Madara didn't know where he had dragged Kakashi from, but he had him lead the way to Rin's grave in the cemetery.
Kakashi looked at Madara standing in front of him, arms folded in silence, and said in a low voice,
"It's rare for you to think about visiting Rin. If it weren't for you..."
"Kakashi, I didn't come here today to waste words with you. Just stand there and watch."
With that, and under Kakashi's shocked gaze, Madara slammed his hand on the ground. Rin's coffin burst out from beneath the soil.
Circles of ripples spread in Madara's eyes—he had activated the Rinnegan.
Kakashi's expression changed instantly. He exclaimed,
"No way! You're going to use Rinne Tensei!?"
This was something Obito had mentioned the last time he pulled Kakashi into the lovers' space. Obito also said that whoever used this jutsu would die. It wasn't the same as the technique Kaito had used.
But right now, Madara was the hero who had just saved Konoha from the Ōtsutsuki. For him to die over something like this would be absurd.
After a brief hesitation, Kakashi immediately rushed forward, clearly trying to stop Madara from using Rinne Tensei.
But with a small-scale Almighty Push, Madara sent him flying back.
Madara wasn't one to waste time. He had already formed the hand seals, speaking each word clearly,
"Rinne..."
"Almighty Push."
Boom!
A sudden burst of repulsive force blasted Madara himself backward, sending him flying in almost the exact same posture as Kakashi.
At some point, Kaito and Obito had appeared where he had been standing.
Madara stood up from the ground, his face grave as he looked at Kaito. With the Rinnegan, he could sense things ordinary people never could.
Right now, in his eyes, Kaito looked like a blazing sun, ready to incinerate everything around him.
"He's grown even stronger..."
Kaito was also watching Madara. In his heart, he thought Madara had really changed. The old Madara would never have gone this far for someone like Rin.
In Kaito's eyes, this Madara was actually rather... endearing.
He said softly,
"To trade your own life just to bring back a little girl... is this really the Uchiha Madara I know?"
Obito looked at Madara with a complicated gaze. In this moment, more than half of his resentment toward him had already dissipated.
Madara slightly turned his head, giving a faint snort.
"I just don't want that guy bothering me every single day!"
Kaito smiled faintly. The Uchiha tsundere nature was truly ingrained in their bones. He could understand Madara on this point.
Shaking his head with a laugh, Kaito turned to face Rin's coffin.
Noticing his movement, Obito's face lit up with excitement. He had a faint idea of what Kaito was about to do.
Kaito also formed a hand seal and said in a deep voice,
"Yomi Rebirth Technique!"
Madara froze for a moment at the name, murmuring,
"Yomi Rebirth?"
The instant Kaito unleashed Yomi Rebirth, the coffin lid crashed down with a loud bang, revealing Rin inside.
She looked exactly the same as when she was killed by Kakashi, still twelve or thirteen years old.
Kakashi fell to his knees, his voice trembling as he called out,
"Rin..."
Obito walked toward her with heavy steps, one after another.
He reached out, as if to touch Rin's face, but quickly pulled his hand back. He looked at the white parts of his body, touched the wrinkles on his face caused by the White Zetsu cells, and suddenly hesitated.
"Do I look ugly now? Would Rin be disgusted with me?"
Then Rin's eyelashes fluttered a few times before her eyes slowly opened.
Obito was still in a daze. Rin's face brightened with a sweet smile as she lightly tapped Obito's waist and whispered,
"Obito, what are you still hesitating for?"
Hearing Rin's voice, Obito's eyes flew wide open. He stiffly lowered his head and muttered,
"Rin, you..."
Rin clasped her hands behind her back, smiling with narrowed eyes, but tears still slipped down her cheeks.
"Obito, I never really left. You just couldn't see me."
"You... knew all along?"
"Mm. Even though so many of the things you did were wrong... thank you, Obito."
Obito couldn't hold it in anymore. Even though he looked much older than Rin, at this moment he dropped to his knees and sobbed like a child.
Rin opened her arms, letting Obito rest in her embrace, and simply allowed him to cry.
Kakashi fought hard to suppress his emotions as he watched. He knew how Obito felt about Rin, so at a time like this, he chose to remain just an observer.
Kaito, meanwhile, was curious about how Rin had managed to perceive the real world even after death.
Neither Minato nor Kushina had been able to do that. If Kaito hadn't told them about certain things, they wouldn't even have known how Naruto grew up.
One could only say that the power of pure love was beyond ordinary comprehension.
When Obito had almost finished crying, Kakashi finally moved closer to Rin. He crouched down in front of her and pulled down his mask.
Even though he had countless things he wanted to say, when the words left his mouth, they condensed into just one sentence,
"Rin, it's been a long time."
Obito's body trembled. He muttered under his breath,
"The annoying guy showed up..."
Kakashi pretended not to hear. Rin rubbed Obito's hair and scolded him in mock anger,
"Obito!"
In front of Rin, Obito really had no temper at all. Just hearing her call his name made his bones feel weak.
Madara snorted in disdain as he watched Obito's reaction.
"Pathetic."
Rin patted both Kakashi and Obito on the head like an elder, her voice gentle,
"All right. Now we should go thank Hokage-sama. Without him, who knows how long it would have been before we could meet again."
Obito and Kakashi immediately stood up obediently. Each of them held one of Rin's small hands and walked with her to stand before Kaito.
Before the three of them could speak, Kaito waved his hand and said,
"That's enough. No need for thanks. Don't you feel this is a little awkward?"
Two men, both over 180 cm tall, holding hands with a girl under 150 cm—one of them even showing the goofy smile of a lovesick fool. If passersby saw this, they'd probably call the Konoha Police Force!
Obito and Kakashi realized this as well. They exchanged a look and both saw the same trace of embarrassment in each other's eyes.
Crossing his arms, Kaito sighed and shook his head.
"Well then, I'll help you out one more time."
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