Chapter 68: Byakuya Suddenly Wants to Become a Therapist, Orochimaru Regains His Confidence!

Chapter 68: Byakuya Suddenly Wants to Become a Therapist, Orochimaru Regains His Confidence!

“Really?!”

Guy’s face lit up with joy the moment he heard. He immediately bowed deeply toward Byakuya.

“Please take care of him!”

Byakuya gave a small nod.

Then he pointed toward the door.

“Um…

You guys should head out first.

I’d like to talk with Kakashi-sensei alone.”

“Got it~”

The three nodded and quickly stepped outside.

They were extremely curious about what Byakuya was going to do next.

They desperately wanted to know exactly how he planned to treat Kakashi.

But—

for the sake of letting Byakuya treat him properly,

they swallowed their curiosity and hurried out of the room.

“Kakashi-sensei.

They’ve already told me the whole story.”

Once the room contained only the two of them,

Byakuya slowly began to speak.

“Right now… you must be drowning in regret over how weak you used to be,

aren’t you? Still trapped in that pain?”

Kakashi showed no reaction at all to the words.

He remained exactly lifeless,

lying motionless on the bed.

Byakuya didn’t mind the silence.

He simply continued talking on his own.

“Actually… you don’t need to blame yourself or regret it so much.

Because none of this was really your fault.

No matter how strong you became,

in the grand flow of the times, you were still so very small…

so very weak.

As long as war continues,

the kind of pain you’ve suffered will just keep repeating itself.”

He glanced at Kakashi.

Sure enough—the man was still the same old dead fish.

Byakuya smiled faintly and went on.

“From your reaction… and from my own guesses…

I’ve already pieced quite a lot together.

For example…

Uchiha Obito never died.”

“You… you figured that out too?!”

Kakashi shot upright with a sharp gasp,

staring straight at Byakuya in shock.

“Yes.”

Seeing the reaction at last, Byakuya smiled and nodded.

“I remember… a while back, I casually mentioned something.

I said that a kekkei genkai that doesn’t originally belong to you…

probably can’t evolve or deactivate on its own, right?

And right after I said that…

your reaction was extremely strange.

You became so panicked…

and started doubting yourself.

That made me come up with a very bold hypothesis:

that your Sharingan had somehow evolved on its own!

Of course…

I couldn’t be completely sure.

It was just a guess.

But what happened yesterday pretty much confirmed it.

You were suddenly triggered by something,

ran to Nohara Rin’s gravestone, and started hurting yourself.

That’s clearly the behavior of someone overwhelmed by regret and self-blame.

From that, it’s easy to conclude:

you somehow learned that Uchiha Obito is still alive.

Which matches my original guess perfectly.

Everything I just said…

is correct, isn’t it?”

“…Yes.”

Kakashi subconsciously nodded.

“Then I can more or less reconstruct what was going through your mind.

The moment you discovered Obito was alive,

your entire mental state collapsed.

You started wondering why he never came to see you.

And very quickly… you arrived at the answer:

because Obito knows you killed Rin.

So he hates you.

Under that crushing weight of regret and guilt…

you began to hurt yourself.”

“…Yes.”

Kakashi gave another quiet nod.

“Actually… there’s no need for that.”

Byakuya continued gently.

“Nohara Rin’s death… really had nothing to do with you.

You don’t need to carry that blame.

It was her own choice.

She would rather die by her own hand than become a tool to destroy Konoha.

Yes—it’s cruel.

But dying by your hand…

was the only option she had left at that moment.

The only thing she could do to protect the village.”

“…Y-Yeah… that’s true…”

Kakashi nodded in a daze.

“And then there’s Obito.

If he truly believed you killed Rin,

he would definitely have come to confront you.

But he didn’t.

What does that mean?

It means he already knows the whole truth.

He knows Rin took her own life.

He knows that, in that situation, she had no other choice.

So…

he doesn’t blame you.

Otherwise, he would have come, yelled at you, and taken the Sharingan back.”

“…Yes… you’re right…”

A faint spark finally appeared in Kakashi’s eyes.

“Since he never came to take the eye back…

it means he still treasures that bond deeply.

So, Kakashi-sensei…

why are you drowning in sadness and guilt?

Finding out your old friend is still alive…

should be something to celebrate, don’t you think~?”

“But then why hasn’t he come to see me?”

“If he doesn’t hold much hatred toward you,

then there are only two possibilities for why he stays away.

The first is…

he doesn’t want to return to Konoha.

He just wants to hide in the shadows forever.

And wait for the right moment… to take revenge!

He wants revenge.

And moreover…

he doesn’t want to drag you into it!”

“Revenge…?”

Kakashi blinked in surprise.

“Yes!

And there’s one other possibility.

Maybe… someone saved him back then.

That’s why he survived.

And the person who saved him used some method to control Obito completely—

forcing him to do things in the dark that he never wanted to do.

But because of various reasons… he had no choice but to obey.

That’s why…

he doesn’t have the face to come see you anymore.”

“Right!

There’s that possibility too!”

“So no matter what the reason is…

you have to pull yourself together.

Only by standing up again can you actually solve anything.

You have to drag your friend Obito out of the shadows.

Stop him from doing things he might regret forever.

Don’t be afraid—the best way to conquer fear is to face it head-on.

Persistence… is victory!”

“You’re right!”

All at once, Kakashi straightened up.

The dead-fish eyes were gone; light had returned to them.

“Byakuya… thank you.”

“No problem.”

Byakuya smiled and nodded.

At this moment…

he suddenly felt like maybe he really could become a therapist.

“Doing therapy in the world of Naruto…

healing all these psychologically damaged kids…

Hmm…

seems like I could earn a ton of plot points this way!”

Shaking his head,

Byakuya tossed the ridiculous thought aside.

He turned and headed out to call Guy and the others back in.

…

Meanwhile,

in a hidden base deep in the mountains—

Orochimaru stared at the intelligence report in his hand.

A confident smile slowly spread across his face.

“The members of the Black-Robed Organization have all shown themselves.

And they’re still very, very far from Konoha.

They won’t be appearing in the village anymore!

In that case…

I can finally make my move!

This time…

no one will interfere!

Sasuke…

sooner or later, you will be mine!

You’re not getting away!”

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