"Let me give you a friendly warning. Do not test this on yourself. If you truly want to experience the baseline effect, hunt down a restaurant in Konoha that serves 'Life Curry.' Order a single plate, and you'll immediately understand its power."
"Never, ever spray this on yourself. And also..."
Orochimaru repeatedly lectured Kakashi, rattling off an exhausting list of taboos and safety precautions.
"Curry rice?"
Kakashi's face twisted slightly at the mention of curry.
But since Orochimaru spent so much breath hyping it up, Kakashi knew he had to test the baseline.
For Obito's safety, and for the sake of the master plan, he couldn't just blindly trust a chemical weapon without verifying its potency.
Orochimaru had clearly seen how much Kakashi cared about Obito, so he fully expected Kakashi to be skeptical.
That was exactly why he spammed the safety warnings so aggressively.
...
Kakashi didn't warp back to Konoha.
Since Orochimaru personally knew about "Life Curry" but wasn't absolutely certain if Konoha had a franchise, that meant Amegakure definitely housed one.
Sure enough, after wandering Amegakure's neon-lit streets for a bit, Kakashi spotted a Life Curry restaurant.
He strolled in and confidently ordered a single serving of the absolute spiciest explosive curry rice on the menu.
The only thing that faintly unnerved Kakashi was the owner physically blocking the counter and forcing him to sign a liability waiver before taking his cash.
"...It really is fine."
Kakashi carefully leaned over the steaming bowl of dark red curry and took a cautious sniff.
Just as Orochimaru had promised, the commercial spice level was specifically tuned for human consumption.
Not only was it significantly weaker than Orochimaru's weaponized spray, but there was no choking odor or eye-burning sensation before taking a bite.
It seemed perfectly harmless.
'According to Orochimaru, only by truly tasting the heat of this curry can I experience fifty percent of the spray bottle's actual firepower,' Kakashi reasoned.
He gripped the spoon, scooped up a generous pile of curry rice, took a deep breath, and shoved it straight into his mouth.
"..."
...
Out on the rainy streets of Amegakure.
Nohara Rin and Yakushi Nono had just stepped out of the Medical Department.
Engrossed in a deep discussion about babysitting the masked man, they casually walked toward the village gates.
"I understand," Nohara Rin nodded seriously.
Yakushi Nono had just finished briefing her on the mission parameters.
Rin didn't actually need to nurse the masked man herself, but she absolutely had to guarantee that the very first thing Obito saw when he woke up was Rin personally tending to him.
Why didn't she actually need to treat him?
First, the masked man's physical injuries were already patched up.
And second, even if he still had open wounds, Rin's medical ninjutsu was practically god-tier by now, there was absolutely no medical reason for her to take the field.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura formed a legendary trio: a jinchūriki, an Uchiha, and a civilian extra.
By that exact same logic, Rin, Obito, and Kakashi also formed a perfect trio: a jinchūriki, an Uchiha, and... well, you get the picture.
As for why they desperately needed to brainwash Obito into believing Rin had never left his side? It wasn't to move him emotionally.
It was to apply sheer psychological pressure.
As for how exactly that pressure would break him? Just sit back and enjoy the show.
"Oho, ohohohoho—!"
"?"
Nohara Rin suddenly heard a weirdly familiar "scream" and whipped her head around in sheer confusion.
She watched Kakashi literally crawl and stumble out of a nearby restaurant, his entire body a trembling, pathetic mess, and his face flushed a violent red.
"Rin?! Help! Please save me!!"
The second Kakashi spotted Rin passing by, he frantically scrambled over, tears violently streaming down his face as he desperately pointed at his own mouth.
"Huh?"
Sasuke—who had just successfully downloaded a massive library of Rinnegan techniques from Uchiha Madara via genjutsu and briefly returned to Amegakure to stock up on supplies before going into isolation training—happened to witness the entire scene.
Sasuke immediately ducked behind a street corner, concealing his chakra.
'Judging by his frantic state, Kakashi seems to be critically injured and desperately needs medical attention... What a godsend! Now I can finally see Kakashi's real face!'
Sasuke swallowed a heavy gulp of anticipation.
Who would have thought? The three members of Team Seven had banded together, drafted countless plans, and even recruited Shikamaru's genius intellect to join the hunt—and every single attempt had ended in crushing failure.
Yet today, he, Uchiha Sasuke, would completely monopolize this legendary truth!
Sure enough, true power walked alone.
He alone had stumbled upon the ultimate secret with no effort!
He absolutely refused to believe that Kakashi—currently sobbing and snotting all over himself—still possessed the mental bandwidth to hide his true face.
Sasuke nailed the read.
Kakashi genuinely had no higher brain functions left. He hadn't even registered Sasuke popping into existence and ducking into the shadows.
Besides, Rin had already seen his real face back in the day, and he didn't care about Yakushi Nono.
To avoid causing a public panic on the street, Nohara Rin quickly dragged Kakashi into a secluded, shaded alleyway.
"Kakashi, what on earth did you do?"
Nohara Rin reached out and gently pulled Kakashi's mask down, fully prepping to diagnose an injury.
"!"
Sasuke frantically leaned around the corner, pushing the ocular power of his Rinnegan to its absolute maximum limit.
He had to see it!
Uh...
This time, absolutely nothing blocked his view.
No sudden flock of pigeons.
No crowd of passing pedestrians magically obstructing his line of sight.
He genuinely saw Kakashi's true, unmasked face.
But...
The very first time Naruto dragged him into the 'Reveal Kakashi's Face' conspiracy, the blonde idiot had actively tempted him by suggesting Kakashi might be hiding massive buck teeth or ridiculously thick lips.
And now... did the current Kakashi genuinely have thick lips?
Sasuke stared at Kakashi's mouth, which currently looked exactly like two enormous, swollen red sausages had been violently superglued to his face.
For a solid minute, Sasuke literally didn't know what to say.
"It's chili... uuuh, it's so spicy!" Kakashi sobbed, his tears completely refusing to stop.
He fully believed Orochimaru's warning now.
This chemical weapon could absolutely neutralize an Uchiha, and it was entirely non-lethal.
He had been reduced to a miserable, weeping wreck by sheer spice, yet his internal energy and chakra pathways were completely stable.
In fact, his adrenaline was pumping harder than ever.
If his energy wasn't maxed out, he never would have been able to belt out such a crystal-clear, moving "ohoho" scream earlier.
"Kakashi, spice isn't a flavor, it's a literal pain response. I'll give you some painkillers to suppress the nerve receptors for now. We still have urgent business to handle." Nohara Rin pulled a small medicine bottle from her pouch and handed it to Kakashi.
"Uuuh, go ahead and handle your business. Thank you... uuu..." Kakashi gripped the tiny plastic bottle with deep, overwhelming emotion.
"..."
Rin turned around, the corner of her mouth violently twitching.
The illusion had completely shattered.
It was dead and buried.
The haunting image of Kakashi sporting two massive, swollen sausage lips was permanently burned into her retinas.
She would probably never forget it for the rest of her life.
...
Meanwhile, in Sunagakure.
The pursuit squad chased Sarutobi Hiruzen—flawlessly disguised as Danzo—for an entire day and night before finally closing the gap.
Edo Tensei literally did not know fatigue, but Ōnoki was still a living, breathing old man.
Even with the massive mobility advantage of flight, his stamina eventually gave out.
Forced to tap out, he chose to return to Sunagakure early to keep watch over Uchiha Madara.
As a result, when Ōnoki finally touched down at the original location, he found Uchiha Madara hopelessly trapped in a genjutsu, laughing maniacally at the sky like an absolute idiot.
One of the Four Great Uchiha Mad Laughers had successfully been reassembled!
"Who? Who the hell cast a genjutsu on Madara?!"
A massive wave of dread spiked in Ōnoki's heart.
Yet, at the exact same time, he inexplicably felt a tiny trace of genuine sorrow for the Uchiha ghost.
Uchiha Madara, a man who had once been an untouchable, invincible god of war, was actually being puppeted by a genjutsu cast by some nameless nobody!
He might have even leaked critical intelligence while his brain was scrambled.
It was just too tragic.
Ōnoki absolutely refused to end up like that.
'Maybe when I'm finally about to die of old age, I should just fire off a Dust Release and completely erase my own body,' he thought grimly.
'If I don't leave a single hair or scrap of DNA behind, then I'll never have to worry about Orochimaru dragging my corpse back via Edo Tensei.'
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