In a concealed mountain valley twenty li to the northeast.
Kakashi was leaning with his back against a moss-covered boulder, his left hand clutching his right rib. There was a knife wound there so deep that bone could be seen, and fresh blood continued to seep relentlessly through the gaps between his fingers.
He was breathing heavily, his silver hair plastered against his pale skin, soaked through with sweat and blood.
At some point, his forehead protector had slipped down to his neck, exposing that crimson Sharingan eye.
Even now, Kakashi was fully focused, straining to catch every minute sound coming from the surrounding forest.
Even in this state, he did not dare let his guard down.
Behind him, Rin was kneeling on the ground, both hands glowing with a soft green light, pressed firmly against Kakashi's wound.
Her medical ninjutsu was operating at full power. The chakra of the Mystical Palm Technique flowed into the injury like a warm spring, repairing torn muscle fibers and damaged blood vessels.
Kakashi's wound was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye, yet the dizziness caused by massive blood loss still refused to fade.
"Kakashi… hold on a little longer… it'll be over soon…"
Rin didn't even have time to wipe the sweat from her brow. She bit her lower lip and poured even more medical chakra into the wound.
Her own complexion was equally pale, because that unstable power writhing within her abdomen, something that could go berserk at any moment was making her feel deeply unwell.
Around them, the other medical shinobi had formed a circle, watching the entrance to the valley with vigilance.
Most of them were genin or chunin. There wasn't a single jonin among them. Their faces still carried traces of youth, yet at this moment, every one of them was gripping kunai and shuriken tightly.
Medical shinobi who truly excelled in combat were, in reality, extremely rare.
This was also why the proposal of equipping every squad with a medical shinobi had never been successfully implemented. First, the resources required for training were simply too great; second, it could very easily result in even heavier casualties.
Originally, three combat-type shinobi could resolve a battle. But if replaced with two combat-type shinobi and one medical shinobi, overall offensive power would drop, and the number of unpredictable variables would increase.
A short-haired female medical shinobi spoke softly, "Rin, do you still have enough chakra? Do you want to rest for a bit?"
Rin shook her head. The green glow in her hands did not weaken in the slightest.
"No. Kakashi's injuries are too severe. If he isn't completely healed, then in the next fight…"
She didn't finish the sentence, but everyone understood what she meant.
The Mist shinobi pursuers could arrive at any time, and Kakashi was their strongest combatant.
Among all these medical shinobi, only Rin had mastered A-rank medical ninjutsu. The others could manage, at best, B-rank healing techniques.
Naturally, the heavy burden of treating Kakashi fell upon her shoulders.
"I'm fine, Rin."
Kakashi let out a breath thick with the metallic scent of blood and tried to move his body slightly.
The tearing pain in his muscles was still there, but at least the bleeding had stopped.
He exhaled slowly.
After parting ways with Kiyohara, he had followed the intelligence and come here.
The price of breaking through had been immense.
A knife wound to his right rib, a penetrating injury through his left shoulder, more than half of his chakra consumed, and his left eye darkening from overuse of the Sharingan…
There had been one jonin and eight chunin from Kirigakure stationed here, yet Kakashi had still managed to eliminate them all and free the medical shinobi being held.
"Where is Kiyohara?" Rin asked.
She was deeply worried about Kiyohara's safety now, his image constantly surfacing in her mind.
"Kiyohara…"
Kakashi noticed how Rin immediately asked about him the moment she spoke, and how her gaze kept drifting to the bracelet on her wrist.
He vaguely remembered that bracelet—it seemed to have been a gift from Kiyohara.
When had the two of them formed a bond like this, one he hadn't even known about?
"He's still behind us."
Kakashi thought of Kiyohara, who had stayed behind alone to cover their retreat. If it hadn't been for him, Kakashi could never have reached this place so quickly.
And even if he had, the situation would likely have been far more dangerous.
His chakra wouldn't have been able to hold out much longer.
"By the way, Rin… what did they do to you?"
Kakashi turned his head to look at her.
The Sharingan possessed the ability to see the flow of chakra within the human body, and he had noticed a mass of crimson chakra swirling within Rin's abdomen.
Moreover, that chakra was extremely unstable, as though it could erupt at any moment.
"…A monster with three tails," Rin said.
"I don't remember very clearly. I only remember that they captured us medical shinobi. For the first few days, we were treated like normal prisoners. Then today, they suddenly took me away."
Rin still seemed shaken. Her voice trembled, tinged with the verge of tears.
"And after they took you?" Kakashi pressed.
"It felt like that monster went inside my body," Rin added.
She explained that the Mist shinobi seemed to be performing some kind of special ritual on her, but she had been deprived of consciousness at the time. All she remembered was that some kind of sealing technique had been drawn on her abdomen.
Yet when she later lifted her clothes to look, there was nothing there at all.
"After Rin was taken away, most of the Mist shinobi guarding us also left," the short-haired female medical shinobi chimed in.
"We originally wanted to resist and escape together with Rin, but then you showed up, Kakashi."
Kakashi nodded silently.
After dealing with the enemies, he had found Rin in a cave behind the camp.
It was thanks to the eight shinobi hounds he had summoned; they had locked onto her location by scent.
"Miyako's right. That's how things happened. I don't know what that monster really is, but I can feel that I might go berserk at any moment…"
Rin spoke urgently.
"Kakashi, after I finish healing you, kill me immediately… while I can still control myself."
"Don't say that!" Kakashi suddenly snapped.
Normally calm and composed, he rarely showed such violent emotional fluctuations.
"There has to be a way, Rin!"
Kakashi stared straight at her.
At this point, Rin had already ended her medical ninjutsu. She shoved a kunai into his palm.
"I'm begging you… I don't want to become a monster… I don't want to hurt anyone…"
The nearby medical shinobi fell into silence upon hearing her words.
The coldness of the kunai seeped through his skin, stabbing painfully into Kakashi's fingers.
He lowered his head and looked at the weapon in his hand. The metal surface reflected his pale face and that crimson eye.
Then Kakashi lifted his head again, meeting Rin's face, beaded with fine sweat. That face, which always carried a gentle smile, now held nothing but despair and pleading.
He thought of Obito.
He thought of that fool's hand reaching out from beneath the crushed rocks, of that final sentence—"Take care of Rin."
He thought of his promise.
And now, he was supposed to drive this kunai into Rin's heart?
He couldn't do it.
No matter what, he couldn't.
"I won't give up."
Kakashi threw the kunai aside.
If Kiyohara were here, he would definitely make the same choice.
"There will be a way. First, we leave this place and return to Konoha. We'll definitely find a solution."
"But—"
"There is no 'but.'"
Kakashi interrupted her as he struggled to his feet.
"Kiyohara should still be on his way here. With his support, our chances of getting back are very high."
In his words, Kakashi showed great trust in Kiyohara's strength.
And Kiyohara's sensory abilities were also extremely strong, strong enough to help them avoid Kirigakure's ambushes in advance.
Before his words had even faded, dense footsteps suddenly echoed from the valley entrance.
At least twenty people, rapidly approaching.
"Found them! They're here!"
The shouts of the Mist shinobi reverberated through the night air.
"Chidori!"
Seeing the enemy closing in, Kakashi reacted instantly. The shrill cry of chirping birds rang out as lightning gathered in his palm.
"Kill!"
The Mist shinobi hurled their kunai in unison.
Kakashi twisted his body aside. The lightning pierced straight through the chest of the foremost enemy, but the attacks of four others were already upon him.
Suddenly, a green figure slammed down from the sky like a cannonball.
"Leaf Great Whirlwind!"
Bang!
A Mist shinobi was kicked away in an instant, smashing into the rock wall with a dull crack of shattering bones.
Might Guy landed and assumed a fighting stance, green steam still swirling around his body.
"Kakashi, I'm late."
Behind him, Ebisu, Kurenai, and Genma also arrived in quick succession, along with several Konoha shinobi whom Kakashi did not know very well.
He guessed they were reinforcements who had followed after them.
"Guy… you're here."
Kakashi finally let out a breath of relief.
"The main force is still behind us," said a shinobi skilled in genjutsu, forming hand seals as he spoke.
Immediately, a Mist shinobi froze in place, illusions flashing before his eyes as he began wildly attacking empty air.
"Shinobi Art: Senbon Rain."
The senbon spat out by Genma pierced the Mist shinobi controlled by the illusion, turning him into something like a human pincushion.
"There are too many Mist shinobi," Ebisu said as he pushed up his sunglasses, "and… they seem to be especially focused on Rin."
Kakashi's heart sank.
As expected, Kirigakure's objective from the very beginning hadn't been merely the medical shinobi—they were searching for suitable candidates to serve as vessels for monsters.
Now that Rin had been captured and something implanted into her, Kakashi already had a vague guess as to what it was.
Most likely, it was the so-called weapon of war… a tailed beast!
Watching as more and more Mist shinobi gathered, with even quite a few Mist ANBU rushing over, Kakashi knew they could not afford to delay any longer.
"Rin has had a tailed beast implanted in her," Kakashi said briefly to the others.
"They're probably here to retrieve the vessel."
Everyone's expressions changed drastically.
"Guy, you take the others and escort the remaining medical shinobi back to the rendezvous point with the main force. I'll take Rin and leave by another route."
"But Kakashi, your injuries…" Might Guy hesitated.
"I'm fine."
Kakashi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and continued, "Splitting up is the only way to divide their forces. Their target is Rin. As long as Rin isn't with the others, everyone else will be relatively safe."
Might Guy looked at Kakashi's pale face, then at Rin, and finally nodded heavily.
"Understood. You two must survive."
He turned around and, together with the others, escorted the medical shinobi away.
Kakashi, meanwhile, took Rin with him and ran toward the distant Konoha camp.
Sure enough, almost all of the Mist shinobi chose to pursue Kakashi and Rin, leaving only a small number behind to fight Might Guy and the others.
…
At the same time, at the Mountains' Graveyard.
While Kakashi and Rin were being pursued by the enemy, Obito lay on a bed, staring at the ceiling.
'The body integration is going very smoothly. Before long, I'll be able to see Rin and Kakashi.'
A faint smile tugged at the corner of Obito's mouth.
"Hiss… it hurts so much."
Suddenly, Obito clutched his left eye.
Every now and then, a sharp stabbing pain would flare up in that eye, followed by inexplicable images flashing through his mind, just now, he had actually seen Rin.
The shock jolted him awake from his brief rest after rehabilitation training.
His heart began pounding wildly, a suffocating sense of unease gradually filling his chest.
As if to confirm that ominous feeling, White Zetsu poked his head out from the wall.
"I just went out for a bit, and I happened to see that the idiot Kakashi you mentioned, along with Rin, are in danger!"
White Zetsu blurted out.
"!!"
"What happened?"
Obito shot upright from the bed in an instant. His short hair had already grown all the way down to his waist.
The Hashirama Cells had given Obito extraordinary regenerative abilities, accelerating not only his recovery but also his hair growth and physical development.
In just a few months, he had grown a full head taller than his former self.
"They've been surrounded by Mist shinobi and are being chased right now!"
Hearing this, Obito immediately jumped off the bed and slammed his pale right hand into the wall.
"Uwah—!"
His right arm snapped off at the elbow, sliding down like melted white wax and hanging limply at his side.
"That body of yours can't break rock yet," Swirling White Zetsu said as he hopped down from the wall.
"I have to go… I have to save Rin and Kakashi!"
Obito endured the intense pain as he clutched his right arm.
"Are they… are they okay?"
He pressed on, his voice beginning to tremble.
"Uh…"
Another White Zetsu, still embedded in the wall, scratched his head.
"Well… that's kind of hard to say."
"What do you mean, hard to say?! Tell me the truth!"
Obito grabbed White Zetsu by the collar, his two-tomoe Sharingan activating uncontrollably.
"Where are they? Are they still alive?"
"Calm down," Swirling White Zetsu said.
The biggest difference between him and the other White Zetsu was that he had no human facial features, only a spiral-shaped face.
In the original records, he had another name: "Tobi."
"They're still alive, but… the situation isn't looking good," White Zetsu continued.
"Your companion Kakashi went to rescue the medical shinobi captured by Kiri."
Obito's heart nearly stopped.
"And then?" he asked hoarsely.
"Then he seems to have rescued the little girl named Rin, but…"
White Zetsu paused, carefully observing Obito's expression.
"They're now being hunted by a large number of Mist shinobi, and that Kakashi also appears to be injured."
Obito frowned deeply.
"Why… why didn't you tell me sooner?!"
He roared, jumping down from the stone bed and charging toward the cave entrance.
But the passage was sealed by thick, heavy rock.
"Open it! Let me out!"
Obito pounded the rock wall madly with his remaining arm, but the stone didn't budge at all.
"It's useless," Swirling White Zetsu said leisurely as he walked over.
"With your current self, you can't break this rock."
"Then have Madara open it! Rin is in danger! Kakashi is in danger! Did you hear me?!"
Obito turned around, his Sharingan bloodshot.
"If they die… if I can't even protect my companions… then what meaning is there in my surviving?!"
His voice echoed through the stone chamber, hoarse with despair.
"But even if you go back, you might be treated as an enemy," Swirling White Zetsu said.
"After all, you've long been forgotten."
"That's impossible!"
Obito glared at him furiously.
These guys always liked to spout nonsense, constantly saying that he had already been forgotten.
"There's no way everyone has forgotten me. There must be… there must still be a place for me."
Obito clenched his fists tightly.
His hair now hung loose at his waist. Although he didn't know exactly how much time had passed, it definitely hadn't been long enough for something like total oblivion.
"I really can't do anything about you. Fine, then just wear me—put my body on," Swirling White Zetsu said.
His face bloomed open like a flower, revealing a hollow interior, as though he were nothing more than a layer of flesh and skin.
Then he wrapped himself around Obito.
That warm, tight sensation made Obito feel as though he were being completely enveloped.
This was… power.
"Aren't you Madara's subordinates? Is this really okay?" Obito asked.
"He's a good kid," said the White Zetsu still on the wall.
The implication was clear—this was Swirling White Zetsu's personal decision.
"Don't you want to go save Kakashi and Rin?" Swirling White Zetsu asked.
"Thank you," Obito said, clenching his fists once more and throwing a punch at the massive rock.
BOOM!
This time, the rock, dozens of meters tall was blasted open with ease, leaving behind a massive hole.
"You're leaving?" Madara lifted his head and looked at Obito.
The tightly wrapped Obito now had his head exposed.
Swirling White Zetsu's spiral face branched out from Obito's shoulders like twisted tree limbs.
"I'm very grateful for your help, but I have to leave now. Let me offer my thanks here because I probably won't be coming back again."
"You're too impatient," Madara said meaningfully as he looked at Obito.
"I told you, it's too early to thank me."
"You will return here. And when that time comes, that will be your true thanks because you will have nowhere else to go. They won't even recognize you."
"…"
Obito looked at Uchiha Madara and felt that this guy's mind was seriously off.
How could Kakashi and Rin possibly fail to recognize him?
Ignoring Madara, Obito immediately asked White Zetsu for Kakashi and Rin's location.
"The one covering you is my clone. Over that distance, we can communicate like a radio. Other clones are scattered underground in various places, gathering intelligence," White Zetsu explained.
Hearing this, Obito rushed forward.
Behind the massive rock wall, however, were several enormous shuriken, along with black cloaks, long swords, sickles, Uchiha war fans, and other shinobi tools neatly arranged.
Obito didn't spend much time choosing. He simply grabbed a black cloak to cover his body and, without looking back, charged toward the exit.
This time, all obstacles along the way were cleared by Obito, revealing a path to the outside world.
Blinding sunlight poured in through the cave entrance. Obito squinted, tears spilling uncontrollably from his eyes.
It had been far too long since he had last seen the light.
But he had no time to adjust.
Rin was waiting for him.
Kakashi was waiting for him.
"Please wait for me… please…" Obito murmured as he charged into the light.
His figure streaked through the forest at an astonishing speed.
With the physical enhancements granted by the transplanted Hashirama Cells, combined with Swirling White Zetsu's amplification, each step launched him dozens of meters forward.
Trees on both sides blurred into streaks of color, the wind roaring in his ears like thunder.
Obito prayed without ceasing.
He prayed that Rin would be safe.
He prayed that Kakashi would be all right.
He prayed that he himself… would not arrive too late.
Deep within the cave, in the shadows, Madara slowly opened his eyes.
A barely perceptible smile appeared on his aged face.
"Go, Obito," he murmured to himself, his voice echoing through the empty stone chamber.
"Go and witness for yourself… the cruelty of this world."
"And then, return with despair."
"And become… the perfect chess piece of my plan."
(End of Chapter)