Why Did Kakashi Kill Rin Nohara in Naruto?

Updated May 12, 2024 by testing

We all have something to hide, something we wished had never happened, a secret so big that we’d protect to our grace and Kakashi’s turned out to be oversized. Yup, Even the Kakkoii Copy Ninja has a shameful past that he would like to forget all about.

Kind, caring, strong, and most importantly without prejudice, Kakashi was a role model for our MC as well as ours.

Merciless while dealing with enemies and soft as a sheep when it’s his friends that he is facing, shocked is a weak world when we learn that is the ANBU, our ninja is known as “Friend Killer Kakashi”.

We all thought that there was some kind of misunderstanding, he might’ve endorsed the crime of someone else on his shoulder or maybe he was framed. However, one thing is for sure, there is no way Kakashi ever laid a finger on one of his friends.

Well, when we saw his hand piercing through the body of Rin Nohara there wasn’t much we could say to defend our favorite Sensei anymore.

He had killed his Nakama in cold blood, the rumors were true! However, there is still something that doesn’t smell right… You can feel it as well, right? There is something more to the story, something deeper. Let’s get to the bottom of it together, what do you say?

Table of Contents

HOW DID RIN NOHARA MEET HER END?

How did Rin become a Jinchuuriki?

Now, a lot of things just don’t make sense here. Why would ninjas from the Mist village travel all the way to kidnap a Konohagakure student only to hand him their own tailed beast on a silver platter?

The answer is simple, that wasn’t actually their plan to begin with and they weren’t acting of their own volition.

Madara who was trying to gather all the missing pieces of the puzzle to accomplish his goal was spreading chaos at the time.

He brainwashed the entire Mist Village and forced them to undertake a plan he had come up with. Under his order, they sealed the Three-Tail, Isobu, inside Rin.

However, they didn’t stop there, they also placed a Jiunjitsu known as the Forbidden Individual Curse Tag which is a spell that forces the target to fall under the control of the caster (Naruto Shippuden Anime: Episode 345).

Check Out: 10+ MANGA where MC is an OP God (RANKED)

What was Madara’s plan?

Madara was aiming to trigger another catastrophe inside the Hidden Leaf Village. Ordered to go back to the village, when Rin was supposed to arrive, the tailed beast would go berserk.

The seal was supposed to break, and he would escape from inside her body, killing her in the process, and move on to destroying the Leaf Village from the inside just like Kurama once did in the past (Naruto Shippuden Anime: Episode 345).

Did Kakashi have no other choice than to kill Rin to save the Village?

After Rin’s kidnapping, Kakashi who was a member of the ANBU at the time was tasked to save her and he had every intention to bring her back to the village unharmed. Afterall, he did promise Obito that he would protect her.

He caught up with the Mist Village ninjas but it was a bit too late. Rin had already become their Jinchuuriki.

Unable to explain the situation to Kakashi due to the curse that was placed on her, Rin was trying to find a way to prevent the catastrophe and the only thing she could think of was death.

Unable to commit suicide since the tailed beast will be preventing her to do so, she turned to Kakashi asking him to do the impossible, take her life with his own hands.

Of course, without any hesitation, Kakashi refused categorically, and even if he knew what the end game was, his answer would’ve been the same. In the end, there is nothing he cherishes more than his friends.

He continued to battle with the Mist Village kidnapper, activated a Chidori that he was aiming at an enemy and as he was unleashing his technique, Rin jumped in between, taking the Chidori right through her chest.

Check Out: 21+ Best Fights in My Hero Academia (RANKED)

With a smile on her face, she passed away knowing that she saved the village she adored, and saved her friends and family, but at the same time she threw two people into despair.

Okay, so the first person she obviously ruined is Kakashi. Even if it wasn’t intentional, he had her blood on his hand. As a consequence, the whole village labeled him as a cruel friend killer. But who is the second person I mentioned?

Check Out: 41+ Best BEST Manhua to READ! (Chinese) (RANKED)

Repercussions of Rin’s death

Some episodes before the beginning of those events, we witnessed Obito’s death when he was flattened under a pile of rubble.

During that time, he gave one of his Sharingan to Kakashi and made him promise to protect Rin, the girl that he loved.

Believed to be dead, his two teammates grieved for him and tried to live up to his expectations, taking care of each other while benefiting the village by becoming outstanding ninjas.

Truth is, Obito didn’t actually die. He was saved by White Zetsu who was following Madara’s order.

His body, which was in a terrible condition, could not be healed, so the best way to fix him was to remove the damaged parts and replace them with members grown from the cells of the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju.

While recovering, he was barely able to move. It was only when he got wind of what was going on with his friends that he got out of bed to go and help them.

He arrived at the scene just in time to see Kakashi impaling Rin with his Chidori. As you might expect, all of that was also planned from the beginning by the cunning Madara.

He needed an ally, someone who had nothing to lose, someone who was drowning in rage, and the perfect candidate was Obito, he just needed a little push to fall completely under his control and that push was Rin’s murder.

Obito wanted her back, and he didn’t just want her back as she was before, infatuated with Kakashi, he wanted her to be his.

He knew that bringing someone back from the dead is impossible, however, she could be revived in a dream.

He had nothing left, his life turned into a nightmare, so why continued living it? He became Madara’s ally and together they planned on activating the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

He danced in the palm of the Uchihas hand from the beginning till the end. He turned evil and became one of the most crucial pieces in his plan.

He played a huge role during the Fourth Shinobi War and gathered all the needed elements for the revival of Madara as well as the birth of the Ten-Tails.

It is safe to say that Madara would’ve stayed in his grave without the intervention of Obito and all the disasters that came after would’ve never happened (Naruto Shippuden Anime: Episode 345).

Who knew the truth behind Rin’s death?

Actually, very few people really know what actually happened that day. Of course, the perpetrators are aware of the facts, that would be Zetsu as well as Madara and Rin who are now dead.

After meeting the “Friend Killer Kakashi” and getting to know him, Yamato realized that the rumors about him were completely false, however, the truth was never revealed to him.

Finally, after many years, when Kakashi and Obito faced each other again, Kakashi explained to his friend what had happened and now Obito is also in the loop.

We will also include Isobu, I mean he is a character with a will as well and he witnessed everything, so he counts.

Conclusion

Never call Kakashi a friend killer ever again. The ANBU came to their own conclusion without even trying to understand the facts of the matter.

They persecuted the most kindhearted character of the series, and we will not be part of it. Well, to be hosted, even when I thought for a sec that Kakashi killed Rin, I still adored him.

Also, there is a very important lesson that can be drawn from those events. Never judge based on only what you can see. Always give someone the benefit of the doubt and please always be careful when dealing with people way smarter than you, those bastards love to manipulate others.

Actually, that small event opened so many doors to so many different mysteries in the Naruto series that I could’ve rambled on for pages. But I’ll stop here and explain the rest in my next blog.

So, tell me, what would you like explained next? What are you curious about? Or what would you like others to discover?

Don’t hold back, tell us what you want in the comment section below, and we will be sure to fulfill it! Thanks for keeping up with me so far, my dear reader, hope to hear from you in the next one, Toodaloo!

References:

Naruto Shippuden Anime: Episode 345