At home, Kakashi tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Earlier that day, he had not told Sarutobi Hiruzen what Xuanye had shown him in the Illusion Technique.
But if it had shaken someone whose heart had grown as cold as Kakashi's, it could hardly have been anything simple.
He could not help recalling what he had seen in the illusion: amid the villagers' vicious gossip, his father, Hatake Sakumo, had taken his own life by cutting open his stomach.
It had left a deep psychological scar on the young Kakashi, even shaping his behavior for years afterward.
A Shinobi who can't complete a mission is worthless. For a time, that had been one of the principles he lived by.
Before he met Minato-sensei, Obito, and Rin, Kakashi had lived like an unfeeling tool built to complete missions. Whether assigned by Root or the Anbu, he had carried them out exceptionally well.
Most of those who died by his hand, though, were Shinobi who had deserted the village.
But during the battle at Kannabi Bridge, after Rin was abducted, something Obito said had finally made him see things differently.
A Shinobi who can't complete a mission is worthless. But a Shinobi who doesn't cherish his comrades is worse than worthless.
He still did not know which view was right. Not long afterward, Obito had met his end, and Rin had died by Kakashi's own hand.
Strictly speaking, there was nothing underhanded about a Shinobi using psychological tactics.
But during a sparring match between Shinobi from the same village, rubbing salt in someone else's wounds to provoke him went a bit too far.
Yet Kakashi did not resent Xuanye.
Because just before the Illusion Technique was broken, Xuanye had left him with a message.
If you want to know the truth about your father's suicide, come find me.
Reason told Kakashi that Xuanye was only bluffing and that everything in the illusion had been false.
Xuanye was about his age. When his father died, Xuanye might not even have graduated from the Ninja Academy. How could he possibly know the truth?
The Uchiha Family was even less likely to know. The Konoha High Command had always been wary of them and had even kept them from taking a direct part in many major affairs.
But the thought was like a seed. Once planted, it took root and was hard to pull out.
If Xuanye was only trying to sound mysterious and planned to tell him some outlandish lies, that would be one thing.
What troubled him was the possibility that Xuanye really did know some secret no one else did.
Growing restless, Kakashi got dressed and wandered the moonlit streets of Konoha.
Before he knew it, he had reached the Konoha Hero Cemetery and the gravestone of his closest friend, Obito Uchiha.
Obito Uchiha had been buried beneath a collapsing mountainside. He had even given Kakashi his Sharingan.
They had gone back afterward to search for Obito's body, hoping to bury him in the cemetery, but they had found nothing.
With half his body crushed as it had been, Obito could not possibly have survived. Of that, Kakashi was certain.
So he had gathered Obito's belongings and buried them in an empty grave beside Rin.
As he touched the cold stone, uncertainty returned to the one eye Kakashi left uncovered.
Somewhere along the way, he had developed a habit.
Whenever he could not find an answer, he came to his old friend's grave to talk.
"Obito... I wish you were still here."
"The war's over now. Minato-sensei has become Hokage, and Kushina's baby will be born soon. I wish you could've lived to see this day..."
"Things are getting more and more tense between the village and the Uchiha Family. If you were here, I bet you could've helped bring them together."
"Someone says he knows the truth about my father's suicide. He's one of your clan. Do you think I should go see him?"
Kakashi leaned against Obito's grave and poured his heart out.
He said everything, including things he probably should have kept to himself.
He was never this talkative in his everyday life.
At last, when he had nothing more to say, Kakashi sat in silence for a while. Then he placed his flowers before Obito's grave and turned to leave, as he always did.
He had made up his mind. Perhaps he could meet Xuanye and hear what he had to say.
Because of his closest friend, Kakashi was unlike most people in Konoha. He bore no prejudice against the Uchiha Family.
The Uchiha were a clan capable of deep love, and losing that love awakened great power in them. They were not born evil.
But if Xuanye intended to toy with him over his father's death, Kakashi would make him pay.
Kakashi had simply come to talk at his friend's grave, as he had done before.
But after he left, the air there suddenly twisted.
A man wearing a black cloak patterned with red clouds and a spiral mask appeared out of nowhere.
He glanced once at the flowers before "Obito's" grave, then looked away.
To him, Obito was already dead.
The moment he had seen Kakashi kill Rin, Obito had died completely. What remained was only a shell that had despaired of the world and wanted to create one where Rin still existed.
Behind Obito stood another figure, half black and half white, whose appearance was deeply unsettling.
Unlike the silent Obito, Black Zetsu, possessing Tobi, could not hide the excitement in his voice.
"Obito, who would've thought we'd hear news this big on our visit to Konoha?"
"Well, well. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is about to give birth. Now that's huge!"
"That's when the Nine-Tails' Sealing will be weakest. Play our cards right, and all of Konoha could be destroyed!"
Obito snorted. "I don't need you telling me what to do."
Obito intended to make use of Black Zetsu, the embodiment of Uchiha Madara's will, but he was even more wary of him.
Black Zetsu's words had fallen flat. He spread his hands, unbothered.
He had no human emotions, so there was no way to anger him.
Looking out at the countless lights of Konoha, Obito's face twisted beneath his mask.
"This world was never anything but an illusion."
"Why is my Rin gone while all of you still get to live in peace?"
"I'll create a world where Rin exists. I swear it!"
At the Hokage Building.
It was already late. Even Minato had finished work and gone home.
But someone had called Sarutobi Hiruzen out of bed.
He had already ordered the Anbu to notify him if Shisui came to see him, no matter how late it was.
After throwing on a coat and coming to the Hokage Building, Sarutobi Hiruzen saw Shisui waiting there.
Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled with approval.
Kagami's descendant... If all the Uchiha were like Shisui, Konoha wouldn't have such a grave problem on its hands.