"What happened?"
Inside an underground laboratory hidden within Konoha's dense forest, a figure slowly stepped out from the darkness.
He appeared to be in his forties or fifties, dressed in a black robe and holding a cane. His right eye was tightly wrapped in bandages.
His entire presence radiated coldness. Even without anger, his bearing inspired fear.
It was Shimura Danzō.
"My lord." Aburame Tatsuma immediately dropped to one knee, lowering his head deeply. "Two ANBU passed by. Our men reacted too aggressively and drew their attention."
"ANBU?" Danzō frowned. "Returning so late? Have you identified them?"
"Yes, my lord." Aburame Tatsuma nodded respectfully. "Fukami Natsuhiko and Hatake Kakashi. They've just returned from the border. They captured Sunagakure ANBU—Yashamaru."
If Kakashi had heard Tatsuma's report, he would have been astonished.
In such a short time, this man had already identified who they were, what mission they had been on, and even what they had accomplished.
But if Natsuhiko were here, he likely wouldn't be surprised at all.
Danzō's cooperation with Orochimaru—and his desire to see Orochimaru become Hokage—had another purpose:
To rebuild Root, which had been nearly destroyed by Nagato.
At the same time, he wanted to gradually step out from the shadows, no longer remaining buried underground as Root's hidden leader.
His true objective was the ANBU.
He needed to become the head of ANBU—or at the very least, its true controller.
Because of that, his infiltration into ANBU was extensive.
His grasp of internal intelligence was by no means weak.
Natsuhiko's mission might appear classified—
But to Danzō, it was merely routine.
A file he could casually flip through.
"Fukami Natsuhiko. Hatake Kakashi?"
Danzō fell silent upon hearing those two names.
Of course he knew them.
And precisely because he knew them, he hesitated.
They were slightly troublesome.
"So it's those two." After a pause, Danzō spoke calmly. "I know of them. Both are talented. How did they behave afterward?"
"Fukami Natsuhiko is intelligent," Tatsuma replied in a low voice. "He knows who we are, and he knows what should and shouldn't be said. However, because Hatake Kakashi was present, he stated that the matter would be reported to the Hokage, my lord…"
"Enough. I understand." Danzō nodded indifferently. "Reporting to the Hokage is their duty. It's nothing significant. Did you continue monitoring them?"
"Yes, my lord." Tatsuma nodded. "Hatake Kakashi wanted to ask questions, but Fukami Natsuhiko did not reveal a single word."
Hearing this, Danzō found that sufficient.
It was clear that Natsuhiko possessed proper self-awareness.
As for reporting to the Hokage—
Danzō didn't care in the slightest.
Even though he could tell that when Natsuhiko said "Hokage," he had intentionally left it ambiguous.
It could refer to the current Fourth Hokage.
Or to the Third Hokage, the true power behind ANBU.
But either way, it didn't matter.
The things Danzō was doing—
Hiruzen Sarutobi knew about them.
He had even tacitly approved them.
And as for Namikaze Minato—
What qualifications did that brat have to investigate him?
"This matter ends here," Danzō said coldly. "But keep people watching them."
"And as for those men tonight—carry out their punishment yourself."
"They were utterly unqualified."
"I understand, Lord Danzō," Aburame Tatsuma replied firmly. "I will make them understand what kind of conduct is expected of a Root shinobi."
.....
After leaving the forest, Natsuhiko and Kakashi walked in silence to the Memorial Stone.
Perhaps because it was deep into the night, the cemetery felt especially quiet. Only the sound of wind rustling through tree branches echoed softly.
Under Kakashi's lead, they soon arrived at a corner of the graveyard. There, two gravestones stood side by side.
One belonged to Nohara Rin.
The other belonged to Uchiha Obito.
This was not Natsuhiko's first time here. To maintain his persona, he had occasionally visited with Guy and the others during his downtime.
But between the war, ANBU missions, and his relatively distant feelings toward his former classmates, the number of times he had come here was very few.
In fact, this was his first time paying respects at Rin and Obito's graves.
The two stood silently before the tombstones. For a moment, neither seemed inclined to speak.
Kakashi was completely immersed in his own emotions.
Meanwhile, Natsuhiko's gaze remained fixed on the two graves.
He knew that Rin's grave might actually contain her remains.
But Obito's grave was definitely empty.
After all—
That guy was still very much alive.
Letting out a faint sigh, Natsuhiko turned to look at Kakashi.
Though Kakashi still wore his mask, Natsuhiko could tell that his heart was far from calm.
Suddenly, Natsuhiko recalled a question Kakashi had once asked him.
At the time, his answer had been thorough—
But not perfect.
The real difficulty now was how to bring up that topic again.
What was he supposed to do? Tell Kakashi directly that he had done well? That he had done his best?
Kakashi was stuck in his own spiral of self-reproach. A blunt approach might yield surprisingly good results—
But it was a gamble.
If it failed, all the effort Natsuhiko had invested in building trust with him would collapse.
Returning to zero would be tolerable.
Dropping into the negatives would be disastrous.
"Captain…"
Just as Natsuhiko was considering how to counsel him, Kakashi suddenly spoke first.
"Do you really think… I'm someone worthy of envy?"
"Hm?" Natsuhiko looked at him, puzzled. The question felt strange.
"I'm sorry, Captain. Maybe I still can't fully understand your way of thinking, even if…"
Kakashi opened his mouth to continue, but the words wouldn't come.
After a long pause, he sighed softly.
"Captain… am I a failure?
I killed the person most important to me with my own hands.
Even if you comfort me and say it wasn't my fault—say that I did nothing wrong—
I still feel like a complete failure.
I let everyone down.
I betrayed Obito's trust in me. I—"
"That's enough, Kakashi."
This time, Natsuhiko interrupted him before he could finish.
It was obvious that Kakashi was struggling intensely.
He still couldn't fully accept—or confront—certain truths.
No matter how cold and detached he appeared on the surface, the despair and repression inside him were real.
Yet, this also meant something else.
Kakashi had not become so cold as to be frightening.
And more importantly—
He was beginning to trust Natsuhiko.
With that thought, Natsuhiko placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder and spoke meaningfully:
"Do you know something?"
"In life, success is only temporary."
"Because…"
"Failure is the true main theme."