Sasuke gritted his teeth in fury. "That bastard! He really was lurking right beside us!!"
He was losing his mind now, shouting into the air, "If you're here, show yourself! Hiding like a coward! You have the guts to do it but not to own up to it?!!"
"Enough, Sasuke..."
The expression on Young Obito's face seemed almost serene, in stark contrast to Sasuke's outburst.
"Are you taking his side?! Think about what he did!!" Sasuke roared angrily. "Naruto's father, his mother! My clan! Can these things be forgiven so easily?!!"
"No, I mean he probably isn't watching us right now," the youth Obito said.
Sasuke blinked. "What do you mean?"
Young Kakashi sighed, shaking his head slightly. "This time we time-traveled... it seems a lot happened."
"Seems?" Minato Namikaze was puzzled.
"Because we didn't actually time travel back," Obito explained, his voice calm despite the confusion. "Kakashi and I fought him for fifteen rounds. Though the mission showed completion, we never crossed over. Considering both Kakashi and I were within the Masked Man's Kamui's Dimension, we suspect we traversed along with the entire Kamui Dimension."
Minato Namikaze processed this quickly. "So originally, only you, Obito, and the Masked Man time-traveled, correct?"
For ease of reference, they still referred to the adult Obito Uchiha as the Masked Man.
Seeing Young Obito nod, Minato continued, "Then, only the Masked Man exited Kamui's Dimension. The two of you stayed within that space, unaware of which parallel world or era you had been transported to."
Naruto, still confused, frowned. "I don't get it. Why are you so certain the Masked Man isn't watching us right now? Is there some kind of necessary connection?"
Young Obito pondered for a moment before countering, "Minato-sensei, didn't someone once say Kakashi would become the Sixth Hokage?"
"That's correct. Naruto and the others heard it too."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Right. Some guy named Kawaki said Kakashi would become the Sixth Hokage and Naruto would become the Seventh. What does that have to do with what I'm asking?"
"That's precisely where the oddity lies!" Obito was equally perplexed.
"Hm?" The others turned their gaze toward the two.
Young Kakashi sighed, his expression darkening. "Though we don't know what's happening outside, right now, within the Masked Man's Kamui's Dimension... there lies the corpse of my future self."
"!!!"
"Huh?!"
"Kakashi-sensei's..."
"Corpse?!!"
"In the Masked Man's Kamui's Dimension?!!"
After the initial shock, everyone fixed their gaze on Adult Kakashi.
Adult Kakashi remained calm, though the weight of their stares was palpable. "....."
"Hey, hey, could you not look at me like I'm about to die?" he said lightly, trying to ease the tension.
"But that's exactly the point!" Sakura was visibly anxious for him. "Did you notice the details on Kakashi-sensei's corpse? Was it illness or injuries sustained during a mission?"
If it were illness, they'd already be ready to drag him to Konoha Hospital no matter the hour for a comprehensive, no-holds-barred health checkup.
"It wasn't illness, but there weren't any particularly severe injuries either."
No injuries, no acute illness...
The others couldn't think of anything else that could have taken Kakashi's life.
Adult Kakashi himself remained unhurried. "Probably died from chakra and physical exhaustion," he said. "I had a similar feeling last time I used Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan. When you push beyond your limits, lying flat for a week is normal. But if it's severely overloaded? That's a life-or-death gamble."
Young Obito stared at the photo in his hand. "Why not use Hashirama's cells and the White Zetsu components?" He hadn't brought it up before because it was a last resort, but clearly, they were already beyond that point!
"No thanks," he replied. "Once everything's settled, I probably won't keep this eye anyway. Having ample chakra won't matter." Besides, he didn't want to become like Danzō Shimura—resorting to such extreme measures just to steal the Uchiha Clan's abilities.
Sasuke clenched his fists, his mind still racing. "Regardless, it was another Kakashi from a parallel world who died, right? What does that have to do with the Masked Man? Did he kill him?" Sasuke still couldn't understand. Even if it was his own killing, what difference would Kakashi's death make to that person?
Rin felt a bit worried.
"If Obito is still fundamentally the same person he was... then Kakashi's sacrifice would have caused him immense pain. Based on my understanding of Obito, Kakashi might have been his last connection to this world. Just like what we experienced before—if he had known from the start that the Infinite Tsukuyomi was merely an oversized genjutsu..."
Everyone turned to look at Rin Nohara.
She paused briefly before continuing, "The me in this world is already dead. As the caster of Infinite Tsukuyomi, he himself shouldn't be affected by the genjutsu. So then, who was that world he mentioned built for—a world without killing or death, where regrets couldn't exist, and heroes wouldn't have to repent before Memorial Stone?"
The answer was obvious…
Kakashi!
Rin said, "Those revived in the dream are ultimately illusions. If Obito truly believed in the Infinite Tsukuyomi... regardless of whether he realized it himself, the person he truly wished to find happiness within that dream..."
"...would be Kakashi."
"!!!!"
Everyone stared in shock at the young Kakashi, their gazes shifting between the boy Obito, the boy Kakashi, and the Adult Kakashi.
Rin continued, "I believe that even in the final battle, Obito would never kill Kakashi. Because he absolutely must draw Kakashi into the Infinite Tsukuyomi, then prove he can accomplish what Kakashi himself couldn't... save the world in a heroic fashion."
By the end of her words, Rin felt a deep sadness for the tangled, inescapable fate binding these three in this world.
Sakura chuckled wryly, "So when he learned that future Kakashi-sensei was destined to die before achieving Infinite Tsukuyomi, and that his Infinite Tsukuyomi was actually Black Zetsu's scheme—did that double blow crush him completely?"
As the person at the center of it all, Adult Kakashi...
He lowered his gaze, a whirlwind of emotions churning within.
Sasuke remained baffled. "But why did he kill Danzō Shimura?!"
"That remains unknown." Young Kakashi couldn't fathom what the Adult Obito in this world was scheming. "After killing Danzō, he returned to Kamui's dimension and expelled us."
Young Obito added, "Besides Danzō's body, his subordinates also seemed to have been killed by the masked man."
"Hmm." Itachi Uchiha appraised, "He is indeed very strong."
Then he glanced at young Obito, as if saying: You two really don't seem like the same person.
Minato sighed, ruffling both disciples' heads. "Regardless, holding out fifteen rounds against him was no small feat."
His words reminded them of the condition the masked man had set before their battle began. If they could shatter his mask within fifteen rounds, he would help them complete that S-rank mission. Whether it was because they hadn't met that condition anyway, or some other emotion, neither the young Obito nor the young Kakashi brought up the matter.
Minato said, "Speculating now won't help. We can only wait for the masked man to reveal himself and tell us."
Itachi Uchiha spoke up again, "Is there a possibility that the A-rank mission scrolls, the gold, and those frequent time travel patterns follow a pattern? Just as every ninja skill has weaknesses, as long as someone isn't insane, their actions follow some kind of logical reasoning."
"What are you implying...?"
"The mission scrolls themselves aren't issuing these tasks. There must be a mastermind behind them—whether human or some form of consciousness. If it possesses thought, it must follow a logical framework. If we can trace that thought process and deduce its patterns, we might predict which worlds it intends to transport us to next."
Sasuke and Naruto were dumbfounded.
Naruto nudged Sasuke's arm. "Hey, what's your bro IQ?"
"How should I know! Dead Last!"
"Seriously, if you don't want to say, just don't. Why get mad?"
Over there, Minato Namikaze observed the youth—not yet old, yet possessed of a steadiness of mind that astonished even him.
"Never expected you'd think this far ahead. Honestly, I can't tell if your tendency to overthink is a blessing or a curse." Minato shook his head at Itachi Uchiha, thinking to himself that he still had an SSS-rank mission to retrieve all the Sharingan. It seemed the Uchiha brothers would inevitably cross paths with Danzō Shimura sooner or later.
He said, "For now, I've only come up with a few points."
"There are two main threads. One follows us—or rather, it might be Obito's followers—seeking to make amends for the past. The other follows Naruto, foreshadowing the future."
Minato placed his hands on Naruto and Obito's shoulders. "They were also the first to obtain the scroll," the young Kakashi remarked.
"Correct," Minato affirmed. "Beyond that, there's the random time travel to any era—even one we've visited before—to resolve certain issues. For instance, in another world, we saved Dan Katō and Nawaki. Or consider how we've traveled twice to the era of the Nine-Tails Incident."
"So the most recent parallel world you visited was the future?" asked Itachi.
Minato didn't evade the question. "It was when Naruto was sixteen, during his period of confusion after his master, Jiraiya, was killed by Pain. Barring surprises, Konoha and Pain of Akatsuki should be facing a major battle next."
Itachi: "Pain himself rarely takes direct action."
"At that point, Akatsuki's members were down to Pain, Konan, the Masked Man, Kisame, and the Black-and-White Zetsu."
Itachi nodded, saying nothing more. Having partnered with Kisame for years, hearing he hadn't died was a relief to Itachi.
Adult Kakashi: "So, to summarize, I died fighting Pain to protect Konoha, right?"
"So I have two tentative theories," Itachi Uchiha stated. "One is that Pain and Danzō had a grudge, the other is that Danzō obstructed Konoha's normal defenses."
The first scenario was like Danzō's treatment of Naruto, leaving the Fourth Hokage isolated and helpless. The second scenario was like Danzō's treatment of Sasuke, preventing the Uchiha Clan from going to the front lines to fight the enemy...
"I have a question," Naruto said. "If the timing is close to when Dad last did time travel, then Kakashi-sensei certainly wouldn't have become the Sixth Hokage yet, right?"
"Yes, it would have been during the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade-sama's tenure."
"Grandma Tsunade should have been able to serve for a long time. It wouldn't make sense for Kakashi-sensei to suddenly become the Sixth Hokage, would it? So Kakashi-sensei should... still be alive, right?"
Obito: "We've pondered this too, but it's baffling. So we're wondering if Kawaki's intel might be flawed?"
Rin: "But didn't Mitsuki also say the Sixth Hokage was Kakashi? And during his era, the Sixth Hokage was still alive....."
"I wonder what my counterpart in that world was doing. If I'd been there, I wouldn't have let Pain attack Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto frowned. "By the way, Sasuke's brother, you said Pain had the Rinnegan, right?"
"That's correct," Itachi replied.
Naruto looked at Obito. "Didn't our intel mention that the Rinnegan can resurrect the dead?"
Sasuke: "You think that Pain is that kind-hearted? Killing Konoha's people, then using his own Rinnegan to resurrect them? What's the purpose? Just to toy with Konoha for fun?"
"But there's no other logical explanation! Besides, didn't the Pervy Sage say Pain was like my father, that he was once his disciple too?" What if—just what if—he knew about the Infinite Tsukuyomi conspiracy like the masked man in our world, and decided he wasn't going to play along with him anymore?"
Naruto's idea truly opened up new possibilities for the others.
If we defeat Pain and get his Rinnegan, maybe someone could figure out how to revive Konoha's fallen? Not to mention, won't Sasuke have the Rinnegan in the future too?
"But then..."
Naruto clutched his head. "If the Masked Man brought back that world's Kakashi-sensei by sealing him within his eye space…"
"Wouldn't that mean Kakashi-sensei is truly dead?!!!"
"...."
!!!
"Aaaaaaah!!!" Young Obito mimicked Naruto's head-grabbing gesture. "That super-duper idiot version of me from this world!!!!"