Kakashi's face was filled with disbelief—there was even a trace of anger between his brows.
Obito had been his closest friend.
That friend had already died long ago as a hero of Konoha.
Now Ren was dragging Obito's name back out—worse, turning him into the attacker.
This was something Kakashi simply couldn't understand… and couldn't accept.
"Ren… are you mistaken?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi froze for a moment when he heard the name as well. Soon enough, he remembered the origin of Kakashi's eye and understood Kakashi's reaction.
After thinking it over, he gave a gentle reminder.
"Obito died a long time ago. And when he died, his eye—forget it. Just explain your findings."
"Yes."
Ren knew full well this wouldn't be easy to believe, but he didn't care. He had witnesses—and hard proof. There was nothing to fear.
"After finishing my mission, I planned to head home. On the way, I happened to run into Naruto."
He briefly explained that encounter. The Naruto part wasn't something he needed to hide, and Hiruzen showed no particular reaction.
But once Ren described sensing a spatial disturbance—and then discovering Uchiha Itachi—Hiruzen's brow furrowed.
He immediately regretted it.
Because Ren then went straight into his 'corpse disposal plan'.
Is this really something you should be saying in front of everyone?!
Even if it was a bluff, did it need to be explained in such detail?!
Out of the corner of his eye, Hiruzen glanced at Uchiha Fugaku.
As expected—his face was livid.
As for Danzō, he looked calm on the surface… yet Hiruzen somehow felt there was a hint of regret about him.
Everyone else stayed silent.
This kind of matter wasn't something anyone wanted to comment on.
"All right. Stop."
Left with no choice, Hiruzen interrupted him.
"You were worried he'd stop you from destroying the body—so he showed himself?"
"Yes."
Ren nodded honestly, though he looked a bit regretful at being cut off.
"When I saw him, I noticed he possessed a Sharingan—and its form was… unusual."
As he spoke, Ren pulled out paper and pen and began sketching. Very quickly, the pattern of Obito's Mangekyō took shape.
"Roughly like this. When I first saw him, I suspected Uchiha retaliation—after all, I was the examiner for Itachi's Chūnin Exams."
He handed the drawing over.
Hiruzen's expression darkened the moment he saw it.
He passed it first to Uchiha Fugaku, then to Danzō.
At this point, he was basically certain—
This was a Mangekyō Sharingan.
"My apologies," Fugaku said gravely after examining the sketch. "Though I have no authority to criticize, you misunderstand us."
"The Uchiha would not act with such narrow-mindedness."
"And this eye… no such Sharingan exists within the clan. We haven't produced one like this in a very long time."
"It is a Sharingan," Danzō added after finishing his look. His gaze lingered on the Uchiha before turning back to Ren. "But a higher form."
"Continue."
"How did you conclude this was a frame-up? How did you judge his identity? And how did you deal with him?"
These three questions were crucial.
If clarified properly, he might even be able to use this against the Uchiha.
After all—they'd been rather restless lately.
"A higher form?"
Ren blinked deliberately, but didn't pursue the point.
"As for what happened next—I fought him and confirmed he was using a space–time technique."
"The interesting part was this: his space–time activation was relatively slow, and all chakra fluctuations originated from his eye."
"And only one eye reacted."
"That led me to conclude he only possessed one such eye—and—"
Ren turned his gaze to Kakashi.
"His eye was symmetrical to Kakashi-senpai's."
"Left eye."
"And as far as I know, Obito's body was never recovered and returned to Konoha."
Silence fell over the room.
It could be coincidence.
But it was also a direction worth considering.
"And to verify it," Ren continued calmly, "all we need to do is have Kakashi activate his Sharingan."
"There may be… a different answer."
Forcing Kakashi's Mangekyō to awaken—
This was Ren's strongest witness.
Kakashi's eye had long been at that threshold. The only reason it never awakened was because Obito died too early—no one believed Kakashi could reach that stage.
It wasn't until he was brutally defeated by Itachi later that he slowly realized his eye's potential.
Bringing it forward now was entirely reasonable.
Framing me?
I'll tear your mask off instead, idiot.
"I can help with that."
After a moment's thought, Fugaku volunteered.
Hiruzen nodded.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"Kakashi… please relax."
Fugaku stepped beside him, his own eyes already in Sharingan form.
Kakashi resisted internally—but eventually nodded.
Just as everyone focused—
Ren suddenly spoke again.
"And I also suspect… that man is connected to the Nine-Tails incident."
It was like a thunderbolt exploding in the room.
Everyone froze.
Even Fugaku stiffened.
Then—
The room erupted.
"What?!"
"How is that possible?!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"Do you even realize what you're saying?!"
The Nine-Tails incident was a wound shared by nearly all of Konoha.
That night, countless people lost friends and family.
The Fourth Hokage and his wife died.
The village suffered a catastrophic loss of talent.
Even the rumor that "the Sharingan controlled the Nine-Tails"—spread by Danzō—had been, at its core, a way to redirect public anger and control the narrative.
The impact of that night was simply too great.
And now Ren was saying the attacker was tied to it?
How could anyone stay calm?
"What exactly do you mean?"
Hiruzen's face turned grave as he stared at Ren.
An attack on Itachi—and it had already dragged out this many buried truths. Even he felt overwhelmed.
"It's the Flying Thunder God mark," Ren said with a quiet sigh.
"After he appeared using space–time ninjutsu, I sensed a Flying Thunder God seal on him."
"Though the inscriptions differ, once you're proficient enough, they can be used interchangeably."
"The mark on him wasn't left by the Second Hokage."
"It was left by the Fourth."
"Combined with the long-standing rumor that the Nine-Tails was controlled by an Uchiha…"
"It's hard to believe he wasn't the one behind that night."
"And it was precisely because of that mark that I managed to ambush and injure him."
"!!!"
Everyone was stunned.
Yet the more they thought about it—the more perfectly everything lined up.
The Nine-Tails' rampage had clearly been artificial.
The Sharingan could control a tailed beast.
Hiruzen and Danzō had personally seen Madara do it.
The attacker possessed a Mangekyō—meaning he could replicate what Madara once did.
He also had space–time ninjutsu—meaning he could confront Minato and survive.
It all fit.
Everything.
"Agh—!"
At that moment, Kakashi let out a pained groan.
The exposed Sharingan in his eye socket began spinning violently, as if responding to intense stimulation.
In just a few breaths, the black three tomoe fused together—
Reforming into an eye identical to the one Ren had drawn.
At the same instant, Ren's vision flickered.
[Mission Complete: Defeat the Attacker]
[Evaluation: S]
[Reward: Free Points ×7]
[Hidden Mission Complete: Expose Uchiha Obito's Identity]
[Evaluation: S]
[Reward: Free Points ×6]
[Special Reward Acquired]
[Wood Release Experience & Insight]
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