Obito: Rin Will Definitely Wait For Me

Kakashi spoke at length, pouring out all his inner turmoil before asking earnestly, "Qingye, I want to ask you, if you were in my shoes back then, how would you have handled it?"

Qingye nodded slowly but didn't answer immediately.

"Before I answer you, why don't I first ask Guy about his approach."

Qingye turned to Might Guy and asked, "Guy, as Kakashi just said, if you were in that situation, what would you do?"

"What else? I would never abandon my comrades!"

Might Guy clenched his fist, without hesitation.

"And then what?"

Kakashi pressed urgently.

"There's no 'then'!"

"After saving my comrades, I would continue to go all out to complete the mission!"

"If the mission failed because of that, it would mean my training wasn't enough, and I'd have to train twice as hard afterward!"

"Kakashi, this is what I want to tell you too. Don't pay too much attention to what others think. If someone thinks you did something wrong, just train harder and strive to do better next time."

Might Guy advised earnestly.

Kakashi opened his mouth but didn't know what to say, only shaking his head with a bitter smile.

He wished he could just not care.

But when so many people accused him, it was inevitable that he would start to doubt himself... He wasn't a single-celled organism like Guy.

Qingye let out a sigh of admiration. "Guy's youth and passion are untainted by any idle gossip. Of course, most of us can't be like Guy."

"So what would you do, Qingye?" Kakashi pressed.

"Hmm, if it were me, I'd just take out that Iwagakure Jonin who captured Rin."

"...?"

Kakashi felt like he'd been doused with a bucket of cold water.

Right, he almost forgot!

When he and Obito chased after them, they saw how that Iwagakure Jonin died – he was instantly killed!

If he had that kind of strength, he really wouldn't be in this predicament.

But he couldn't!

Kakashi irritably tugged at his hair.

"Wait, that's not right?" Kakashi suddenly thought of something. "Then my father, with his strength, he also faced a situation where he had to choose between teammates and a mission back then, didn't he?"

After making his choice, he was criticized by the villagers upon his return.

It was the same situation he was in now!

"That's because Konoha's White Fang wasn't strong enough!"

"As long as you're strong enough, you can protect your teammates and complete the mission smoothly, or even complete any mission by yourself."

Kakashi was speechless.

According to this logic, he had to surpass his father, or even surpass the Five Kage?

But could he really achieve that?

"And besides..." Qingye suddenly smiled, "as long as you're strong enough, even if you can't defeat all the enemies you encounter on a mission, you can at least deal with those who gossip about you."

"...Huh?" Kakashi's mouth fell open.

"Moreover, once you become stronger, besides those who gossip, there will definitely be people who support you," Qingye added.

In the original timeline, the Battle of Kannabi Bridge gave birth to two Sharingan "heroes."

But now, the rumors in the village about Kakashi and Obito were almost entirely accusatory.

Although Qingye had no proof, his intuition told him that Shimura Danzō was behind it!

"Don't dwell on it too much."

Qingye gave another example: "Look at the First Great Ninja War. How many people who were supposed to be guards ended up letting the Naruto die, yet they still had the nerve to become Naruto and elders when they returned?"

"!"

Kakashi startled and quickly scanned his surroundings. Seeing that no one else had heard, he breathed a sigh of relief.

This Qingye really dared to speak his mind!

What would happen if the Anbu heard this?

"Kakashi, if you have time to dwell on these things, you should hurry up and improve the Chidori."

"Let's go, let's go. When you're in a bad mood, you should go eat. Let's go to Yakiniku Q, my treat today!"

Graveyard of Mountains.

The ground here was littered with enormous animal skeletons exposed to the surface. Moss spread across the bleached bones. The area was rarely visited by people, as if it were a place forgotten by the world.

"Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine..."

Obito's right arm suddenly lost strength. His body lost balance, and he fell onto the bed with a thud.

"Damn it! How long until I'm better!" Obito grew angry.

"Obito, Lord Madara wants you to rest well."

The White Zetsu beside him chuckled, "Considering your condition when you were brought back, half your body was completely smashed. You're lucky to be alive."

"I know that!"

Obito retorted irritably.

But he couldn't wait any longer!

After waking up, he met an old man who called himself Uchiha Madara. He claimed to have saved him by chance when he was severely injured and told him to recuperate here for now.

He had been staying in this dim, lightless cave for some time and had no idea how much time had passed.

He really wanted to go back!

Rin must be missing him too. He really wanted to go back quickly and see Rin!

"Hey, white guy!"

"My name is White Zetsu."

"I know, I know. I'm asking you, where did that Uchiha Madara go? I haven't seen him for several days, right?"

Obito still couldn't comprehend it.

This person who only existed in history books was still alive and had saved him!

If he could learn something from Uchiha Madara, his strength would increase greatly. Then he could return to Konohagakure, and Rin... Thinking of this made Obito's heart itch.

As he was speaking, Uchiha Madara suddenly walked in slowly from outside:

"I went out for a bit and discovered some interesting things."

Deep within the cave, a huge, ferocious Gedo Mazo's form was faintly visible, like the tip of an iceberg. After Uchiha Madara entered, he had the White Zetsu, Tobi, who was wrapped around him, step aside. He then inserted a white tube into himself.

Uchiha Madara finally let out a sigh of relief and sat down, panting.

"What did you go do? How much longer until I can return to Konohagakure?"

Obito asked impatiently.

"Return?"

Uchiha Madara suddenly let out a cold laugh. "Obito, you probably can't go back anymore. Konohagakure has no place for you now."

As he spoke, a scarlet light flashed in his eyes, aimed at Obito.

"Hey, you..."

Obito's body froze.

A flood of memories surged into his mind.

These images... were of the village?

Someone was talking about him?

Abandoning the mission? Useless? Not worthy of being a ninja?

For a moment, Obito's mind was almost filled with accusations. His face turned pale, and cold sweat streamed down his face.

"How could they say that about me and Kakashi!"

When Obito's consciousness returned, his body trembled violently, and he gasped for air, clenching his fists in extreme anger.

Uchiha Madara chuckled lightly and said, "What? Are they wrong?"

"..."

Obito felt full of unwillingness but didn't know how to refute him.

"Or, after making the choice to abandon the mission to rescue your teammate, you weren't mentally prepared to be criticized?"

"Or perhaps, you were hoping your teacher would return soon to support you and complete the mission together?"

"If that were the case, you could have saved that little girl and completed the mission... maybe you would have even been called a hero afterward."

"It's a pity that Minato Namikaze was a bit too late after all."

"And Obito, you can probably only bear the infamy forever as a dead person."

Every word Uchiha Madara spoke struck Obito like a blow to the heart, pushing him to the brink of collapse.

"No!"

"I'm still alive, I will definitely return to Konohagakure!"

"I'm going to be the Naruto, and Rin is waiting for me too!"

The image of that cute girl appeared in Obito's mind, and he gradually became resolute. "That's right, Rin will definitely wait for me!"