Stealing Rin Nohara, It Was Time to Awaken the Sharingan

Kakashi did not understand why his father, who had done the most important thing a ninja could do—cherish his comrades—

Had been met with abuse and condemnation instead.

Only after a long while did Kakashi notify the others.

Not long after he reported it to the village, Jiraiya was the first to arrive.

"Sakumo actually..."

Inside the house, Jiraiya frowned.

He and Hatake Sakumo had been about the same age, both born around Konoha Year 13.

Yet Hatake Sakumo's prestige far surpassed theirs.

To outsiders, the title of the Legendary Three Ninja was an honor.

But to them, it was actually a disgrace—they had merely been fortunate enough to survive Hanzo.

Though the three of them had each improved over the years, the name of the Three Ninja had already spread far and wide.

Only Hatake Sakumo was different.

His title of White Fang had been carved out through sheer force!

Hatake Sakumo's body had already been carried away by Medical Corps ninja for an autopsy, to rule out the possibility of murder.

"Kakashi, are you all right?"

Jiraiya looked at Kakashi, who had clearly lost all spirit and grown far more distant, and asked.

"I'm fine, Lord Jiraiya. Ninja should put their missions first. Father broke the rules of being a ninja, so he chose to..."

Kakashi did not finish. He turned and walked out.

The house was filled with busy ninja investigating whether there were traces of spies infiltrating the place and using ninjutsu.

Only Jiraiya remained standing there, his brows tightly furrowed.

Because he had matters to attend to and missions to carry out, only Tsunade and Orochimaru had come some time ago.

He had never expected that parting to become a final farewell.

"Old man..."

Jiraiya sighed.

That was why he did not want to remain in Konoha all year round. Instead, he traveled abroad in search of material and the Child of Prophecy.

Though the great tree that was Konoha had luxuriant branches and leaves, bathed in sunlight—

There was still mottled darkness where the sunlight passed through the gaps between its leaves.

"Heh heh, abandoning one's life—how foolish. Sakumo's understanding of the world was not even comparable to that Uchiha brat's."

Orochimaru walked in.

Tsunade followed close behind.

"Shut up, Orochimaru."

Tsunade frowned. No matter what, he had been a comrade from the same village. Orochimaru's words sounded far too much like gloating.

Orochimaru saw Tsunade's tightly clenched fists and closed his mouth. The veins beneath her fair skin were faintly visible.

He turned to look into the distance, toward the Uchiha Clan.

A strong man had chosen death beneath the wind blowing through Konoha, while ignorant weaklings chased after that wind, wanting to live and go farther.

Was Kiyoshi Uchiha truly the same kind of person as himself?

The interest in Orochimaru's eyes grew even stronger.

Because he, too, was chasing after Konoha's... wind.

Several days passed, yet Hatake Sakumo's death seemed not to have changed anything.

The village's condemnation and gossip suddenly dwindled.

Rumors began to spread that Hatake Sakumo had been a hero who died valiantly defending the village.

"Kiyoshi, do you want to graduate with me?"

Kakashi invited him.

The only thing in his dead-fish eyes was extreme determination.

"Have you finished writing your application?"

Kiyoshi threw a Shuriken.

The Shuriken sliced through the air and embedded itself in a tree trunk. Three of its four metallic points had sunk into the bark.

From afar, it looked as though it had been set into the trunk.

After several days of training, Kiyoshi had acquired the Shuriken Throwing tag early on.

Just as the tag's description stated, the Shuriken's power had increased by 10%.

"Mm."

No emotion could be heard in Kakashi's voice.

He took out a form and showed it to Kiyoshi.

Kiyoshi glanced over it. It was nothing more than a request to graduate early.

Kakashi had been able to meet the standards for the Three-Body Technique long ago. He had merely delayed graduating from the Ninja Academy.

If he could even use Earth Release: Earth Wave, what were the mere Three-Body Technique?

"Then I'll hurry up too."

Kiyoshi nodded.

The Three-Body Technique was the standard for graduation assessment.

But the Ninja Academy did not only teach the Three-Body Technique. There was also some theoretical knowledge Kiyoshi needed to familiarize himself with.

After all, he had only entered the ninja world recently.

"...Is that so?"

Kakashi put away the form. The eyes exposed above his black mask showed neither disappointment nor any other unnecessary emotion.

Since his father's death, Kakashi had begun keeping his distance from everyone.

Rin Nohara, Might Guy, Kiyoshi, Obito...

The reason he had come to invite Kiyoshi was because he believed being with Kiyoshi could improve the success rate of missions.

A ninja's greatest duty was to ensure a mission's success.

Ninja who could not abide by such rules were all trash.

"After you graduate, remember to tell me what you learned. We can still spar from time to time."

Kiyoshi spoke.

Aside from swordsmanship tags, Kakashi might also drop tags related to Lightning Release.

After future Kakashi lost his Sharingan, he did not pick up the White Fang's swordsmanship again. Instead, he turned to developing new Lightning Release ninjutsu.

This showed that Kakashi had abandoned swordsmanship not only because he wanted to sever the past and inherit Obito's Sharingan.

Perhaps he had not fully inherited Hatake Sakumo's talent for swordsmanship either.

"All right."

Kakashi nodded, turned, and left to submit the application in his hand.

Kiyoshi's gaze followed Kakashi's departing back.

"This afternoon, then. I can go take a look."

Kiyoshi threw another Shuriken, which sank slightly deeper than the last one.

The deeply worried Rin Nohara would probably come to ask him for help.

That was what Kiyoshi thought.

All right, then what should he do?

His right eye, dark as ink, shimmered with red. A faint curve appeared on Kiyoshi's lips.

Rin Nohara should stay alive.

And if used well, she could also be a means of dealing with Obito.

Of course, Rin Nohara had treated him well.

Kiyoshi could not bear to watch her repeat the same tragedy and die in the trap Madara Uchiha had arranged, just as she had in the original story.

Madara Uchiha was not someone Kiyoshi—or anyone else—could deal with right now. Who knew whether he still had other tricks up his sleeve after pulling out the tubes connected to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path?

If Rin Nohara was to avoid that trap, Obito needed another substitute to awaken his Sharingan.

Obito had to suffer an enormous shock and awaken his Sharingan as a result.

For example... stealing Rin Nohara.

What could hurt more than losing one's beloved forever and seeing ruin wherever one looked?

He would be the one to save all of this.

As long as the outcome was good, that was enough.

Looks like it's time to awaken the Sharingan.

This class was free training. Kakashi crossed the spacious practice field and walked toward its edge.

"Kakashi, are you going somewhere?"

Rin Nohara ran over and asked.

As a girl, she was sensitive and perceptive. She had noticed that something seemed wrong with Kakashi's mood.

Besides, the matter that had been causing such a huge uproar just a few days ago—Hatake Sakumo's failed mission causing severe losses to the Land of Fire—had soon been buried by another matter.

That was, Hatake Sakumo had died heroically for Konoha.