Talk-no-Jutsu Critical Hit, Kakashi's Faith Collapses on the Spot!

Yoru's fingers clamped down on Kakashi's collar like iron pincers.

He held the genius jōnin renowned throughout the ninja world aloft as if he were lifting a chick.

"Let go..."

Kakashi grabbed Yoru's wrist with both hands, his knuckles whitening from the force.

His scarlet Sharingan trembled violently as he struggled to break free.

Yet he discovered, to his sorrow, that the strength he had always been proud of was nothing more than a joke before this young man.

Yoru sneered. Not only did he not let go, he leaned his face closer.

"What? Can't stand hearing the truth?"

Yoru's gaze was sharp as a blade, slowly peeling back the scabbed-over wounds in Kakashi's heart.

"Think carefully. What kind of standing did your father, Hatake Sakumo, have back then?"

"The White Fang of Leaf Village. With a single short blade, he made other villages tremble in fear. Even the legendary Sannin had to avoid him."

Yoru snorted, his voice dripping with undisguised mockery.

"How much top-secret intelligence would a powerhouse of that level have held? Would his mental fortitude really have been so weak that a few idle remarks could drive him to death?"

Kakashi's breathing abruptly caught.

In his mind, the malicious looks of those villagers from his childhood suddenly flashed by, along with his father's increasingly haggard face.

"If failing a mission was truly such a grave crime, why was he the only one being cursed?"

"If the higher-ups hadn't tacitly approved of it, or even fanned the flames, would the Anbu have been unable to control the mouths of a few civilians?!"

Yoru's words were like a heavy siege hammer, smashing viciously into Kakashi's head.

"Because his achievements had overshadowed his lord, you idiot!"

Yoru suddenly raised his voice, every word piercing his heart.

"That old monkey was afraid he wouldn't be able to hold onto his Hokage seat. Danzō was afraid he wouldn't be able to control such a sharp blade."

"So they joined forces and used rumors to slowly torment a hero who had bled and sweated for the village to death!"

"Stop... Stop it!"

Kakashi shut his eyes in agony, a growl like that of a trapped beast rumbling in his throat.

Blood.

Blood everywhere.

The scene of his father committing seppuku replayed wildly and uncontrollably in his mind.

"Can't take it already?"

Yoru released him, letting Kakashi fall onto the sand.

He looked down at the dejected Anbu captain, a cruel curve tugging at his lips.

"Now look at Minato Namikaze standing behind you."

Following Yoru's pointing finger, Kakashi stiffly turned his head.

Minato stood silently amid the wind and sand in a rough cloth coat, his expression so calm it was frightening.

"On the night of the Nine-Tails' attack, Brother Minato was up front, risking his life against that fox."

Yoru closed in step by step, an invisible pressure of senjutsu grinding down Kakashi's spine inch by inch.

"Where was that undead Hiruzen Sarutobi?"

"Wearing combat gear and leading hundreds of elite Anbu, he hid in the safe zone and watched the show!"

Kakashi's pupils contracted sharply. His lips trembled as he tried to argue.

"Lord Third... he had to protect the civilians, he had to maintain the barrier..."

"Bullshit!"

Yoru cursed back without mercy.

"The barrier was being held up by Sister Kushina with her life! He was waiting for Brother Minato to die!"

"As long as the Fourth Hokage died, he could rightfully put that hat back on and continue being the savior who held all the power!"

The moment those words fell, Kakashi was struck as though by lightning.

He abruptly turned to Minato, his eyes red enough to bleed.

"Sensei, that isn't true... Lord Third would never..."

Kakashi's voice carried a sob, like a drowning man clutching at his final straw.

Minato said nothing.

He merely looked quietly at Kakashi. In those blue eyes that had once been filled with sunlight, there was now only profound disappointment.

Not refuting it was the same as admitting it.

Minato's silence became the final straw that broke the camel's back.

"And that's not all."

Yoru folded his arms and threw out one final bombshell.

"If Brother Minato died, what do you think that old monkey would do to his orphan?"

Kakashi froze, staring blankly at the sleeping baby in Kushina's arms.

"He would pin the blame for the Nine-Tails on this child."

Yoru coldly exposed that cruel truth from the original story.

"He would have the entire village isolate him, curse him, and treat him as the demon fox that brought disaster."

"Then that old monkey would occasionally buy him a bowl of ramen, play the role of a kind old grandfather, and indoctrinate him with your disgusting Will of Fire."

Yoru's gaze was icy to the bone.

"That way, Leaf Village would gain a perfect jinchūriki weapon, one who would even be deeply grateful to Hiruzen Sarutobi."

"No... That's impossible..."

Kakashi desperately shook his head, large beads of cold sweat rolling down his forehead.

"Leaf Village is our home... The Will of Fire is..."

"It's a cannibalistic pyramid scheme!"

Yoru's voice rang like thunder, completely shattering Kakashi's last illusions.

"They use you like dogs, drain you of your flesh and blood, then expect you to be grateful for it!"

"Your father was like that. Brother Minato was like that. We Uchiha are like that too!"

The wind and sand grew stronger, blurring everyone's vision.

Kakashi's chest heaved violently. Like a fish thrown ashore, he gulped down great mouthfuls of air.

His borrowed Sharingan trembled and constricted wildly in its socket.

Obito's dying entrustment to him, his father's gentle smile, the benevolent mask of the Third Hokage...

All those images twisted together in his mind.

Fake.

It was all fake.

For Leaf Village, he had killed his comrades, lost his father, and lost his teacher.

In the end, the village he had defended with his life was nothing but a slaughterhouse filled with political schemes and filthy deals!

Bang.

Kakashi's legs gave out completely.

He fell stiffly to his knees amid the boundless yellow sand.

The Anbu short blade in his hand clattered to the ground and was buried by the sand.

The Copy Ninja, renowned throughout the ninja world, now looked like a soulless puppet with its strings cut, his face ashen.

The system of beliefs that had sustained him for so many years collapsed with a deafening crash in that instant.

Behind him, the three Leaf Village Anbu turned pale with fright.

They wanted to step forward and support him, but the killing intent radiating from Yoru nailed them in place, leaving them unable to move an inch.

"Kakashi."

Yoru walked before him and looked down at him from above.

"Wipe that expression off your face like your father just died. It's an eyesore."

Yoru mocked him without restraint.

"Now, what are you going to do?"

"Are you going back to be that old monkey's dog, or are you going to stand up like a man?"

Kakashi did not move.

He stared blankly at the yellow sand below him. Only after a long time did he force out a hoarse sliver of a voice.

"I don't know... I don't know what I can still believe in..."

"You really are hopeless trash."

Yoru looked away in disgust, too lazy to waste any more time on such a wreck.

Just then.

A rhythmic tremor suddenly came from the earth, making even the sand and stones beneath their feet bounce.

From behind the distant dunes, rows upon rows of Stone Village elites in brown vests surged forth like a black tide.

The dust they kicked up blotted out the sky.

At their head was the burly Stone Village jōnin, Kitsuchi.

Leading over a hundred members of the Demolition Corps, he blocked the Leaf Village Anbu's path with an imposing presence.

Kitsuchi glanced at Kakashi on the ground, then turned to Yoru with a broad grin.

"Brother Yoru! We didn't come too late, did we?"

Kitsuchi's rough voice echoed through the desert. "Do you need me to casually swat these Leaf Village small fry to death?"

Yoru did not answer immediately.

He turned to look at Kakashi, who was kneeling on the ground like a lump of mud, a playful curve rising at the corner of his mouth.

"Did you hear that, Kakashi?"

Yoru's eyes were full of ridicule. "My Stone Village brothers are here to pick me up. If you still want to persuade us to go back, I guarantee they'll pound you into a meat patty."