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 though every sound in the world had been ripped away from him in an instant.
He stood frozen. His perpetually half-lidded eye flew wide open, its pupil shrinking to a pinprick, filled with sheer, uncomprehending horror.
One of the most important pillars of his life had been Obito Uchiha.
Obito Uchiha, who had taught him with his life that those who failed a mission were trash, but those who abandoned their comrades were worse than trash.
Now that pillar collapsed in his mind, crumbling to dust.
Several masked figures suddenly appeared beside Kakashi Hatake.
The ANBU leader delivered his orders coldly. "Kakashi Hatake! Report to the Hokage's Office at once. Lord Hokage and the others have questions for you!"
Kakashi knew it had to be about Obito, so he immediately followed the ANBU to the Hokage's Office.
[On the screen, the Nine-Tails' enormous body descended, jolting countless terrified villagers in Konoha awake.]
[The screen then showed a few blurred close-ups. Some people in the crowd seemed eager to act, while others looked openly disdainful.]
[But the next moment, they all followed the crowd into the shelters. None took part in the coming battle against the Nine-Tails.]
The sight left the entire Shinobi World baffled. It seemed Konoha had hidden powerhouses everywhere.
["Stop!" Kushina Uzumaki cried weakly, slumped against a stone pillar.]
["Hmph. The Uzumaki Clan really is remarkable! 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 brought it down viciously toward Kushina.]
[But when the dust cleared, its massive claw had struck empty ground.]
["He rescued her? Fine. She won't live much longer anyway. Nine-Tails! Head for Konoha. Today, we're going to flatten it!"]
[At Obito's frenzied command, the Nine-Tails began advancing on Konoha.]
[The scene changed. Minato had taken Kushina to safety, and his gaze was sharper and more resolute than ever.]
[Minato put on the Fourth Hokage's Goshinpou. "I'll be right back!"]
["Be careful out there!"]
[The next instant, Minato Namikaze appeared atop Kage Rock. Looking down at the Nine-Tails ravaging the village, he said, "I won't let you do as you please any longer!"]
[The Nine-Tails spotted Minato in the distance. Under Obito Uchiha's control, a Tailed Beast Ball began forming in its mouth.]
["You won't destroy this place!" Minato's hands flew through seals, and lines of black Runes appeared across Kage Rock. The moment the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball touched them, it vanished as though absorbed.]
[Boom! A massive explosion rose in the distance.]
[But the next instant, a hand crept toward Minato's back!]
["Hm!" Minato spun and drove a Kunai toward the attacker's head. Strangely, the blade passed straight through Obito Uchiha's skull!]
[It was as if the figure before him were only an illusion. Yet in the next instant, Obito Uchiha seized Minato's wrist!]
["I'm your opponent! And this is where it ends!"]
[As Obito Uchiha declared victory, a terrifying pull erupted from his eye, warping Minato's body.]
[Pop! The next instant, Minato vanished again, leaving Obito Uchiha standing there in a daze.]
["He teleported away! Fast, aren't you? Next time, I'll have to absorb you faster. The instant I touch you would be best!" His figure then vanished in an equally strange fashion.]
[The scene shifted again, this time to a forest outside the village, where the two faced off once more.]
["Are you Madara Uchiha? No, that's impossible. He died long ago. Who are you?!" Minato Namikaze watched him with every sense on alert.]
["Who knows? But you can't be sure of that!" Obito Uchiha pulled back his hood and tilted his head at Minato.]
["At this point, it doesn't matter who you are. Why are you targeting Konoha?"]
[At Minato's question, Obito Uchiha spoke with a note of reflection. "If you insist on an answer, it was a whim; it was also something I planned long ago. It was for war; it was also for peace."]
[Clink, clink. A length of chain slipped from Obito Uchiha's sleeve. "Now that the Nine-Tails is free, you have no hope left!"]
[Minato Namikaze raised his specially made Kunai. Their battle was about to erupt again!]
The Canopy Screen stopped there once more.
Across the Shinobi World, everyone was puzzled by Obito's final words. What was he even talking about?
In the Hokage's Office, four men sat in a row with the Third Hokage at their head, looking at Kakashi as he knelt 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 sharply.
Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing. After so many years working together, the two had long since grown accustomed to playing good cop, bad cop.
But Kakashi Hatake was a prodigy who had joined the ANBU as a boy. He had used that very tactic countless times himself. Shimura Danzō wasn't going to intimidate him with it.
"I truly don't know, my lords," he answered firmly. "The statement contradicts itself. Neither its tone nor its logic holds together."
"Apart from Obito himself, I doubt anyone in the world could know what he meant."
The men above him quickly exchanged glances. Then Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a gentle voice:
"Kakashi, we aren't suspecting you. But you know as well as we do that since the Canopy Screen appeared, Konoha has entered troubled times."
"Gather everything you know about Obito Uchiha and submit it to the intelligence department for review."
"We must find out whether Obito Uchiha truly died or only appeared to."
"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 directly. How could you let him off so easily?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff from 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.
"Believe? Loyal? Hiruzen, do you hear how ridiculous you sound?"
"In intelligence work, the one thing you cannot do is make assumptions based on feelings. Countless intelligence agents paid in blood to teach us that lesson!"
"You!" Hiruzen Sarutobi nearly said, I'm the Hokage, but forced the words back.
Instead, he conceded a step. "I'll have the ANBU watch Kakashi. That's the end of this matter!"
"Now, let's discuss Nine Nether and the Akatsuki Organization!"
Before you continue