"He actually said my brain was fried..."
Naruto looked puzzled. "Your brain was fried?"
"Yeah. I even had Ino examine me afterward. There was nothing wrong with my brain."
"Anyway, Chen left. He wasn't willing to cooperate with us."
Shikamaru took a deep drag of his cigarette, steadied himself, and said, "Maybe my words that day were indeed a little unfriendly. But I think if he truly knew the future and genuinely cared about the ninja world's safety, he should have been able to endure that level of humiliation."
"Uchiha Chen either lacked the responsibility and resolve a ninja striving for the world's safety ought to have, or he had a guilty conscience. The facts have proven it was the latter!"
Naruto saw nothing wrong with Shikamaru's probing and assessment of Chen. Back when the Fourth Great Ninja War had ended, even Sasuke, whose accomplishments had been no less than Naruto's, had first been imprisoned in Konoha to await judgment before having his merits offset his crimes. A ninja should have a ninja's resolve!
"After that, Uchiha Chen completely vanished without a trace."
"Considering everything he did before and after, I've concluded that Uchiha Chen is an opportunist from the Era of Peace—a dangerous element! He wants to rely on war to make a fortune!"
"People like that are everywhere. Your time as Hokage is precious, so I saw no reason to alarm you specifically and didn't tell you what happened in the reception room."
"But I never expected Uchiha Chen to set his sights on Madara's corpse, or to be so brazen that he didn't even bother concealing it."
"Mm." After hearing Shikamaru's account, Naruto was deeply disappointed. I'd even wanted to introduce Chen to Sasuke, so he'd know he still had a clansman. I never thought he'd be this kind of person. What a disappointment...
He then said, "None of that is important now. The question is, what does Chen want Madara's remains for?"
Shikamaru guessed, "There are two possibilities. One, he intends to perform Impure World Reincarnation himself. That's less likely, because after the war ended, the scrolls containing that technique were permanently destroyed. Very few people in the world still know it—unless Chen has connections to some of them... Kabuto probably isn't a problem. As for the other one... I'll reserve judgment for now."
Naruto nodded. "Mm, Orochimaru... He is indeed somewhat suspicious."
Shikamaru said, "The other possibility is more likely. Chen may be planning to use his ties to the Underground World to profit from Madara's remains. If Madara's corpse appeared in the world, it would probably cause a huge stir in the Underground World!"
"But whichever it is, Chen's plans probably won't work, because Sasuke personally placed seals on that coffin! The moment it's opened, Madara's remains will be completely destroyed!"
With that, Shikamaru stubbed out his cigarette in the portable ashtray he carried and picked up the documents scattered across the floor.
Naruto called the squad captain in. There was something he urgently needed to clarify.
"Did you see Chen's eyes? Were they ordinary Sharingan, or Mangekyo Sharingan?"
"They were ordinary Sharingan!"
"Are you sure?"
The squad captain said with absolute certainty, "I'm sure! His eyes didn't have special patterns like Lord Sasuke's! They were Three Tomoe!"
Naruto weighed it in his heart. With ordinary Sharingan, he broke through the Guardian Barrier around the restricted area and defeated an elite squad without injury... Conservatively speaking, Chen is as strong as Sasuke was after finishing his training under Orochimaru!
Shikamaru said, "We've also been lax in our precautions these past few years. If the squad guarding the restricted area had been equipped with the latest products from the Konoha Science Unit—Scientific Ninja Tool scrolls—dealing with him would have been easy!"
"One thing is suspicious, though. How did he know where Madara's corpse was being kept?"
Naruto pondered. "The Sharingan can manipulate minds and perceive intelligence. If Chen set his mind to it, it wouldn't have been difficult. What's done is done. What we need to do next is solve it..."
"Screech!" A piercing cry suddenly rang out from the sky outside the window!
Naruto rose and looked outside. "That's Sasuke's Messenger Hawk..."
Shikamaru was startled. "Sasuke contacting us after so many years? It must be something important."
He told the Anbu squad captain, "Go back and rest first. Tell everyone not to blame themselves. This incident has also sounded an alarm for us!"
After the squad captain left, Naruto opened the scroll. Once he had read it, his expression turned grave.
"What happened?"
"It's like this..."
"What? Someone with a Mangekyo Sharingan? They stalked and ambushed Sasuke?"
"Yes. The other party calls himself Shin Uchiha, and he's a child!"
Naruto put down the scroll. "The situation is urgent. It seems Chen's matter will have to be set aside for now. Shikamaru, have the Barrier Team change the barrier passcodes and tell the Sensory Unit to heighten its vigilance..."
Shikamaru asked, "Should we issue a wanted notice for Chen?"
After considering it, Naruto said, "Hold off for now. What he did is too sensitive. It's best if we handle this internally first! Also, compile Chen's information. When I get the chance, I'll show it to Sasuke!"
12:32 a.m.
The images flooding Madara's mind froze on Konoha's devastated land. Boruto and Kawaki, their bodies covered in tattoos, stood facing each other atop the shattered Hokage Rock!
—"The age of ninja is over!"
The food on the table had gone completely cold.
Madara stared fixedly into Chen's eyes. "Give me an explanation!"
Chen said, "I once had the ability to foresee the future to a certain extent through dreams. In that genjutsu just now, I merely used the Sharingan to project what I had already foreseen for you."
He had planned that explanation long ago. His identity as a transmigrator could not be exposed, so "foresight" was a necessary cover story.
However, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations had not yet ended when Chen transmigrated, so he did not know the entire future. That was why he added the qualifier "once," leaving himself room to maneuver.
Foreseeing... the future? Madara did not dismiss it as scornfully as Shikamaru had. He had witnessed Chen's heaven-defying abilities. If Chen could even perform Time Reversal, foreseeing the future was not too outrageous.
But Madara would not believe him so easily.
"How do you prove that the images you foresaw are the future?"
"Because I once foresaw the Fourth Great Ninja War, and then the war truly happened. The course of the war and its details were exactly the same as in my dreams."
"Of course, the future foreseen in dreams was what would happen if I did not intervene. Depending on the interference I make, the actual future may also change."
"Words are no proof. How can you make me believe this is the future, rather than scenes woven by your profound genjutsu mastery?"
Madara's insistence at that moment was less doubt than unwillingness to accept it.
Kinshiki, Momoshiki, Urashiki, even an existence like Isshiki—Madara could accept all of them!
What he could not accept was that during the End of the Fourth Great Ninja War, he, at one point, had suppressed the pair of peerless youths in their prime Six Paths state! Naruto and Sasuke! Yet they had fallen into the miserable state he had just seen in the genjutsu!
Their inaction was practically dragging down Madara's own standing as well!
"It's simple. If what happened in the genjutsu truly comes to pass, that proves it, doesn't it?"
Chen answered calmly, lowering his head to glance at his watch.
12:58 a.m.
"This afternoon, the battle shown in the genjutsu—Naruto and Sasuke against Shin Uchiha—will take place as scheduled. Why don't we go witness it ourselves?"
1:06 a.m.
Chen and Madara ended their late-night talk and agreed to witness Naruto and Sasuke's battle against Shin Uchiha that afternoon.
Chen descended into the [Otsutsuki Time Zone] nurtured by Omodaru.
A long white corridor stretched ahead, lined on both sides with doors to white cubicles.
Chen stopped before one of the doors and pushed it open.
It was a small Japanese-style room, roughly four and a half tatami mats in size.
A frozen coffin rested quietly atop the altar in the center.
After thawing it, Chen opened the coffin lid and looked at Lord Madara's body inside.
—"It's time to prepare the 'materials' I need to awaken the Rinnegan!"
Before you continue