The words that escaped Kakashi's mouth instantly made the surrounding temperature seem to drop ten degrees!
This familiar yet unfamiliar name,
Spoken from his mouth, sounded somewhat hoarse.
At this moment,
He didn't know whether to be shocked or emotional, or perhaps... sad.
This close friend who died saving him back then,
Was originally the deepest obsession in Kakashi's heart, a name not to be profaned.
However,
From that moment on—
Everything changed.
Back then, after finishing a mission in the Land of Fire, Kakashi had only wanted to find a random shopping street to buy Jiraiya's newly published "Icha-Icha Paradise".
Unexpectedly, because he bought the last copy, it led to a visit from a fellow book fan, a young man.
Kakashi naturally didn't recognize that young man at the time.
But now he knew,
He was an extremely powerful Shinobi from Amegakure Village, named Kyo.
And it was from that Kyo's mouth,
That Kakashi first learned the news that "Obito is still alive".
Furthermore, there was intelligence about Obito being brainwashed by some old man and going down the wrong path...
To be honest,
When he heard this at the time,
Besides shock, Kakashi naturally was reluctant to believe it.
After all,
Since childhood,
Obito had shown a very cheerful personality, extremely strong resilience, and a longing to become "Hokage".
For someone like that, Kakashi could never believe he would turn dark.
Therefore,
After that,
Kakashi began to follow the "swirl mask" characteristic mentioned by Kyo, trying to find Obito and confront him face to face.
However,
As years passed, he still had no opportunity to see this close friend.
Until over a month ago—
Jiraiya brought even worse intelligence—
Obito had not only turned dark, but had even teamed up with the also-darkened Sasuke to start some mysterious terrorist attack plan!
They infiltrated various great villages and, with extremely forceful methods, took away the Jinchuriki from those villages!
And to date, except for Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, who was still safe, all other Jinchuriki had been captured! Even the famous B from Kumogakure's "A-B Combo" was no match for them and was taken away.
It was precisely because of this... that this Five Kage Summit came to be.
If Kakashi couldn't fully trust that Kyo from Amegakure,
Then, he could not disbelieve Jiraiya.
Jiraiya, as a great Shinobi concerned for Konoha, who once trained the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, undoubtedly had strong public credibility.
Since even he spoke in an almost certain tone,
It must be very close to the truth.
Therefore,
No matter how unwilling Kakashi was to believe it in his heart, he had to force himself to accept this fact.
And at this moment,
Unknown to him,
When Obito ahead heard the name that escaped his mouth, he was, obviously, instantly frozen as well.
His expression froze, stunned on the spot.
What?!
What's going on...
This guy just directly called out my name?!!
Who the hell did this!?!
Wasn't my identity supposed to be known only to the Akatsuki?!!
Why does Kakashi know!?
Did Konoha deal with Akatsuki's people?????
"!"
Just as Obito was feeling bewildered,
Suddenly—
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Two sounds of wind appeared, and then, Chakra aura instantly descended!
The next moment,
Two familiar figures appeared beside Kakashi!
"?!"
Kakashi's gaze shifted, naturally instantly recognizing them as the two guards of the Third Tsuchikage, Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi.
And at this moment,
The moment they landed,
Their gazes of course immediately fell upon Obito in the snow across from them.
Their expressions were obviously very solemn, ready for battle.
After a moment,
Kurotsuchi seriously spoke:
"Kakashi-san, we heard the commotion here and rushed over... You seem injured, are you alright?"
Hearing this,
Kakashi was momentarily stunned, then shook his head, saying:
"I'm fine."
Just now, seeing these two Shinobi from the Land of Earth arrive, he had a momentary daze, then realized that everyone was now on the same united front.
The one on a different front was instead his former friend across from them.
Confirming Kakashi was uninjured,
Kurotsuchi's gaze then turned to the masked man across from them, her movements not relaxing in the slightest, saying firmly:
"This guy... who is he?"
As her words fell,
Kakashi's breath momentarily halted, slightly stunned.
His gaze looked forward,
Suddenly locking eyes with that single Sharingan of Obito.
At this moment,
It was as if time stood still.
Kakashi's gaze shook, then he lowered his eyes, slightly bitterly.
Who exactly was the person before him?
A dead close friend?
A reborn enemy?
Kakashi found it difficult to judge in such a short time.
But,
If he didn't take this opportunity to find out, he might never know the truth.
And to find out,
He had to defeat him here.
Just as many years ago, in that shopping street, that golden-eyed youth from Amegakure had said with a slight smile—
"If someday in the future,"
"You see a man wearing an orange swirl mask, calling himself 'Uchiha Madara', somewhere."
"Then, don't hesitate—"
"Try hitting him directly in the face with a Chidori."
"Because, after breaking that mask, you'll probably see... a familiar face."
Thinking of this,
Kakashi looked up again, his heart once again becoming firm.
He stared at the silent Obito ahead, and with an unprecedented calm tone, lightly said:
"Once, a friend."
"But this time... an enemy."
"!"
The moment his words fell,
Whoosh!
Kakashi had no hesitation, stepping forward and leaping out, his body shooting forth like an arrow!!
And in his right hand,
A brilliant blue lightning, like a blade that could destroy everything, erupted with terrifying momentum, directly aimed at the mask of Obito across from him!
"!?!?"