"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave?"
"Danzo's ninjutsu?"
"This guy is Danzo?"
"Danzo wants to kill me?"
When Kakashi saw Rasa use Wind Release: Vacuum Wave, he was shocked.
This was Danzo's signature ninjutsu.
Danzo was not the only person who knew this technique. But very few could use it this well.
And after only a single exchange, Kakashi could already tell that the person opposite him was absolutely stronger than he was.
"Could it really be Hokage-sama who wants to kill me?"
"Could Father really have been plotted against and killed by Hokage-sama?"
Countless thoughts flashed through Kakashi's mind in an instant.
But Kakashi no longer had time to think.
Because the Danzo disguised by Rasa had already caught up.
At the same time, the other Sunagakure shinobi disguised as an ANBU shinobi also rushed after him.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
Kakashi had no choice but to focus all his attention on evasion.
"What should I do?"
"What can I do?"
"I can't die!"
But Rasa's attacks were too ferocious.
The Wind Release he used was extremely powerful.
Vacuum Wave. Vacuum Sphere. Vacuum Blade…
Kakashi was forced almost into a desperate situation. He had no idea how many wounds were on his body, and his clothes had already been dyed red with blood.
Kakashi felt his strength fading.
The warmth in his body was also leaving him.
"Am I going to die here? Die at Danzo's hands?"
Kakashi gave a bitter laugh in his heart.
"I didn't die at the hands of an enemy. Instead, I'm going to die at the hands of one of my own?"
"No… do I still count as one of their own?"
"If an elder of the village wants to kill me, then before this, they must have already erased my identity as a Konoha shinobi, right?"
Suddenly, an invisible vortex appeared out of thin air.
A hand emerged and landed on Kakashi's shoulder, pushing him into the vortex. The owner of that hand also entered the vortex and disappeared.
Rasa looked in the direction where the vortex had vanished and continued pretending to be Danzo.
He flew into a rage because he had failed to kill Kakashi.
Only after confirming there was truly no way to continue did he turn and leave, heading toward the Konoha shinobi camp.
But he did not truly enter the camp.
He merely circled around it, then returned to the Sunagakure camp.
Rasa removed his disguise and restored his original appearance.
"I knew it."
"As expected, in Uchiha Obito's heart, Kakashi still carries some weight."
However, Uchiha Obito being able to arrive in time to save Kakashi was also partly due to Rasa's preparations in advance.
Rasa had confirmed from Sasori of the Red Sand that the Akatsuki organization had already learned about the rumor regarding Konoha's White Fang. Only then had he taken action against Kakashi, deliberately giving Uchiha Obito this opportunity.
But even if Uchiha Obito had not come, Rasa would not have killed Kakashi.
Kakashi alive was far more valuable than Kakashi dead.
Now that Uchiha Obito had come, the remaining matters no longer required Rasa's management.
Uchiha Obito would handle everything.
"But I still don't quite understand…"
"Uchiha Obito loved Rin Nohara to such an extent and also cared deeply about Kakashi. So why does he feel nothing at all toward Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki?"
"He may even carry some resentment toward them?"
At that moment, Danzo was still on the road to the Land of Wind.
Carrying Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders, he was heading to the Land of Wind to spread rumors.
But Danzo had never expected that before he could begin spreading rumors, he would first receive news of Kakashi's disappearance.
"Kakashi is missing?"
"What are you people doing?"
Danzo was furious.
"Such a large living person vanished right in front of your eyes just like that?"
The shinobi below lowered their heads, not daring to refute him in the slightest.
"Danzo-sama, then what should we do now?"
"What else can we do? Send the message back to the village and prepare to bear responsibility. I don't have time to deal with this. I have more important matters to handle."
Konoha wanted to conceal the news of Kakashi's disappearance.
But it could not be concealed at all.
Because Rasa learned of the news even before Konoha's shinobi did.
If Konoha would not say it, then Rasa would kindly say it for Konoha.
Very soon, news of Kakashi's disappearance spread.
"What? Kakashi has gone missing?"
"Why would he suddenly disappear?"
"I heard that before Kakashi disappeared, he was on the border of the Land of Wind and fought with Sunagakure shinobi. Could he have been attacked and killed by Sunagakure shinobi?"
At that moment, someone immediately refuted it.
"There is no way Sunagakure would kill Kakashi at a time like this. The rumors about Konoha's White Fang are flying everywhere. Even if Sunagakure captured Kakashi, they wouldn't kill him."
"I think the more likely possibility is that Konoha acted!"
"Maybe Kakashi heard the rumors and reacted somehow. Or maybe Konoha feared that Kakashi would react, so they killed him first."
"In that case, the rumors about Konoha's White Fang would lose their foundation and slowly fade away."
Sunagakure seized upon this point and made a huge issue of it.
They pushed all responsibility for Kakashi's disappearance onto Konoha.
And from there, they argued further.
"Konoha's White Fang was definitely killed by Hiruzen Sarutobi's design."
"It was a conspiracy!"
"And now Hiruzen Sarutobi has killed Kakashi too."
"This is the price of being a Konoha shinobi. This is the price of being loyal to Konoha."
"As a shinobi, you must never be too outstanding, or you will be killed like Minato Namikaze and Konoha's White Fang."
"As a ninja clan, you must not be too powerful either, or you will end up like the Uchiha clan."
"If you want to survive, you have to be like the Hyuga clan—obedient, weak, and easy to bully."
The Hyuga shinobi were dissatisfied with this.
This was clearly Kakashi's matter. Why drag them into it?
After the Uchiha clan left, the Hyuga clan had clearly become Konoha's number one ninja clan.
Kakashi's disappearance directly raised the level of discussion surrounding the Konoha's White Fang rumor by an entire grade.
And what this brought Rasa was a rapid increase in points.
"They're still rising. The speed hasn't slowed down."
"At this rate, in a few days, I'll be able to perform the first consecutive draw from these six rumors."
Konoha.
Hokage Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was so angry that his beard nearly stood on end.
"Utter nonsense!"
"I did not kill Kakashi, nor did I order it!"
"Kakashi's disappearance has nothing to do with me!"
"The rumor about Sakumo Hatake is absolutely untrue as well!"
…
An ANBU shinobi stood opposite him with his head lowered.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at him, his gaze sharp.
"I hope you can give me an explanation."
The ANBU shinobi groaned bitterly in his heart.
"Hokage-sama, I don't know either. By the time I arrived, Kakashi had already disappeared. I didn't even have time to meet Kakashi. Perhaps… someone else acted on their own initiative."