The falling boulder landed just outside the blind spot of Kakashi's one eye. By the time he noticed it, it was too late to dodge.
"Watch out!"
Kakashi didn't react in time, but Obito Uchiha did, moving quickly to Kakashi's side and shoving him out of the way.
An opportunity!
A fleeting opportunity.
Kouka, who was lurking in the shadows, knew his chance had arrived when he saw Kakashi in danger.
At the exact moment Obito shoved him, he made his move.
Kouka resurfaced from underground, throwing several shuriken at Obito.
"Obito..."
After being knocked down, Kakashi immediately realized that Obito had saved him. He quickly scrambled to his feet and saw the shuriken flying towards Obito.
"No..."
Rin also turned, witnessing the scene, and her heart instantly shattered.
"I can't dodge it."
Obito gritted his teeth, knowing he definitely couldn't escape, and immediately made a decision.
If not for Kouka's sudden sneak attack, Obito would have been absolutely confident that after pushing Kakashi away, he could also escape danger.
However, the shuriken thrown by Kouka had sealed off his path to survival.
Stopping meant death, and so did moving forward.
Now, Obito couldn't escape!
Rumble!
"Agh—"
Obito was crushed under the giant boulder, letting out a painful wail.
"Obito..."
Sadness, pain, anger, and many other negative emotions flooded Kakashi's heart.
Shing!!!
Overwhelmed by grief, Kakashi instantly drew the White Light Blade from his back and charged at Kouka recklessly.
"Agh..."
A surge of murderous intent erupted from Kakashi's body, all directed at Kouka.
"Hmph!"
Looking at Kakashi, who was like a beast, seemingly having lost his reason, Kouka wasn't afraid. Instead, he became even calmer.
Clang, clang, clang...
Inside the narrow cave, Kakashi and Kouka fought fiercely. Rin, meanwhile, discovered that Obito hadn't died on the spot but was pinned by half his body.
Though barely alive, he was still breathing.
"Obito."
Rin rushed to Obito's side, her voice choked with sobs.
"Rin..."
Rumble, rumble...
The sound of the collapsing cave drowned out Obito's voice.
At the same time, Kouka, who was fighting Kakashi, realized that if he didn't leave soon, he might be buried here along with Kakashi, Obito, and Rin.
So, as Kakashi swung his sword again, the power he had secretly accumulated suddenly erupted.
Thwack.
The two blades clashed, and the White Light Blade in Kakashi's hand was actually severed by Kouka, causing Kakashi to freeze in disbelief for a moment.
Rumble, rumble...
Another earthquake caused Kouka to abandon the idea of killing Kakashi on the spot.
Escaping was paramount...
Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique.
"Konoha brats, you'll be buried here forever!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Kouka once again burrowed underground, fleeing towards the outside of the cave.
Outside the cave, Veigar, who had been waiting, had just detected a very subtle chakra fluctuation with his sensory abilities.
Twice, in fact.
"Was that Black Zetsu's doing?"
Just then, Veigar saw Kouka escaping from inside the cave and immediately made his move.
Whoosh.
A second later, the scene froze.
Kouka, having just emerged from underground, hadn't expected that after narrowly escaping death, and before he could even react, his head would be severed by a single strike.
"Huh???"
Veigar, using the Shinigami Blade to kill for the first time, discovered something incredible.
However, he didn't immediately investigate it and instead dashed into the cave.
At this moment, Obito knew he was about to embrace death. In his final moments, he spoke to Kakashi, who was kneeling beside him, repeatedly apologizing:
"Kakashi, you don't need to blame yourself or apologize out of guilt, because this was my choice."
"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are called trash, but those who don't value their comrades are even worse than trash."
"Now I'm about to die, so I'm giving you my Sharingan. No matter what the villagers say about you, you're an amazing Jonin."
"This is my will. Please accept it."
Then, Obito's gaze fell upon Rin, who was using medical ninjutsu to sustain his life, and he said:
"Rin, I'm sorry!"
"From now on, I won't be able to see your smile or quietly watch over you anymore."
"Now, use your medical ninjutsu to transplant my Sharingan into Kakashi's left eye!"
Immediately afterward, Obito spoke to Kakashi again:
"Although I'm about to die, I'll become your eye, helping you see what's to come..."
A ruthless present enveloped the three of them. Kakashi also accepted Obito's gift because of Obito's final words.
"Rin, I'm counting on you!"
A moment later, Veigar's figure appeared beside the three, just in time to see Rin transplanting Obito's Sharingan into Kakashi's eye.
"Kakashi, Rin."
"Obito!"
Meanwhile, Black Zetsu, hidden in the shadows, was the first to detect Veigar. He thought to himself:
"This is bad!"
Black Zetsu was quite knowledgeable about Veigar's intelligence, having specifically investigated him, and knew that Veigar possessed Kage-level strength, enough to change the current situation.
Just as Veigar called out their names, Black Zetsu no longer cared about exposing himself to Veigar. He only wanted to quickly take Obito away.
Rumble, rumble...
Black Zetsu struck again, directly dropping a large boulder onto Obito's head.
"Go!"
Obito uttered his final word of farewell, then was completely buried by the giant boulder.
"Obito!"
"Obito!"
Under Black Zetsu's control, the cave began to completely collapse. Amidst Kakashi and Rin's sorrowful cries, Veigar let out a soft sigh.
"Sigh..."
No one knew that beneath Veigar's seemingly helpless sigh, he was thinking:
"The plan has begun!"
Then, Veigar placed his hands on Kakashi and Rin, who were preparing to escape.
"Don't resist."
Kakashi and Rin looked back at Veigar with slight confusion. Grieving over Obito's death, they hadn't had time to pay attention to Veigar.
Now, Veigar told them not to resist, and out of trust for Veigar, Kakashi and Rin relaxed.
In an instant, Veigar used the Flying Raijin Technique to transport Kakashi and Rin out of the cave.
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TN: This fanfic has been fully translated and is available on my Patreon —— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]