July 2nd — 12:08 AM
Konohagakure.
Hokage's Office.
The squad captain who had awakened in the forbidden burial grounds stormed in with an emergency report—
Madara Uchiha's remains were gone.
"What did you just say?!" Naruto Uzumaki slammed his bandaged right hand onto the desk.
The mountain of paperwork toppled, scattering across the floor like fallen leaves.
"You're certain?" Naruto's voice was tight. "The one who broke into the restricted area and took Madara's body… was Uchiha Chen?"
"Yes, Seventh Hokage!" the captain answered hoarsely. "Years ago, I returned to the village on an assignment and saw Chen once. That face is unforgettable—I can't be wrong!"
"He took down my entire unit. And I was careless… I got caught by his Sharingan genjutsu and blacked out!"
Naruto's jaw clenched. "Casualties?"
"None," the captain said quickly. "No one died. Everyone was only knocked unconscious. I figured Chen wouldn't dare take it that far."
"…Good." Naruto let out a slow breath and sank back into his chair.
Both hands propped under his chin, he stared at the chaos of papers on the floor, trying to decide what to do next.
How did he slip past the barrier… and the Yamanaka sensory unit?
How did he come and go without leaving a trace?
Naruto didn't understand it.
But the fact was already carved into stone.
At that moment, Shikamaru Nara—standing beside him as Hokage's advisor—spoke up.
"Did Uchiha Chen leave any message?"
"Huh?" The captain blinked. "A message…! Right—yes. He did tell me to pass something to the Seventh!"
"What did he say?" Naruto asked.
The captain frowned, searching his memory. In the instant he'd fallen under genjutsu, a sentence had echoed in his head.
"…Something like: 'Tell the Hokage—I've warned you plenty of times. If you insist on doing nothing, then I'll do it my way.'"
Naruto's brow furrowed. "Warned us…? He said he warned us?"
He looked toward Shikamaru.
"Did Chen ever say he was going to take Madara's body?"
Shikamaru pinched his chin, thinking. Then he shook his head, firm.
"No."
"Over the past decade, he did send multiple letters to us—one-sided contact. But he never once mentioned taking Madara's remains."
Because it wasn't official correspondence between the five great nations, Chen's private letters never landed in Naruto's daily work stack.
They went to the advisor first—Shikamaru.
And Shikamaru had been the one to decide whether they were worth presenting.
Most of Chen's letters, Shikamaru thought, were either unrealistic… or alarmist.
So he withheld them.
It wasn't until three years ago—when Chen first mentioned that he was a descendant of the Uchiha—that Shikamaru finally told Naruto.
Naruto remembered what he'd thought back then:
A distant Uchiha branch, stationed long ago in the Land of Lightning to guard the Blood Prison clan's forbidden site… their identities long since buried as civilians.
Still… that makes him family to Sasuke, in some distant way.
Naruto had intended to make time to meet Chen in person.
But on the day the meeting was scheduled, the Fire Daimyō demanded an urgent audience.
Naruto had been forced to rush out so fast he didn't even have time to leave a Shadow Clone behind.
And just like that…
He stood Chen up.
Naruto's voice turned heavy with memory.
"That day… he waited a long time in the reception room, didn't he?"
The captain nodded quickly. "Yes! That's the day I saw him too. He was sitting there… and he kept looking down at his watch."
Naruto's eyes dimmed.
"After I didn't show… he went silent. No more contact."
"And now he does something like this…"
At the mention of that missed meeting, something flickered through Shikamaru's eyes—hard to read, hard to name.
Then he spoke, low.
"Naruto… at this point, there are things about Chen I should tell you."
Naruto's expression tightened. He gave the captain a look.
The captain understood immediately, left the office, and locked the door behind him—standing guard in the hallway.
Naruto leaned forward again, hands supporting his chin.
"Go ahead, Shikamaru."
Shikamaru lit a cigarette.
"I shouldn't have kept this from you," he said. "But what Chen wrote was too suspicious. So I investigated him privately a long time ago."
"First—his claim about being a descendant of the Uchiha is true."
"Back when the chaos caused by Kinkaku and Ginkaku spread through the Land of Lightning, it also reached the Uchiha who were stationed at the Blood Prison clan's forbidden site."
"Most of them died."
"A tiny number survived—and instead of returning to Konoha, they erased their names and settled in the Land of Lightning."
"Chen's parents were among them."
Shikamaru's voice grew colder.
"But their identities were exposed. That drew retaliation from surviving members of the Blood Prison clan."
"Chen's parents were killed."
"And that left only two brothers—Chen and Jin—to rely on each other."
Naruto's face tightened. If Madara's remains hadn't just been stolen, he might have felt sympathy at that point.
"That's… a rough life," Naruto muttered. "Then what?"
"After that," Shikamaru continued, "the surviving Blood Prison clan members started dying off one after another."
"Women and children included."
"That clan's survivors were completely wiped out."
"There's no confirmed proof it was Chen and Jin… but it's hard to believe they weren't involved."
Naruto's gaze lowered.
"Revenge… same road Sasuke walked. Like it's the Uchiha's fate."
Shikamaru nodded slightly, then kept going.
"Chen and Jin never joined any village system."
"They didn't enlist in the Allied Shinobi Forces."
"They didn't participate in the Fourth Great Ninja War."
"If they were truly civilians, avoiding a shinobi war isn't unforgivable."
"But everything he did after the war—his intent was too obvious."
"You, Naruto, were the greatest hero of the war. You had the strongest influence across the entire shinobi world—Five Kage in name and in fact."
"And Chen has ties to the Uchiha of Konoha."
"If he wanted to attach himself to you and find a safe place to belong… fine."
"But he chose the most attention-seeking, disruptive way possible."
Naruto frowned. "What do you mean—attention-seeking?"
Shikamaru flicked ash from his cigarette.
"He questioned the Hokage-centered governing system in his letters."
"He wrote that the Hokage—the village's top combat power—shouldn't waste time buried in paperwork."
"He wanted a separate administrative office to handle the Hokage's duties—so the Hokage could focus entirely on strength and training."
Shikamaru's annoyance sharpened.
"As if that's his place to say."
Naruto didn't respond. His expression stayed tense, but he didn't argue.
Shikamaru exhaled smoke.
"Then I heard his brother died."
Naruto's head snapped up. "How?"
"That part couldn't be traced," Shikamaru said. "No matter what I did."
"But after Jin's death, Chen's behavior started drifting off the normal path."
"Exchange offices. underground auctions. black markets."
"The kinds of places that live in the shadows of the shinobi world."
"And Chen's name kept showing up."
"In only a few years, he accumulated enough money to support a village like Konoha for years."
"A rogue shinobi with no village… gathering that much wealth—why?"
"It's hard not to think of the Akatsuki."
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed.
"If it ended there, I would've only seen him as a broker in the underground—someone who lost his family and started hoarding money."
"But what truly made me label him a dangerous individual…"
Shikamaru paused.
Then he said the words that made the room go still.
"In his letters, he claimed that Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's clan is still active on this land."
Naruto shot to his feet.
"What?!"
The name Ōtsutsuki hit like a blade.
When Naruto had first become Hokage, Sasuke Uchiha had gathered the Five Kage and raised a similar suspicion—Kaguya had created White Zetsu as soldiers, which implied other Ōtsutsuki might still be hiding in the shinobi world.
To confirm that suspicion, Sasuke had spent years investigating in secret.
And what Shikamaru said next was even worse.
"Even Sasuke hasn't confirmed it yet," Shikamaru said slowly.
"But Chen wrote something in his letters—something far too specific."
"He named one of them."
Naruto's eyes widened. "Who?"
Shikamaru's cigarette burned down between his fingers.
"I remember it clearly."
"Ōtsutsuki Isshiki."
Naruto repeated it under his breath. "Ōtsutsuki Isshiki…"
Seeing Naruto take it seriously, Shikamaru's tone turned skeptical again.
"My guess is simple."
"After that Five Kage discussion, someone leaked information."
"Chen heard a rumor… and started building a story around it."
Naruto's brows drew tight.
"But… why would he do that? What would he gain?"
Shikamaru's eyes sharpened.
"Three years ago—on the day you stood him up—I went to the reception room myself."
"I asked him, face-to-face, how he knew anything about the Ōtsutsuki."
Naruto leaned in. "And what did he say?"
Shikamaru gave a dry, humorless laugh.
"He said…"
"He saw it in a dream."
Naruto stiffened.
Shikamaru continued, voice flat.
"That kind of prophetic dreaming is the realm of the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku."
"Chen has no standing to claim something like that."
"He didn't even bother to make the lie convincing."
"But I didn't expose him on the spot."
"Maybe he had a reason he couldn't speak openly about."
So I chose a safer approach."
Naruto's voice dropped. "What did you do?"
"I told him directly: your behavior is too suspicious. As Hokage's advisor, I cannot trust you."
"If you want to prove yourself…"
"Then follow Konoha procedure."
"Seal your chakra."
"Stay in a holding cell."
"And let the Yamanaka clan verify whether what you're saying is true."
Naruto's jaw tightened. "And… how did Chen respond?"
Shikamaru's face darkened.
He lowered his head and lit another cigarette.
The flame flared.
Smoke rose like a warning.
Then Shikamaru said, slowly—
"That Uchiha Chen… he said…"