Hokage: Ryo's Path

Chapter 232: New Tasks

“It is Wood Release! How is this possible?” Seeing the two small saplings growing on the ground, Minato became sure that Lain was using Wood Release. Still, he didn’t understand what actually happened.

“Kushina, that’s indeed Wood Release. It’s exactly like that of Hashirama. I can’t mistake such strong vitality!” Kurama said with great certainty.

“Minato, I just asked Kurama, and he said that this is Wood Release indeed.”

Getting a positive answer, Minato actually smiled and said: “I never expected that I would get to see it, not with so much time between us and the 1st’s passing.”

“Kushina, switch with me, I want to confirm something!”

After Kurama took over Kushina’s body, his scarlet eyes stared at Lain Yamanaka. After doing so for a while, he turned to Ryo and asked: “Kid, explain to me, what is this little girl?”

Ryo did not want to reveal too much about Lain. After all, this matter is related to Orochimaru. Therefore, when faced by Kurama’s question, he chose to just remain silent.

Facing his silence, Kurama did not rush to show anger. Instead, he smiled and said: “Boy, it doesn’t matter much to me if you keep quiet. I don’t want to know what your hiding either. Just... don’t come running to me when this girl starts having problems in the future!”

The Kyubi’s words made Ryo rather worried. Lain was indeed different from Yamato, so perhaps she was not as safe as he was in the Manga?

Seeing that Ryo was somewhat shaken, the Kyubi said: “Kid, did this girl receive a sudden drop in Chakra levels at some point in time?”

Ryo was no longer calm, for Lain did experience such a thing during the experiment. He said: “Kurama! How do you know about this?”

“You answer me first! Is this girl not from the Senju bloodline?”

For Lain safety, Ryo could only admit that much. The Kyubi snorted, not saying anything. He had lived for long enough to guess what had happened to the young girl.

Controlling Kushina’s body, Ryo walked ahead of Ryo, putting her hand over Lain’s hand and passing on a certain amount of Red Biju Chakra to her body!

As soon as Lain accepted this Chakra, her consciousness blurred and she fell asleep.

Ryo immediately jumped to her side, picked her up, and then teleported with her home. After putting her in bed, he returned to the Forest of Death.

“Kurama, what in the world is going on?” Ryo asked anxiously.

“Kid, haven’t you found out yet? The girl almost had no Yang Chakra of her own left in her body!”

“I just noticed! I’m also wondering how she could use this kind of Wood Release, creating living things with such vitality!”

“Her cells! She’s pulling vitality out of her own cells!” The Kyubi said with a furious grunt.

All the pieces of the puzzle suddenly fell into place, and Ryo understood everything that was bothering him. Unlike Yamato, Lain’s body’s integration with Hashirama’s cells was perfect. Her Yin Chakra allowed her to pull in Hashirama’s distinct Yang Chakra and have great vitality, and then use the original Wood Release.

“I think you get the rest! Using Wood Release without having powerful Yang Chakra of her own is pulling the life away from that little girl; she’s dying slowly!”

Ryo nodded solemnly; what Kurama said was true.

“Kurama, I still have two questions...” Ryo was about to ask, when the Kyubi interrupted him.

“I know what you want to ask! Listen, I’ve just given this girl an abundance of Yang Chakra. Once that integrates with her own Chakra, it should allow her body to produce Yang Chakra at a rate high enough to counter the side effects of Wood Release use. As for the drop in her Chakra that happened before, that marked the awakening of her Wood Release, and that consumed a lot of her Chakra. Once that was complete, she recovered her Chakra slowly.”

After listening to Kurama, Ryo began thinking again, and Minato also understood a lot of what happened. The Kyubi returned to Kushina’s body, and went back to sleep.

A few minutes later, Ryo looked at Minato and said: “Ni-san, I’m so sorry!”

Minato smiled and shook his head saying: “Ryo, I promise you: the matter of Lain will not be pursued!”

Ryo released a sigh of relief; he did not expect that Minato would not even question what happened!

“Ryo, you are the person Kushina and I trust the most in Konoha. I believe that you will not do anything to harm Konoha!”

This unconditional trust from Minato made Ryo feel both moved and responsible.

Later, Ryo proposed that Lain should go to the Ninja Academy, and Minato immediately agreed without hesitation.

The next day, the Yamanaka family received a notice of admission from the Ninja School. However, since Lain was still asleep, her first school day could only be postponed.

After receiving the Kyubi’s Yang Chakra, Lain slept for three days and nights, with her own Yang Chakra growing constantly during all that time. Her entire body started to radiate strong vitality from the inside out.

On top of that, Chinse, who was taking care of Lain, noticed that her daughter was growing taller at a speed visible to the naked eye!

The forth day’s noon, Lain woke up from her slumber. Ryo immediately came to her side examining her health and Chakra.

Just like Kurama did say, Ryo felt her own Yang Chakra production was greatly enhanced.

After all, she did have Hashirama’s cells, and they were integrated with her body. It was all about getting her body to be able to produce Yang Chakra on its own. The Kyubi’s Chakra only accelerated to the process enough for her to survive it.

After sleeping for three whole days, Lain felt great and very energetic. After Ryo confirmed she was alright, he immediately teleported to the Minato’s office.

Not long ago, Minato sent an Anbu to summon him. The message just happened to coincide with Lain’s awakening, so Ryo couldn’t just respond immediately.

In the office, Minato was talking to someone when Ryo suddenly appeared.

Ryo looked at the person who was shocked by his sudden appearance, and he felt she was familiar.

“Maki, here’s Ryo! Go ahead and explain the situation to him.”

When Ryo heard her name, he immediately remembered who she was. This was Maki, Pakura’s disciple, and the one who ended up being able of sealing her in the anime.

“Ryo sama, our Ichibi Jinchuriki is seriously ill, on his death bed. Therefore, the kazekage sama’s consultant, Pakura sama, has sent for your help with sealing the Biju in the next Jinchuriki. This is her letter to you.”

After saying that, Maki handed Ryo a scroll, and after going through its content, he agreed to go to the Sand Village.