In accordance with the predetermined plan of the higher-ups, Uzumaki Kushina, whose due date was approaching, was moved to a prearranged secret location to await the delivery.
From this day onward, Hyūga Shinichi, who had primarily mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, no longer needed to go to Minato's home for daily training.
To protect Kushina during childbirth, Namikaze Minato, as the Hokage, would be briefly absent from his duties, and the Third Hokage would handle the day-to-day affairs of the Village.
At the same time, Kakashi, who was responsible for Kushina's pre-delivery escort, completed his mission.
Early in the morning, Kakashi appeared in the Konoha Cemetery, one hand holding a bucket and the other carrying two bouquets of brightly blooming flowers.
As he walked along the path between the graves, Kakashi's mood, like the gloomy weather today, was slightly heavy.
Today was not the death anniversary of any of his relatives or friends; he simply wanted to share the joyous news of Kushina's imminent delivery with his two departed friends.
The information regarding the tiger-striped masked man had not been shared with Kakashi by Minato and Kushina. Before this, Kakashi had already fallen into depression due to his father's suicide and the deaths of his teammates, and his overall state was very poor. In the years he served in the Anbu, Kakashi's condition worsened significantly; his close friend Guy had even discovered Kakashi reading books with clear suicidal tendencies.
To help Kakashi escape this state, Namikaze Minato, on the suggestion of the Third Hokage, assigned Kakashi to be Kushina's pre-delivery guard. According to the Third, seeing a life born with his own eyes might improve Kakashi's mental state.
As the Third Hokage predicted, his time guarding Kushina had illuminated his life with her gentle, warm pre-delivery existence. Kakashi, who originally remained stoic while performing missions, now genuinely felt happy for Minato and Kushina and wanted to share the good news with his friends.
"Rin, Minato-sensei, and Kushina-sensei's child is about to be born."
"I can't wait to share this happy news with you."
"Rin... what kind of gift do you think I should prepare for Minato-sensei's child?"
"If it were you... What would you send?"
Kakashi knelt before Rin Nohara's grave, placed the flowers he brought into the small vase in front of the tombstone, then dipped a brush in water. While muttering, he gently scrubbed the dirt from the tombstone.
A morning breeze swept through the cemetery. Kakashi meticulously tended to Rin's grave, clearing the surrounding weeds and wiping the tombstone clean before slowly standing up.
His questions were destined to receive no response from Rin, or perhaps... the passing breeze was Rin's whisper in his ear, which Kakashi, as a living person, was simply unable to comprehend or grasp...
Picking up the bucket and the other bouquet, Kakashi only walked four or five meters along the path before reaching Uchiha Obito's grave.
In contrast to the chatter at Rin's grave, the meeting between men was less talkative, though the longing and sadness in Kakashi's eyes were even deeper than they had been at Rin's grave.
His relationship with Uchiha Obito was strange. They were undoubtedly partners who had faced life and death together, but for Kakashi, Obito was also the salvation of his life. Everyone questioned his father's ninja way, and Kakashi himself had completely rejected the White Fang's creed because of his father's death. However, only Uchiha Obito had consistently and firmly endorsed Kakashi's father and tried to change Kakashi's mind.
Compared to Minato's maturity and subtlety, Uchiha Obito's impact on Kakashi's worldview and values was extremely intense. This impact was completely elevated after Obito sacrificed his life to save Kakashi. Obito's death proved he wasn't just a guy who spoke empty words; he would give everything for what he believed in.
However, for Kakashi, that one glimmer of light in a dark life disappeared when both Obito and Rin passed away one after the other. Although a new dawn had arrived now, Obito's place in Kakashi's heart remained irreplaceable.
Slowly kneeling, Kakashi did not speak. After offering the flowers, he scrubbed and wiped Obito's tombstone again and again until the water in the bucket ran out. Only then did he stop.
In that moment, Kakashi couldn't feel the passage of time. Perhaps due to kneeling for too long, even with Kakashi's physical fitness, his vision momentarily darkened when he stood up. He stood still for a moment before the feeling subsided.
"I'll come back to see you later, Obito..."
With that, Kakashi picked up the bucket and turned to walk towards the cemetery gate.
His silhouette was lonely and desolate. It was hard to imagine why a child of Kakashi's age would be enveloped in such a dense aura of death.
After a long while, a dark void suddenly appeared in the space in front of Rin's grave. As the space twisted and rotated, a figure wearing a tiger-striped mask and a black cloak abruptly appeared before the tombstone.
He turned back to gaze briefly in the direction Kakashi had left, then the man immediately knelt, snatched the flowers in front of Rin's grave, and flung them aside with force.
"Someone who couldn't fulfill my dying wish, someone who couldn't protect Rin... what right does he have to visit Rin!"
A low roar sounded from beneath the mask. The words seemed to blame Kakashi, and yet also to blame himself...
"Minato-sensei..."
"Even as the Hokage, wasn't he unable to protect Rin either!"
A scarlet light glowed from the single eye visible through the mask. Obito's emotions surged, causing his control over his own chakra to momentarily weaken. When a Uchiha clan member experiences a dramatic emotional fluctuation, a unique chakra is generated in their brain, and the power of their Sharingan strengthens.
It was at this very moment that a complex rune seal suddenly appeared on the ground beneath the masked man's feet. As Uchiha Obito's chakra surfaced, the seal rapidly expanded.
"This is...."
Noticing the abnormality, Obito quickly looked down. The next instant, the light bursting from the seal enveloped his entire body, and in the following moment, Uchiha Obito instantly vanished from the cemetery.
...
In a certain cave within the Konoha territory, Minato, who was preparing for Kushina's delivery, sensed something. His expression hardened, and with the Flying Thunder God activated, Minato's entire figure vanished from the cave in the next instant.
...
The moment the seal in the Konoha Cemetery was activated, Hyūga Shinichi, who was training in the Hyūga Clan compound, also sensed it. Having trained his sensory Ninjutsu, he never restrained his sensory field as long as his chakra was sufficient. Shinichi clearly detected the chakra fluctuation in the direction of the cemetery.
And that jutsu... Shinichi was actually very familiar with it...
"The Flying Thunder God... was the Fourth's trap triggered?"
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