Episode 18 — Edo Itachi and Kotoamatsukami

Chapter 543 — the one visual clue

In this walkthrough, we have focused on logical discrepancies, rather than nit-picking visual details, as the hidden plots in Naruto mostly revolve around the characters’ motivations. Mr Kishimoto did, however, provide one visual clue.

In chapter 543, Samehada appears in Bee’s flashback, in a scene that took place before Naruto was born. This is an obvious discrepancy: Bee and Samehada hadn’t met yet.

Samehada’s presence here is not a mistake. The purpose of this flashback is to show us the possession process. Samehada is invading Bee’s mind, starting with his memories. He is already unable to remember a time when Samehada wasn’t with him. Soon, Bee’s entire personality will be erased, and he will be turned into the next Kisame.

As she is taking over Bee’s mind, Samehada is already capable of influencing his actions, as we will see in the next slides.

Chapter 543: Samehada invading Bee’s memories.

The improbable encounter

When Naruto and Bee join the war, the first significant enemies they run into are Edo Itachi and Edo Nagato. This encounter will move the war to its final stage, so it is worth looking into.

Naruto running into this Edo team specifically, so early in the war, seems incredibly lucky for Kabuto at first, then for Itachi. To be fair, Kabuto did have a general idea of where his Edo squads might intercept Naruto:

He initially knew Naruto and Bee were coming from the Island Turtle. But since the island is moving, Kabuto didn’t know its exact location.

In chapter 546, Naruto fought a lesser Edo squad before meeting Itachi. So Kabuto, by drawing an Island Turtle → Edo squad line on a map, could roughly guess where Naruto was going, and try to place Edo Itachi and Nagato to intercept him.

But in chapter 548, Mr Kishimoto shows us that Itachi and Nagato are walking slowly, because of Nagato’s injured legs. And in chapter 546, we are shown that Kabuto wasn’t expecting Naruto’s sudden arrival. So:

We can confirm that Kabuto didn’t know exactly where Naruto was.

Itachi and Nagato happened to already be in the correct area.

Naruto and Bee happened to keep making a beeline in their direction, allowing the cripple Edo Nagato to intercept them.

Kabuto is startled by Naruto’s arrival, chapter 546.

Edo Itachi and Nagato are barely moving, chapter 548.

Mr Kishimoto insisting everyone is surprised

As we are nearing the end of the quest, Mr Kishimoto is giving us increasingly obvious clues. At this stage, the clues are meant to be easily found.

We already saw Kabuto’s surprise in chapter 546 in the previous slide. Mr Kishimoto doubles down on that, and shows us that seemingly every character involved shares that feeling. Naruto and Bee are startled. Itachi and Nagato weren’t expecting this meeting. Finally, in chapter 549, we are shown, again, that even Kabuto is pleasantly surprised.*

Now, why would Mr Kishimoto go through the trouble of drawing these five characters, one by one, spending several panels just to show us they are surprised?

*Note: the Kabuto panel has a translation error. The translation has Kabuto say "they've found me!". In Japanese, he says the opposite: "it seems I've found them first". His phrasing implies he is happy with what just happened. This is consistent with his surprise in chapter 546: he wasn’t even expecting Naruto’s and Bee’s arrival, and is now happy to realise he found them so easily with his strongest Edo Tensei squad.

Please do not take my word for it; you can check the original, Japanese version for yourself.

Chapter 549 — with the translation error. Kabuto is happy he just found Naruto and Bee.

Chapter 548: Nagato and Itachi do not know who they are about to fight.

Naruto and Bee are surprised, chapter 548.

The hidden arranger

If Naruto, Bee, Itachi, Nagato and even Kabuto are surprised, and if Mr Kishimoto went through the trouble of showing us they weren’t expecting this meeting, then who is the last character present who doesn’t seem surprised?

Samehada. Again.

She has exceptional sensing skills, and is familiar with Itachi’s and Nagato’s chakra signatures, having spent years with them in Akatsuki. Locating Itachi would have been trivial for her. Finally, since Naruto and Bee didn’t have a specific destination in mind, it would have been easy for Samehada, who is starting to possess Bee, to slightly nudge Bee in Itachi’s direction. Naruto just followed him.

This encounter will change the course of the war: Edo Madara is summoned, the other Edo ninjas are sent back to the afterlife, and Obito summons the Jūbi, triggering the endgame. The surface story says luck. But as we are going to see, it wasn’t thanks to luck that this meeting accomplished everything Samehada wants.

This final episode will focus on Kotoamatsukami. We’ll have two key evidences: a coïncidence and a discrepancy. Can you find them?

Can you find the two clues with Kotoamatsukami, here in chapter 550?

Everything is going as planned… (Chapter 549.)

Kotoamatsukami — the cooldown coïncidence

According to Itachi, Kotoamatsukami has a 10-year cooldown. Such a long cooldown is unheard of in the Naruto world, but let us accept it as genuine.

In chapter 550, Itachi tells Bee he intended to use this genjutsu on Sasuke, but was unable to because it was still on cooldown when he died. So instead, he gave the eye to Naruto.

A few weeks after Itachi’s death, Obito starts his war, and Naruto runs into Edo Itachi. Kotoamatsukami is operational again, and activates. This single detail completely changes the course of the war: Itachi breaks free from Kabuto, seals Edo Nagato, and goes after Kabuto in order to undo Edo Tensei.

Now, what were the odds that a decade-long cooldown would happen to end just in the few weeks between Itachi’s death and Edo Itachi’s meeting with Naruto — a meeting that, in itself, already was improbable?

Either Itachi is the luckiest man who ever lived, or this coïncidence should lead us to a hidden plot…

This perfect timing already is suspicious, but the discrepancy we’ll see next is an even stronger evidence. Can you find the discrepancy with Itachi’s Kotoamatsukami?

Chapter 550

Kotoamatsukami — the order discrepancy

In chapter 550, Itachi tells Naruto that he programmed a “protect Konoha” order into Shisui’s eye. He is hit by his own genjutsu, and after defeating Edo Nagato, he goes after Kabuto in order to cancel Edo Tensei.

At first glance, stopping Edo Tensei seems consistent with protecting Konoha. But if you look deeper, it really does not. While Kabuto’s Edo Tensei certainly is a threat, the main, immediate danger to Konoha’s existence is Obito and his plan to summon the Jūbi. If Itachi truly were under an absolute, Kotoamatsukami order to “protect Konoha”, then the logical move wouldn’t be to undo Edo Tensei.

If your goal is to protect Konoha, then the best move is to turn the remaining Edo Tensei army against Obito. Only then, after Obito has been killed and the Zetsu army has been wiped out, do you undo Edo Tensei.

It would have been especially easy to do when you consider that Kabuto always intended to betray Obito eventually. Kabuto had no intention of letting Obito get the Jūbi: he wanted the prize for himself. So he likely had an order such as “kill Obito” pre-programmed; all Itachi needed was force Kabuto to activate it.

Instead, Itachi cancels Edo Tensei too early, wasting an army of Edo Kage and Edo Jinchūriki that could have helped the alliance defeat Obito. By undoing Edo Tensei, Itachi is also removing himself from the board. Itachi is one of the most competent ninjas who ever lived, and would have been well-equipped to take down stronger opponents like “Madara”, typically with his Sword of Totsuka. Instead, Itachi sends himself back to the afterlife…

So Itachi’s decision to cancel Edo Tensei is not consistent at all with an order to protect Konoha.

Chapter 550: the order.

Chapter 552: the interpretation doesn’t make sense.

Kotoamatsukami — Itachi contradicts himself

Mr Kishimoto gave us an explicit clue that something suspicious is happening to Itachi. In the previous slide, we claimed that undoing Edo Tensei immediately, before dealing with Obito, wasn’t the best move for Itachi. Interestingly, Itachi himself seems to agree with us. Please have a look at chapter 540.

Edo Itachi and Nagato, the night before running into Naruto, are discussing Obito’s (“Madara’s”) plan. Nagato notes that Edo Tensei was not part of “Madara’s” original plan. Itachi agrees — and he is right: Obito indeed hadn’t planned, nor desired, Kabuto’s help, and only reluctantly accepted it when Kabuto blackmailed him with Edo Madara.

So their conversation implies that, even without Edo Tensei, “Madara” would still have his own plan to win the war and capture the remaining Jinchūriki.

In chapter 588, however, as he is about to cancel Edo Tensei, Itachi confidently claims that this should end the war. This is a discrepancy with chapter 540, where Itachi agreed that Obito’s plan never required Edo Tensei to begin with.

Now, what happened between chapter 540 and chapter 588? Itachi was hit with Kotoamatsukami.

The symptoms we’re seeing here perfectly match Kotoamatsukami’s mechanics. This genjutsu gives its target an idea, while letting them think that idea was their own. In Itachi’s case, Kotoamatsukami gave him the idea that, in order to protect Konoha, he only needed to undo Edo Tensei in order to end the war, contradicting his original assessment.

Chapter 540: Itachi’s initial assessment.

Chapter 588: Itachi’s new assessment, after Kotoamatsukami.

A minor clue: Naruto’s performance

Itachi’s confidence that cancelling Edo Tensei will end the war appears even more surprising if we consider the kind of competence Naruto and Bee displayed during the Edo Nagato battle, in chapter 551:

Naruto forgets about Gakidō, gets caught, and is about to get killed.

Bee tries to help, but gets caught too, so Itachi has to save them both.

When Nagato uses Chibaku Tensei, Naruto panics. Itachi has to calm him and provide the correct solution.

Itachi doesn’t know the full details of “Madara’s” abilities, but from what he should suspect:

“Madara” must have taken Nagato’s Rinnegan.

He is more experienced than Nagato, doesn’t suffer from Nagato’s mobility issues, and has a few abilities of his own, such as Kamui.

If “Madara” captures the two remaining Jinchūriki, we’re looking at a world-ending — and therefore Konoha-ending — scenario.

And yet, Itachi isn’t worried at all about letting Naruto and Bee go after “Madara”, essentially a Nagato on steroids, on their own…

Naruto against Gakidō, chapter 551.

Itachi calming Naruto against Chibaku Tensei, in the same chapter.

Kotoamatsukami — discrepancy: objections are refuted

So Itachi’s actions are not consistent with the order he believes he has programmed. His decision does not behave like an optimal ‘protect Konoha’ logic. Itachi behaves as if the order had been narrowed to ‘stop Edo Tensei to end the war and protect Konoha‘.

An objection could be that Itachi just didn’t think of using the Edo Tensei army. → This is easily refuted. Itachi is one of the most intelligent characters in the novel, and Mr Kishimoto highlighted that again with Itachi’s brilliant tactics during the Edo Nagato fight, baiting Kabuto into using Chibaku Tensei in order to create the dust cloud that would cut Nagato’s line of sight. Mr Kishimoto has Itachi act brilliantly in chapter 551, then make an apparently dumb decision in chapter 552. It is not an accident: Mr Kishimoto is giving us a clue.

Another objection could be that Itachi had moral reservations about using an undead army. This is easily refuted too:

According to Itachi himself, Kotoamatsukami is supposed to be “the ultimate genjutsu”. If he was ordered to protect Konoha by such a powerful technique, then he should play the best move to protect Konoha, regardless of his feelings.

Even before Kotoamatsukami, Itachi was shown willing to do anything, including massacring his own family and mind-controlling his little brother, to protect Konoha. Based on this portrayal, he shouldn’t have any moral objection to using an undead army to protect Konoha, especially from a world-ending threat.

Edo Tensei is immoral mostly because you need to sacrifice living humans in order to summon your undead ninjas. Here, however, the Edo Tensei army has already been summoned; the human sacrifices are already dead anyway. Since they’re already here, you might as well use the Edo ninjas to end the war and avoid more casualties within Konoha’s ranks — especially considering that most of the Edo ninjas (Kage, Jinchūriki) would be willing to fight Obito; Itachi wouldn’t even be using them against their will.

The only possible explanation is that someone tampered with Kotoamatsukami and modified its order.

Chapter 550: Kotoamatsukami is supposed to be the “ultimate” genjutsu.

Itachi about to murder his own parents in order to protect Konoha. (Chapter 590.)

Could Samehada have done it?

In order to tamper with Kotoamatsukami, both cooldown-wise and order-wise, our culprit needs to fit several criteria:

Being physically present, near the Kotoamatsukami Sharingan. → Check. Samehada was with Itachi the whole time Kotoamatsukami was on cooldown, and with Naruto when it suddenly was operational again.

Being capable of absorbing chakra from or giving chakra to a target, in order to keep the eye from recharging, or “heal” and recharge it. → Check. Samehada is an expert at doing this, as seen during the Bee battle.

Having direct access to the eye, in order to rewrite the order. → Check. Samehada impersonated Kushina and entered Naruto’s mind, where Itachi’s crow lay. This was the perfect opportunity, while Naruto was busy crying and hugging his “mother”, to rewrite the order.

Having genjutsu and sealing skills. → Check. Samehada is a genjutsu user, and can enter minds. While the inner workings of her abilities are unknown, modifying an existing genjutsu from “protect Konoha” to “stop Edo Tensei in order to protect Konoha” would realistically be within her abilities.

Additionally, in chapter 550, we are shown that not even Kabuto knew that Itachi had one of Shisui’s eyes. Obito apparently didn’t either: he tried to get Shisui’s eye from Danzō, but not from Itachi’s corpse. If not even these two characters knew where the eye was, it further reduces our suspect list, leaving Samehada as the only credible suspect.

Chapter 498: the moment Samehada recharged and rewrote the Kotoamatsukami Sharingan.

Not even Kabuto knew about this Sharingan’s location. (Chapter 550.)

Samehada was with Itachi just before his death, when the eye still was on cooldown. (Chapter 364.)

Why Samehada benefits

With Itachi going after Kabuto to cancel Edo Tensei, Samehada gets everything she needs:

Madara breaks free, and goes to the Jūbi’s location.

Kabuto is removed from the board. From Samehada’s perspective, Kabuto’s job was to summon Madara. With that role fulfilled, Kabuto now is a loose end, and can be removed.

The Edo army, and especially Edo Itachi, is removed. Itachi is one of the most competent ninjas in the Naruto world; there’s always a risk he might manage to land a Totsuka stab on Madara or Obito. With the rewritten Kotoamatsukami order, Itachi removes himself from the board before he can threaten Madara, whom Samehada needs to succeed.

When Edo Tensei is undone, Obito assumes Edo Madara was removed from the board. As a result, he believes he is once again relatively safe from Zetsu, as Zetsu cannot afford to use Rinne Tensei — reviving the old and frail Madara — in the middle of the battlefield. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Obito immediately summons the Jūbi, as per his original plan — and is, of course, horrified when it turns out Madara was, in fact, not sent back to the afterlife.

So the Jūbi gets summoned, and all the pieces Samehada needs are united in a single location: Naruto, Sasuke, Obito, Kakashi, Madara, Zetsu, and the Jūbi. Samehada only needs to let Bee carry her to the battlefield.

Obito believes his plan is back on track: as planned, he is surrounded by dangerous enemies, whom the old Madara wouldn’t survive against. So he summons the Jūbi… (Chapter 594.)

Episode conclusion

After this, Samehada doesn’t need to do much. Bee will bring her and Naruto to Obito and the Jūbi; she only needs to wait while the other competitors now do the heavy lifting for her. With Madara summoned and free, Zetsu and the Jūbi can handle the rest of the plan. The false main antagonists will unwittingly prepare the true ending: when Kaguya gets revived, Samehada will be present, with a host (Bee), ready to hijack the revival and take the chakra for herself.

So from there, Samehada just fades into the background. At this point, the only thing that could still threaten her is if someone started to suspect what she is doing. So she acts somewhat useless, letting Bee rely on the Hachibi instead. For example, in chapter 565, against Obito, she rams into a tree, looking dumb. No one looking at this scene could imagine that Samehada is more dangerous than Obito and Madara. Likewise, during the Itachi fight, she pretended to be hurt by Itachi’s Katon, and didn’t protect Bee from Itachi’s genjutsu, letting the Hachibi handle it instead.

With that, the Samehada quest is now complete. As we can see, she (and Mr Kishimoto) had a cohesive plan from her first appearance as Itachi’s underling, all the way to her joining Naruto’s group and possessing Bee.

But our work here is not done. We have correctly identified Samehada as the main antagonist, and found the details of her plans throughout the novel. But we have yet to unlock the true ending. For the moment, our initial claim about the Seawater Deluge and the existence of a true ending has not yet been proven.

In the third and final part of this walkthrough, we will unlock the pious meaning of the novel, which will reveal the true ending.

A good little move: turning herself into comic relief against Obito. (Chapter 565.)

Not helping against Itachi’s genjutsu. (Chapter 549.)