He once had an older brother who loved him.
But now he had nothing.
All that remained was his hatred for Uchiha Itachi.
Itachi, just you wait. I will kill you with my own hands.
The footage continued.
[Then the scene shifted again, to Shippuden, where Kakashi's situation changed once more.]
[Kakashi also obtained a "cheat" ability—Kamui, a space–time ninjutsu that pushed Hokage-level combat into a new realm.]
[His Mangekyō Sharingan was awakened for him by Obito Uchiha, who happened to be present when Rin died.]
...
Group chat.
[Kakashi Hatake @ Obito Uchiha: So you really were there when Rin died. And the reason I can use Kamui in the future… it's all thanks to you.]
[Obito Uchiha @ Kakashi Hatake: Now you understand why I did it, don't you?]
[Kakashi Hatake: Obito… I'm truly sorry.]
[Obito Uchiha: If sorry worked, would Rin come back to life? You don't even value my eye, right? Hurry up and dig it out and give it back.]
[Kakashi Hatake: Obito, I already said—I can return the eye to you anytime, it was yours to begin with. But you have to promise you won't stand against the Leaf.]
[Obito Uchiha: In your dreams! Since you won't obediently gouge it out and return it, I'll just come and take it myself.]
[Rin Nohara @ Obito Uchiha: Obito, please… don't do this!]
[Obito Uchiha @ Rin Nohara: Rin, this has nothing to do with you. Don't interfere.]
...
The footage continued.
[But since Kakashi wasn't an Uchiha, it took him decades just to barely manage Kamui.]
[Kamui was slow to activate, hard to aim, and using it twice in a row would drain all his chakra and kill him—just a few of its many limitations.]
[Even so, Kakashi still played this terrible hand incredibly well.]
[With Kamui, Kakashi could suppress Deidara, one of the weaker members of the Akatsuki.]
[He could fight Kakuzu, a mid-tier Akatsuki member, 50/50.]
[Even against Asura Path and Deva Path Pain, he managed to destroy Asura Path, force out the intel that Deva Path's Shinra Tensei had a five-second cooldown, and nearly robbed Deva Path of his chance to level Konoha.]
[He finally died only after using Kamui a second time to save Chōji, completely exhausting his chakra.]
...
Seeing this—
Everyone mentioned in the footage started exploding in the chat again.
[Obito Uchiha: This ranking is absolutely targeting me. My eye is obviously incredibly strong, yet in this footage it's portrayed like trash, as if it was a burden to Kakashi. I refuse to accept that!]
[Obito Uchiha @ Kakashi Hatake: Hurry up and dig out my eye and give it back. I can't stand this insult.]
[Kakashi Hatake: Obito, I'm in the Leaf. If you come to your senses and stop being Konoha's enemy, come back. I'll gouge it out and return it to you on the spot.]
[Kakashi Hatake: But if you insist on opposing the Leaf—since your hatred of Konoha started with me—then come to Konoha. We'll settle this once and for all.]
[Obito Uchiha: Just you wait. I'll come.]
[Deidara: Matte, matte! What do you mean I'm one of the weaker Akatsuki members? I, Deidara, am very strong, yeah!]
[Kisame Hoshigaki: Deidara, the footage shows Kakashi going 50/50 with you at first, then gradually suppressing you. Judging from that, you really are on the weaker side of the Akatsuki.]
[Hidan: Kisame's right. But calling Kakuzu "mid-tier"… I'm the first to disagree. Because Kakuzu, he—]
Land of Rain, Akatsuki base.
Seeing Hidan about to say that thing, Kakuzu rushed over and clamped a hand over his mouth.
Hidan: "Kakuzu, what are you doing? I'm standing up for you here!"
Kakuzu: "We need to keep a low profile."
Hidan: "Why? If we keep a low profile, people will just look down on us!"
Cold sweat beaded on Kakuzu's forehead. He absolutely couldn't let Hidan repeat the nonsense he'd bragged about in front of the whole chat.
How could he talk Hidan down…
Suddenly Kakuzu's eyes lit up—he'd thought of something.
Kakuzu: "After all this footage, our Akatsuki is basically the public enemy of the ninja world. You're smart, Hidan. I know you've already realized that."
Hidan nodded. "Of course I noticed. But what's that got to do with me defending you?"
Kakuzu: "Think about it. Since we're already public enemy number one, all the other villages and factions will be trying their hardest to gather intel on us, right?"
Hidan nodded again. "Yeah!"
Kakuzu: "So I can't keep revealing more about myself. Otherwise they'll figure out everything about us."
Hidan's eyes widened in sudden understanding. "I see! As expected of Kakuzu-senpai, you really think things through."
Kakuzu: "Learn from me."
While Kakuzu was stringing Hidan along, someone else in the chat blew up.
Group chat.
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju @ Nagato Uzumaki: I almost forgot if nobody mentioned it—you're the one who destroyed the Konoha Madara and I worked so hard to build, aren't you?]
[Second Hokage Tobirama Senju @ Nagato Uzumaki: You dared annihilate Konoha and kill so many of its shinobi and villagers. Even if you revived them in the end, it's still unforgivable.]
[Madara Uchiha @ Nagato Uzumaki: I don't care that you destroyed Konoha. But you've got some nerve wasting the Rinnegan I gave you—the one meant to resurrect me. You deserve death.]
[Fourth Raikage A @ Nagato Uzumaki: Oh right, you're the one who wants me to "carry a bag of rice upstairs," huh?]
[Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki @ Nagato Uzumaki: Such arrogant talk—you want everyone in the world to "wash that bag of rice," is that it?]
[Chiyo @ Nagato Uzumaki: I don't want to carry any bag of rice upstairs. Your ideas are dangerous, boy.]
[Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi @ Nagato Uzumaki: Take your damn bag of rice and shove it. After living through the Bloody Mist, our village doesn't need your "bag of rice," thanks.]
[Nine-Tails @ Nagato Uzumaki: You seem to look down on my power. And you wanted to use those eyes of yours to control me? You trying to die?]
[Obito Uchiha @ Nagato Uzumaki: See? At this point you've got no choice but to keep working with me. Otherwise none of them will let you off.]
[Nagato Uzumaki @ Everyone: I'll choose my own path. If you disagree, come to the Akatsuki and say it to my face.]
[Madara Uchiha: Oh, I'll come. And don't forget—those eyes are mine. I'll pry them out myself.]
[Obito Uchiha @ Kakashi Hatake]
Obito only tagged Kakashi without saying anything.
But everyone understood what that meant.
After that—
Aside from the Akatsuki members, everyone in the chat focused their criticism and questioning on Nagato and his "bag of rice" plan.
Clearly—
On this one issue—
Nagato had drawn the ire of the entire world.
Nagato himself was quietly reflecting.
Was the path he was on now right or wrong?
And in the future shown in the footage, when he faced Naruto and made his final choice—
Was that the right decision?
Which should he choose—the path he was on now, or the one in the recording?
The footage continued.
[After the battle with Pain, Kakashi truly had Kage-level strength.]
[He almost became the Sixth Hokage in place of the comatose Tsunade.]
...
Group chat.
[Fourth Raikage A: We watched that footage very carefully. Kakashi did show impressive power then, but calling that "Kage-level" still feels off.]
[Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi: Agreed. I don't think he'd reached Kage-level yet.]
[Sakumo Hatake: What, you're not convinced? This is the list's evaluation—it's never wrong.]
[Kakashi Hatake: Dad, I also feel that I hadn't reached Kage-level at that time. It's normal for people to question it.]
[Sakura Haruno: If defeating just one Naraka Path Pain made Kakashi Kage-level, then wouldn't Naruto, who defeated all six Pains, already be beyond Kage level?]
[Konohamaru Sarutobi: Grandpa, did you see? I beat a Pain too. Does that mean I have Kage-level power?]
[Kiba Inuzuka: Tch! That was only because the Asura Path fighting me and my mom suddenly disappeared. Otherwise we could have taken him down too.]
[Hashirama Senju @ Madara Uchiha: Madara, what do you think?]
[Madara Uchiha: Hashirama… do you even need to ask? If that counts as Kage-level, it's a joke.]
[Izuna Uchiha: Brother is right. If that's all it takes to be Kage-level, it's laughable.]
[Tobirama Senju: Copycat.]
...
The footage continued.
[By the time of the Fourth Great Ninja War, Kakashi's power had increased again.]
[Thanks to the overall "power inflation" of the series, his chakra limitations also loosened considerably.]
[He could keep his normal Sharingan active constantly, spam Lightning Blade almost at will, and Kamui no longer had activation or aiming issues.]
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