"Heh. That kid's going to lose his mind completely now," murmured Black Zetsu, peering over. "No… why is the body gone?"
White Zetsu clicked his tongue. "I was going to ask you that. It couldn't just vanish for no reason, right?"
"Who could take Nohara Rin's corpse while we were right beneath the ground?" Black Zetsu was baffled. "Could it have been that boy from before?"
"Kageyama Kokugetsu?"
"He might have the ability to slip past us—but how would he remove a body?"
"If it were a sealing scroll, there's no way we wouldn't notice!"
"Right… which makes this weird. Don't tell me there are ghosts in the shinobi world?" White Zetsu's half-face feigned fright.
"Idiot. There are no ghosts."
"Ping the offshoots and track Kageyama's trail."
"On it."
While they spoke, Obito had already realized Rin's body was missing. He froze, then began a frantic search—the ground, the shrubs to either side, the canopy—scouring everything at speed, but she was nowhere to be found.
He used Kamui to dive underground and combed the area, still with no result.
"Aaah—!"
He vaulted back to the surface and howled at the sky, flailing. Bloodshot veins crawled across his right eye; his face twisted with rage; spittle sprayed from his mouth.
"Rin, where did you go?"
"Who took Rin?"
"Bastard—give her back!"
He bellowed and slammed both hands to the earth, flooding his body with chakra.
Saplings burst from the soil and matured in a blink, carpeting the clearing. The ground churned like boiling water, and a web of roots raked the depths for any sign of Rin. For all the violence and horror of the scene, a small patch where Kakashi lay remained untouched.
"Obito's truly gone mad. Scary," White Zetsu said, a hand to his chest.
"Let him vent. He'll be fine once it's out," Black Zetsu replied coolly. "Well?"
"From the offshoots' reports, Kageyama's far from here. It couldn't be him."
Kageyama, after reclaiming a clone's chakra, had quietly created another to mislead those offshoots. Few sensor techniques can measure chakra with precision; most only register rough presence. At that distance, the offshoots couldn't do better than tell if chakra was there at all.
"Strange. How did it happen?" Black Zetsu grated.
"Don't fixate. As long as it doesn't affect Lord Madara's plan, we're fine."
"Obito's already changed. Even if Rin were revived, his resolve likely wouldn't. He understands now: as long as the world is chaos, no matter how many times Rin lives again, she'll be hurt. To break that cycle, you need peace—let Infinite Tsukuyomi bring peace."
"We'll reinforce that idea: once more by Madara before he dies, and later with gentle prodding from me."
"Still, anything happening under our noses that we can't explain is a liability. Keep an eye out for techniques in this world that can do such things."
"Got it."
"Come on. Let's head back."
"Right."
After they left, Obito raged on until every last drop of chakra burned out. He collapsed where he stood, staring vacantly at the spot where Rin had fallen, and only after who knows how long did he rise to go. As he left, he glanced at where Kakashi lay.
…
Inside Daikokuten, Kageyama Kokugetsu stood upon a massive black-and-crimson cube. Before him lay the corpse of Nohara Rin.
"Whew… finally finished priming. Yin–Yang Release is hard."
He let out a long breath and set his right palm to Rin's left chest. The shattered heart, bone, flesh, and vessels rapidly knit back together.
"Uh…"
Catching the first slight swell of a newly restored chest, Kageyama turned his head aside, a little embarrassed.
He crooked a finger; a fine black shirt and a globe of clear water flew to his hand. He dressed Rin to cover her, then washed away the blood and grime.
"Stay here for a while. Think of it as a nightmare. When you wake, everything will be better."
With a sweep of his hand, Rin's body drifted deeper into the space, disappearing among layered black-red cubes.
He didn't rush out. He ate quietly inside Daikokuten to recover chakra, and only when he was back above the safety line did he leave.
He rose into the dim sky, then quickly linked up with his shadow clone and switched places without a trace.
Half an hour later, Kageyama dropped to Kakashi's side and hoisted him to start the return to the Leaf encampment. He kept it honest the whole way—just jump after jump—no flight, no space–time ninjutsu. Not out of masochism, nor a love for hopping—but because returning too fast would invite questions from the wrong people when the timing didn't add up.
An hour later, Kakashi's eyes fluttered open. He saw Kageyama's profile.
"Kokugetsu? I'm… alive?"
"It's me. You're alive, Kakashi. But Rin?"
"I didn't see her."
Kakashi's face dimmed; his eyes went empty. "I was too weak. I failed to protect Rin. She was captured by Mist."
"And then… then…"
"What happened?"
Grinding his teeth, drowning in shame, Kakashi forced it out. "Then, in the thick mist, my Chidori killed her."
"What? An accident?"
"Impossible. With the kind of person you are, you'd rather lose an arm—or die—than 'accidentally' kill Rin," Kageyama said, honestly stunned.
A warmth rose in Kakashi's chest. He lifted his head and managed the ghost of a smile. "Thanks for believing in me, Kokugetsu."
"The Mist sealed the Three-Tails into Rin."
"They planned to drive her back to the Leaf and unleash the beast to wreck the village—turn the war around."
"Rin wouldn't let them. In the fog, she ran into my Chidori."
"I see." Kageyama's face hardened. "Rin is a hero of the Leaf."
"For the Leaf—Obito is a hero. Rin is a hero. But I wish they weren't."
"If only I could have taken their place," Kakashi muttered, hollow.
"Sigh…"
Kageyama exhaled, set Kakashi down beside a brook in the woods, and said, "What's done is done. Self-reproach won't help."
"Eat something. You're in no shape to go on."
Kakashi sat on the grass and shook his head. "No appetite."
"Would Obito and Rin want to see you like this?"
"And we've got a long, dangerous road ahead. If you don't pull yourself together, you'll be dead weight."
"The Leaf's number-one prodigy won't make me carry him the whole way, will he?"
Kakashi accepted the rice ball stuffed with meat.
"That's better."
Kageyama was about to sit when a figure appeared at his side. Instinct flared—his right fist shot out before he could think.
Smack!
"What power. What keen sensing. What fast reflexes!"
A blond young man had caught his fist, surprise on his face, praise tumbling out.