525 Naruto the Flame-Flame Fruit

The northern region of the Land of Fire had a crashed airship. Such a thing had never appeared in the shinobi world, so Konoha took it very seriously.

This thing was enormous. Ordinary shinobi didn't have the funds or power to build something like this, so Konoha sent people to investigate. Konohamaru and his friend Moegi came out to look for clues.

Kiyosuke arrived nearby quickly. Hearing one explosion after another, he looked up in that direction.

"Looks like something's wrong. That airship definitely has issues."

He rushed over and saw Konohamaru and a Konoha ninja wearing goggles fighting a group of puppets.

The puppets kept spitting out firebombs one after another. Konohamaru and the Konoha ninja named Moegi were blown around nonstop, unable even to counterattack.

They were being completely suppressed by the puppets.

"These puppets are interesting… but let's break them first." Kiyosuke clenched his fist and shouted to Konohamaru and the others:

"Konohamaru, move!"

"Kiyosuke-sama?!"

"What?! Kiyosuke-sama?!" Moegi turned, exchanged a look with Konohamaru, and ran as far as possible.

"Fire Fist!!!"

A massive flaming fist tore through the forest, swallowing the puppets. When the flames faded, only charred debris remained. The ground shimmered from the heat, and not far away, an airship lay crashed.

"Kiyosuke-sama, why are you here?"

Konohamaru came to his side.

"I'm curious about this airship, and I feel it's related to whoever's behind everything. So I came. How is it? Did you find anything?"

"We entered the airship and were immediately attacked by those puppets. If you hadn't come, we would've been in real danger."

"I see. Let's take a look… hm?" He looked up. An explosion sounded from not far away.

"Besides you two, is anyone else here?"

"It's only us. Could it be someone else?"

"That makes things interesting. Let's see." Kiyosuke and the others headed toward the explosion. Standing on a tree, they saw on a clearing below a boy in a blue coat fighting puppets.

The boy had strange armor on one arm—like stone, covered in molten-like patterns.

After blocking the puppets' firebombs, he rushed in and shattered the puppets with impressive taijutsu, every strike full of power.

"What incredible taijutsu… even some of Konoha's chunin don't fight like that," Konohamaru said in awe.

"He's impressive. And he isn't using chakra—he's relying entirely on physical strength and that special armor." Kiyosuke touched his chin. "Interesting. Let's observe a bit—hm?"

Just as he prepared to keep watching, fiery red markings suddenly appeared on the boy's left arm, spreading across the left side of his face.

"So this kid has Kāma… then…"

He was also a vessel chosen by an Ōtsutsuki. And judging by his proficiency, he'd used it quite a lot.

"Hm?" He lifted his own arm. He hadn't activated his Kāma, but the marks still appeared—blue patterns creeping across half his face. Konohamaru and Moegi jumped in shock.

"Kiyosuke-sama—your face?!"

"It's nothing. Just power I've been mastering. No need to worry."

It was likely his Kāma reacting to the boy's, resonating with it.

"Hey, Momoshiki, can you tell whose Kāma that boy has?"

"Lower creature, address me as Momoshiki-sama!" Now, Momoshiki couldn't do anything to Kiyosuke. Even though Kiyosuke's body was gradually transforming toward an Ōtsutsuki, his will was too strong. And that Orochimaru had used a special method to separate the effects of the Kāma.

Momoshiki couldn't influence Kiyosuke's mind at all. But Kiyosuke's body was still changing day by day, gaining Ōtsutsuki abilities—letting him take all the benefits.

Momoshiki's own revival was nowhere in sight. Unless Kiyosuke collapsed from chakra exhaustion and lost consciousness, he'd never claim the body.

What am I even doing?!

Why did I choose such a monster as my vessel?!

He shouldn't have selected him just because of his massive chakra. This guy couldn't be measured by "lowly creature" standards.

Thinking about it, Momoshiki regretted it so much he could cry.

The Ōtsutsuki required a vessel capable of containing immense chakra. If the vessel couldn't contain it, even reincarnation would be flawed, with a short lifespan, forcing them to pick a new vessel—wasteful and risky.

He thought Naruto and Sasuke were troublesome and might cause problems, so he chose this "Kiyosuke." Huge chakra, decent strength, not as absurd as Naruto or Sasuke… but in the end, this was worse…

The guy had analyzed the Kāma and even used sheer willpower to suppress Momoshiki's consciousness. Who was the real monster here?

As for that kid—he was clearly a vessel chosen by some Ōtsutsuki. But who?

Urashiki, maybe?

Definitely not Kaguya. Could it be Isshiki? Wasn't he killed by Kaguya?

Momoshiki kept thinking and didn't answer Kiyosuke.

Seeing Momoshiki wouldn't speak, Kiyosuke didn't bother. The kid was still fighting, using his special ability to shape the armor into blades, slicing the puppets apart. Once done, he collapsed to the ground, panting hard.

Kiyosuke floated down lightly beside him with a smile.

"Kid, you're pretty good."

"Who are you?!" The boy instantly formed a blade, eyes full of hostility.

"No need to panic. I'm a Konoha shinobi—look at the forehead protector." He pointed at the Konoha symbol.

But the boy didn't care, eyes glinting dangerously. Without a word, he slashed at Kiyosuke.

Fast, precise, ruthless!

No hesitation. Pure decisiveness.

The blade cut through Kiyosuke's neck—but even headless, Kiyosuke's body still moved. His hand chopped the boy's neck lightly, knocking him out instantly.

The moment he touched the kid, Kiyosuke saw Momoshiki's figure in his mind, staring at him with disdain.

"Lower creature!"

"Tch." Kiyosuke clicked his tongue. Momoshiki could only vent with words now—nothing more.

As for the kid, taking him back to Konoha should let them learn plenty.