Chapter 4 — The Conversation in the Hokage's Office
The meteor capable of destroying Konoha drew ever closer, the blaze on its surface shining even brighter than the enormous full moon behind it.
"All units, Crane Wing Formation!"
Kakashi remained calm in the face of disaster, standing motionless as he gave the order.
"Understood!"
More than ten shinobi leapt into the air simultaneously, opening the Eight Gates. Their chakra connected as one, forming a gigantic chakra hand that braced itself beneath the falling meteor.
"Sixth Gate of View, open!"
With a sharp shout, Rock Lee burst forth from the center of the formation. The chakra around his body surged violently as he threw a punch at the meteor like an ant shaking a tree.
Crack!
Boom!
A flash of white light split the sky. The enormous meteor broke in two—half of it shattered into fragments, but the remaining half stayed intact. Its trajectory shifted only slightly, still more than enough to annihilate all of Konoha.
Facing the tumbling mass of rock wrapped in terrifying white shockwaves, Kakashi stood unmoving. The massive meteor made him look as insignificant as an ant, and the raging wind whipped his short white hair into chaos.
As the Sixth Hokage, the village stood behind him.
There was nowhere left to retreat.
Just as purple lightning flickered at Kakashi's fingertips, a familiar cry of Chidori pierced the air. A black figure flashed past him at such speed that even the Sixth Hokage's reaction lagged by a fraction of a second.
Amid the shrill screech of lightning, the surface of the falling meteor was instantly covered in crackling thunder. A blinding radiance erupted, accompanied by a deafening explosion. The brilliance turned night into day, as if a second sun had risen above Konoha.
"You are…?"
Seeing the familiar back before him, Kakashi's tense body finally relaxed.
"Since he's not here, Konoha Village… I'll protect it."
Black-Cloaked Sasuke slowly turned his head. The fierce wind lifted the strands of hair from his forehead, revealing the crimson Sharingan and the purple Rinnegan.
The image froze abruptly. The light screen grew blurry, then faded away completely.
"The future me… is actually this strong?"
Watching Black-Cloaked Sasuke casually obliterate a meteor capable of destroying Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke could not hide the wild joy on his face.
But… someone cut off one of my arms. Was that man the one who did it?
And the Uchiha clan's kekkei genkai is the Sharingan—so why is my left eye purple in the future?
"Kakashi-senpai, where's the intruder?"
At that moment, figures of shinobi rushed over from the rooftops in all directions, shouting as they arrived.
Kakashi shook his head without answering.
The mysterious individual calling himself the Miracle Invoker had displayed far too many bizarre abilities. It was not something to spread widely. Reporting directly to the Third Hokage would be more appropriate.
---
Inside the small house, Tetsuya, seated in a chair, opened his eyes. He did not immediately fuse the Uchiha bloodline. Instead, he attempted once more to activate the Miracle Invoker's power.
As expected, there was no response. He would have to wait ten days before summoning another marionette.
"Fuse the bloodline."
After silently giving the command in his mind, Tetsuya clearly felt his heart pound violently several times. A warm current flowed from his left chest, spreading throughout his entire body in just a few breaths.
That's it?
Unwilling to give up, Tetsuya picked up a mirror. As expected, he saw only a pair of pitch-black eyes. The Sharingan had not awakened immediately.
Letting out a sigh, he sat back down and began refining chakra.
Not even ten seconds after steadying his breathing, Tetsuya's eyes snapped open, his face filled with unconcealed delight.
On his very first attempt, he could already feel an enormous difference. Not only was the speed of chakra refinement astonishingly fast, but the amount drawn from his cells had increased by at least fivefold compared to before.
No wonder when the Uchiha clan still existed, they gave off the impression that their eyes were practically growing out of their foreheads. They truly had the capital to be proud.
Tetsuya quickly calmed his excitement and resumed refining chakra. The clear sensation of growing stronger with every passing moment filled him with motivation.
If merely possessing the Uchiha bloodline produced such immediate results, then what about the Uzumaki clan, the Senju clan, or even the source of all bloodlines—the Ōtsutsuki clan?
From this moment on, Tetsuya saw hope—hope of shedding his fate as cannon fodder and climbing step by step to the very peak.
---
Bang!
A loud crash erupted from within the Hokage's office, prompting four masked ANBU to appear instantly at the otherwise empty doorway.
"Lord Hokage, what happened?"
The ANBU squad captain, wearing a white mask, called out from outside.
"Seal off the area. Don't let anyone approach."
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's steady voice—and sensing no violent chakra fluctuations within—the ANBU captain let out a quiet breath of relief. After giving several subtle hand signals, the ANBU dispersed once more and vanished.
"Kakashi, what do you think of this mysterious individual calling himself the Miracle Invoker?"
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi had regained his composure. He picked up the pipe from his desk and carefully gathered the spilled tobacco back into it. His slightly clouded eyes were intensely focused.
"The opponent's origins are unknown. His objectives are unknown. The only things we can confirm are the two abilities he displayed…"
Kakashi, kneeling on one knee, paused briefly before organizing his thoughts.
"First, his instantaneous movement does not appear to be space-time ninjutsu. It's very likely that he uses flames as coordinate points for movement. I carefully examined the traces left at the scene and found scorched leaf remnants at every location where he appeared. That cannot be a coincidence."
In Kakashi's mind flashed several images—each centered on a fingertip-sized patch of charred black residue. An ordinary shinobi might have overlooked such details, but they could not escape the Sharingan's perception.
If Tetsuya had heard Kakashi analyze the Flame Leap ability so thoroughly in such a short encounter, he would have marveled at the man's terrifying analytical skills.
Was it a never-before-seen kekkei genkai, or a newly created ninjutsu?
Even Hiruzen, known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, could not immediately find a comparable ability.
"Second, there's his unbelievable method—being able to see future events, and even briefly summon people from the future into the present."
Seeing that Hiruzen did not interrupt, Kakashi continued, the shock still evident in his exposed eye.
If not for his absolute confidence in his three-tomoe Sharingan, confirming that Black-Cloaked Sasuke and the images on the light screen were not illusions—especially considering that Black-Cloaked Sasuke's chakra pressure even surpassed Hiruzen's—he might have suspected it all to be genjutsu. Such overwhelming presence could not be fabricated by illusion.
"I've already ordered heightened security. If he appears again, I will personally meet him."
Hiruzen knocked the ash from his freshly lit pipe and took a deep drag.
If the future he had witnessed was real, then in roughly ten short years, the Hokage position had changed hands twice.
Kakashi becoming the Sixth Hokage was no surprise. Among Konoha's current generation, there were few capable candidates. Even burdened by the Sharingan, Kakashi remained the most outstanding shinobi of his generation. His succession would be only natural.
The one thing that filled Hiruzen with foreboding—
Where was the Fifth Hokage?
Had Konoha, after losing him as its pillar, once again been besieged by multiple hidden villages? Had the future Fifth Hokage met an untimely fate, leading to Kakashi becoming the Sixth?
And that meteor that struck toward Konoha—
Had the enemy already reached their very doorstep?