"Uchiha Madara's disciple?"
At the mention of that name, the Wind and Water Kage remained relatively composed, but Ōnoki was the first to cry out in shock. Among everyone present, no one carried a deeper impression of Madara than he did.
He had lived through Madara's era.
He had witnessed Madara's invincible might.
That overwhelming, terrifying power that made the entire world tremble.
"Are you sure it was that Uchiha Madara from Konoha?"
Ōnoki's usual dismissive attitude vanished, his brows knitting with rare severity. He peppered the Raikage with questions:
"Did you see his Sharingan? Did it reach the level of the Mangekyō?"
"Sharingan? Mangekyō?"
This time, it was the Raikage who looked baffled. He knew what the Sharingan was, but what on earth was a "Mangekyō"?
"So the man who claimed to be Madara's disciple wasn't an Uchiha at all?" Ōnoki immediately understood from the Raikage's expression. A sigh of relief escaped him. As long as it wasn't an Uchiha, as long as it wasn't a Mangekyō Sharingan, things weren't quite as dire.
Back then, Uchiha Madara had been the symbol of invincibility. Alone, he had pressed the other four Great Nations to the point of suffocation, forcing them to live in his shadow.
Thankfully, he'd died in Konoha's internal strife.
Otherwise, the true nightmare would have been for the other villages.
Imagine if, before the Uchiha Massacre, the clan had defected en masse to Iwagakure. What would Ōnoki have done? Would he have dissected their Sharingan for study?
"Ōnoki, even without the Sharingan, he's a terrifying opponent," the Raikage cut in, seeing the Tsuchikage's relief and growing irritated. "Don't underestimate him."
Ōnoki snorted. "I know better than anyone how great a threat Madara posed, Raikage. I'm one of the few who survived his time."
"Raikage, there's more you haven't told us, isn't there?" Rasa interjected smoothly, urging him to continue.
"Indeed," the Raikage nodded. "What I described earlier was only the first attack. The second came when I was away from the village. By the time I rushed back, the battle was already over — and my brother was gone."
"But we did gather some useful information. Perhaps because of their haste, a few survivors were left alive."
He paused, then continued:
"According to those survivors, the attackers' bodies had been modified — much like my own arm, but on a far greater scale. Not just their limbs, but their very bodies."
"Kunai and shuriken couldn't harm them. Even ninjutsu was useless."
"And their leader was a man wearing a half-silver mask. He too called himself Koji Kashin."
"Too?" Mei's sharp instincts caught on immediately.
"That's right. The man who led the first attack on Kumogakure also claimed to be Koji Kashin."
Rasa spoke again: "Are you sure it wasn't the same man?"
"The first was a pure taijutsu fighter. The second was a ninjutsu specialist with a broad arsenal. There's no way they were the same person."
The Raikage's voice dropped, heavy and grim.
"Which is why I suspect Koji Kashin isn't a person at all — but an organization."
"The group that attacked Kumogakure calls itself 'Koji Kashin.' All of its high-ranking members assume the name."
"At first I thought Koji Kashin was an individual. Now I see it's nothing but a codename."
"Perhaps there is no Koji Kashin at all. Or perhaps… everyone is Koji Kashin."
Naruto: "???"
Wait, what kind of operation is this?
Even he had to admit, the Raikage's wild imagination was impressive.
"So you think Uchiha Madara created this organization?" the Tsuchikage asked, following the Raikage's line of thought.
Mei added, "Or perhaps the core members — the ones calling themselves Koji Kashin — are Madara's disciples?"
The Raikage nodded. "Exactly."
Naruto: "??!!!"
Hold up. Did all their IQs just sink to the Raikage's level? And now he's going to beat them all with sheer 'experience'?!
His expression twisted strangely.
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it sounded. Madara had left Konoha for years before returning to battle Hashirama at the Valley of the End, where both fell. No one knew what he had done during those missing years. Training disciples, even leaving descendants, wasn't impossible.
Madara founding "Koji Kashin" as an organization… Madara teaching disciples as his trump card… all to prepare for his resurrection.
Uchiha Madara, the shinobi world's greatest schemer?
It all fit so well, Naruto almost believed it himself.
The key was that Madara had left behind contingencies — just not this.
"They didn't kill my brother. They captured him. Before that, they also captured the Two-Tails' jinchūriki. Their goal is to gather the tailed beasts."
The Raikage's words shook the room.
"The Two-Tails was taken as well?" Ōnoki's face darkened. "Then it's true — they're hunting bijū."
On any other day, the Tsuchikage would have been secretly delighted at Kumogakure's misfortune. But if Madara's name was involved, then it had to be taken seriously.
Mei too gave a grave nod of agreement.
Hearing all this, Naruto's eyes flickered strangely as he glanced at the three Kage locked in heated discussion. With completely wrong information, they'd still reached the conclusion closest to the truth.
Is this that old saying… three cobblers make a Zhuge Liang?
Scary stuff.
Still, the appearance of a "real" Koji Kashin caught Naruto off guard. He had originally intended the name as nothing more than a disguise for himself. To think the genuine article had shown up…
The truth was this: Koji Kashin was a clone of Jiraiya, created by the mad scientist Amado. No one knew exactly when the cloning had happened. Theoretically, it could have been before Jiraiya's death at the hands of Pain. It wasn't impossible.
In fact, going further — the current Koji Kashin and the future Koji Kashin might not even be the same individual. After all, who could say Amado had limited himself to just one clone?
But another question loomed: with so many villages possessing tailed beasts, why had the enemy chosen Kumogakure first?
In Boruto, they had first targeted Konoha for its Scientific Ninja Tools. Targeting Kumo couldn't have been solely for the Eight-Tails.
What else in Kumogakure was worth such trouble?
Naruto cast a discreet glance at Rasa. His voice rang in the Kazekage's mind, prompting Rasa's eyes to flicker before he spoke aloud:
"Raikage… you're still hiding something, aren't you?"
"Kumo lost more than just the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails."
The Raikage gave a bitter smile. "As expected of Rasa. You're right."
"They didn't only take my brother and the Two-Tails. They also stole one of the Sage of Six Paths' treasured tools — the Amber Purifying Pot — and…"
His face darkened further.
"…Kumogakure's secret weapon, the Chakra Cannon."