Kakashi Hatake's Loyalty

Kakashi Hatake watched Obito Uchiha release the Nine-Tails from Kushina's body with his own hands.

A violent ringing filled Kakashi's ears. It was as if every sound in the world had been ripped away from him.

He stood motionless. The half-lidded eye he never seemed willing to open fully went wide, its pupil shrinking to a pinpoint, filled with sheer, uncomprehending horror.

One of the most important pillars of his life—Obito Uchiha—

the Obito Uchiha who had taught him, at the cost of his life, that those who failed their missions were trash, but those who abandoned their comrades were worse than trash—

came crashing down in his heart, shattering into dust.

Several masked figures suddenly appeared beside Kakashi Hatake.

The ANBU in the lead delivered a cold order. "Kakashi Hatake! Report to the Hokage's Office at once. Lord Hokage and the others have questions for you!"

Kakashi understood that this had to be about Obito, so he immediately followed the ANBU to the Hokage's Office.

[As the Nine-Tails' enormous body descended, countless terrified villagers in Konoha woke with a start.]

[Yet the scene shifted to a few indistinct close-ups. Some people in the crowd seemed eager to act, while others wore expressions of open disdain.]

[But the next moment, they all followed the crowd into the shelters. None took part in the battle against the Nine-Tails that followed.]

The sight left the entire Shinobi World baffled. Konoha seemed to be full of hidden talents.

["Stop!" Kushina Uzumaki cried weakly, slumped against a stone pillar.]

["Hmph. The Uzumaki Clan really is something! Even after a Tailed Beast is extracted, you don't die right away!"]

["Then I'll have the Nine-Tails kill you itself!" At a glance from Obito Uchiha, the Nine-Tails raised a claw and slammed it toward Kushina.]

[But when the dust cleared, its massive claw had struck empty ground.]

["Someone rescued her? Fine. She won't live much longer anyway. Nine-Tails! Head for Konoha. Today, we're going to flatten it!"]

[As Obito screamed in a frenzy, the Nine-Tails began advancing toward Konoha.]

[The scene shifted. Minato had brought Kushina to safety, and his gaze had never looked so sharp or so resolute.]

[Minato pulled on the Fourth Hokage's Goshinpou. "I'll be right back!"]

["Be careful out there!"]

[The next instant, Minato Namikaze appeared atop Hokage Rock. Looking down at the Nine-Tails ravaging the village, he declared, "I won't let you run wild here any longer!"]

[The Nine-Tails spotted Minato in the distance. Under Obito Uchiha's control, a Tailed Beast Ball began gathering in its mouth.]

["I won't let you destroy this place!" Minato rapidly formed hand signs, and lines of black runes appeared across Hokage Rock. The instant the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball touched them, it vanished as though absorbed.]

[Boom! A massive explosion rose in the distance.]

[But the next moment, a hand crept toward Minato's back.]

["Hm!" Minato immediately spun and drove his kunai at the person's head. Yet, bizarrely, his kunai passed straight through Obito Uchiha's skull!]

[It was as though the man before him were nothing but an illusion. But the next moment, Obito grabbed Minato's wrist!]

["I'm your opponent! And this ends now!"]

[As Obito Uchiha declared his victory, a terrifying pull erupted from his eye, and Minato's body began to warp.]

[Pop! Minato vanished again, leaving Obito standing there, momentarily stunned.]

["He teleported away! He's fast. Next time, I'll have to absorb him quicker—at the very instant I touch him!" Then Obito's figure vanished in the same eerie fashion.]

[The scene jumped to a forest outside the village, where the two faced each other again.]

["Are you Madara Uchiha? No, impossible. He died long ago. Who are you?" Minato Namikaze watched him with every nerve on alert.]

["Who knows? But perhaps he didn't." Obito Uchiha removed his hood and tilted his head toward Minato.]

["At this point, it doesn't matter who you are. Why target Konoha?"]

[At Minato's question, Obito Uchiha said with a sigh, "If you insist on an answer, it was a whim—and something I'd planned from the start. It was for war—and for peace."]

[Clink, clink. A length of chain slipped from Obito Uchiha's sleeve. "The Nine-Tails has been unleashed. You have no hope left!"]

[Minato Namikaze raised his specially made kunai. The two were on the verge of clashing again!]

The Canopy Screen cut off there once more.

Across the Shinobi World, Obito's final words left everyone puzzled. What was he even talking about?

In the Hokage's Office, four people sat in a row with the Third Hokage at their head, watching Kakashi kneel before them on one knee.

The Third Hokage spoke first. "Kakashi, can you guess what Obito Uchiha meant by those last words?"

"Uh... Lord Hokage, Obito liked saying strange things no one understood even when we were children. I don't know what he meant either," Kakashi Hatake replied awkwardly.

"You don't know? Or you don't want to say?" Shimura Danzō demanded.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing. After so many years working together, playing good cop and bad cop had become second nature to them.

But Kakashi Hatake was a Ninja prodigy who had joined the ANBU as a boy. He had used that routine countless times himself. Shimura Danzō wasn't going to intimidate him with it.

He answered firmly, "My lords, I truly don't know. His words contradict themselves, and neither his shifts in tone nor his reasoning make sense."

"Other than Obito himself, I doubt anyone in the world could know what he meant."

The people above him quickly exchanged glances. Then Hiruzen Sarutobi reassured him gently.

"Kakashi, we're not accusing you. But you know as well as we do that the appearance of this Canopy Screen has thrown Konoha into turmoil."

"Gather everything you know about Obito Uchiha and submit it to the intelligence division for review."

"Konoha must get to the bottom of whether Obito Uchiha really died."

"All right. You may go."

As soon as Kakashi Hatake left, Shimura Danzō angrily challenged Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"Hiruzen, at a time like this, we should extract Kakashi Hatake's memories. How could you let him go so easily?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe and tapped it. "I believe Kakashi is still loyal to Konoha. After all these years..."

Before Hiruzen Sarutobi could finish, Shimura Danzō cut him off harshly.

"Believe? Loyal? Hiruzen, do you hear how ridiculous you sound?"

"In intelligence work, the one thing you must never do is make assumptions based on sentiment. Countless intelligence agents paid for that lesson in blood!"

"You!" Hiruzen Sarutobi nearly said, I'm the Hokage, but forced the words back down.

Instead, he gave a little ground. "I'll have the ANBU keep Kakashi under surveillance. That's the end of it!"

"Now, let's discuss Nine Nether and the Akatsuki Organization!"