Thunder and Raikiri

"Obito?"

Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara limped out of the mountains. Obito Uchiha's dust-covered face carried a faint heaviness, while Rin Nohara said nothing and merely followed behind him with her head hanging low. Still, she showed a flicker of surprise upon seeing Kato Osamu.

"Is she... dead?"

Obito Uchiha's gaze fell on the Cloud Shinobi girl, who was almost completely uninjured yet lay motionless on the ground. There seemed to be something complicated in his eyes.

"Yeah..."

Kato Osamu answered. Obito Uchiha fell silent, then suddenly formed hand seals. A massive fireball burst from his mouth, engulfing the Cloud Shinobi girl's entire body.

"According to regulations, enemy ninja corpses should be handed over to the Analysis Team for dissection, to uncover the enemy ninja's secrets..."

Kato Osamu watched the girl burn fiercely in the flames. He stood to one side without stopping Obito Uchiha, but there was no emotion in his voice.

"Kato Osamu, tell me... will we die?"

Obito Uchiha's hollow voice made Kato Osamu look up at him. He had not expected someone like him to have such a sensitive side.

"Barring any accidents, I'll probably live longer than you..."

"Hey, are you looking down on me?"

Obito Uchiha turned back and shot Kato Osamu a glare, seeming to feel a little better.

"I just don't understand. I don't understand why people who can go so far for their companions would become so cruel toward others..."

Kato Osamu quietly buried the strangeness of this matter deep in his heart. He glanced at Obito Uchiha and understood why he was acting this way. He had simply been moved by pity.

The boy wearing goggles that hid his eyes possessed a soft and sensitive heart. The anger he had felt upon seeing the Cloud Shinobi's miserable fate had already vanished into thin air. Someone like him might be suitable as a friend, but he was absolutely unsuited to be a teammate.

A teammate who could not be ruthless toward enemies might drag the entire team down to their deaths.

"If one day you lose what is most precious to you, perhaps you'll become even crueler than them..."

Obito Uchiha secretly glanced at the silent Rin Nohara, opened his mouth, then vigorously shook his head as though trying to throw some terrible images out of it.

"Never!"

Obito Uchiha's voice was full of conviction. Flickering firelight shone across his face, reflecting a blazing flame in his eyes.

"I'll end the war! I'll become Hokage! I'll make this world peaceful forever, without war!"

Dark gray clouds pressed low over the earth. In the autumn wind at sunset, fallen leaves whirled through the air.

Twelve-year-old Obito Uchiha watched the burning Cloud Shinobi girl slowly turn to char in the flames. An inexplicable sadness welled up in his heart. He clenched his fists as if taking an oath, letting his grand declaration tear through the gloomy sky.

"Although I feel it's not very nice to interrupt a chuunibyou teenager's grand speech at a time like this, if we don't go save Kakashi Hatake now, the next one burning in the fire will probably be him..."

Kato Osamu's voice was calm, but the scene conveyed by the Soulfire Insect was far from peaceful. Kakashi Hatake's battle with the Cloud Shinobi Jonin was already nearing its end.

"Kakashi Hatake!"

Obito Uchiha suddenly came to his senses. He stared wide-eyed at Kato Osamu as if asking why he had not said so earlier, then vanished into the forest in an instant.

"Kato must have been keeping an eye on Kakashi Hatake all along..."

Rin Nohara raised her head and smiled slowly at Kato Osamu before chasing after Obito Uchiha.

Kato Osamu spat out a huge ball of water and extinguished the flames on the ground. He lightly patted the earth, and rising mud completely covered every trace on the ground.

"State your name... Konoha brat!"

Blood dripped slowly from his arm. The arm that had once been agile and explosive now hung low and swayed in the air. The goateed Jonin endured the pain in his arm as his gaze met Kakashi Hatake's eyes.

"Kakashi Hatake!"

A long blade wound crossed Kakashi Hatake's chest, with flesh turned outward.

Suppressing the pain, Kakashi Hatake raised his hand. His short blade gleamed like the cold silver light of winter snow as it shot toward the Cloud Shinobi.

The Cloud Shinobi Jonin paused. His movements had already slowed. He lightly leaped into the air, twisted at the waist, and inverted his body. He narrowly brushed past the short blade, and as he flipped over to land, a shuriken shot straight toward Kakashi Hatake like a startled swan.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp..."

Taking advantage of the opening, Kakashi Hatake swiftly formed hand seals. His left hand gripped his right, which hung low with lightning held within it. He gave a low shout, dodged the shuriken, and charged forward.

"Using Lightning Release in front of a Kumogakure ninja? I've never been so underestimated!"

The Cloud Shinobi Jonin's eyes widened with fury. He watched the lightning in Kakashi Hatake's hand, his gaze narrowing.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon!"

Squeezing out the last shred of Chakra within him, the Cloud Shinobi Jonin's hands shone with lightning. Two Lightning Dragons glowing purple rushed toward Kakashi Hatake in an instant.

One blue and one purple bolt of lightning twisted and danced through the air. The air ionized, releasing a burnt stench. The Cloud Shinobi Jonin barely moved his feet as he roared, and the Lightning Dragons flared again, seemingly about to swallow the blue light.

Wherever the lightning struck, the ground burst apart and overturned, while trees snapped and toppled in every direction.

The terrifying purple Lightning Dragons nearly enveloped Kakashi Hatake completely. The searing heat and the impact of the lightning made his entire body tingle and go numb.

"Die!"

The Cloud Shinobi Jonin roared, as though venting all his fury at this very moment.

Kakashi Hatake frantically squeezed out his own Chakra. Even his consciousness was beginning to blur. The only thing left in his eyes was the target before him.

"Raikiri!"

Blue lightning burst forth with dazzling brilliance, sharp and swift like the short blade he had thrown.

The silver-white figure gripped blue lightning in his hand and sliced through the purple Lightning Dragons from head to tail, seemingly arriving before the Cloud Shinobi Jonin in an instant.

Its name was Raikiri—the lightning cutter!

Carrying the last remaining sparks of lightning, it tore through the Cloud Shinobi's chest as easily as cutting tofu. Currents crackled in his chest, and the flesh had begun to give off a scorched smell.

In that instant, the Cloud Shinobi seemed to lose all sensation. He could only meet Kakashi Hatake's cold gaze with disbelief in his eyes.

"Pfft..."

Kakashi Hatake's hand passed straight through his chest, piercing the Cloud Shinobi's heart and crushing his last sliver of hope.

"Remember... this great man's name!"

"Kumogakure! Yamahara..."

Kakashi Hatake could no longer hear the Cloud Shinobi's voice.

With his last strength, Kakashi Hatake pulled out his arm. Their bodies faced each other as they slowly fell backward. The Cloud Shinobi convulsed all over, his vacant eyes staring at the darkened sky as all light gradually faded from them.

Fine wounds covered Kakashi Hatake's body. Blood slowly flowed out, soaking him from head to toe, and his consciousness had already blurred.

He vaguely seemed to hear something. Kakashi Hatake turned his head one last time, but the sight before his eyes made him freeze instantly...