Tears Hidden by Kamui

Hokage Office Building, Anbu headquarters.

Silver-haired and unmasked, Kakashi stood silently among the Anbu ninja wearing all manner of animal masks, pressing a medicated patch over the wound on his forehead.

After Orochimaru escaped, he had immediately gone after him and encountered him outside the village's protective barrier.

But Kakashi had yet to emerge from the shadow of Rin's death. His mind was somewhat unfocused, and the Sharingan consumed an enormous amount of chakra, greatly weakening his combat ability.

As a result, he had been no match for Orochimaru and failed to keep him there.

However, the Explosive Tags left behind by the Third Hokage had also injured Orochimaru.

Kakashi's Sharingan was only Two-Tomoe and had been transplanted, so the injured Orochimaru had not considered taking Kakashi's Sharingan and spared him.

After being watched by those snake eyes, Kakashi did not continue the pursuit either and returned to the village.

Creak—

The heavy doors of the Anbu headquarters slowly opened.

As the Third Hokage and Danzo emerged one after the other, Kakashi lowered his hand and put on his White Cat Mask.

Under the moonlight, Hiruzen Sarutobi stepped forward two paces and sternly addressed the Anbu ninja below the stairs. "This emergency assembly is to capture Orochimaru, who escaped during the earlier operation, as quickly as possible."

"According to intelligence, Orochimaru has already been injured. We must capture him before he leaves the borders of the Land of Fire!"

"Listen carefully! The intelligence, knowledge, and techniques Orochimaru possesses are all extremely valuable assets to Konoha!"

"I hope you can bring him back alive if possible!"

"Once he leaves the borders of the Land of Fire, it will be a devastating blow to Konoha!"

"Therefore, we must capture Orochimaru before he leaves the Land of Fire! Everyone, search with all your strength!"

"Dismissed!"

Once the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, finished speaking, the dozens of elite Anbu ninja quickly dispersed!

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned and headed back inside the Anbu building.

"Even someone like you can fail." Danzo's voice rang out.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped but did not answer.

"I will fully assist in the capture operation." After a pause, Danzo added, "For Konoha."

Hiruzen Sarutobi closed his eyes. "How considerate of you."

With that, Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his eyes again and slowly entered the Anbu building.

Danzo remained standing behind him like a vulture, his one eye gazing over the dimly lit Konoha beneath the night sky.

Outside the village.

Twenty Anbu ninja set out in all directions.

Including Root, the Anbu had a total of more than seventy elite ninja.

But naturally, they could not all be deployed.

This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi had primarily mobilized the captains and squad leaders from each unit, the weakest of whom were Special Jonin.

Because he knew full well that his disciple was not someone ordinary ninja could handle.

Even the Anbu operated in pairs, carrying signal flares with them. The moment they found any trace of Orochimaru, they would fire a flare immediately and summon nearby Anbu ninja for support.

Combined with Orochimaru's current injuries, that was the only reason they had a chance of bringing him back alive.

Soon, the twenty ninja followed the direction in which the Barrier Team had sensed Orochimaru escaping Konoha and began tracking him along that route.

Some raced through the forest, some searched along the river, and some even dove into the water, attempting to find Orochimaru's trail.

As Kakashi sped through the forest alone, he was somewhat distracted.

"He never took me seriously at all..." Kakashi recalled his clash with Orochimaru. Even after being injured by the Explosive Tags, Orochimaru had not regarded him as a threat and had coldly walked past him.

Yet Kakashi had been so frightened by those icy snake eyes that he had not dared to move.

Only after Orochimaru vanished had he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Next time! I will definitely..."

Kakashi landed, quickly formed hand seals, then slapped his right hand against the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Bang!

A cloud of white smoke dispersed, revealing eight Ninja Dogs led by Pakkun.

"Yo, what's up, Kakashi?" Pakkun sat atop the head of a large dark-brown dog, wearing a sour expression as he spoke.

"I need you to help me track Orochimaru's scent!" Kakashi rose to his feet and addressed Pakkun and the other Ninja Dogs.

At those words, Pakkun's already sour face scrunched into an even deeper frown. His tone carried a hint of complaint. "Snakes are hard to find, because they don't sweat."

"Orochimaru is injured. He lost a lot of blood." Kakashi recalled the Explosive Tag.

"In that case, we can give it a try." Pakkun was the first to leap out.

The other seven Ninja Dogs also sprang into action, searching the forest for Orochimaru's scent and the smell of blood.

On the outskirts of Konoha, a space vortex slowly twisted atop the branch of a large tree, and Obito appeared.

From here, he could see the Konoha Hokage Office Building.

"My, my, so many Anbu have been deployed. Anyone who didn't know better would think some mysterious ninja had attacked Konoha again."

"It seems Orochimaru has defected."

Zetsu, resembling a pitcher plant, emerged from the tree trunk and said to Obito with a grin, "Looks like Kakashi got hurt too."

"That guy had better not die." Obito shot Zetsu a glance.

Then he asked, "Have you figured it out?"

The pale White Zetsu on the left side of the pitcher plant spread his hands exaggeratedly and said, "We lost four White Zetsu. The likely route ran from around the Root base to the Orphanage, then to Konoha's gates."

"Root..." Upon hearing that route, Obito immediately suspected Danzo.

"Could Danzo and Orochimaru have been conducting some experiment? Did they capture some powerful ninja, only for him to escape?" But Root had always been mysterious, and Obito had very little intelligence on it.

He asked again, "What about that kid from the Orphanage?"

"Oh, right, I'd forgotten." Zetsu slapped his forehead and muttered, "I heard he was adopted. As for where he went, I don't know."

"You're saying White Zetsu lost the target?" Obito's voice beneath the mask carried a trace of anger.

White Zetsu had actually lost track of the target.

"After all, we never expected an accident like this. I've already notified the other White Zetsu. As long as that kid is still in Konoha, we'll definitely find him," Zetsu cried out. "But if Danzo took him away for experiments, then it's hard to say."

"Hmph. Then he's simply unlucky." Obito did not care whether the child lived or died. He merely wanted to watch the brothers slaughter each other.

By now, that child was only three years old. Could he possibly stop Obito's plan for revenge against Konoha, or stop his Eye of the Moon Plan?

"Continue investigating Konoha's situation. I'll go take care of some other matters first." As he spoke, Obito's body gradually vanished into Kamui's vortex.

"My, he really knows how to order people around." Zetsu revealed a meaningful smile.

Konoha Cemetery.

Using the cover of night, Obito arrived before Rin's gravestone and placed a bouquet of flowers down.

This was the place he visited every time he returned to the village.

As he gazed at the young woman's smiling face in the black-and-white photograph on the gravestone, the Sharingan beneath Obito's spiral-patterned mask trembled faintly.

"Just wait a little longer... Rin... wait for me..." As Obito activated Kamui, a tear fell onto the inscription.