"…He actually asked if my brain was broken," Shikamaru said, voice flat.
Naruto frowned. "Broken?"
"Yeah. After that, I even had Ino check me. My brain was perfectly normal."
He exhaled slowly, smoke curling from his lips.
"Anyway, Chen left. He refused to cooperate with us."
Shikamaru steadied himself and continued, tone hardening.
"Maybe I wasn't very friendly that day. But if he truly knew the future—and truly cared about the shinobi world—then enduring a little suspicion should've been nothing."
"Uchiha Chen either lacked the responsibility and resolve a shinobi should have…"
"…or he was guilty and afraid."
"The facts have proven it was the second."
Naruto didn't think Shikamaru's test was unreasonable.
Even Sasuke Uchiha—whose war merit rivaled Naruto's—had first been placed under confinement in Konoha after the Fourth Great Ninja War, then earned redemption through service.
A shinobi had to accept that kind of accountability.
Shikamaru continued.
"After that, Uchiha Chen disappeared completely."
"Looking at everything before and after, I judged him to be a peace-time opportunist—dangerous, unstable, and hungry for profit."
"A type like that is everywhere."
"Your time as Hokage is precious. I decided there was no reason to bother you with what happened in the reception room, so I didn't report it."
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed.
"But I never expected him to go after Madara's body…"
"…and do it so brazenly."
Naruto's shoulders sank slightly, disappointment clear on his face.
I even wanted to introduce him to Sasuke… let Sasuke know there were still Uchiha out there.
And this is what he is?
Naruto pushed the frustration aside and forced his mind back to the problem in front of him.
"None of that matters now," he said. "The real question is—why does Chen want Madara's remains?"
Shikamaru answered immediately.
"Two possibilities."
"First: he intends to perform Edo Tensei himself."
"That's less likely. After the war, the scrolls were permanently destroyed. Only a handful of people still know the technique."
"Unless… Chen has ties to those people."
"Kabuto Yakushi wouldn't be hard to imagine," Shikamaru said, then paused. "As for the other one… I'll reserve judgment."
Naruto's eyes sharpened. "Orochimaru…"
Shikamaru nodded. "Suspicious."
"Second possibility—the more likely one."
"He uses his underground connections to profit from Madara's remains."
"Madara's corpse appearing on the black market would cause an earthquake."
Shikamaru's tone turned firm.
"But no matter which one it is, his plan should fail."
"That coffin had a sealing tag personally placed by Sasuke."
"The moment the coffin is opened, the remains should be destroyed completely."
He stubbed out his cigarette in the portable ashtray he carried and bent to gather the scattered files.
Naruto called the captain back in. There was one detail he needed immediately.
"When you saw Chen… did you see his eyes?"
"Were they ordinary Sharingan… or Mangekyō Sharingan?"
"Ordinary Sharingan," the captain said at once.
Naruto stared. "You're sure?"
"I'm sure," the captain replied with absolute confidence. "They weren't like Sasuke's—no special pattern. Just three tomoe."
Naruto's mind calculated fast.
With only three-tomoe Sharingan, he broke into a sealed forbidden area, silently dropped an elite team, and left without casualties…
Conservatively… his strength is on the level of Sasuke right after finishing training under Orochimaru.
Shikamaru added, half annoyed, half realistic:
"We've been careless these years."
"If that guard squad had been equipped with the latest Scientific Ninja Tool scrolls from Konoha's research division, capturing him wouldn't have been hard."
Naruto nodded, then his eyes narrowed again.
"One thing still doesn't add up."
"How did he even know where Madara's remains were stored?"
Naruto's voice lowered.
"The Sharingan can control minds… pull information."
"If Chen planned it, it's not impossible."
He exhaled.
"The incident already happened. What we do now is—"
A piercing cry suddenly tore through the sky outside the window.
"Keee!"
Naruto rose and looked out.
"That's Sasuke's messenger hawk…"
Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly. "Contact from Sasuke after all these years? Then it's serious."
He turned to the captain.
"You should rest. Tell everyone not to blame themselves. If nothing else, this has been a wake-up call."
Once the captain left, Naruto opened the scroll.
He read.
And his expression darkened.
Shikamaru leaned in. "What happened?"
Naruto's voice was heavy.
"…This is what."
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as he listened, then his tone spiked.
"What? A Mangekyō Sharingan user?"
"Ambushed Sasuke after scouting his route?"
Naruto nodded once. "Yeah. And the attacker claimed to be Shin Uchiha…"
He paused.
"…a child."
Naruto set the scroll down.
"Emergency situation. Chen's matter goes on hold."
"Shikamaru—tell the barrier team to change the barrier codes. Have the sensory unit raise alert levels."
Shikamaru hesitated. "Do we issue a wanted notice for Chen?"
Naruto thought for a moment.
"…Not yet."
"What he did is too sensitive. We handle it internally first."
"And… compile everything we have on him."
"If I get the chance, I'll show it to Sasuke."
12:32 AM
The images inside Madara's mind froze on a ruined Konohagakure.
Boruto Uzumaki—marked with dark patterns—stood on the shattered Hokage Rock, facing Kawaki.
A cold voice echoed through the devastation:
"The age of shinobi is over."
On the table, the food had long gone cold.
Madara stared at Chen as if he could burn through him with his eyes.
"Explain."
Chen didn't flinch.
"I once had the ability to foresee parts of the future through dreams," he said calmly.
"In the genjutsu just now, I simply projected what I had already foreseen—using the Sharingan."
He had chosen that story long ago.
He could not reveal that he was a transmigrator.
So "foreknowledge" had to become "precognition."
And because even Chen didn't know every detail of the future, he had deliberately used a careful word:
Once.
Leaving room for what he didn't know—and what might change.
Madara did not scoff like Shikamaru.
He had already witnessed Chen reverse time.
Compared to that, dreaming of the future wasn't absurd.
But Madara still wouldn't accept it easily.
"How do you prove what you showed me is the future?"
Chen answered smoothly.
"Because I once foresaw the Fourth Great Ninja War."
"And it happened exactly as in my dreams—its direction and details matched."
"Of course, the future I see is based on one condition—me not interfering."
"If I intervene, the outcome can change."
Madara's eyes hardened.
"Words mean nothing."
"How do you expect me to believe those scenes were the future… and not illusions you fabricated with superior genjutsu?"
At this moment, Madara's stubbornness wasn't just doubt—
It was refusal.
He could accept Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki.
He could accept Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki.
He could accept Urashiki Ōtsutsuki.
Even Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.
What he couldn't accept…
Was Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha falling into the miserable state he'd just seen.
Those two had once pushed him back at the end of the war—when he was at his peak.
If they became that…
Then even Madara's own weight in history felt diminished.
Chen's reply was simple.
"If what you saw happens in reality…"
"…then it proves it, doesn't it?"
He glanced at his watch.
12:58 AM.
"Today," Chen said evenly, "the battle you saw in the genjutsu—Naruto and Sasuke versus Shin Uchiha—will take place."
"So let's go witness it with our own eyes."
1:06 AM
The night talk ended.
They agreed: in the afternoon, they would personally observe Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha fighting Shin Uchiha.
Afterward, Chen returned to the internal space born from Umotaryu.
A long, white corridor stretched forward. On both sides were identical white doors—like compartments.
Chen stopped before one door and pushed it open.
Inside was a small tatami room.
At its center, on a ritual platform, rested a coffin—
Frozen solid.
Chen thawed it, opened the lid, and looked down at the remains within.
Madara Uchiha's original body.
Chen's gaze turned quiet—focused.
"It's time," he murmured, voice low and steady.
"To prepare the materials I need…"
"…to awaken the Rinnegan."