenji brought up the rear, his senses extended to detect any approaching enemies.
They made their way through the forest, heading toward the Konoha camp under cover of darkness.