Night had already fallen.
Kakashi was aimlessly running through the streets of Konoha.
He stumbled and collided with people, having no time to apologize as he spun around like a headless fly.
Although the people around him were doing nothing, from Kakashi's perspective, he saw only mocking gazes and surging malice.
He saw countless chains tightly binding him, dragging him inch by inch into the mire.
His body gradually became difficult to move, the sluggishness growing particularly strong.
All he could hear was his own rapid breathing and the gurgling sound of his blood.
Suddenly, he tripped over an obstacle, staggered, and fell down a grassy slope.
He landed hard on a rocky riverbank.
The last sliver of sunlight was swallowed by the western horizon.
Enveloped by heavy dark clouds, the entire world turned pitch black.
The streetlights had not yet flickered on.
He struggled to his feet in the darkness, smelling the damp air.
He remembered that breezy dusk from before.
"If you were in danger, I would save you no matter what."
"I wouldn't hesitate to pay any price."
Naraku and I... we both make mistakes.
Father has already paid the price; I can't let Naraku end up like that too.
What should I do to protect Naraku?
How can I prevent him from repeating the same mistakes?
Kakashi stood bewildered by the river, allowing the rising wind to mess up his hair.
Under the influence of the jutsu, his tangled emotions intertwined to form unbreakable shackles.
The howling wind seemed to speak.
It was like a whisper, yet also like a cackle.
"Blame him."
Yes... Naraku needs to realize one thing: for a shinobi, the mission is everything.
Since protecting a friend is a mistake, then Naraku must never value me more than a mission.
I must let him know that I am not a friend worth his sacrifice.
Under the dual influence of his true thoughts and the genjutsu hypnosis, Kakashi ultimately reached a twisted conclusion.
He would achieve the goal of protecting Naraku by hurting him.
"Kakashi! Kakashi?"
Naraku slid down the slope, looking disheveled as he trudged through the gravel.
A few strands of sweat-soaked hair were plastered to his forehead.
His lips were completely devoid of color.
"Can we go back and talk about this?"
Just as he reached out to grab Kakashi's hand, he saw Kakashi take half a step back in an evasive posture.
Naraku froze, his outstretched hand suspended in mid-air.
He grasped only the cold wind that slipped through his fingers.
He awkwardly retracted his arm, forcing a smile and softly muttering to himself.
"Ah, it's fine. I was too abrupt."
His voice trembled slightly, revealing a raw panic.
It was as if he was about to lose the most precious thing in his life, yet he was still deceiving himself that such a thing couldn't happen.
Kakashi's expression was swallowed by the heavy darkness, but his voice was distinctly cold.
"Uchiha Naraku..."
Naraku heard him say.
"Everything..."
"...is your fault."
Naraku's breath hitched.
All the blood in his body instantly froze.
The biting cold made him shiver uncontrollably.
Something lodged in his throat, making him unable to utter a sound.
"If it weren't for you... Father wouldn't have..."
Uttering those few words exhausted Kakashi's remaining strength.
He didn't even need to look to imagine what Naraku looked like now.
"What on earth am I doing?" Kakashi asked himself.
He was on the verge of collapse as his soul tore at his uncontrolled body, cracking it inch by inch.
Warm yellow lights finally flickered on in the distance.
They outlined the blurry silhouettes of the two boys.
Even in such dim light, Kakashi could still see Naraku's lips quivering.
The boy's fingers were unconsciously clutching and tightening the hem of his clothes.
Kakashi clearly remembered this was a habit from years ago; it hadn't appeared since Naraku had come to the Hatake household.
Those originally clear and bright eyes were steeped in tears.
They were gradually dimming, with only a last glimmer of light remaining.
Even that light was on the verge of flickering out.
Kakashi unconsciously took a step forward.
Naraku noticed the movement, as if he had found some hope, and desperately wanted to speak.
The icy air suddenly rushed into his lungs, making him cough.
His voice grew even hoarser.
"I... I'm sorry... Kakashi... it's all... my fault..."
"He still hasn't realized his mistake, has he?"
The voice in Kakashi's mind was gentle yet ruthless, giving rise to an irresistible thought.
Against his will, his body raised a hand and grasped the black braided rope at his collar.
He pulled out the gray ceramic shard hanging below.
He gripped the rope and yanked hard.
The necklace snapped from his neck, dangling limply between his fingers.
The ceramic shard hung there, swaying and spinning a few times in the wind.
Naraku watched the ceramic shard slowly fall.
Then, it became a faint afterimage trailing a long black string.
It streaked across the night sky and fell into the rushing river, disappearing in an instant.
Naraku, as if unable to react, looked at Kakashi's hand again.
A flash of lightning tore through the darkness, casting a pale light between heaven and earth.
It allowed Naraku to see clearly that the hand was empty.
In that fleeting light, Kakashi also saw Naraku's eyes, lost in despair.
The boy's lips were slightly parted as if to speak.
Boom—
A tremendous clap of thunder drowned out the murmur.
Perhaps Kakashi would never know what Naraku had said.
Kakashi turned and left.
Naraku watched him walk away step by step until he merged into the darkness.
The boy became a part of the night.
The rain began to pour.
The world became blurry and distant, making it hard to distinguish between reality and illusion.
Naraku still stood in place, letting the rain soak his hair and stream down his cheeks.
His clothes were already drenched, clinging to his slender frame.
In his perception, Black Zetsu had not yet left.
It seemed the creature was determined to see if he would awaken his Mangekyo.
Naraku expressionlessly told the system to use up all the popularity points he had accumulated.
He commanded it to completely unlock his Mangekyo.
Although the previous self-evolution had been interrupted, it had drastically reduced the points needed.
It was barely affordable now.
After a burst of intense pain, tears of blood flowed from Naraku's eyes.
The tomoe in his pupils rapidly connected, forming three intertwined black crescent moons.
They began to rotate slowly in his blood-red irises.
He stood in the rain for a long time.
It was long enough for the blood on his face to be washed clean by the downpour.
It mixed with the puddles at his feet and flowed into the gurgling river.
Since he had already awakened his Mangekyo, wouldn't it be reasonable to act a bit more extreme?
After all, in "Uchiha Naraku's" eyes, he had nothing left to lose.
Naraku thought this with a chilling calmness.
But he could feel his anger, like magma flowing beneath a glacier.
It was boiling incessantly beneath a layer of ice-cold composure.