Night had already fallen, and Kakashi was aimlessly running through the Konoha streets, stumbling and bumping into people without time to apologize, spinning around like a headless fly.
Although the people around him weren't doing anything, from Kakashi's perspective, he saw their mocking gazes and surging malice, seeing countless chains tightly binding him, dragging him little by little into the mire.
His body gradually became difficult to move, the sluggishness particularly strong, and all he could hear was his own rapid breathing and the gurgling sound of blood flowing.
Suddenly, he tripped over something, staggered, and fell down a grassy slope, landing on a rocky riverbank.
The last sliver of sunlight was swallowed by the western horizon, and enveloped by heavy dark clouds, the entire world turned pitch black.
The streetlights hadn't lit up yet, and he struggled to his feet in the darkness, smelling the damp air.
He remembered that breezy dusk.
"If you were in danger, I would save you no matter what."
"I wouldn't hesitate to pay any price."
Naraku and I... we both make mistakes.
Father has already paid the price; I can't let Naraku end up like that too.
What should I do to protect Naraku?
How can I prevent him from repeating the same mistakes?
Kakashi stood bewildered by the river, allowing the rising wind to mess up his hair, as tangled emotions, under the influence of the jutsu, intertwined, forming an unbreakable shackles.
The howling wind was speaking.
It was like a whisper, yet also like a cackle.
"Blame him."
Yes... Naraku needs to realize one thing: for a Ninja, missions are everything.
Since protecting a friend is a mistake, then Naraku must never value me more than a mission.
I must let him know that I am not a friend worth his sacrifice.
Under the dual influence of his true thoughts and genjutsu hypnosis, Kakashi ultimately formed a strange and twisted conclusion.
That was to achieve the goal of protecting Naraku by hurting him.
"Kakashi! Kakashi?"
Naraku slid down the slope, looking a bit disheveled, trudging through the gravel, a few strands of sweat-soaked hair plastered to his forehead, his lips completely devoid of color.
"Can we go back and talk about whatever it is?"
Just as he was about to grab Kakashi's hand, he saw Kakashi take half a step back, adopting an evasive posture.
Naraku froze, his outstretched hand suspended in mid-air, grasping only the cold wind that slipped through his fingers.
He awkwardly retracted his arm, forcing a smile and softly muttering to himself, "Ah, it's fine, I was too abrupt."
His voice trembled slightly, revealing an unconcealed panic, as if he was about to lose the most precious thing in his life, yet he was still deceiving himself, comforting himself that such a thing wouldn't happen.
Kakashi's expression was swallowed by the heavy darkness, but his voice was distinctly cold.
"Uchiha Naraku..."
He heard Kakashi say.
"Everything..."
"...is your fault."
Naraku's breath hitched.
All the blood in his body instantly froze, the biting cold making him shiver uncontrollably, something lodged in his throat, unable to utter a sound.
"If it weren't for you... Father wouldn't have..."
Uttering those few words exhausted Kakashi's remaining strength; he didn't even need to look to imagine what Naraku looked like now.
What on earth am I doing?
Kakashi asked himself, on the verge of collapse, his soul tearing at his uncontrolled body, cracking inch by inch.
Warm yellow lights flickered on, shining remotely from the side, outlining the blurry silhouettes of the two people.
Even in such dim light, Kakashi could still see Naraku's lips quivering, his fingers unconsciously clutching and tightening the hem of his clothes.
Kakashi clearly remembered this was his habit from years ago; it hadn't appeared since he came to the Hatake Household.
Those originally clear and bright eyes were steeped in tears, gradually dimming, with only a last glimmer of light remaining, but even that was on the verge of flickering out.
Kakashi unconsciously took a step forward.
Naraku noticed his movement, as if he had found some hope, and desperately wanted to speak.
The icy air suddenly rushed into his lungs, making him cough a few times, his voice growing even hoarser.
"I... I'm sorry... Kakashi... it's all... my fault..."
"He still hasn't realized his mistake, has he?"
The voice in Kakashi's mind was gentle yet ruthless, giving rise to an irresistible thought.
His body, against his will, raised a hand, picked up a black braided rope from his collar, and pulled out the gray ceramic shard hanging below.
He gripped the rope and yanked hard, and the necklace broke from his neck, dangling limply between his fingers.
The ceramic shard hung below, swaying continuously, spinning a few times in the wind.
Naraku watched the ceramic shard slowly fall.
Then, it became a faint, light afterimage, trailing a long black string, streaking across the night sky, and falling into the rushing river, disappearing in just a brief moment.
Naraku, as if still not reacting, looked at Kakashi's hand again.
A flash of lightning tore through the darkness, casting a pale light between heaven and earth, allowing Naraku to see clearly... that it was empty.
In that fleeting light, Kakashi also saw Naraku's eyes, lost in despair, and his lips slightly parted as if to speak.
Boom—
A tremendous clap of thunder drowned out that murmur.
Perhaps he would never know what Naraku said.
Kakashi turned and left.
Naraku watched him walk away step by step, until he merged into the darkness, becoming a part of the night.
Rain poured down.
The world in the rain became blurry and distant, making it hard to distinguish between reality and illusion.
Naraku still stood in place, letting the rain soak his hair, stream down his cheeks, his clothes already drenched, clinging to his body and revealing his slender frame.
In his perception, Black Zetsu had not yet left.
It seemed he was determined to see if he would awaken his Mangekyo.
Naraku expressionlessly told the system to use up all the popularity points he had recently accumulated, completely unlocking his Mangekyo.
Although the previous self-evolution had been interrupted, it had drastically reduced the popularity points needed for unlocking, making it barely affordable now.
After a burst of pain, blood tears flowed from Naraku's eyes, and the tomoe in his pupils rapidly connected, forming three intertwined black crescent moons, slowly rotating in his blood-red irises.
He stood in the rain for a long time, long enough for the blood on his face to be washed clean by the heavy rain, mixing with the puddles at his feet, and flowing into the gurgling river.
Since he had already awakened his Mangekyo, wouldn't it be reasonable to act a bit more extreme afterward?
After all, in "Uchiha Naraku's" eyes, he had nothing left to lose.
Naraku thought calmly.
But he could feel his anger, like magma flowing beneath a glacier, boiling incessantly beneath a layer of ice-cold composure...
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