Some truths cut deeper than blades. Others quietly reshape destiny.
Facing Kakashi's sharp, interrogative stare, Ayato couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"You're not qualified to know the truth yet," Ayato said calmly.
His hands never paused. He rinsed the teacup, poured fresh water, and set the steaming cup in front of Kakashi using a pair of bamboo tongs, every movement measured and unhurried.
"Not qualified?" Kakashi frowned.
He was one of Konoha's youngest elite jōnin, a battlefield genius recognized across the village. Yet this strange shopkeeper was telling him he wasn't qualified to know the truth?
"Yes. Not qualified," Ayato repeated.
He lifted his own cup, inhaled the gentle aroma, then drank it in a single smooth swallow.
Kakashi glanced toward the wooden sign hanging outside the shop.
Questions answered. Doubts resolved. Any request considered.
A faint trace of self-mockery crept into his eyes.
"You claim you can answer anything," Kakashi said coolly. "Solve doubts. Take any request."
Why had he even come here?
All it took was one vague sentence spoken in a bamboo grove… and he had followed this man back like an idiot.
Ridiculous.
His gaze drifted toward the untouched tea in front of him. As a seasoned operative, he had no intention of drinking something prepared by a complete stranger.
"Yes—anything," Ayato replied, refilling his own cup. "But there are truths that only harm you if you learn them too early."
Kakashi's patience snapped.
"Sorry for bothering you."
He stood, already convinced this was nothing more than a clever fraud. That sentence at the memorial had probably been coincidence—nothing more.
But just as Kakashi turned to leave—
Ayato spoke quietly, as if to himself.
"Your left eye—Uchiha Obito's Sharingan—has been troubling you, hasn't it?"
The words struck like lightning.
Obito.
Sharingan.
Kakashi froze mid-step.
That secret was known only to a handful of people.
The Uchiha higher-ups.
Minato.
And himself.
If Minato hadn't personally intervened, Obito's Sharingan would have been reclaimed long ago. Even now, several Uchiha elders continued pressuring him behind closed doors.
A non-Uchiha possessing a Sharingan was an unspoken humiliation for the clan.
They would never publicize it.
"How do you know that?" Kakashi slowly turned back, sitting down again. His visible eye sharpened with wary vigilance.
"There are very few things in this world I don't know," Ayato replied lightly.
Unless the original author simply forgot to explain it.
That thought amused him—but Kakashi only grew more suspicious. The line sounded exactly like something a charlatan would say.
"In truth," Ayato continued, calmly observing Kakashi's tightening expression, "Obito's Sharingan is both a blessing and a curse for you."
"Why?" Kakashi asked.
"You can't turn it off, can you?" Ayato said evenly.
"…Yes."
Kakashi's jaw tightened.
He had never told anyone this—not even Minato.
"Do you want to know why?"
"…What's the reason?"
Without realizing it, Kakashi had lifted the teacup slightly. His focus had been completely dragged into Ayato's rhythm.
"Your bloodline is incompatible with the Uchiha bloodline," Ayato explained. "You lack the genetic mechanism to regulate the Sharingan naturally. That's why you cannot deactivate it—and why it constantly drains your chakra."
Kakashi's expression darkened.
Ayato's gaze drifted briefly toward the masked side of Kakashi's face.
"That said, it also grants you advantages. You can already use its foundational abilities. For example… copying."
Kakashi instinctively pressed his palm against the left side of his face.
"Then… is there a way to fix it?" His voice was low, tense.
"There are two methods," Ayato said, setting his cup down with a soft clink. "The first is removal. It's the simplest solution."
Kakashi stiffened instantly.
"But I already know you won't choose that," Ayato continued calmly. "Because that eye… carries too much meaning for you."
Ayato understood this better than anyone.
The Sharingan had given Kakashi the title of Copy Ninja.
But it had also shackled him.
Later in life, Kakashi would expend massive chakra simply suppressing the eye, leaving him exhausted after only a few techniques.
A cruel trade-off.
Power that devoured its wielder.
Kakashi rejected the first option without hesitation.
"As expected," Ayato said lightly. "That leaves only the second."
"What is it?" Kakashi asked.
"Sealing." Ayato took another slow sip of tea. "Seal the Sharingan. You won't need to remove it, and it will no longer drain you."
A seal…
Yes.
That could work.
Kakashi fell into silence.
At the very least, this path preserved Obito's eye.
"And," Ayato added, letting the hook sink deeper, "don't you find something strange?"
Kakashi lifted his gaze sharply.
"Strange… how?"
"For example," Ayato's voice lowered slightly, "everything surrounding this incident."
The Nine-Tails.
The masked manipulator.
Obito's eye.
Minato's death.
Threads that shouldn't exist… yet clearly intertwined.
Kakashi stared at him for a long moment, then finally stood.
"How much?" he asked bluntly.
"Same as what the sign says outside." Ayato smiled faintly. "Payment is optional. It depends on your sincerity."
A faint glint appeared in Ayato's eyes.
The Odd Jobs Shop's first real transaction had arrived.
After a brief hesitation, Kakashi pulled out his wallet and placed a thousand yen into the wooden box on the counter. Then he turned toward the exit.
As he reached the doorway, Ayato spoke again—quietly, almost like a passing thought.
"To buy osmanthus wine and drink it with an old friend… yet sadly, that old friend—when will we meet again?"
Kakashi paused.
Without turning around, he asked, "What does that mean?"
"You'll understand one day," Ayato replied softly.
A faint, knowing smile touched the corner of his lips.
Because Ayato knew.
Obito was still alive.
And it was Obito who had orchestrated the Nine-Tails incident.
An old friend…
When would they meet again?
[Ding!]
[Zhongli signature line spoken. Proficiency increased by 0.1%.]
[Current role progress: 5.5%.]
[Ding! Congratulations, host. Mission completed.]
[Mission 3: Complete the Odd Jobs Shop's first transaction]
[Progress: Complete]
[Reward: Zhongli role progress +0.1%!]
[Current Zhongli role progress: 5.6%.]
Ayato glanced at the system prompt and allowed himself a faint smile.
Seventy percent…
Was it really that far away?
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
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