"It's all right. What's done is done. Whether we want to admit it or not, Obito sacrificed himself for us, for the village. He was a hero."
Though her tears had yet to dry, Nohara Rin's radiant smile returned. She smiled and teased, "What about you? You were with one of the legendary Sannin, so you must have learned some powerful techniques. I'll be counting on you to protect me, Anko."
"Wahahaha! I, Lady Anko, learned some amazing techniques from my teacher Orochimaru. Protecting you will be a piece of cake."
As Anko was about to sit down, she glanced at the ramen bowl beside her. A flicker of suspicion crossed her eyes, and she instinctively sniffed hard. The faint, lingering scent of grass and trees immediately caught her attention.
"Hey, Rin, was that... Uchiha Hanazuki sitting here just now?"
"Yes. I wanted to ask Hanazuki about Obito, so..."
Bang!
Rin jumped like a startled rabbit. Anko was gritting her teeth, her face carrying the helplessness of a dead fish.
"That guy... I don't know whether to call him a blockhead or a jerk. He looks at me like I'm an idiot and keeps brushing me off. I can't figure out what that bastard is thinking. Damn it!"
"Calm down, Anko. Just calm down..."
At that moment, Rin couldn't help recalling that gentle smile. She studied Anko's troubled face, looking thoughtful.
"Can you tell just by looking at her?"
Meanwhile, elsewhere...
Deep beneath the Mountain Graveyard, inside a hidden chamber sealed off by rocks.
As Obito worked desperately at his rehabilitation, his eyes brimmed with anticipation, hope, and dreams of the future. He could hardly wait for the day he returned to the village.
Just you wait! The Sharingan needs to be reunited to unleash its true power. Once Kakashi and I join forces, we can protect the village, everyone, and Rin. You have to wait for me, Kakashi!
The fire in Obito's eyes never faded. He diligently exercised his muscles, which had begun to atrophy after lying in bed for so long. But then, that strange old man's words echoed in his ears once more.
"It's pointless. Unless you sever this chain of hatred, even if you manage to leave, it will all be futile. A ninja's hatred won't end when the war does. Countless sacrifices will give rise to another chain of hatred, and the cycle will continue..."
Obito shook his head helplessly. The strange old man who claimed to be Uchiha Madara was spouting more incomprehensible nonsense. Besides, he knew all the old men and women in the Uchiha Clan. This guy was probably a Konoha missing-nin.
Obito might have needed him to survive, but one day he would return to Konoha. He felt deeply guilty that he couldn't repay the man who had saved his life, but he could only feel at ease once he was back with his comrades.
Uchiha Madara could see that neither Obito's guilt nor his desire to leave was hidden from him. Though his body was frail with age and he had twice come close to death, his eyes, which had seen through the darkness, still shone brightly.
In the dead of night, a new White Zetsu emerged from underground.
"Lord Madara, Uchiha Hanazuki has returned to Konoha. What should we do?"
Cough, cough...
Madara's aged body and clouded, feeble eyes fell silent for a long while. At last, he murmured softly.
"They're merely a pair of eyes that have shut themselves off. Though the occasional brat like this does appear, the difference between those eyes and my own is as vast as heaven and earth. They are not even remotely comparable to mine."
"Unfortunately, more than a century of history has left me barely clinging to life. But this is only a temporary slumber. When I awaken from my long sleep, everything will come to an end."
As he grew impassioned, Uchiha Madara broke into a fit of coughing. His decrepit frame could not support the insignificant hope in his eyes: the dream of true peace.
"I will personally bring the age of the ninja to an end!"
As his excitement grew, veins bulged across his arms, thin as withered branches. The Uchiha's signature... no, the laugh that had begun with Madara rang out once more.
"Yes, Lord Madara. Besides Uchiha Hanazuki, we've also found the people he cares about most and cherishes most: Nohara Rin and Hatake Kakashi..."
Meanwhile, in Konoha, after the last Dango Shop in the village finally closed for the night, Rin watched Anko wolf down more than a hundred skewers of dango in various flavors while continuously drinking sweet red bean soup. She was too stunned to speak.
"That bastard! Brushing off my teacher Orochimaru was one thing, but he brushed me off too! And after all I've done for him! I was his first friend, and I was the one who took him out of class when the teacher scolded him!"
Anko continued ranting, while Rin looked on in awkward silence and glanced up at the sky.
If I get home this late, I'm sure to get scolded. But Anko's like this... I can't just...
"Um, Anko, it's getting late, and our team has a mission tomorrow. I'm really sorry, but I have to go."
Only when Rin ran around the corner without looking back did the dazed Anko finally react. She stamped her foot and shouted after her.
"You have no loyalty! Is this how you treat your best friend?! Damn it, one after another, they're all like this... Sigh, what's the point of going home? There's no one there anyway..."
The moonlight was hazy, the stars brilliant.
Without realizing it, Anko wandered aimlessly through the streets. When she looked up again, she found herself before the abandoned Hanazuki residence, overgrown with weeds and left untended.
"This place is..."
She stood before the door, hesitating for a long while, then slowly pushed it open. The old wooden door wasn't locked.
From the entrance, she could see all the way to the end of the hallway. The dim candlelight in the living room piqued her curiosity.
It's so late. Is that guy still awake?
A shadow lurked behind the door. A transparent ribbon concealed in the darkness crept silently closer. Startled, Anko raised her right hand, and a swarm of snakes shot out like swords.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
"Nine-Faced Svaha: Celestial Maiden."
After a brief standoff, the Celestial Maiden tossed Anko, bound up like a rice dumpling, onto the floor. Just as Anko was about to use a rope-escaping technique to free herself, a familiar voice interrupted her.
"Honestly, I thought you were some pest from the Anbu or the Military Police Force. I didn't expect it to be a little snake who likes red bean soup and dango. Even you should respect people's privacy."
"How many times have I told you? Ring the doorbell when you come in."
"Shut up! You jerk, Hanazuki. You knew I was here all along, didn't you? And... and that's not what I wanted to hear."
Anko argued her case, her clear brown eyes faintly downcast. When she looked up, she saw that handsome, refined face, its smile edged with teasing.
"Is that so? Then, welcome back, Anko. What would you like first—dinner or a bath? Or perhaps..."
"Wait, what are you trying to do? No! I was wrong! Nooooo..."