Who am I?
Where am I?
What exactly is happening?
Kakashi's mind was a complete mess.
Jin hadn't been vague. In fact, he had been painfully direct. Kakashi understood every word.
But if Obito hadn't died…
Then what had he been doing all these years?
Rin hadn't died.
Obito hadn't died.
Then what about his despair? His guilt? His fear? His self-loathing? The sleepless nights? The endless visits to the memorial stone?
Were all those emotions just… for nothing?
Had he been the only one drowning this whole time?
Kakashi couldn't accept it.
His emotions surged violently. The three tomoe in his left eye spun rapidly—
Until they merged into a new pattern.
The Mangekyō Sharingan.
Kamui.
Jin clicked his tongue in admiration.
"Looks like Obito really does hold a special place in your heart. Rin standing alive in front of you didn't trigger anything. But the moment you heard Obito's alive—you awakened the Mangekyō."
Kakashi's voice came out hoarse.
"So… you saved Obito too?"
"No," Jin replied calmly. "He never died. So there was nothing to save. You never actually saw him die, did you?"
Kakashi froze.
When he thought about it carefully… it was true.
Obito had been crushed and buried under rubble at Kannabi Bridge—but Kakashi had never seen his body.
He had assumed.
"Then what has he been doing?" Kakashi demanded. "Why didn't he return to Konoha? Why didn't he come see me?"
If Obito had come back sooner—
Maybe he wouldn't have suffered like this.
Jin answered flatly.
"He's been busy trying to destroy the world."
"And who said he never returned? He comes back to the village quite often."
Kakashi: "...What?"
"He visits the memorial stone regularly," Jin continued. "When you stand there staring at it… sometimes he's standing behind you, staring at you."
"You stay for an hour, he stays for an hour. You leave, he leaves."
Silence.
There were no words for that.
Kakashi felt… violated.
Was Obito that bored?
If he had time to lurk behind him like a ghost, why not just step forward?
Kakashi forced himself to calm down.
"What do you mean—destroying the world?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Jin said. "Remember what Rin mentioned? That powerful entity watching you?"
Kakashi nodded.
"Yes."
"To be precise," Jin continued, "that entity was watching Obito. You and Rin were just tools. Catalysts."
"You mean… the Sharingan?" Kakashi touched his left eye unconsciously. "He wanted to use our deaths to push Obito into awakening it?"
He understood enough about the Uchiha to connect the dots.
Jin nodded.
"Obito survived Kannabi Bridge, but he was severely injured. That man took him in and rebuilt his body."
"When Obito learned you and Rin were in danger on the Mist battlefield, he forced himself—half-healed—to rush there."
"But when he arrived… what he saw was Rin dying on your hand."
Kakashi's face drained of color.
"So he was there…"
It made sense now.
Why Obito never came back.
Why he never showed himself.
"If he saw that… then of course he wouldn't face me," Kakashi murmured hollowly. "He entrusted Rin to me. And I killed her."
Rin rolled her eyes.
"Kakashi. I'm literally alive. Stop acting like I'm still dead."
He looked at her, pain still etched deep in his expression.
"But he saw that scene. It's only natural he fell into darkness."
Everything aligned in Kakashi's mind.
A mysterious mastermind.
Manipulation.
Emotional trauma.
Despair.
Mangekyō awakening.
World destruction.
It all fit.
Jin sighed.
"Were you even listening?"
"I'm planning to return your eye to Obito. Do you really think I'd help him destroy the world?"
Kakashi blinked.
"So… he hasn't fallen into darkness?"
Jin shook his head slightly.
"More accurately—he did fall. But I dragged him back."
"The mastermind was already near death. That's why he needed a successor."
"Recently, after passing everything to Obito, he finally burned out and died."
"Then I went to Obito, beat the hell out of him, and pulled him back."
"Right now, he's handling something for me. After that, he'll return to the village."
"If the danger wasn't resolved, do you think I'd let Rin meet you?"
Kakashi stood there in stunned silence.
Twist after twist.
But the ending—
Was good.
For the first time in what felt like years, his chest felt lighter.
"If the eye is going back to Obito…" Kakashi slowly lowered his hand from his face. The Mangekyō faded back into three tomoe.
"…Then I have no objections."
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> patreon.com/warewolvesTL