"Once upon a time there was a fox spirit with 9 tails. A boy had the fox sealed inside him and the two spent a long time together. But the boy became a shinobi, and together with the fox, he saved the whole world from a great calamity.
The boy eventually became the seventh hokage, the greatest hokage the leaf village have ever had, Naruto Uzumaki."
Every member of the Kishimoto clan is obliged to know the legend of the great Naruto Uzumaki. Ever since I entered the Ninja Academy, I have been prudent in learning the ways of our clan. The more I unveil our beginnings, the more I understand how the story of Naruto Uzumaki links our clan to the Leaf village and consequently, to the whole shinobi world.
The Kishimoto clan is one of the first clans to have rendered its alliance to Hashirama Senju. Along with the Aburame, Nara, Hyuuga, and Uzumaki, our clan is one of the pioneers of the Leaf Village.
Everything seemed to go smoothly until the Uchiha joined the alliance. Our clansmen knew right then that Madara would never resort to such affiliations and that the Uchiha clan would eventually turn their blades against the village. The fight at the Valley of the End proved their speculations to be true. So being the sissies that we were, the whole Kishimoto clan fled from the Leaf before the inevitable happened. But you see, our clan may only be good at fleeing but when we do it, we do it with style.
The Kishimoto clan specializes in a technique called Sekai no yusō jutsu. This technique allows the user to travel between two realms - the Shinobi world and the Non-Shinobi world. Unlike our world, the Non-Shinobi world is a place where jutsus do not exist; people get their jobs done only through physical means and advancements are measured by the enhancement of technology.
The members of our clan kept the technique a secret since using the technique to non-Kishimotos poses great risks. Other shinobis, when transported to the Non-Shinobi world, lose their ability to mold chakras into jutsu. It seems that one needs an adaptable chakra like a Kishimito's to be able to travel between this world and the other. Some also presented evidences of memory loss among those who got to the Non-Shinobi world without a Kishimoto's bloodline; some say they even went mad.
Anyway, after Hashirama and Madara's fight, the whole Kishimoto clan fled to the Non-Shinobi World. But the clan elders soon realized their mistake, the whole clan cannot survive solely on the Non-Shinobi world, sooner or later they have to go back to their former world and live on as shinobis. Hence, they assigned a correspondent who can bridge the gap between the two realms. The greatest among our clan at that time was Masashi Kishimoto. Among our clansmen, it was Masashi whom Hashirama trusted the most since it was also Masashi who convinced our clansmen to offer their alliance to the Senju. Thus, the elders deemed it wise for Masashi to be the one to go back to the Shinobi World and to explain to Hashirama the reason behind our clan's sudden disappearance from the Leaf village.
It was then that they discovered another truth about our clan's secret technique.
As agreed upon the whole clan, Masashi travelled back to Konoha to neat things up with Hashirama. Masashi was definitely not expecting a warm welcome so he made no act of defending himself when a dozen Konoha shinobis arrested him the moment he set foot on the village. He was, he understood, considered at the moment, a rogue ninja. But Masashi still believed that Hashirama will listen to his pleas, and so he waited inside one of the village's prison cell. He knew that Hashirama will eventually have to come and face him soon, and he was right. Night came and Hashirama went down to see him. When asked why he was at the village, Masashi explained everything to Hashirama including the details of our clan's secret technique. But none of his words seemed to make sense to the hokage.
"I've never heard of such clan." Hashirama told him sternly.
"Hashirama, I understand your disappointment with our clan, but you don't have to renounce us like this." Masashi pleaded.
"None of your words make sense. Please, you are utterly wasting my time." Replied the seemingly confused hokage.
"Stop fooling around, Hashirama! You're the one who's not making sense!"
"We are not going anywhere with this conversation. Please, excuse me." Hashirama said as he started to storm off.
"Hashirama! Don't you leave me like this! I was among the first to believe in your dream! I've built this village with you! Please, the whole Kishimoto clan is depending on me." Masashi pleaded once more.
Hashirama stopped from his tracks. "I think I would have noticed if a whole clan suddenly disappeared from my village. Stranger, if you are trying to fool me with these lies, then you are doing a very poor job."
Hashirama left a desperate Masashi locked up in the prison cell. With a heavy heart, and with a great help from our clan's secret technique, Masashi was able to escape from Konoha's prison and immediately went back to our clan elders to report about his encounter with Hashirama. Even the clan elders seemed to understand nothing from Hashirama's statements. Once again, they sent Masashi to the Shinobi world to try to have a clearer view of things.
So Masashi once more went back to the Shinobi World, but this time, he did not go straight to the Leaf. He visited other shinobi countries and tried to converse with other shinobis. He told them tales about the great Kishimoto clan but none of them, like Hashirama, seemed to have heard of such clan. Finally tired and desperate of his journey, Masashi visited the Leaf village for the last time. This time not only trying to convince Hashirama but also the other clans in the village. But none of them believed him.
There was just no way to make them believe; not enough evidence to prove his words. He certainly cannot bring them to the Non-Shinobi World with him and bring them back. He was well aware of the risks of the technique to non-members of the Kishimoto clan.
And so, after years of trying, he finally went back to the Non-Shinobi world and declared to the whole clan the conclusion of his journey - Nobody from the shinobi world remembers their existence.
When our clan fled to the Non-Shinobi world, our existence was simply erased from the Shinobi world. The clan cannot exist in both realms. By choosing one, we delete our existence from the other.
Everyone realized right then that it was the end for our clan. At least, for the shinobi side of our clan. If we are going to stay in the Non-Shinobi world, we cannot go on living like shinobis anymore. We cannot let non-shinobis know about our jutsus. Our techniques will be left unpracticed, unused, and soon a generation of purely non-shinobi Kishimotos will rise. Any clan in the same situation will be mortified at the thought.
But still, Masashi did not give up. He promised everyone in our clan that he will not stop until the Shinobi world remember us. He will continue to live on from generations to generations. The clan shall give rise to a new Masashi Kishimoto, and he will be the one to continue the mission of those who have already passed him.
Just as promised, Masashi named his son after him and the tradition continued ever since. The name Masashi Kishimoto was indeed passed on, every generation in our clan has their own Masashi. And each one has the same goal, to go back to the Shinobi world and convince its inhabitants that we do exist. But every Masashi seemed to end up in the same fate as the original one - locked up in one of Konoha's prison cell and deemed as mad by the townspeople.
Every effort seemed useless, until the seventh Masashi was born.