"There is no such person."
The cold, absolute finality of the Resurrection Coin's response echoed in Kakashi's mind. A wave of ice-cold dread washed over him. He clutched the immensely valuable coin—the key to his friend's life—with white-knuckled desperation, trying the query again, and again. Each attempt returned the same, chilling message: Obito's soul could not be located.
Sasuke and the others watched Kakashi's mounting anxiety. The Jonin's face was a mask of palpable fear, the pain of hope being brutally extinguished far worse than the comfort of simple despair.
"Kakashi, what is happening?" Tsunade demanded, her own nervousness spiking. If resurrection was not guaranteed, if there were unknown conditions, then her own path to Nawaki's return was still fraught with peril.
"Why?" Kakashi finally lifted his head, his eyes wide and pleading, fixed on Shen Mo. "Why does it say it cannot find Obito?" His voice trembled, laced with the terror of slipping back into the darkness of guilt and loss.
Shen Mo frowned, though his internal thoughts were clear. He should have gone for Rin first. The man's romantic life is as complicated as his combat style.
"If the person you intend to resurrect is too powerful, the Resurrection Coin's level might be insufficient," Shen Mo began, then paused, his expression hardening.
"However, since the response was not 'Level insufficient,' but 'No such person,' it can only mean one thing—" Shen Mo looked Kakashi directly in the eye, his tone definitive and absolute: "The person you wish to resurrect is not dead at all!"
"That is impossible!" Kakashi cried out instinctively. "I witnessed it! I saw it with my own eyes—"
He cut himself short, his denial collapsing. He hadn't seen the finality. He hadn't physically confirmed Obito's passing; he had merely left him buried under the rubble.
"There is absolutely no margin for error with the goods sourced through my system," Shen Mo declared, his usual market smile vanishing, replaced by a stern, authoritative confidence that swept over Tsunade and the Genin.
"No one, not even the gods of your world, can claim true omniscience. However, relative to the limitations of your dimension, the power of my jars is virtually omnipotent! On the reputation of the Omniscient and Omnipotent Chamber of Commerce, I guarantee: the person you seek to resurrect is unequivocally alive!"
Shen Mo explained that even these comparatively low-cost Resurrection Coins possessed a potent spiritual radar, capable of tracking souls sealed by the Death Reaper Seal or lost to other esoteric forces. The power was substantial.
Kakashi fell silent, his internal confusion overwhelming. He had already tested the coin: seeking to revive his father, Hatake Sakumo, the response was "Level insufficient." Seeking to revive Rin Nohara, the command was instantly active.
The implication was staggering: Obito was alive.
But if he was alive, why had he never returned to Konoha?
A sudden, sharp intake of breath escaped Kakashi. Rin. Obito's dearest love, his motivation, was dead. Knowing this, Obito would never return. He would undoubtedly believe Kakashi had failed her, and perhaps even hate him for it.
"You sought to resurrect more than one person, did you not?" Shen Mo observed, softening his tone. "Since at least one of your comrades is still alive, that is a reason for hope. While the Paladin's Tier Three Jars offer higher resurrection odds, they are expensive. Perhaps now is the time to prioritize."
"Mr. Kakashi is right," Sakura murmured, taking a sympathetic step forward. "It is always better that they are not dead." She and Sasuke had, in this single night, gained a profound and humbling insight into the depth of their sensei's character and his crushing burdens.
Kakashi gradually regained control of his racing heart, suppressing the tumultuous torrent of guilt, relief, and anxiety. He focused only on the most immediate priority: bringing back Rin. If Obito learned she was alive, he would surely return.
Clenching the Resurrection Coin tightly, Kakashi closed his eyes, summoning the clear, smiling image of Rin Nohara to his mind.
"Please, bring Rin back."
"Resurrection target: Nohara Rin. Confirmation required."
"Confirmed!" Kakashi yelled, his voice raw with decades of pent-up sorrow and desperate hope.
The Resurrection Coin instantly dissolved into a searing beam of white light. The light gathered in the empty space before them, and within the blinding column, an indistinct human form began to assemble itself, piece by painstaking piece. First, the outline of feet and legs, then the hands and torso.
"Turn away!" Tsunade snapped, her eyes wide as she grabbed Sasuke and Kakashi, spinning them around. "She's restructuring! She won't be clothed, you perverts!" She glared briefly at Shen Mo, who merely shrugged innocently. The Naruto world's kids grow up too quickly, anyway, he thought, suppressing a smirk.
The reconstruction took only a moment. When the light faded, a slender girl with closed eyes and unblemished skin stood bathed in the residual moonlight, the picture of perfection.
Tsunade instantly moved, stripping off her coat and wrapping it tightly around the girl's body before gathering her into a protective embrace.
Rin's eyes slowly fluttered open, blinking away the lingering confusion of death. She stared up at the woman holding her, a gentle smile on her face.
"Tsunade-sama?" Rin questioned, recognizing the Sannin. As a medical-focused child, Rin had idolized Tsunade and had seen her frequently in the village. Her appearance, miraculously preserved by her Jutsu, hadn't changed in the decade since Rin's death.
"I... I can't be..." Rin stammered in surprise, instinctively trying to pull away, but her body felt weak, and she leaned further into Tsunade's arms.
"Easy, girl, don't move yet," Tsunade soothed, holding her steady. "Let me have a look at you." A pale green halo of Chakra appeared above Tsunade's palm as she performed a quick, precise medical scan. Rin was perfectly healthy, though the emptiness in her stomach suggested a powerful, immediate hunger.
Hearing Rin's voice, Kakashi slowly turned back.
The moment his eye met her innocent, familiar face, the carefully constructed walls around his heart crumbled. Memories—of their childhood team, of Rin's encouragement, of her final, desperate smile, and her heart-wrenching plea, "Kill me"—surged violently, a wave of unbearable, raw emotion.
Rin, in the last moment of his memory, had been smiling, resolute in her sacrifice to protect the village and her friends. Now, seeing her alive, Kakashi could only stare, speechless, the endless longing finally answered.