Screech!
The piercing cry of Chidori suddenly rang out as a streak of deep blue light tore through the grayish-white dimension.
As he watched the high-intensity electrical current formed from Chakra, Obito's pupils contracted slightly, and those nightmare-like scenes from the past resurfaced before his eyes.
The blue arcs dancing in young Kakashi's hand;
The droplets of blood that had splashed when Rin was pierced by Chidori;
And his own hand, reaching halfway out yet ultimately failing to grasp anyone.
"Chidori... Still this technique," he murmured. His vision gradually blurred, and only when Chidori pierced his chest did Obito suddenly snap back to his senses.
Ignoring the arm that had passed through his chest, Uchiha Obito raised his eyes and looked at Kakashi before him.
That once-lazy guy now wore such a stern and decisive expression, just like when he had killed Rin all those years ago.
"Kakashi."
Obito's voice suddenly became very soft. "When Rin died back then... it must have hurt terribly, right? Her body being burned by lightning, and the pain of being killed by the person she trusted most."
"Hm?"
Kakashi suddenly frowned.
He realized that Obito seemed completely unaffected as he stared fixedly at him. Even his tone had not fluctuated in the slightest, and the heart Kakashi had just begun to settle rose again.
"Sacrificing the few to preserve the many... Rin did nothing wrong."
Obito silently looked at the hand piercing his chest and muttered to himself, "You did nothing wrong either. These were the rules our teachers taught us from the Ninja Academy onward—the rules of the ninja villages."
Kakashi fell silent at those words.
The other man was right. Those were the rules of the ninja villages, the rules tacitly accepted by every villager.
"The moment Rin died, she escaped the