What is the connection between Isshiki and Kaguya?

Isshiki is of a higher rank than Kaguya: he belongs to the main family of the Otsutsuki clan. The two came to Earth together to harvest the Chakra Fruit. But among the Otsutsuki, they travel in pairs and the subordinate serves as the sacrifice: it was therefore Kaguya who was meant to be offered up as fodder. She chose to betray him instead. So he is neither her ally nor her right-hand man — he is her victim.

A real young monk, an ordinary human — not an alias. Isshiki, dying, shrank himself and entered his body through the ear, living there as a parasite until he took control of it. It was in Jigen's guise that he then led the Kara organization.

Why did Isshiki want Kawaki?

Because Jigen's body was worth nothing: an ordinary human cannot contain an Otsutsuki's chakra, and that body was cracking under the power. He needed a true vessel. Kawaki is the only success of an experiment carried out on some fifteen boys. Careful: only success does not mean only survivor — Code survived too, but as a failed vessel.

How was Isshiki defeated?

Not by force alone. Forced to be reborn in Jigen's mediocre body, he had only a few hours left to live. Naruto's Baryon Mode consumed his life force through simple contact, but the fatal blow was a decoy: he wasted his last Karma on a clone of Kawaki, before the real one finished him off. His soul went out for lack of a valid Karma: he will not come back.

Because he had lied to Naruto. Baryon Mode consumes its user's life force — and Naruto believed it would be his own. In reality, the true user of the process was Kurama: it was his lifespan that was consumed. Naruto survives; Kurama dies.

Isshiki Otsutsuki: The Leader of Kara

July 16, 2026

1364 words | Reading time: 7 min

BorutoOtsutsuki

Kaguya had a superior, and she betrayed him. Isshiki Otsutsuki belongs to the clan's main family: of lower rank, Kaguya was the designated sacrifice, and she left him for dead. He survives by shrinking himself, enters through the ear of the monk Jigen, parasitizes him and leads Kara in his guise. Kawaki, marked with the Karma, becomes the only success of an experiment carried out on some fifteen children. His downfall, though, comes at a heavy price: Baryon Mode and the death of Kurama. A part of the story exclusive to Boruto.

The One Kaguya Betrayed: an Otsutsuki hidden inside the body of a monk, whom it took Kurama's sacrifice to bring down. This is Isshiki, the leader of Kara.

Kaguya's Superior
The Betrayal
The Parasite Inside Jigen
Kawaki, the Vessel
Baryon Mode and the Death of Kurama
Summary Table
FAQ

Kaguya's Superior

Here is the reversal many readers miss: Isshiki is neither the ally nor the right-hand man of Kaguya. He is her hierarchical superior, a member of the main family of the Otsutsuki clan.

The two came to Earth together to grow a God Tree there and harvest the Chakra Fruit. This character belongs exclusively to Boruto: he appears neither in Naruto nor in the 2015 movie.

A character with white skin and a ridged skull, a single horn on the side of the head, one golden eye and one pale eye, wearing a white tunic with a red collar marked with a black circle. — Isshiki Otsutsuki, a member of the clan's main family: one rank above Kaguya, not beside her.

The Betrayal

The trap is the price of the fruit. Among the Otsutsuki, they travel in pairs — and for a seed to bloom into a God Tree, one Otsutsuki must be fed alive as fodder to the Ten-Tails.

Kaguya, of lower rank, was the designated sacrifice. She chose to turn the situation around: she betrayed Isshiki, destroyed half his body and left him for dead.

A horned character in a long white robe lies face down in a pool of blood on cracked ground; the image is toned sepia. — Left for dead with his body half destroyed: it is from this state that everything else in his story begins.

The Parasite Inside Jigen

Dying, Isshiki shrinks himself and enters the body of a young monk — through the ear. Jigen is not an alias: he was a very real human being who happened to be there at the wrong moment.

He lives inside him as a parasite, feeding on his chakra until he controls his body. It is in Jigen's guise that he will go on to lead the Kara organization.

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In a bluish room with walls covered in red circuitry, hooded figures form a circle around a character sitting alone on a raised seat; cubes float in the air. — At the head of Kara, it is not the monk who decides, but the Otsutsuki lodged inside his body.

Kawaki, the Vessel

Jigen's body is worth nothing to him: an ordinary human cannot contain an Otsutsuki's chakra, and that body cracks under the power. He needs a true vessel.

That will be Kawaki, marked with the Karma — a backup of the Otsutsuki's data, engraved on a compatible host. A nuance not to be missed: Kawaki is the only success of an experiment carried out on some fifteen children, not the only survivor — Code survived too, as a failed vessel.

A man in a long white robe with long black hair slams a boy with blond hair against a stone wall with a blow from a black rod; dark markings run along the child's arm. — Kawaki's training serves first of all to check that a human body will withstand the strain.

Baryon Mode and the Death of Kurama

His downfall is more subtle than a simple duel. Trapped, Isshiki is forced to be reborn in Jigen's mediocre body: he has only a few hours left to live, and his rebirth erases Kawaki's Karma, which he must therefore re-implant urgently.

Then comes Baryon Mode: Naruto and Kurama merge their chakras, consuming the life force of anyone they touch. But the fatal blow comes from a decoy — Isshiki wastes his last Karma on a clone, then the real Kawaki finishes him off. The price? Kurama had lied to Naruto: it was his own lifespan that was being consumed. Naruto survives. Kurama dies.

Naruto, wrapped in a bright red chakra cloak with long swirling ribbons, cocks his fist at the horned character thrown backward. — In Baryon Mode, every contact eats away at the target's life force; what Naruto does not know is that Kurama's is running out at the same time.

Summary Table

Aspect	Details
Rank	Main family of the Otsutsuki clan: Kaguya's SUPERIOR, not her ally. Exclusive to Boruto
The Betrayal	Kaguya, of lower rank, was the designated sacrifice: she betrays him and leaves him for dead
Survival	He shrinks himself, enters through the ear of the monk Jigen and parasitizes him; leads Kara in his guise
Kawaki	Intended vessel, marked with the Karma: the only SUCCESS of an experiment on some fifteen children (not the only survivor)
Death	Baryon Mode + Kawaki's decoy; he wastes his last Karma on a clone. Kurama dies from it, not Naruto

FAQ

What is the connection between Isshiki and Kaguya?
Isshiki is of a higher rank than Kaguya: he belongs to the main family of the Otsutsuki clan. The two came to Earth together to harvest the Chakra Fruit. But among the Otsutsuki, they travel in pairs and the subordinate serves as the sacrifice: it was therefore Kaguya who was meant to be offered up as fodder. She chose to betray him instead. So he is neither her ally nor her right-hand man — he is her victim.
Who is Jigen?
A real young monk, an ordinary human — not an alias. Isshiki, dying, shrank himself and entered his body through the ear, living there as a parasite until he took control of it. It was in Jigen's guise that he then led the Kara organization.
Why did Isshiki want Kawaki?
Because Jigen's body was worth nothing: an ordinary human cannot contain an Otsutsuki's chakra, and that body was cracking under the power. He needed a true vessel. Kawaki is the only success of an experiment carried out on some fifteen boys. Careful: only success does not mean only survivor — Code survived too, but as a failed vessel.
How was Isshiki defeated?
Not by force alone. Forced to be reborn in Jigen's mediocre body, he had only a few hours left to live. Naruto's Baryon Mode consumed his life force through simple contact, but the fatal blow was a decoy: he wasted his last Karma on a clone of Kawaki, before the real one finished him off. His soul went out for lack of a valid Karma: he will not come back.
Why does Kurama die?
Because he had lied to Naruto. Baryon Mode consumes its user's life force — and Naruto believed it would be his own. In reality, the true user of the process was Kurama: it was his lifespan that was consumed. Naruto survives; Kurama dies.

In summary

Betrayed by Kaguya, sheltered for centuries in the body of a monk, Isshiki waited an eternity for a perfect body — and it took Kurama's life to stop him. The heaviest loss of the Boruto era.