The 27-year-old has had four shoulder reconstructions in recent years, two on each side, and felt his shoulder "pop" at training earlier this week, Chiefs coach Dave Rennie was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
"It's not very good," Rennie told the Waikato Times newspaper. "The issue is around his shoulder now... the medics are referring him to have another scan because he's got pain in his shoulder - the one that was operated on (last year).
"It felt sore and then he threw out a hand to catch a ball and he felt a little pop in there."
Kahui spent 10 months on the sidelines after dislocating his shoulder last year and only returned to the game in the Chiefs' fifth match of this season after he required keyhole surgery to clean up scar tissue.
He will have scans on the shoulder and then see the surgeon next week, Rennie said.
Kahui had only just recovered from a minor hamstring injury but the latest shoulder setback is likely to rule him out of the Chiefs' match against the Rebels in Melbourne on Friday.
The centre, who has played most of his All Blacks rugby on the wing, including the 2011 World Cup final againstFrance, signed a two-year contract with Japanese club Toshiba earlier this year.
His decision to move to the Top League at the end of the Super Rugby season disappointed All Blacks coachSteve Hansen, with Kahui almost certainly having been in his thoughts as he plans for the 2015 World Cup in England.