A person's life is a line. This line might become entangled with other lines, but sometimes, two lines that are only meant to intersect in the distant future require a bit of brute force to pull them together ahead of time.
Emiya Shirou was, in fact, such a person responsible for twisting these lines.
For him, kidnapping Anko Mitarashi was an inconsequential side quest, a means to get some leverage on Orochimaru.
Now, there was only one thing he truly wanted to do in Konoha: find a suitable candidate, and under his own subtle inducement, manipulate this candidate into personally uncovering the truth of Obito Uchiha's survival, thereby completing his SSSSS-rank request.
A suitable candidate... undoubtedly had to have a bond with Obito.
However, Obito had long since lost everything. He had personally killed his teacher, Minato Namikaze, and massacred his clan. The only one left was his former teammate, Kakashi Hatake.
And only Kakashi would have any real interest in Obito Uchiha. The two of them shared an unbreakable bond from the past and were destined to be entangled in the future.
No, actually, not quite. Strictly speaking, there was also a bond of hatred between Minato's son, Naruto Uzumaki, and Obito.
Unfortunately, Naruto was only eight years old at this time. Shirou couldn't wait for Kakashi and Naruto to stumble upon the truth naturally.
On one hand, he knew how ridiculously rich the reward for an SSSSS-rank request was; on the other, this was the only request he could currently complete. He needed to free up his mission slots as soon as possible to gain more power for the final battle he had planned.
The first step was to lure out Kakashi Hatake. Kakashi had personally witnessed a village ninja being kidnapped. Even with his current listless demeanor, he couldn't possibly stand by and do nothing.
Shirou sat under a large tree, a scroll unfurled before him, using a pen to work through the theories of the Impure World Reincarnation jutsu while slowly pondering his next move..
If nothing unexpected happens, Kakashi should be on his way to get her back, right?
-----
Inside Konoha, Kakashi was freed. He immediately reported to the Third Hokage that Anko Mitarashi had been abducted. Even with the recent Uchiha tragedy, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't just ignore a village ninja being kidnapped by an outsider.
"The opponent is extremely skilled in Wind Style and swordsmanship," Kakashi's words made Hiruzen frown. "He's also highly skilled in Earth Style. When I tried to use an Earth Style jutsu, he broke it before I could even finish casting. His combat experience is immense; he defeated me easily. Definitely not an ordinary person."
"Secondly," Kakashi continued, "he has an accomplice, likely still lurking in Konoha. I left signals for ANBU support while tracking him, but they were erased without my knowledge. There's also something very strange... after subduing me, he chose not to kill me."
"Perhaps he felt my strength was too weak to be worth his time. He claimed he doesn't like to kill, but he was ruthless in his attack. If I had been even a fraction of a second slower, I might have been killed."
"Is that so?" Hiruzen pondered, holding his pipe. Kakashi was Konoha's most outstanding young ninja. To defeat him so swiftly meant this was no ordinary foe.
But Hiruzen couldn't place him. An expert in Wind Style, swordsmanship, and Earth Style, with connections to Orochimaru and an accomplice in the village? The profile didn't match any known ninja.
"We can only start taking action first," Hiruzen said, his expression serious. "Kakashi, I authorize you to form a special operations team to retrieve Anko. The barrier team reported an anomaly this afternoon. Someone passed through the western barrier. You can track them towards the Land of Rivers. I'll also have people conduct strict searches in the village."
"Yes," Kakashi agreed. The only ones available were the other free ninjas in the village. Fortunately, Konoha had suspended external missions, so finding help shouldn't be too hard.
And a multi-sided battle was different from a one-on-one. With the right team, he wouldn't be as helpless as before. Besides, the opponent's strength, while formidable, wasn't beyond the realm of a normal ninja.
He found his former classmates, Might Guy and Kurenai Yuhi, and the person he trusted most in the ANBU, Yamato.
Guy's taijutsu was powerful, Kurenai was a skilled sensor and genjutsu user, and Yamato possessed the rare Wood Style. Kakashi believed his own assault abilities would round out the team.
It shouldn't be too troublesome to deal with one guy.
"Everyone clear on the mission?" Kakashi said, chewing on a soldier pill. "We need to retrieve Anko as soon as possible. Our opponent's strength is not weak, so we need to cooperate."
"Let's catch up to them first!" Might Guy clenched his fist, radiating a hot-blooded energy that was impossible to ignore.
That night, in the western forest of the Land of Fire, Kakashi's team found no trace of the opponent.
"This is a bit abnormal," Yamato said, his voice muffled by his ANBU mask. "Even if he's fast, taking Jonin Anko with him should slow him down."
"No," Kakashi shook his head. "If Anko has no ability to resist, and his speed is fast enough, plus we were late in starting..."
"Is it possible we're going in the wrong direction?" Guy asked.
"We've been in pursuit for five hours," Kakashi estimated. "It's been seven hours since Anko was kidnapped. We shouldn't be wrong. Lord Hokage also sent out search parties; they should have found clues from other directions by now."
"I found Anko's hair!" Kurenai's voice cut through the night. She had found a single strand of purple-tinged hair. "The opponent may have rested here. This location is perfect for observing the rear. This hair must have been dropped by Anko as a signal."
"Then let's continue the pursuit!" Kakashi leaped forward, the others close behind.
The clues left by Anko were useful. The Special Jonin knew the village wouldn't give up on her. However, it seemed their pursuit had been discovered. The opponent's route began to change constantly. But Anko had left many clues, including, as they later found, her fishnet stockings...
-----
On the other side, Emiya Shirou was still leading Anko, constantly changing direction.
"Speaking of which," he frowned, "how did they find us? I clearly changed direction when I sensed them."
"It's that woman," White Zetsu said, pointing at the unconscious Anko. "She secretly left clues for them!"
"When?" A hint of surprise appeared in Shirou's eyes.
Black Zetsu was a bit helpless.
Of course you didn't notice. You've never had to pay attention to such trivial details.
Anko was probably lying on top of a clue right now.
"Forget it," Shirou said, unconcerned. "It's just four people. I've already sensed them. It's a pity I didn't leave a Flying Thunder God mark, but even if they catch up, dealing with them will be easy."
"But," Black Zetsu reminded him, "among them is the child of Sakumo Hatake. And you've never been one who likes to kill. If you're soft-hearted, Konoha won't give up the pursuit, and they might even get your intelligence."
This was practically a certainty. Shirou was terrible at lying. A short conversation with Kakashi, and he might spill everything from his past with Sakumo to the Akatsuki's plans and even Project Tsuki no Me.
"Should I kill them?" A hint of regret flashed across Shirou's face. He tightened his grip on his pen. "To achieve the goal, use any means necessary. I've done it before. It doesn't matter."
Black Zetsu looked at him with some unease.
"Forget it," Black Zetsu said, having already thought of a solution. "A White Zetsu clone has already gone to the Akatsuki base to have Pain send a team to help you deal with these small troubles. I won't make it difficult for you."
A sinister smile appeared on its non-existent lips. "Before, Obito's attitude towards you was not respectful enough. Didn't we want to make him recognize his own identity? Coincidentally, this is a suitable opportunity."
Its small eyes narrowed into a dangerous gaze. "If you want to make a person recognize their identity, there is nothing more suitable than making them face their past."