Naruto Gaiden (Photo : Youtube/Naruto)
The Naruto Gaiden: the 7th Hokage and the Scarlet Spring mini-series is starting to get a lot more intriguing after the hooded man, which was referred as the father of Shin (the Boy with the Sharingan) in previous chapters, unveiled his true face and engaged with Naruto and Sasuke for the first time at the end of Chapter 5.
An all-out action is expected to erupt in the preceding chapter with Sasuke ready to show off the true power of his double-edge visual prowess of Mangekyo Sharingan and the preeminent Renningan against an enemy harnessing the powers of dozens of Sharingans embedded on his body.
Based on his facial detail (especially the smile and slightly big nose), the man appears to be Shisui Uchiha, the Teleporter of the Hidden leaf and the close friend of Itachi Uchiha. Shisui was presumed dead many years ago before Itachi massacred the entire Uchiha clan.
Upon Shisui's awakening the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan, Danzo, the leader of the Root, executed a plan to steal his visual powers, but he only managed to get one. He then bequeathed to Itachi the other half of the pair as a token of their friendship before he eventually vanished into his presumed death.
While the reason behind his return remains a mystery, it's clear that he's eager to avenge the death of Itachi at the hands of Sasuke. Perhaps, that's why he sent his son, Shin, on several missions to assassinate Sasuke and now abduct the latter's daughter, Sarada.
But aside from the appearance of the hooded man and Shin, Chapter 5 also provided details of what could be an even scarier enemy lurking in the shadows. In a conversation with the five Kages several years before the current timeline, Sasuke briefed the village leaders of what he suspects an ancient evil as equal or even scarier than Kaguya, the mother of all ninja.
Naruto Reddit's Organic Dinosaur provided a clear translation of what Sasuke found out:
"Even though Naruto and I sealed Kaguya... And even despite the extent to which how strong she was, (There's something about her) producing the army of Shiro Zetsu, which had made preparations to wage a war...
It's always been on my mind. I investigated the remnants of Kaguya in my own way. And then...First of all, I discovered that the army of Shiro Zetsu was something that was produced a long time ago, and before Shinobi were born.
This is... just a hypothesis. But this is an indicator of something. That is... An existence of something that even threatened Kaguya. It suggests that it's something that will make an appearance in this world..."
Who could this greater evil possibly be? And what is its relationship with Kaguya? Are White Zetsu army created even before the time of the Shinobi? Is the new Akatsuki tandem of the hooded man and Shin connected to this being? These are the questions that can only be answered in the next chapters. One thing is for sure here, Naruto, Sasuke and the entire ninja world could be headed into another messy battle with this scary entity.
