"So… Uchiha Madara should be right beneath my feet."
Kiyohara murmured inwardly.
The original work's explanation regarding this part was actually very vague.
It was possible that Madara had ordered White Zetsu to drag Obito into the underground cavern, and then tricked Obito into believing he had simply fallen down on his own.
Or perhaps the truth was exactly that—Obito, in the midst of awakening his Sharingan, had already begun to unconsciously manifest fragments of Kamui's ability.
"Are you alright, Rin… Kakashi…"
Only half of Obito's body and head protruded from between the massive boulders. He used his left eye to look toward the other side.
"Obito!"
Kakashi's pupils constricted. He instantly rushed forward, trying with all his strength to push the enormous rock away and pull Obito out.
Unfortunately, no matter how much force Kakashi exerted, the boulder did not budge in the slightest.
"Don't push anymore, Kakashi… I'm done for. My entire right side is completely crushed. I can't feel anything anymore."
Hearing that, Kakashi leaned against the wall in self-blame, recounting his own mistakes.
It was all his fault—everything had led to this outcome because of him.
Kiyohara watched the scene quietly from behind.
Was he moved?
The bond between the three of them was undeniably deep.
But…
In Obito's heart, only Kakashi and Rin truly mattered.
Everyone else—even those who treated him well, could be discarded without hesitation.
He would even turn against his own teacher and his teacher's wife. Kushina had once kindly given him rice balls during training, caring for him like family. And yet, later, Obito would betray them without remorse.
This was also why Kiyohara never tried to approach Obito before.
Firstly, there was no need.
Secondly, he might attract Uchiha Madara's attention… and become part of the reason for Obito's future downfall.
"Right now, Minato should be on his way here."
Kiyohara thought silently.
Once Minato arrived, they could proceed to blow up Kannabi Bridge. Then the mission would finally be complete.
With that success, Kiyohara would have enough merit to be promoted. He could finally take the chūnin exams—or perhaps even be directly advanced through internal evaluation.
…
"Did Taiseki die?"
Kiyohara suddenly realized that among the scattered rocks, Taiseki—likely due to being obstructed by the lime powder Kiyohara had thrown earlier—had failed to escape and was directly crushed. His head was smashed, leaving only his body sticking out.
A stroke of fortune like this could not be wasted, so Kiyohara immediately chose to loot the corpse.
The moment he searched, he struck gold.
"Good heavens, he was carrying thirty thousand ryō,"
Kiyohara found a thick wad of banknotes inside Taiseki's tool pouch. Without hesitation, he confiscated them righteously, slipping them into his own waist bag.
"Hm?"
Unexpectedly, there was also a ninjutsu scroll inside.
Opening it, he saw it was a C-rank Earth Release jutsu called Earth Release: C-rank jutsu: Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole.
Using chakra, one could turn solid earth and stone into a fluid state, allowing oneself to swim rapidly underground.
"He must have been practicing this ninjutsu recently… but unfortunately, he hadn't mastered it."
Kiyohara shook his head.
All of this now fell into his hands.
If Taiseki had truly mastered this jutsu, he probably wouldn't have been crushed to death today.
While thinking this, Kiyohara's hands didn't stop moving. He collected Taiseki's Iwagakure flak jacket, kunai, shuriken, explosive tags, and every tool he could into a sealing scroll.
…
Meanwhile, Obito was speaking his final words
"Kakashi, I want to give you my Sharingan… as a gift for becoming a jōnin."
While Kiyohara looted the body, Obito had nearly finished saying his last words to Kakashi.
"Rin… use your medical ninjutsu. Transplant my Sharingan, along with the cornea, into Kakashi's left eye."
"Obito…"
Kakashi was speechless.
Rin rubbed her face, suppressing the sorrow of losing a teammate. She turned to Kakashi and said:
"Come here Kakashi. The surgery must begin immediately."
With that, Rin began taking out the corresponding medical tools.
'Here we go—the hot-swap Sharingan.'
Kiyohara couldn't help but complain inwardly.
The Sharingan was the strangest thing in the shinobi world—practically a plug-and-play module.
It didn't matter whether the user was compatible—anyone could equip it.
But in reality, transplanting an eyeball was one of the most difficult surgeries in existence.
The optic nerve is a non-regenerative nerve. If you want the transplanted eye to function, you must connect the optic nerves.
Yet the optic nerve consists of more than a million tiny nerve fibers.
To perfectly align the donor's optic nerve with the recipient's is as difficult as taking a severed optical cable containing over a million microscopic fibers—and reattaching each individual fiber correctly without any color markings or labels.
Not to mention immune rejection and blood supply issues afterward.
For Rin to perform such a surgery under primitive battlefield conditions…
Even Kiyohara had to admit: medical ninjutsu truly was miraculous.
"The surrounding Iwa shinobis are gathering."
The spirit of missing-nin Kiyohara returned from afar.
He had been continuously scouting the perimeter for Kiyohara.
"I know."
Kiyohara nodded slightly.
In the original timeline, Kakashi and the others were almost annihilated at this same moment—surrounded by a large group of Iwa shinobi.
They survived only because Minato arrived and saved them.
This made Kiyohara suspect that this might be the true purpose of the mission:
To lure in a concentrated Iwa force… so Minato could wipe them out all at once.
If Minato were personally assigned to this mission from the start, the enemy would retreat the moment they saw him—dragging the battle into guerrilla warfare.
'Good thing my chakra has almost recovered.'
Kiyohara thought.
Aside from mission credits, his greatest gain this time was the massive accumulation of experience.
Many techniques explained by his missing-nin counterpart required Kiyohara to perform them firsthand to become his own.
That experience and knowledge served as software.
Combined with the partial talent he absorbed from Rogue-Kiyohara and his drug-boosted doubled chakra… that was hardware.
With both software and hardware improving hand-in-hand, Kiyohara's strength had skyrocketed.
He could now easily defeat his past self—perhaps even with one hand tied!
…
"You're a stubborn cockroach… still alive after all that."
Kakkō emerged from another exit.
His arm was already bandaged. When he saw Kiyohara and the others alive, he looked somewhat surprised they hadn't been crushed.
"And you… actually using such a dirty trick on Taiseki."
Kakkō glanced at Kiyohara.
Seeing Kiyohara still rummaging through Taiseki's belongings, the corner of his mouth twitched.
"Hmph. I'll deal with that white-haired brat first."
Kakkō sensed something different about Kakashi.
Looking closely, he noticed Kakashi had transplanted a Sharingan.
Seeing this, a fiery desire flashed in his eyes.
If a brat could do it, then why couldn't he?
Kakkō raised his blades—each wrapped in white bandages and tied to his wrists.
Kakashi looked at Kakkō with resolve burning in his eye.
"Kiyohara… let me handle this."
Kakashi stepped past Kiyohara, raising his short sword.
He would avenge Obito.
The next instant, both of their figures vanished.
Clang!
They reappeared, blades clashing.
Kakashi's short sword—a heirloom inherited from his father Sakumo, the White Fang, one that never once broke in his lifetime — shattered.
(End of Chapter)