After Obito's name was entered in the candidate column, Kakashi did not sleep a wink all night.
He did not leave the Anbu break room.
Nor did he visit the Memorial Stone.
He simply read every record of the Kannabi Bridge mission from beginning to end.
The Obito on those pages was still a boy.
Late.
Impulsive.
Yet when real danger came, he would stand in front of his comrades without hesitation.
How could someone like that control the Nine-Tails years later and attack his own teacher and village?
Kakashi could not accept it.
But he could no longer say it was impossible, either.
The right eye, the old route, the locations of the severe injuries, and the abnormal regenerated tissue were all laid out before him.
Denying that evidence would not protect the Obito in his memories.
It would only let whoever was truly using that eye continue hiding behind the name.
The next day, Kakashi took the initiative to write three entries in his condition report.
Shock.
Resistance.
Unable to remain fully neutral.
He did not withdraw from the investigation because of it.
Shikaku did, however, adjust the assignments.
Kakashi could provide memories of his old team and participate in ability tests.
But any conclusions identifying the suspect had to be reviewed by another group whose members had not participated in the old mission.
He was not permitted to carry out any operation requiring contact with the Masked Man alone.
Kakashi also designated Might Guy as his companion outside the investigation.
Guy would have no access to classified evidence. His only duties were to check whether Kakashi rested on schedule, left without authorization, or showed abnormal chakra expenditure outside missions.
The arrangement seemed unrelated to tracing the suspect's identity, but it closed off the window the Masked Man