"Wind Style: Vacuum Wave?"
"Danzo's signature jutsu?"
"This guy… is Danzo?"
"Danzo's trying to kill me?"
Kakashi's blood ran cold the second he saw the man disguised as Danzo unleash that technique. Only a handful of people could use it with that kind of precision and power. In one exchange Kakashi already knew—he was completely outmatched.
"Could the Hokage really have ordered this?"
"Was my father actually set up and murdered by Hiruzen?"
A thousand thoughts slammed through his head at once. He had no time to sort them. The fake Danzo was already on him, and another Sand ninja in ANBU gear was closing in from the side.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Jade!"
Kakashi threw everything into dodging. His mind raced.
"What the hell do I do?"
"How do I survive this?"
"I can't die here!"
But the attacks kept coming—brutal, precise, overwhelming. Vacuum Wave. Vacuum Jade. Vacuum Blade. They tore through the air like invisible knives. Blood soaked his clothes. Wounds opened faster than he could count. His strength was draining fast. His body was going cold.
"Am I really going to die like this? Killed by Danzo?"
A bitter laugh echoed in his mind.
"Not on some battlefield against enemies… but by my own village?"
"Am I even still part of the Leaf? If an elder wants me dead, they probably already erased my name from the roster."
Suddenly an invisible vortex ripped open in the air. A hand shot out, grabbed his shoulder, and yanked him inside. The owner of the hand followed right behind. Both vanished.
Rasa, still wearing Danzo's face, stared at the empty space and let out a furious roar for show. When he was sure there was nothing left to do, he turned and walked away—heading toward the Leaf camp, but never actually entering it. He just circled once and slipped back to the Sand side.
He dropped the disguise the moment he was alone.
"I knew it. Obito still gives a damn about Kakashi after all."
Obito had only made it in time because Rasa had set the stage. He'd confirmed from Sasori that Akatsuki already knew about the White Fang rumors, so he'd deliberately targeted Kakashi to give Obito this exact opening. Even if Obito hadn't shown, Rasa never planned to kill him. Kakashi alive was worth far more than Kakashi dead.
Now that Obito had stepped in, Rasa could step back and let the masked man handle the rest.
"Still don't understand though…"
"Obito loved Rin that much. He still cares about Kakashi. So why does he feel nothing for Minato and Kushina? Or worse—why does it feel like straight-up hate?"
Meanwhile Danzo was still on the road to the Land of Wind, carrying Hiruzen's orders to spread rumors. He never expected the first message he received to be about Kakashi vanishing.
"Kakashi's missing?"
"What the hell were you people doing?"
Danzo's voice cracked like a whip.
"A full-grown jonin just disappears right in front of you?"
The ninja below kept their heads down and said nothing.
"Lord Danzo, what do we do now?"
"Send word back to the village and prepare to take the blame. I don't have time for this. I've got real work to finish."
The Leaf tried to keep Kakashi's disappearance quiet. It didn't work. Rasa found out before they could. If the Leaf wouldn't talk, Rasa would talk for them.
Within hours the news exploded across the ninja world.
"Kakashi's gone? Just like that?"
"I heard he was fighting Sand ninja at the border right before he vanished. Did they ambush and kill him?"
Someone immediately pushed back.
"Sand wouldn't kill him right now. Not with all those White Fang rumors flying. Even if they caught him they'd keep him alive."
"I'm telling you—it was the Leaf. Kakashi probably heard the rumors and reacted, or the higher-ups panicked and took him out first so the story would die."
The Sand forces grabbed the narrative and ran with it. They pinned the whole thing on the Leaf and doubled down hard.
"The White Fang was murdered by Hiruzen's scheme. It was all a setup!"
"And now Hiruzen killed Kakashi too."
"That's the price of being a Leaf ninja. That's what loyalty gets you."
"If you're too talented they'll kill you—just like Minato and the White Fang. If your clan gets too strong you end up like the Uchiha. To survive you have to stay weak and obedient like the Hyuga."
The Hyuga clan was furious. Why drag them into Kakashi's mess? After the Uchiha left they were the strongest clan in the Leaf. The disappearance shot the White Fang rumor to a whole new level.
And Rasa's points kept climbing.
"Still rising. Not slowing down at all. At this rate I'll hit the first big draw for these six rumors in a few days."
Inside the Hokage Tower Hiruzen Sarutobi's beard was practically standing on end.
"This is complete bullshit!"
"I didn't kill Kakashi and I sure as hell didn't order it! His disappearance has nothing to do with me. The White Fang rumor is absolute garbage!"
An ANBU stood across from him, head bowed.
Hiruzen's eyes were razor sharp.
"I want an explanation. Now."
The ANBU swallowed hard.
"Lord Hokage… I don't know. By the time I arrived Kakashi was already gone. I never even got to see him. Maybe someone else acted on their own."