"Kakashi... I'll make you pay with your life!"
Obito's roar was like a howl from the abyss, his Mangekyo Sharingan erupting with scarlet light, as the spatial power of Kamui surged wildly in his palm.
At this moment, only endless hatred and despair remained in his heart, and the way he looked at Kakashi was as if he were looking at a mortal enemy.
But Kakashi still stood there dazed, his eyes hollow, showing no reaction to Obito's killing intent.
Rin's death had completely shattered his spirit; the tearing pain from the Mangekyo in his left eye intertwined with the endless self-reproach in his heart, causing his consciousness to gradually blur.
Holding Rin's cold corpse, his body went limp, and he fell straight backward, slipping into a total coma.
"Coward!" Seeing him unconscious, the hatred in Obito's eyes intensified, yet he temporarily suppressed the urge to strike immediately.
His gaze swept over the remaining Kirigakure Anbu around the altar—those Ninjas who had once hunted Rin and participated in the Three-Tails Seal were now the targets for his venting rage.
"All of you, die!"
Obito let out a low shout, and his figure vanished instantly.
He pushed the spatial Ninjutsu of the Mangekyo Kamui to its limit, and in the next second, he appeared behind a Kirigakure Anbu, pressing his palm lightly onto the man's shoulder.
"Space Distortion!"
With Obito's whisper, the Anbu's body suddenly began to twist and decompose, being sucked into the Other Dimension created by Kamui amidst terrified wails, vanishing completely.
No Ninjutsu could withstand this eerie and terrifying power; the Kirigakure Anbu Ninjas were Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, fleeing in all directions.
But before the rampaging Obito, fleeing was nothing but futile.
He moved across the altar like a Shinigami, his scarlet Mangekyo flashing with a cold light; with every wave of his hand, an Anbu Ninja was swallowed or torn apart by Kamui.
Ripples of Space Distortion continued to spread, churning the seawater around the altar into a restless turmoil. The screams of the Hidden Mist Ninjas and the sound of shattering bones intertwined, composing a tragic song of despair.
Those once incredibly fierce Anbu elites were like lambs to the slaughter before Obito, who had achieved his Mangekyo Awakening.
In just fifteen minutes, the Kirigakure Anbu around the altar were slaughtered to the last man; not a single soul survived.
Blood stained the entire stone platform red, mixing with Rin's blood and emitting a thick, metallic scent.
Obito stood in the center of the pool of blood, violent Chakra swirling around him, his eyes cold without a trace of warmth.
He slowly walked to Rin's body and picked her up with great care, his movements as gentle as if he were cradling a rare treasure—a complete contrast to his previous violence.
"Rin, don't be afraid... I'm taking you away from here." Obito's voice was tender, yet carried an insoluble sorrow and obsession. "From now on, I will create a world with only us, where no one can ever hurt you again."
Holding Rin, he turned to look at the unconscious Kakashi on the ground. A flash of complex emotions crossed his eyes—hatred, resentment—but they ultimately dissolved into a trace of indifference.
"Kakashi, I won't let you die so easily... I will make you watch with your own eyes as this world that made you lose Rin is destroyed."
After saying this, Obito's figure twisted again, and along with Rin's body, he vanished into the Kamui's Other Dimension.
On the altar, only the unconscious Kakashi remained, amidst a ground covered in corpses and blood.
And in the shadows upon the cliff, Uchiha Xia Yin witnessed the conclusion of it all.
He looked in the direction where Obito had vanished with Rin, the killing intent in his eyes gradually receding, replaced by a look of knowing calculation.
"Uchiha Obito, in the end, you still became Madara's pawn." Shine muttered to himself, his fingertips rubbing the hilt of his tachi. "But it's just as well; your rampage will throw the Ninja World into even greater chaos, and that is exactly what I need."
He lingered no longer, turning to vanish into the mountain forest, racing toward the Konoha Allied Forces' camp.
Obito had undergone his Blackening, Rin's tragedy had concluded, and the dual Mangekyo had awakened; the first step of his grand design was complete.
Next, he needed to return to the camp to stabilize the situation while making final preparations to head to the Hidden Rain Village and recruit Nagato.
When Shine returned to the camp, the sun was already setting in the west. Patrols remained tight, but a hint of anxiety hung in the air—Kakashi and Rin's failure to return had Nara Shikaku and Uchiha Fugaku quite worried.
As Shine's figure appeared at the camp entrance, the setting sun was staining the sky a deep scarlet.
The patrolling Ninjas recognized him and immediately let him through, while someone quickly went to inform Nara Shikaku and Uchiha Fugaku.
"Lord Xia Yin, you're back!" Nara Shikaku rushed forward immediately, his face full of urgency and fine beads of sweat on his forehead. "Kakashi and Rin haven't returned yet. Do you have any news of them?"
Uchiha Fugaku also walked over quickly, his brow furrowed, his eyes filled with worry and unease.
Kakashi was the standout of Konoha's younger generation and, more importantly, a rare bond between the Uchiha and Konoha after Obito's sacrifice.
Rin, on the other hand, was a skilled Medical Ninja, beloved by the Ninjas in the camp.
If anything happened to them, it would not only weaken the front-line combat strength but also deal a heavy blow to the Allied Forces' morale.
Facing their urgent inquiries, Shine simply stopped, his expression calm without a ripple, as if he had just completed an ordinary patrol mission.
He spoke flatly, his tone devoid of any emotion: "No. Weren't they sent out to gather intelligence?"
His answer was brief and indifferent, as if he didn't care at all about Kakashi and Rin's safety.
Nara Shikaku was taken aback, clearly not expecting such a response.
Looking at Shine's expressionless face, a hint of doubt rose in his heart—Shine's intelligence network was always well-informed, and he acted cautiously; if an incident occurred within his scouting range, it was impossible for him to be unaware.
"Did your scouting range today cover their mission area? Did you discover any unusual movements from the Hidden Mist?"
"There were indeed signs of Hidden Mist troop movements downstream, but I didn't see Kakashi or Rin," Shine responded calmly, his tone without a single flaw. "Perhaps they went deeper into the Hidden Mist Hinterlands for reconnaissance and are unable to return for now."
He deliberately concealed the tragedy on the altar, hiding Rin's death, Kakashi's coma, and Obito's Blackening.
In his view, if this news were leaked too early, it would only cause chaos in the camp and might even lead to early intervention by the Konoha High Command, disrupting his plan to recruit Nagato.
Furthermore, the Mangekyo Awakening of Kakashi and Obito posed a potential threat; concealing it for now allowed him to arrange his pieces more leisurely.
Uchiha Fugaku's expression grew increasingly grim. He stepped forward, his voice tinged with urgency: "Should we send people out to look for them? They've been out of contact for over twelve hours; I fear they've met with disaster!"
...
Advance chapter available on pãtrêon Got1808