A figure wearing a tengu mask appeared at the corner of a street.
A couple walked past him.
It was Kakashi and Hanare.
"Kakashi..."
Two red gleams flashed from the eyeholes.
Obito silently slipped deeper into the shadows.
Seeing Kakashi so happy with his girlfriend put his mind at ease.
At last.
He had heard that, if the war hadn't broken out, Kakashi would have held his wedding by now.
Obito had paid a steep price to clear out the contingencies Naruto had left in the Kamui Dimension, but it hadn't accomplished much.
With the other Kamui Mangekyo Sharingan, Naruto could easily put several more Wood Clones inside. That guy was as strong as a monster, leaving Obito no choice but to use his ability with extreme caution.
Wait.
Obito stopped in his tracks.
Shouldn't Kakashi have reached Iwagakure by now? Why was he in Konoha?
Far from the bustle of the main street, in a relatively quiet, dimly lit grove on the outskirts of the festival grounds, a scene utterly unlike the warmth and excitement below was unfolding amid the dense branches of a thick old tree.
Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Shino Aburame, Sasuke Uchiha, Rock Lee, Neji Hyuga, and Tenten were all crouched along a sturdy branch in an extremely undignified yet oddly harmonious pose, their heads pressed together as they stared at a slightly brighter corner a short distance away.
There, Kiba Inuzuka stood beside his ninja dog, Akamaru. Facing him was Kohan, a girl in a pale green yukata, her hair tied in a neat ponytail and a gentle smile on her face.
From the group's vantage point in the tree, Kiba's usual easygoing, bold, straightforward manner was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a rare display of awkwardness and bashfulness.
One moment he scratched his