Looking at the Shinigami mask in Kiyosuke's hand, the adult Sasuke twitched at the corner of his mouth and asked,
"You're not planning on using Edo Tensei to summon the Hokage, are you?"
In the original timeline, Kiyosuke would only call forth the Hokage during the Fourth Shinobi World War. But now, in order to deal with the Ōtsutsuki, he was preparing to summon them early. The future really was changing.
Kiyosuke said,
"Weren't you out of chakra already? You carry the power of the Sage of Six Paths and the Rinnegan with six tomoe, yet you let yourself get whittled down to this state. Pathetic."
His tone was full of disdain toward the adult Sasuke.
The adult Sasuke twitched again and replied,
"I don't have Naruto's kind of constitution."
As Hokage, Naruto's chakra had already surpassed even Kurama's...
Sasuke's reserves were nowhere near that monstrous.
"Speaking of which, why does this kid, as Naruto's son, have so little chakra?"
Kiyosuke frowned as he sensed Boruto's chakra. It wasn't much at all.
"Dad is Dad, I'm me!"
Boruto protested.
"And besides, did my dad have a lot of chakra when he was a kid?"
Kiyosuke smacked him on the head.
"Looks like you really don't understand a thing, brat! Naruto is a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, famous for their enormous chakra and ridiculous vitality. And being Kurama's jinchūriki, even though his chakra was influenced by the Nine Tails, the leakage of Kurama's chakra inside the seal combined with his own, unknowingly boosting his reserves. There are only a handful in the entire shinobi world who could match Naruto's chakra. You don't have Kurama, sure, but as an Uzumaki descendant, your chakra shouldn't be this low."
He gave Boruto a once-over and asked,
"How many shadow clones can you make at once?"
"Three or four."
Hearing that, Kiyosuke shook his head. The number of shadow clones a person could sustain was one of the most straightforward ways to measure chakra capacity, and Boruto's was clearly lacking.
If it weren't for the whisker marks on his cheeks, the blond hair, the blue eyes, and his Naruto-like face, Kiyosuke might have doubted whether he was really Naruto's son.
"By the way, your dad has that spiky hair, your mom has soft and straight hair—so why is yours a pineapple head?"
"How would I know?!"
Boruto shouted at him.
"I was just born this way, alright?!"
"Forget it, not worth worrying about. Get ready, I'm going to perform Edo Tensei."
Kiyosuke picked up the Shinigami mask, but the adult Sasuke stopped him.
"Wait. The Ōtsutsuki's Kekkei Mōra can prevent Edo Tensei bodies from regenerating. That would be a waste. We should find Naruto first."
The Kekkei Mōra was a power beyond both Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tōta, formed by fusing the seven chakra natures: fire, wind, earth, water, lightning, yin, and yang.
Normally, an Edo Tensei body could regenerate from ninety-nine percent destruction, but against Kekkei Mōra, they could not.
Yin–Yang Release could immobilize them, and Kekkei Mōra could obliterate their bodies entirely.
Considering this, the adult Sasuke disapproved of reviving the Hokage, even though they were rare high-level forces.
"What even is this Edo Tensei thing?"
Boruto asked, clearly clueless about the village's darker side.
The adult Sasuke explained patiently,
"It's a jutsu that revives the dead at the cost of another person's life. A forbidden technique developed by the Second Hokage."
"What?! There's a jutsu like that? Wait, Kiyosuke-sama just said he'd revive the Hokage. Does that mean..."
"That's right. If I recall correctly, that mask can release the First, Second, and Fourth Hokage from the Shinigami's seal."
"Grandpa too?!" Boruto yelled.
"Yeah. I'm sorry to Minato-sensei, but he's a crucial fighting force. That's why I kept them sealed away for the future, to use as reinforcements."
Kiyosuke's expression was heavy. It was a last resort, a preparation for the worst-case scenario. Shinobi like Hashirama, Tobirama, and Minato could never be allowed to fall into enemy hands. If they did, the battle would be unwinnable.
Especially Tobirama. A genius of forbidden techniques, who knew what sort of jutsu he might unleash if revived?
Think about it: how many jutsu in the shinobi world were created by him?
Naruto's Shadow Clone Technique, Minato's Flying Thunder God, Kiyosuke's Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, Orochimaru and Kabuto's Edo Tensei... each one of these jutsu alone was enough to throw the world into chaos. And he still had an arsenal of forbidden techniques no one had ever seen.
Tobirama could not be allowed to end up on the enemy's side.
Which made Kiyosuke wonder... how had the Gold and Silver Brothers managed to kill him back then?
"Can't we at least release Grandpa?" Boruto pleaded.
"No!" Kiyosuke snapped.
"If the enemy has a way to counter Edo Tensei bodies, then summoning them would be suicide. I'll have to fight cautiously on my own. For now, let's focus on finding Naruto."
Kiyosuke put on the Shinigami mask anyway—just in case. He also had Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan prepared for emergencies.
"Do you know where Naruto is?"
Urashiki's target was Naruto. Even if he descended on Konoha and didn't find him, he wouldn't bother with the village—he'd keep searching for Naruto. All they had to do was find Naruto first and wait for Urashiki to arrive.
But at this point in time, Naruto was training with Orochimaru. Kiyosuke had no memories of that period and didn't know his exact location.
"Actually... Naruto sent me a letter a few days ago. They're still somewhere within the Land of Fire. He even complained that Jiraiya took his allowance and spent it on booze, saying he wasn't acting like an adult at all."
Kiyosuke chuckled as he recalled the letter. Then he said,
"Alright. Let's go."
...
The three of them left the underground chamber, closed the door behind them, and Kiyosuke went to report his departure to Tsunade. She didn't ask for details and simply gave her approval.
Leaving the Hokage's office, Kiyosuke was about to take Boruto and Sasuke with him when they happened to run into Hinata and Kiba's team.
"Kiyosuke-sensei?"
Seeing them, Kiyosuke slapped his forehead.
"Right, I almost forgot. I've got something else to take care of today. You guys should train on your own for the next few days."
So this was what Mom looked like as a kid?
She's so different...
Compared to the mother in his memories, his childhood mom seemed way more shy and timid.
"Is it a mission? Can we come along?" Kiba asked excitedly.
"No!"
Kiyosuke bonked him on the head.
"This isn't something you can tag along for. Maybe another time."
"Who are they?" Hinata asked softly.
"Friends—and one of their juniors. That's all. Let's go."
Kiyosuke didn't explain further and left with Boruto and Sasuke.
As they walked away, Boruto glanced back and gave Hinata a small nod before quickly catching up.
"There's something... strangely familiar about him," Hinata murmured as she watched Boruto's back fade into the distance.
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
+100 chapters and support me on Patreon(.)com/Jixo