Naruto: Steam Ninja Scrolls Confirms [SPOILER] is Konoha's Strongest Shinobi

The following contains spoilers for Chapter 10 of Naruto: Konoha’s Story — The Steam Ninja Scrolls: The Manga, “Words of Inspiration,” by Masashi Kishimoto, Natsuo Sai, Sho Hinata, Nathan A. Collins and Brandon Bovia, now available in English from Viz Media.

As Naruto: Konoha’s Story — The Steam Ninja Scrolls unfolds, Mirai Sarutobi is learning a lot as a potential Hokage. She desperately wants to honor her father Asuma’s legacy, and thankfully she has Kakashi to guide her in the Land of Steam. It’s all tied to her father’s vision — as well as Naruto’s — of creating a free, unified and better shinobi world.

It’s a fulfilling experience learning about impoverished regions, while seeing how cultures appreciate icons like Might Guy for their heroics. However, as mentally enriching as it’s been, Mirai faces an uphill physical task come Chapter 10. What makes it even better is that when a solution appears, it teaches her more about Konoha’s strongest shinobi — someone who isn’t actually Naruto or Sasuke Uchiha.

Mirai Sees Choji’s Might as a Giant Man in Steam Ninja Scrolls

Naruto: Steam Ninja Scrolls Confirms [SPOILER] is Konoha's Strongest Shinobi_0

Now, this isn’t to knock Naruto as he did tremendous work against villains like the Akatsuki and Kaguya. Sasuke also helped save the day with his Sharingan and the Rinnegan, cementing how powerful they were in this franchise due to their spiritual links to the Sage of the Six Paths. But when it comes to raw, undiluted strength, Choji appears in the Land of Steam to remove a giant boulder clogging the hot springs and ruining the folks’ way of life.

It’s so big that it would require too much chakra from Naruto or Sasuke, who’d only be able to shatter it into fragments, and that still causes problems. But thanks to Choji’s Super Expansion Jutsu, he can turn into a Giant Man (akin to Marvel’s Hank Pym) and push the rock out of the way. His clan has extra chakra allowing them to do this, growing to a kaiju size, but they slim down for a bit when it’s done until their form can rebuild. The technique does require food intake; thankfully, Mirai is there to cook and help fuel him, which makes the mission a success and leads to Choji passing down wisdom.

Mirai Learns About Asuma’s Key Principle

Naruto: Steam Ninja Scrolls Confirms [SPOILER] is Konoha's Strongest Shinobi_1

As Choji moves the boulder, Mirai and the villagers help in their own way. Even if she contributes a little, it makes a difference. Choji would later reaffirm this was Asuma’s doctrine: do what you can, and every little bit, from everyone, will add up to something big. This united folks against Kaguya, with Choji appreciating it so much after he was often bullied for being fat and not really being as skillful as Naruto or Sasuke.

But Choji reiterates that Asuma helped him through those dark times, which is why they all mourned when he died. He was both a teacher and a father-figure to others. Choji confesses that Asuma built his charges’ strengths inside and out, which gave him confidence to be the Hidden Leaf’s strongest in the field. So it warms him to see Mirai adopting this mentality, ironic as she also has her chakra blades that Shikamaru handed down from her father.

Ultimately, Chapter 10 of Steam Ninja Scrolls is a full-circle story as Choji reminds Mirai, with her Hokage ambitions, to keep fighting for the “king,” — a chess riddle that means she has to fight for the future children. It’s something her father passed down to his students before he died, and which she must solve now, making Choji a true successor to Asuma’s ways.