Mid-fight, Hatake Kakashi suddenly pulled back and stopped.
He turned to look behind them, his brow knitting tight.
"What is it, Kakashi?"
Kitazawa's hand tightened around Zangetsu.
"I can feel someone spying on us," Kakashi said in a low voice.
Kitazawa's heart skipped.
Uchiha Obito?
Other than him, Kitazawa couldn't think of anyone else who would be peeping on him and Kakashi.
[As the future Hokage, repel any powerful foe.]
[Current Mission: Drive off Uchiha Obito.]
[Reward: Three-Tomoe Sharingan.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa blinked.
He'd thought he wouldn't get the three-tomoe Sharingan until he helped Uchiha Sasuke awaken his. Waiting till then would be a bit late.
Right now, though? This worked.
He accepted at once.
A happy surprise, honestly. Since Kakashi had sensed Obito, a fight was likely. And the quest said "drive off," not "defeat" or "kill." Clearly, the system didn't think they could take Obito out.
Which, to be fair, was true.
As one of the main villains in the original story, Uchiha Obito's "cheats" weren't far off from Uchiha Sasuke's or Uzumaki Naruto's. He had the absurd Mangekyō ability Kamui, Hashirama cells that let him spam it, and on top of that he knew Izanagi—a ten-minute, invincibility-style resurrection.
"Looks like Kakashi noticed us," White Zetsu said from afar, delighting in the drama. "Gonna go say hi? A reunion with an old teammate—very moving."
Obito knew he'd leaked a flicker of chakra when his emotions surged. But so what if they'd noticed? No big deal.
"I am Uchiha Madara now—not Uchiha Obito," he snapped, glaring at White Zetsu.
"Madara-sama, shall we withdraw then?" White Zetsu switched tones instantly.
"Leaving now isn't Madara's style." Excitement flashed in Obito's eyes. "Why not announce the return of Uchiha Madara to Konoha in style?"
"Don't forget the Eye of the Moon Plan," White Zetsu warned.
"You're a killjoy." Obito snorted. "Fine—then let me test how much Kakashi's improved."
"Show yourself!" Kakashi cut off their exchange.
"Kid, didn't anyone teach you basic respect for your elders?" Obito stepped out, speaking in Madara's cadence.
"Who are you?" Kakashi studied the mask on Obito's face.
"Been away from Konoha too long—its youngsters are disappointing," Obito said, shaking his head.
Quit the act.
Kakashi lunged without hesitation, his ninja blade stabbing forward.
Obito didn't move.
Kakashi was puzzled, but his hands didn't slow. The next instant, the blade passed right through Obito's body.
Kakashi's eyes flew wide. He stared, stunned.
"That all you've got?" Obito kicked while Kakashi was dazed.
Kakashi reflexively raised his arms to block. The impact hurled him backward. Obito flicked his hand; ninja tools materialized and poured down like rain, chasing Kakashi.
"Uchiha Style: Gale Blade!"
Kitazawa flickered in front of Kakashi and swung Zangetsu hard. Heat bloomed; the blade shuddered, hurling a massive arc of flame. The storm of tools shattered and scattered under the flaming edge.
"Careful, Kitazawa," Kakashi warned.
"Hatake Kakashi, the famous prodigy—so this is your new teammate? Doesn't look like much," Obito said after a glance at Kitazawa.
"You know me?" Kakashi's gaze sharpened.
"New teammate" dragged his thoughts to Obito and Rin.
Kitazawa felt the subtle undercurrent. Knowing the masked man was Obito, he understood the barb.
"I don't. I only heard you killed your teammate with your own hands," Obito said flatly.
Brilliant lightning burst to life.
Kakashi revealed his three-tomoe Sharingan.
"Lightning Release: Chidori!"
With a flicker he was right in front of Obito—but the high-voltage thrust did nothing. Obito phased clean through him, then snapped an iron chain out. Kakashi was snared before he could react. He swung Chidori to hack the chain, but it didn't budge.
Obito opened his mouth to speak—Kitazawa cut him off.
A roaring water dragon shot toward Obito.
Obito arched a brow and yanked his hands. The chain yanked Kakashi straight into the water dragon's path—only for the dragon to veer aside at the last moment, missing Kakashi and lunging on at Obito.
"Water Release… barely passable," Obito muttered, standing still as two giant shuriken knifed out and quartered the dragon.
A flash of white steel.
Kakashi burst the chain and drove his blade at Obito. Obito caught the chain and blocked.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Kitazawa ran through seals. Flame-wrapped shuriken fanned out. Kakashi's ninja blade twisted in a slick change-up, carving diagonally for Obito's head.
"Pointless."
Obito let the chain drop and went intangible, ignoring both the burning shuriken and Kakashi's blade. Kakashi's strike cut air; he slid back and took position beside Kitazawa.
"It's space–time ninjutsu," Kitazawa said under his breath.
Obito had likely kept Kamui's phasing active from the moment he appeared. He could stay intangible for five minutes—during which he ignored any attack. But while phased he couldn't attack. To strike, absorb, or release objects with Kamui, he had to solidify. And when the five minutes were up, he'd be forced solid—though the Hashirama cells in him let him use Kamui repeatedly, effectively without cooldown.
In short: busted.
"Mm." Kakashi nodded. His teacher, Minato Namikaze, excelled at Flying Raijin—also space–time—so he recognized the type.
"See anything else?" Kakashi asked. He'd traded a couple of blows but learned nothing useful.
"Hit him the moment he attacks," Kitazawa said.
Kakashi blinked. Had Kitazawa really spotted a weakness? He'd asked on a lark—Kitazawa was strong, but as a long-time academy instructor, surely his experience and perspective were below Kakashi's.
Guess not.
"I'll take point. You wait for an opening," Kitazawa added.
"Can you handle it? I could—" Kakashi started.
"You've got a Sharingan—you'll catch the opening better," Kitazawa said. "Besides, we're in Konoha. If this gets loud, reinforcements will come."
"What's this—plotting against me?" Obito scoffed. "Useless."
Kitazawa opened his Senju Chakra Mode. He wasn't worried about exposing it; unlike the crackling Lightning Chakra Mode, this one didn't look like anything special. At worst, Kakashi and the others would assume he'd been hiding some power.
There were two main counters to Kamui: Minato's—attack in the instant Obito solidified to strike—and Konan's—bury him under so many explosive tags that he had to stay phased for a full five minutes, then nail him when the timer forced him solid.
Kitazawa planned to do both.
With Senju Chakra Mode, he could barely imitate Konan. That was why he'd take the lead. It only lasted three minutes—but three minutes was plenty of time for help to arrive.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Kitazawa flashed through seals and spat a massive fireball almost instantly.
Obito's eyes narrowed. Why did his sealing speed suddenly get so fast?
He blurred aside with Body Flicker, skirting the fireball—only to hear another roar midair. A water dragon climbed for him.
What?
Obito twisted intangible to let the dragon pass—just as flame-wrapped shuriken chased in behind it.
Jutsu after jutsu poured out. Even Kakashi was startled. That hand-seal speed… faster than his?
No time to think; he pressed the attack with Kitazawa. Leaving Kitazawa solo would make their intention too obvious.
Dodging and phasing, Obito felt annoyance prick. Their teamwork was too tight. He barely had time to counter-seal; all he could do was keep phasing. At this rate he'd hit the five-minute mark and be forced solid. Even for an instant, with their barrage he'd get tagged. And all this dodging—humiliating.
Still, he didn't believe they'd actually figured out Kamui's weakness. They were just getting lucky with solid strength.
"Time to show you a little color."
He surged at them, going all out. Scarlet flared in his eye. Kitazawa and Kakashi's movements seemed to slow.
Now!
Catching a lull between jutsu, Obito dropped phasing.
"Wood Release: Cutting Technique!"
He raised both hands at Kitazawa and Kakashi. A forest of razor branches exploded forward.
"Wood Release?!" Kakashi froze for a heartbeat—just long enough for branches to spear through his left side.
Called it, Obito thought. Any Konoha shinobi seeing Wood Release out of nowhere would lose focus for an instant.
But in the next second, Kitazawa crumbled into earth.
"What?"
Obito stared. How had Kitazawa reacted that fast?
With a pop, the skewered Kakashi vanished.
"A shadow clone?" Obito blinked again.
Lightning blazed. A murderous pressure flared at Obito's back.
No—
He tried to Kamui, but it was too late. He turned on instinct, arms up.
"Lightning Release: Chidori!"
Kakashi flashed past like thunder, severing Obito's left arm and driving straight through his body. Blood fountained. Obito coughed a red mouthful.
He hadn't expected to get the same treatment as Rin.
At the same time, Kitazawa sprinted in—only for cottony white growths to billow over him.
White Zetsu's Spore Technique?
Kitazawa instantly abandoned Obito and flew through seals. The "spores" were portions of White Zetsu's cells—nearly undetectable until triggered. Even the Mizukage, Mei Terumi, had been caught by it in the original story. Once activated, they swelled to wrap the target, binding and draining chakra. They were fragile, easy to tear—but Kitazawa wasn't thinking about breaking free. He was thinking about sealing.
"Evil Sealing Method!"
He slapped both hands onto the growths. Black formulae crawled over the mass in an instant.
A spore wasn't a full White Zetsu, but it was still part of one. Half a Zetsu delivered to his door? No reason to refuse.
Besides, even without the interference, they couldn't kill Obito; the instant he was hurt, he'd already phased into Kamui.
Without a single parting threat, Obito's body warped and vanished.
As the seal took hold, the spores stopped swelling and went limp.
Kitazawa nodded, satisfied. Sealing arts were the bedrock logic of the ninja world. He pulled out a sealing scroll and packed the half-Zetsu away. Then he turned to Kakashi—who was staring off, dazed. At his feet lay a severed arm.
Kitazawa's eyes lit. He walked over and sealed the arm away, too.
"What are you spacing out for?" he asked, closing the scroll. "With space–time ninjutsu, it's normal we couldn't keep him."
"That's not it." Kakashi's brow furrowed. "His eyes… they felt familiar."
"Sharingan—of course they do," Kitazawa said with a wry smile.
With Obito driven off, he relaxed. Given how badly Obito was hurt, he'd probably be out for months. He wouldn't go after Itachi—no Uchiha massacre, either. Sudden as this skirmish was, it made sense; if Obito came to Konoha, he'd certainly come peek at Kakashi.
"It's not just the Sharingan… Forget it. This isn't the time," Kakashi said, turning serious. "We need to see the Hokage immediately."
Wood Release and the Sharingan in the same person—news like that would rock Konoha.
"Kitazawa! Kakashi!" Maruboshi Kosuke jogged up, late. "What happened just now?"
Not that late, really—the fight had just ended too fast. And the early commotion had been small enough that he'd assumed Kakashi and Kitazawa were sparring. Only when the noise escalated beyond a spar did he rush over.
"It's fine, we were sparring," Kitazawa said, shaking his head. "Kosuke-senpai, please head back to class."
"All right." Still puzzled, Kosuke dropped it when he saw they were fine.
"The fewer who know, the better," Kitazawa said once Kosuke left.
"Mm." Kakashi nodded. With Wood Release and the Sharingan in play, keeping Kosuke out of it was kinder.
"You want that severed arm?" Kitazawa asked, as if remembering.
"No." Kakashi didn't care.
"Let's go see the Hokage now," Kitazawa said after a beat. Telling Sarutobi Hiruzen early could only help—Konoha could be on guard instead of blindsided by Obito later.
They hurried to the Hokage's office.
"Rare to see you two together," Hiruzen remarked, surprised.
"Hokage-sama," Kakashi said gravely. "A masked man attacked Kitazawa and me at the academy."
"Someone infiltrated the village?" Hiruzen's face hardened. "Where is he? Did you catch him?"
With both of them here unharmed, at least they were okay.
"No," Kakashi said. "We couldn't keep him."
"With your strength, he still escaped?" Hiruzen was taken aback. Kitazawa and Kakashi were standouts even among jōnin. Anyone who could slip their grasp had to be one of the strongest in the world.
Hiruzen thought he could guess the masked man's identity from his ninjutsu, but before he could ask, Kakashi's next words froze him.
"He used space–time ninjutsu," Kakashi said, drawing a deep breath. "He also had a Sharingan—and Wood Release."
"Come again?" Hiruzen shot to his feet, stunned. Hell must have frozen over. Sharingan and Wood Release—how did those end up together?
Who messed up?
No—that wasn't it. Hiruzen knew the Senju and the Uchiha too well. This shouldn't be possible.
And in that moment, four characters flashed through his mind: Shimura Danzo.
~~~
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