Chapter 215: I Want to See A-Mu
Obito let out a long, shuddering breath, the tension finally bleeding from his small shoulders. But before the bright, goofy grin could fully form on his face, his expression crumpled right back into a worried frown.
"But that guy..." Obito muttered, his hands balling into fists at his sides. "What if he comes back and causes trouble for A-Mu again later? A-Mu works so hard just to survive every day. She shouldn't have to suffer like that."
"You do not need to worry about him anymore. That person made a grave mistake, and I have already ordered him to be sent to the border for permanent patrol duty."
Hiruzen Sarutobi delivered the white lie with the practiced, warm smile of a benevolent grandfather.
In truth, a mere Genin who had taken a Rinnegan technique head-on was already a shattered husk, clinging to a single, pathetic thread of life. To ensure the absolute secrecy of the Rinnegan, Hiruzen had already given the quiet order for Isamu Kobayashi to be permanently disposed of. From this day forward, that man simply ceased to exist within the Hidden Leaf Village.
"That's awesome! Thank you so much, Hokage-sama!" Obito practically exploded upward from the edge of the hospital bed. He threw his arms in the air, bouncing around the sterile white room like a rubber ball. "Now A-Mu will have her subsidy money to spend on good food!"
Listening to the boy's naive cheering, the warmth in Hiruzen's eyes cooled into something far more calculating.
"Obito, you truly care deeply for your friend," Hiruzen said, his voice lowering into a serious cadence. "Tell me... when A-Mu used her Ninjutsu yesterday, you saw the condition of her right eye, didn't you?"
Obito stopped mid-bounce, his feet planting firmly on the floor. "I saw it." He nodded vigorously. "A-Mu's eye turned purple. It had these cool rings in it. It was super amazing."
"Obito. You must remember what I am about to say at all times. Burn it into your memory and never forget it." Hiruzen leaned forward, his weathered face turning incredibly solemn. "A-Mu's right eye is an exceptionally rare Bloodline Limit. If its existence is exposed to the outside world, her life will be in constant, unimaginable danger. Therefore, until she grows strong enough to protect herself, information about her right eye must absolutely not be leaked to anyone. Do you understand the gravity of this?"
How could Obito not understand? The gears in his head turned quickly. If the bad guys from other villages found out about that beautiful purple eye, they would come to steal it. They would kill A-Mu.
He would never, ever let anything happen to A-Mu.
"Hokage-sama, please rest assured!" Obito slapped his chest hard enough to make a loud smack. "Not only will I take this secret to my grave, but I will also protect A-Mu with everything I have. Anyone who wants to hurt her will have to step over my dead body first!"
"What a good, brave child."
Hiruzen leaned back, deeply satisfied with the boy's fiery declaration.
The young girl named A-Mu hadn't exactly experienced the warmth of a loving home in the two short months since being brought to Konoha. But if she had already forged such fierce bonds within the village walls, manipulating her loyalty would be a simple matter. The Anbu reports sitting on his desk showed that she not only shared a deep connection with Obito, but she was also seated right next to the prodigy Kakashi Hatake at the Academy.
As long as she developed inseparable, emotional tethers to the people of Konoha, her heart would inevitably belong to the Village. And by extension, wouldn't that supreme Rinnegan belong to Konoha as well?
After pressing Obito for a few more minor details regarding the alleyway incident, Obito immediately begged to go see A-Mu. Hiruzen smoothly denied the request, citing that the young girl was currently undergoing delicate medical treatment for her severe facial burns. Deflated and whining, Obito was reluctantly dragged out of the hospital room by the collar of his shirt by Fugaku Uchiha.
Walking down the bustling streets toward the Uchiha compound, Fugaku cast a sideways glance at the boy. He always felt that Obito's personality was far too flighty and reckless for an Uchiha. Unable to shake his unease, the Clan Leader sternly cautioned him once more about keeping his mouth shut.
"Don't worry, Clan Leader Uncle!" Obito whined, rubbing the back of his neck. "How could I not be careful when it's about A-Mu's safety? But seriously... when can I see her?"
Fugaku sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Did I not just say she is undergoing facial treatment? You can see her once the healers are finished."
"But A-Mu is going to be all alone in that scary hospital room!" Obito protested, dragging his feet. "She's probably terrified! If I could just sit by her bed, she wouldn't be so afraid."
"For the next two days, you need to focus your worries on your own eyes," Fugaku scolded, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Now that you have awakened your Sharingan, your training regimen and chakra control exercises cannot remain the same. You will report to my house on time every morning for the next two days. I will personally guide you in your cultivation."
Yesterday, Obito had been in such a blind panic over A-Mu coughing up blood that he hadn't even spared a single thought for his newly awakened eyes. It was only when Fugaku explicitly pointed it out that the reality finally clicked in his brain.
He had the Sharingan. He was a real Uchiha now.
At this exact moment, his chest swelled with pride. He wanted nothing more than to sprint back to the hospital and brag about this amazing news to A-Mu.
"Okay, Clan Leader Uncle! I'll train super hard!" Obito pumped his fist. "And then, if I complete all your crazy requirements perfectly, can I go see A-Mu?"
Fugaku stared at the loud, vibrating child in front of him. Suddenly, he understood Yota's frequent complaints perfectly. Right now, he felt an overwhelming urge to chop this kid on the back of the neck and knock him unconscious just to buy five minutes of absolute peace.
Ninja Academy.
The morning sun slanted through the large windows, casting long shadows across the wooden desks. As soon as Kakashi stepped into the noisy classroom, his dark eyes swept toward the back row.
Both of his desk mates were missing.
Kakashi paused, his brow furrowing slightly. It was a completely normal occurrence for Obito to be late—the idiot probably got lost on the straight road to school—but why was A-Mu absent?
Could it be that Obito was busy helping some old lady carry groceries across the village and somehow dragged the timid A-Mu along to do the heavy lifting?
'What an idiot,' Kakashi thought, pulling out his chair and sitting down.
At first, he assumed the two of them would burst through the door right before the first period ended. But the morning dragged on, the instructor droned through the history lesson, and the two seats beside him remained stubbornly empty all the way until the lunch bell rang.
Kakashi quietly reached under his desk, pulling out two neatly wrapped lunch boxes. He walked out of the loud classroom, handling the hallways until he reached the quiet chain-link fence on the west side of the academy grounds.
He waited. The wind rustled the leaves of the nearby oak tree.
Unexpectedly, the woman named Kikushi didn't show up to wait for her meal either.
Kakashi's grip on the bento boxes tightened slightly. Did something happen?
He walked back to the empty classroom, popped the lid off his own lunch, and began picking at his rice in total silence. He glanced sideways at the messy, unsolved math problems Obito had left scribbled on his desk the day before. Suddenly, the perfectly cooked rice tasted like ash in his mouth. Would he really have to go bother the Principal again to find out where they were? How troublesome.
A few desks away, a group of classmates had pushed their tables together, gossiping loudly between bites of food.
"Hey, did you guys hear? There was a massive Ninja attack in the alleyway near the central plaza yesterday afternoon."
"Yeah, I heard my dad talking about it! The attacker used some super powerful Ninjutsu. It completely blew down a two-story building! Luckily, the Patrol Team was right around the corner and caught the guy instantly."
"Who would be crazy enough to use destructive Ninjutsu to hurt random people right in the middle of Konoha..."
"Whoever it was, he definitely died a miserable death..."
Kakashi's chopsticks froze halfway to his mouth. His jaw locked.
An attack in the alley near the plaza. A-Mu and Obito missing. Kikushi absent.
Could their sudden disappearance be related to this? Were they caught in the crossfire? Accidental injury?
The rest of the school day passed in a blur of dull anxiety. After the final bell, Kakashi walked back to his family's ramen shop. While Sakumo was cheerfully wiping down the counters and clearing the empty bowls, he paused, noticing the completely untouched bento box sitting on the prep table.
"Kakashi," Sakumo said, his warm voice laced with gentle concern. "Did you have a fight with your friend today? You know, you should try to get along well with your peers. Don't bully them just because you're ahead in the curriculum."
Sakumo was always deeply invested in his son's rather barren social life. It was incredibly rare for Kakashi to actually have a friend he willingly shared space with, and Sakumo didn't want his son to ruin it by being too arrogant or emotionally stunted.
"Dad, you're overthinking it," Kakashi muttered, resting his chin on his hand. "Someone as timid and quiet as A-Mu couldn't possibly pick a fight with me even if she tried. She just didn't come to school today."
Kakashi rolled his dead-fish eyes toward the ceiling. Did he really give off the aura of a bully? Why did everyone, including his own father, automatically assume he loved tormenting weaker kids?
He made a mental note to ask A-Mu tomorrow if his face naturally looked that scary.
However, to Kakashi's growing unease, A-Mu didn't show up to school for two consecutive days. Neither did Obito.
It wasn't until the morning of the third day that a familiar, loud thud echoed through the classroom.
Even though Obito had actually arrived early for once, the idiot completely ignored the perfectly functioning sliding door. He climbed straight through the open window, his sneakers squeaking against the sill, and plopped down into his chair with a heavy huff.
Kakashi turned his head. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second.
Obito let out a loud, dramatic scoff through his nose, crossing his arms and aggressively turning his head to stare at the chalkboard. Since A-Mu wasn't here, he had absolutely zero intention of speaking to this annoying, silver-haired jerk.
Kakashi stared at the back of Obito's head. He had originally planned to ask the idiot if he knew what was going on with A-Mu, but seeing this ridiculously petty attitude, Kakashi swallowed the question.
'Forget it,' Kakashi thought, turning back to his textbook.
Someone as emotionally transparent and incapable of hiding secrets as Obito wouldn't be able to sit in class this peacefully if something terrible had happened. The fact that the idiot was here, acting like his usual annoying self, meant that A-Mu was safe.
Meanwhile, deep within the sterile, quiet halls of Konoha Hospital.
Senju Tetsuya, the highly respected Director of the hospital, stood beside a hospital bed, carefully snipping away the thick white bandages wrapped around a young girl's face.
The horrific burn scars from over two months ago had looked severe to the untrained eye. But for a medical veteran like Tetsuya, it wasn't a particularly difficult challenge to overcome. After weeks of careful debridement, the application of rare medicinal salves, and constant, high-level Medical Ninjutsu, the long treatment process was finally at an end. All that remained was to peel back the final layer of gauze and inspect the results.
"Don't be afraid, A-Mu," Tetsuya said softly, offering the well-behaved girl a reassuring smile. "After my treatment, the scars on your face have been completely eradicated. When you look in the mirror in a moment, you'll see just how cute you really are."
"Thank you so much, Uncle!" the girl chirped, her voice dripping with innocent gratitude.
Tetsuya chuckled, placing a small silver hand mirror on the bedside table. He reached out and gently pulled away the last layer of bandages.
As the gauze fell away, revealing the smooth, flawless skin beneath, the warm, grandfatherly smile on Tetsuya's face instantly froze.
His breath hitched. His eyes widened bit by bit, the pupils shrinking to pinpricks as he stared down at that all-too-familiar, striking face. The medical scissors slipped from his numb fingers, clattering loudly against the linoleum floor.
"M-Mito...?" Tetsuya choked out, his voice trembling with sheer, unadulterated disbelief. "No... Stelle...?"
Sitting on the bed, the young girl blinked her large, innocent eyes.
'Well,'Stelle thought to herself, burying a deeply amused smirk behind a mask of pure, confused innocence.'It seems the "beauty" part of my "beautiful, strong, and tragic" persona is officially back in business.'
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