527 Naruto the Flame-Flame Fruit

Kiyosuke returned and began sorting through everything related to the Kara Organization, only to hear that the boy had run off—and that he'd even attacked Katasuke at the Scientific Ninja Tool Laboratory, getting bitten on the arm by Nue in the process.

At the same time, he'd also been beaten up by Shinichi, who had rushed over.

Still, the kid had used the power of the Kāma to absorb Shinichi's flames, but then got thoroughly pummeled by Shinichi's taijutsu and the techniques Orochimaru had taught him.

Youthful pride, huh.

But the brat still ran off afterward, fleeing to the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf. Kiyosuke decided to check on him. After all, the kid had a Kāma on him—there was no guarantee the Ōtsutsuki wouldn't be watching him. That strange presence might very well have been from them.

Koji Kashin?

He felt like he had heard that name before, but couldn't recall from where. The entire Leaf couldn't sense any unfamiliar chakra at all. The silence was unnatural.

Kiyosuke headed out. Since Kawaki had never trained in chakra, he couldn't sense his position accurately—he could only follow the traces he left behind.

Boom!

"That sound…"

Have ninja battles gotten that intense nowadays? Everything's just explosions. Kiyosuke followed the noise, landed in a tree, and saw a young boy fighting a bald man with three metal claws attached to each hand.

The ground around them was riddled with craters. The fight was clearly vicious.

Kiyosuke leapt in and kicked the bald man flying, his body smashing through who knew how many trees.

"Yo, we meet again."

"I really don't want to see you, you annoying bastard."

"Heh, don't say that. Seems my brat roughed you up a bit." He glanced at the boy's injuries and smiled.

"Hah? That weird-bodied guy? If my arm wasn't injured, he'd be dead!"

"Heh, ever since my son got beaten last time, he reflected on it and started training hard." Shinichi was indeed grinding himself into the ground. He didn't want the same thing happening again, so he was pushing himself relentlessly.

"Hm?" Kiyosuke turned, seeing the burly man staggering back to his feet, veins bulging, skin turning red—furious to the extreme.

"You little punks! I'm an Outer of Kara! I'm Lord Boro! Tired of living, are we?! Kawaki, just you wait! Once I kill this guy, I'll grab you! As long as I bring you in, I'll be promoted to Inner!"

"So his name is Kawaki? I see." Kiyosuke stroked his chin and laughed. "Looks like you're pretty special in Kara. A runaway?"

"Tch! I was never one of them!"

Kawaki snapped.

"Let's deal with this idiot first." Boro unleashed a laser cannon from both hands, engulfing Kiyosuke instantly.

All that remained were two flaming legs. Boro burst into wild laughter.

"That's what happens when you piss off Lord Boro! Hahaha!!!"

Kawaki stared at the legs, a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

"A father and son with the exact same gross hobby."

He remembered that guy using the same trick on him before—he'd let his guard down and taken a beating for it.

Boro approached, only to realize the two legs were moving on their own, walking straight toward him.

He flinched. "What the hell is that?!"

"Someone even weirder than us," Kawaki muttered.

An instant later, Boro was kicked flying again. Kiyosuke reassembled his body.

"Hey now, firing a laser cannon without a word? Makes me look weak, doesn't it?"

"Bastard!" Boro opened his claws, unleashing a barrage of lasers.

Kiyosuke raised his hand and used the Kāma to absorb all of them, refilling his chakra.

"That's impossible! No way!" Boro's eyes bulged. A hand suddenly filled his vision as Kiyosuke grabbed his bald head.

"Die."

Boom!!!

A massive column of fire blasted forward, clearing dozens of meters of forest in an instant.

"Now that's a laser. Maybe a bit overkill." He tossed aside Boro's headless corpse, then smiled at Kawaki.

"Alright, come back with me. Compared to Kara, you'd prefer the Leaf, right?"

"You'll just lock me up anyway, won't you?" Kawaki backed away, ready to bolt, no intention of following him.

"Since you're here, come on out. No point hiding."

A white-haired man in a black robe and mask stepped forward, sighing.

"As expected of you. Your sensory perception is terrifying."

"Koji Kashin?!" Kawaki retreated, eyes full of caution.

"Your chakra feels very familiar to me. Have we met before?" Kiyosuke asked.

"This is our first time."

Koji Kashin answered flatly.

"Really? Maybe I'm mistaken. By the way… do you like beautiful women?" The sudden question left both Kawaki and Koji stunned. Koji recovered a beat later, his heart skipping, falling silent.

But Kiyosuke kept going.

"You know, the blonde twin-tails type? Big chest, terrible temper? You into that?"

"You…"

Koji was shaken.

"You really don't think like a normal person."

"So you admit it? I knew it. How else could an outsider enter the Leaf without anyone noticing?"

The Leaf's sensory barrier detects unregistered chakra signatures and alerts the sensor-nin. But Koji had entered unnoticed. That meant he had registered chakra.

White hair… and Jiraiya had once said a summoner of toads had attacked him. It wasn't hard to deduce the man's identity.

Most likely, a clone created from Jiraiya's remains.

Did Jiraiya seriously not secure his own genetic material? Then again, a man who spent his life drinking and chasing women probably lost a hair or two somewhere. Someone must have picked it up and cloned him.

A clone identical to Jiraiya—except without his memories. The chakra signature would be the same. And if this guy was part of Kara, his position probably wasn't low.

"Hey, what do you mean? You know him?" Kawaki asked.

"More or less." Kiyosuke said. "Now then, I'm taking the kid. Think you can stop me?"

"…"

Koji Kashin went quiet for a moment.

"I don't wish to fight you. But Kawaki is very important to us."

"That kid is important to you. And what does that have to do with me? Fighting you means nothing to me."