528 Naruto the Flame-Flame Fruit

"Looks like there's nothing left to talk about?"

Koji Kashin watched the man before him with full caution. This opponent wasn't ordinary—he was once Konoha's strongest, now still ranked among the top three. Underestimating him would be a fatal mistake.

This smiling man was anything but easy to deal with.

Koji Kashin remained on full alert toward Kiyosuke, paying attention to every small movement he made.

Kawaki noticed Koji Kashin's unease, and couldn't help but look at Kiyosuke with newfound respect. Koji Kashin was part of Kara's Inner Circle—every Inner had immense power. Yet Kiyosuke could pressure him like this… Had his strength already reached such a level?

"Heh! Koji Kashin, I thought you were supposed to be strong. Didn't expect you to get so scared you don't dare move."

"Kawaki, that pathetic provocation won't work on me. You don't understand how terrifying this man is. He's a hero who ended two Shinobi World Wars—he's the very definition of strength. He protected Konoha for twenty, thirty years." Koji Kashin said heavily.

"Haha, come on, I'm not that amazing. But keep going, I like hearing it."

"..."

"..."

Alright, shamelessness was also one of his top traits.

"Enough talk. Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"

He spat out a fireball, but Kiyosuke casually smacked it aside.

"Fire Style of that scale doesn't really work on me anymore." Kiyosuke chuckled, suddenly flashing in front of Koji Kashin and throwing a punch.

Koji Kashin reacted quickly, crossing his arms to block. The impact pushed him back several steps.

"What power… He's over forty, and yet he's still this strong. His physical condition should have started declining by now."

As expected, this guy couldn't be judged by common sense. Koji Kashin immediately widened the distance, slapped his palms to the ground, and shouted,

"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!"

"What is this?!"

Kawaki panicked. The solid ground beneath him suddenly turned soft like cotton, and his legs were already sinking. He couldn't pull himself free.

"Jiraiya-sensei's Swamp of the Underworld? Looks like you learned a lot of his techniques."

Kiyosuke's legs ignited with flame, burning him free. He grabbed Kawaki and leapt away onto a tree.

"Troublesome." Koji Kashin frowned, but he had to bring Kawaki back.

Seeing Swamp of the Underworld fail, Koji Kashin didn't hesitate. He formed hand seals, then flames burst around his fists as he engaged Kiyosuke in close combat.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Their fists collided again and again, each strike exploding with fire. The sheer skill of their taijutsu was dazzling.

Kiyosuke was surprised. He had assumed Jiraiya's clone Koji Kashin would match Jiraiya's original strength—but it was clear Koji Kashin surpassed the original body.

No—this body was younger, in its prime. Not only that, Koji Kashin's personality wasn't anything like Jiraiya—he was ruthless, decisive. Aside from similar abilities and possibly appearance, they were essentially two different people.

Bang!

Kiyosuke punched Koji Kashin back and said,

"You're not my match. Jiraiya-sensei specialized in Fire Style. You're the same. So give up."

"That's impossible. I must take Kawaki back." Koji Kashin refused. It was his mission—he had to bring Kawaki back.

Even though he personally didn't want to.

Kawaki was extremely important to their leader, Jigen. Even if Koji Kashin didn't want to return Kawaki, pressure forced him to comply.

Had the plan failed?

As he thought that, Kiyosuke's attacks continued without pause. Koji Kashin had no time to think—he had to keep fighting.

Kawaki saw the situation and realized this was the perfect chance to flee. He turned and ran.

Neither of them bothered to stop him. Let him run—for now. They could catch him later after finishing the fight.

"Sage Mode!"

Seeing he couldn't overpower Kiyosuke, Koji Kashin entered Sage Mode. A massive blue chakra sphere formed in his palm.

"Sage Art: Super Big Ball Rasengan!"

The enormous Rasengan descended toward Kiyosuke. Kiyosuke held out his hand as the Kāma markings spread across his face, absorbing the Super Big Ball Rasengan.

"What?!"

Koji Kashin stared at him in shock.

"I didn't expect Momoshiki's Kāma to be on you!"

Kara had investigated—they assumed Momoshiki would place his Kāma on Naruto or Sasuke. Who would have thought it ended up on Kiyosuke?

"Yeah. It's pretty useful."

Koji Kashin looked at him with something like pity.

"Useful, sure. Since you already have the Kāma… then farewell."

With that, he turned and fled, seemingly because Kiyosuke had revealed the Kāma.

"Tch. Looks like this thing has more meaning behind it." Kiyosuke shook his head. He suspected Kāma had more purposes than just reincarnation.

"Whatever. Time to find Kawaki."

...

Soon after, he dragged Kawaki back to Konoha.

He handed the boy over to Naruto, letting him take care of him. That was Naruto's idea—since Kawaki had a Kāma, he was extremely important to Kara, and keeping him at home was safer.

As for Kiyosuke, he was never raising kids again. Too exhausting.

"That guy's living at Naruto-san's place?" Shinichi clicked his tongue in annoyance.

He was still hung up about what happened with Kawaki.

"You brat, no missions today?"

"Sumire's been working at the Scientific Ninja Tools Lab. Our squad's down a member, so we haven't had many missions. Dad, teach me ninjutsu." Shinichi begged.

"Alright."

He had nothing better to do anyway—might as well guide his son's training.

Father and son reached the training grounds. Shinichi formed a hand seal and grinned.

"Dad, let me show you my Sage Mode!"

"Sage Mode?!" Kiyosuke blinked. He didn't remember his son learning that.

"Just learned it recently. White Snake Sage taught me. It hurt like crazy!" Shinichi shuddered at the memory.

"It does hurt. I almost died learning it."

He would never forget that pain. Even now he still had phantom aches thinking about it.

He shivered. "Why'd you suddenly decide to learn Sage Mode?"

"Because I want to protect my comrades."

He never wanted to feel that helplessness again.

"Then come."

"Okay! Here I go!"

Sage markings appeared on Shinichi's face as he rushed in.

With Sage Mode, his strength increased dramatically—but his opponent was his father.

Even with Sage Mode, he still couldn't win.

Kiyosuke said, "Even if you've mastered Sage Mode, you still need to learn patience. Until you truly control this power, play dirty when you have to. Being cautious is never a bad thing."

It was for his son's own good. Learning Sage Mode didn't mean he could ignore everything else.