Koji Kashin

is a clone of Jiraiya created by Amado. He is a former Inner of Kara, who was in charge of the sector on the outskirts of the Land of Fire.

Personality
An enigmatic man, Koji has a very stoic and straightforward nature that follows a no-nonsense view. While seemingly loyal to Kara, he operates under his own views as he was willing to assassinate a fellow colleague. He also appears to have an interest in Boruto Uzumaki. Arrogant as he may appear, he has consistently shown himself to be a very rational and perceptive man. He is very calculating and methodical in his approach, able to immediately determine the truth of the situation before him and likewise able to determine how things will most likely play out. At the same time, he isn't flawless, as he wasn't able to anticipate that Isshiki Ōtsutsuki saw through his deceptions. He is also shown to very persuasive, able to convince the very stubborn and loyal member of Kara, Delta, to follow his play.

Ultimately, his loyalty to Kara was but a façade for his goal to take down Isshiki, showing a very patient and methodical nature. He views this goal as siding with humanity. Even more, whereas his previous subservient nature to Kara made him look down on the shinobi lifestyle, reprimanding Ao for clinging to such, Koji is shown to be rather proud of being a shinobi himself, stating outright he is fine work working as a tool as that is part of being a shinobi. Like his genetic source, Koji is resolute until the end. Even when he retreated from his battle with Isshiki, Koji still retained a defiant look rather than a look of fear.

Appearance
As a clone of Jiraiya, Koji's likeness is identical to the Sannin, albeit he is physically in his prime compared to his template, having no wrinkle and his hair is straight unlike Jiraiya's spiky style. Koji is a tall man with long white hair which he keeps in a topknot, allowing some to fall to his shoulders, along with a trimmed beard along his jawline. Red markings are on the corner of his eyes, extending downward and ending to his cheeks. He also has a small wart on left side of his nose. He also noticeably wears a mask which conceals the top-half of his face, along with the black hooded robe with maroon lining that seems standard of Kara. Beneath his robes, during his meetings with Kara and Ao, he wore a long maroon coat with a row of buttons on the right side; during the meeting with Kara it was left unbuttoned, but while meeting with Ao the buttons were fastened and he wore a belt over it. Later, when confronting Team Konohamaru, he donned a shorter maroon jacket with black lining and straps with buckles, as well as a brown tactical belt and armour on his upper right leg and a pouch on his left hip.

Abilities
As a clone of one of the Sannin and an Inner of Kara that has had his body modified with Scientific Ninja Tools by Amado, Koji is regarded to be a complete monster in terms of power and ability. While relying exclusively on his skills, he was able to easily overpower Konohamaru Sarutobi, one of Konohagakure's top jōnin, and would have killed him if not for Boruto's Kāma. He appears to be among the stronger Inners, as he easily defeated and killed Victor, and was confident he could defeat Delta. Even Isshiki Ōtsutsuki himself acknowledged Koji as being a very capable man. He was capable of killing Isshiki's vessel after he was severely weakened and even hold his own against Isshiki himself.

Physical and Chakra Prowess
Koji showed noticeable stealth skill, being able to sneak up on the experienced elder in his team unnoticed (albeit he suggested Victor lost his edge in old age) and was also able to move around Konohagakure upon infiltrating the village completely unnoticed. He is highly proficient in taijutsu, able to easily counter all of Konohamaru's melee attacks and was able to implant techniques on the latter without him knowing. He could compete with a weakened Jigen in hand-to-hand combat, able to counter and exchange blows with him very well. He is shown to be extremely resilient, able to survive being crushed by three pillars, which destroyed his arm, crippled his legs and torso, and still had enough strength to summon a toad to escape. Koji also has very large reserves of chakra as he is able to use Sage Mode.

Ninjutsu
Koji uses ninjutsu from Konohagakure, and has inherited his template's mastery and skill-set at apparently a greater scale. He can use the Shadow Clone Technique to create multiple clones, able to seamlessly switch places with them to avoid detection. He is one of few to use the Rasengan, easily matching Konohamaru's own usage, and can even use the Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan. He is also very knowledgeable of other people's techniques, as he understood the nature of the Konohagakure Sensing Barrier. He can also manipulate his hair to attack and defend against his enemies.

Koji's skill in shurikenjutsu can effortlessly hit a fellow Inner before they can react. He can use Space–Time Ninjutsu, able to enter the Ten-Tails' dimension at will. He can carve Space-Time Ninjutsu seals using Earth Release to summon eternally burning natural fire from flaming mountains. Koji can summon toads to aid him, ranging from summoning tiny toads that act for surveillance or act as a medium for his techniques or giant toads to crush targets, and is able to perform the Reverse Summoning Technique. He can use fūinjutsu to paralyse targets within his erected pillars. Similar to this, he can launch sticky oil from his mouth.

Nature Transformation
Koji can utilise Fire and Earth Release. He has shown great mastery in using Fire Release; he can use True Fire of Samadhi, that from hitting targets through small mediums, will cause the victim to spontaneously combust, strong enough to overcome a target's regeneration capabilities and never extinguish. He can also launch a barrage of fireballs or a single large fireball from his mouth and even imbue his fist with fire to consume his target in flames upon striking. With Earth Release, he can morph the ground in the area into sinking mud to ensnare his foes.

Senjutsu
Koji is capable of using Sage Mode with a perfect balance of chakra and natural energy, unlike his genetic source. While in this form, Koji gains yellow, toad-like irides with orange pigmentation around his eyes. Through his senjutsu skills, Koji enhanced his physical abilities and sensory perception to the point of being able to catch a strike from Isshiki and temporarily keep him at bay before quickly countering. His ninjutsu is also enhanced, able to use techniques such as Sage Art: Five Fire Gods' Fan of Flames, to the point of temporarily pressuring and surprising Isshiki Ōtsutsuki with the overwhelming amount of flames.

Versus Momoshiki Arc
In the anime, during the days leading up to the Chūnin Exams, Koji seemingly attacked a disgruntled Katasuke Tōno in his Konohagakure lab, as part of a conspiracy with Ao to place the man under a mind-controlling genjutsu in order to extract intel for Kara. Having learned that Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki was defeated, he assumed Naruto Uzumaki was the person responsible.

Ao Arc
Upon their organisation losing their vessel, Koji discusses the matter with the other members of Kara. Immediately after their meeting, Koji approaches the elderly man, Victor, of their group to assassinate, and mocks him for not noticing his presence. After impaling him with a kunai, Koji incinerates the man, before thinking about Konoha. Shortly later, he approached Ao on the Thunder Train, and instructed him to retrieve the vessel Kara lost, and provided him with the weaponry for the mission. After Ao fought Team Konohamaru during his search, Koji approached him, and questioned Ao's resolve to fight fellow shinobi again. Stating his compassion has long since gone, Koji was content with his answer and warned him about their enemy preparing an ambush for him before departing.

Having watched Boruto defeat Ao, Koji summoned a toad on top of the pair, which crushed Ao to death. Refusing to enlighten them about Kara, he paralysed the team using fūinjutsu. Overcoming the technique, Konohamaru Sarutobi faced Koji alone, during which he attempted to strike Koji with his Rasengan, prompting Koji to counter it with his own. Complementing his opponent on his skill, Koji engulfed Konohamaru in flames, which triggered Boruto's Kāma activating. Shocked to see it, Boruto subconsciously absorbed Koji's techniques. Thanking Boruto for showing him it, Koji decided to leave, before complimenting Mitsuki for stopping Sarada Uchiha from recklessly pursuing him.

Kawaki Arc
Shortly after, Koji observed Team Konohamaru making contact with Kawaki, before being joined by Delta. Realising she didn't have faith in him recovering the vessel, Delta informed him that she invited Garō to partake in the mission. When Boruto revealed his Kāma to Kawaki, Koji questioned what would happen next.

After Kawaki killed Garō and fainted from overheating, Koji convinced Delta against getting rid of the Konoha-nin and retrieve Kawaki then and there, feeling that Boruto having a Kāma merited further observation before taking action, also arguing that the crash blimp made it inevitable that the world would learn about Kara before bowing to their power. Later, Koji and Delta arrived at the main gates of Konohagakure to retrieve Kawaki. While Delta stated that it would be difficult infiltrating, Koji told her to stay put before entering the village without setting anything off and began searching for Kawaki. Once inside, Koji summoned a small toad to find Kawaki, who he eventually found taking shelter in the Seventh Hokage's home.

Deciding it was too dangerous to engage Naruto Uzumaki, Koji decided to continue observing for the time being. He watched as Boruto and Kawaki decided to spar with the intent of Boruto better understanding his Kāma, the efforts resulting in Boruto injuring his hand. The two children made the Seal of Reconciliation, and Boruto was taken aback by a vision, an event which also made him instantly heal his hand. Koji was greatly intrigued by this, wondering if it was a byproduct of the Kāma and worried if Jigen had the same ability. He then noticed Delta propelling herself through the village and to Kawaki, noting how out of control she is.

After Delta was defeated by Naruto, Koji praised Naruto's strength but noted not even he could defeat Jigen, considering the Kāma, like the one in Boruto's hand the only way to do it.

As Koji continued to monitor Kawaki, he expressed concern on how it had been a while since Delta had been defeated yet Jigen had still not made a move, believing it to be unlike him especially as he had definitely learned about Boruto's Kāma and Naruto's personal protection of Kawaki from Delta. However, to his great shock, Jigen suddenly teleported to Kawaki's location through the Kāma he gave him and wondered if he could do that anytime then why would he assign a mission to retrieve Kawaki in the first place. As Jigen sensed the presence of Koji's toad, Koji dispelled it as he realised from the beginning Jigen had suspected him and had been baiting him to learn his true motives, rather than Koji probing Jigen's movements.

After Jigen dragged Naruto into another dimension, Koji waited patiently for Jigen's return. After some time had passed, he wondered why Jigen was still gone. While highly doubting Naruto could defeat Jigen, even if Sasuke were to arrive and help the Hokage, Koji theorised that the battle must have exhausted Jigen tremendously, viewing this as his best chance to kill the man himself. Koji then decided to return to the base.

Upon arriving, he learned from Amado that Jigen was only at 10% capacity. Also learning that Boro was safeguarding the sealed Hokage and Code was watching over the Ten-Tails, Koji decided he would use this opportunity to kill Jigen. Amado collected the essential for him to continue his work, and Koji summoned a toad. Delta arrived, intent on not letting them leave without Jigen's permission. Koji offered to deal with her, but Amado merely issued a shutdown command, making Koji wonder if his modifications contained similar measures. Koji gave him directions to follow, and reverse summoned his toad, with Amado, to the outskirts of Konohagakure, and proceeded inside the Kara facility.

As Koji approached Jigen in the Ten-Tails' dimension, Jigen excused Code while they talked. During their discussion, Koji secretly had a small toad act as a camera to relay the discussion to Amado. Quickly the discussion became tense, as Jigen revealed he knew that Koji and Amado sabotaged the blimp, letting Kawaki escape. As he asked Koji what his true goal is, Koji attacked him. While Jigen effortlessly countered the assault and struck him down, which was actually a shadow clone, Koji proclaimed he was created solely to destroy Jigen.

Koji continued his assault on Jigen, who easily repelled the various tactics, Jigen called him a tool for dedicating his life to one job. Koji however took that indifferently, proudly declaring that he is a ninja. Once luring Jigen into his trap, Koji summoned a massive wall of flames, knowing that the Kāma could not absorb naturally occurring flames void of chakra, to envelop Jigen. With the flames finally killing Jigen, this forcibly activated the final stage of his Kāma, making Isshiki Ōtsutsuki from inside of Jigen resurrect himself through his vessel. As Jigen was not fully compatible as a vessel, Jigen's was reformed as an imperfect recreation of Isshiki. Isshiki used his boost in power to instantly shrink and disperse the flames. He then began to shrink various targets about Koji, forcing the man to retreat. Eventually, Isshiki's assault destroyed Koji's mask, making Isshiki realise that the man was in fact a clone of Jiraiya.

As Koji struggled to fight Isshiki, amazed at how much more powerful he was now, Isshiki commended his and Amado's manipulations, having forced him into using an imperfect resurrection that was slowly killing him. At the same time, Isshiki viewed Koji as a fool himself, having been made as a sacrificial pawn, knowing that Koji would have no chance of defeating him. Koji brushed off the man's words, determined to finish his mission. He proceeded to unleash Sage Mode. With the increase of power, Koji was able to trade blows with Isshiki and pressure him with his Fire Release. Upon realising that Sukunahikona required seeing a target, he managed to catch Isshiki off-guard and prime for his Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan. However, Isshiki revealed the second half of his shrinking technique, Daikokuten, which lets him summon targets he shrunk from a pocket dimension. He used this ability to summon massive stones that crushed Koji's left arm and flank. Realising he could not win, Koji summoned a giant toad, which swallowed him and teleported away.

Trivia

 * Koji Kashin shares his name with a folkloric magician believed to have lived in the late Muromachi period, though his historicity is debated. He is often depicted as a white-haired, bearded, elderly man in robes, and is said to have used his illusions to deceive and defraud prominent rulers such as Oda Nobunaga.