Twelve years before the start of the series, the Nine-TailsattackedKonohagakure, destroying much of the village and taking many lives. The leader of the village, the Fourth Hokage sacrificed his life to seal the Nine-Tails into a newborn, Naruto Uzumaki. Orphaned by the attack, Naruto was shunned by the villagers, who out of fear and anger, viewed him as the Nine-Tails itself. Though the Third Hokage outlawed speaking about anything related to the Nine-Tails, the children — taking their cues from their parents — inherited the same animosity towards Naruto. In his thirst to be acknowledged, Naruto vowed he would one day become the greatest Hokage the village had ever seen. Read more...
Naruto and Sasuke are startled by Kawaki's presence. Isshiki greets Kawaki. At Konoha, they're confused about Kawaki's disappearance, and Amado considers they're out of options. Kawaki understands Isshiki wants to rebrand him. Isshiki muses on how little time he has left, and how far he was pushed. Kawaki retorts he's glad he gets to watch Isshiki die. Isshiki counters it'll only be a short nap until he's reborn in Kawaki's body. Naruto tells him to run, so Isshiki stomps him hard enough to force him out of Baryon Mode. Kawaki rushes away, but Isshiki intercepts him and grabs him by the throat. Before he can rebrand Kawaki, Sasuke switches places with him. Sasuke yells for Kawaki to pick up the sphere he prepared and throw it at his feet, which Kawaki does. It's a smoke bomb. Read more...
Jigen informs the other Inners of the Vessel's loss. They argue about the delay it causes to their plans, and who's to blame for the incident. Most of them blame Victor, who tries to deflect it to Amado, whose absence in the meeting he questions. Jigen says that Amado is busy with matters that no longer concern Victor. Koji Kashin offers to retrieve the Vessel, as the airship carrying it did so in an area under his jurisdiction. The majority of the other Inners agree to let him handle it. After the meeting is over, Victor considers retrieving the Vessel himself, and is glad his theft of the Vessel's data hasn't been discovered. He disparages Koji, who answers back, revealing he was in the same room as Victor since the beginning of the meeting. Read more...
