Hokage: Ryo's Path

Chapter 58: Bunpuku

Ryo did not realize what the Sand had in store for him. He was actually more worried about the situations of Jiraya and Sakumo.

The barrier has isolated the 4 Kage tier warriors who were on the battleground. There must be something bad they Rasa had planned.

“Kid, if you have time to worry about others, you’re better off worrying about yourself!” Hugo’s voice interrupted Ryo’s thoughts.

When Ryo summoned Gamahiro, he was surrounded by several elite Jonins of the Sand. However, he didn’t worry too much. He has his Ice mode, and some of Konoha’s Jonins have arrived to fight on his side.

“Hugo! You’re going lower and lower. Six Jonins gathering to bully a child? Now, people your age are here to teach you a lesson!” Uchiha Chu, his clan’s 3rd head was there, and he was also the Uchiha’s representative at the pre-battle meeting.

Hugo did not expect Konoha’s Jonins to actually be so fast to react and come to team up with Ryo.

“Don’t be so arrogant kid; someone will take care of you. Hey, this brat is all yours! Don’t forget what Chiyo Ba-san has said!”

Hugo’s words made Ryo notice the old monk behind the 6 Sand Jonins. His thick eyebrows and mustaches were all white, with his hands clasped together and his eyes closed.

Ryo looked at this old monk for a moment and then his faced changed completely when he remembered who he really was. This seemingly kind old man was actually the one tailed Jinchuriki!

When he saw Bunpuku, Ryo immediately understood why Rasa trapped the 4 powerhouses behind that barrier and went through with the seemingly unwinnable fight.

It’s not that he’s found a way to beat Sage mode. It was actually because Ryo was the target in the 1st place!

“Child, what’s your name? Chiyo just told me to kill you without even giving me your name.” Bunpuku has a kind smile as he looked at Ryo.

“My name is Ryo Yamanaka, a Konoha Chunin!”

“Ah, you’re Konoha’s genius they were talking about! It’s a pity that I promised Chiyo. I must kill you, sorry child!”

As soon as he finished his words, his body started oozing with red Chakra, and it started to look familiar to Ryo who was used to fight Kushina.

In the manga, Gaara never used this mode. Ryo also thought that Shukaku could only be used with partial transformation or with the use of [Feigning Sleep Technique]. He did not expect that Shukaku could be used this way like the other Bijus.

As this was the one tailed beast, the mode could only go up to one tail. This made Ryo appreciate Kushina’s colossal power.

Unlike Kushina when she uses the tailed coat mode, Bunpaku’s speed didn’t seem to be enhanced that much. What changed was his attack method, which revolved around using sand, just like Gaara in the manga.

How terrible it is, fighting an enemy that controls Sand in a sandy desert! Gamahiro’s massive body became nothing but a living target, and Ryo had to get down from over his head to face his opponent.

But Ryo was going into the fight with a straight face. Observing Bunpuku’s attacks, he realized that it took him anywhere from 1 to 2 seconds between attacks before he could release them.

In the desert, Sand is everywhere, and that’s his foe’s greatest advantage. But Sand weighs a lot! It takes a good while for Chakra to move a pile of it after another.

Ryo entered the Ice-Lighting Chakra mode. Between his great perception brought by his family’s training and the great speed that’s brought with this mode, Ryo could just avoid all of Bunpuku’s attacks.

He avoided over 10 of his enemy’s attacks, but he knew that should not work for ever. When all is said and done, his enemy is a Jinchuriki. How long could Ryo last by just running and hiding?

The situation became really stagnant, and that doesn’t help Ryo. He is sure to run out on Chakra before his foe.

He didn’t want to sit back and wait. He kept on trying to attack while looking for Bunpuku’s weaknesses.

Hard work pays off, and Ryo found what he was looking for: Bunpuku was standing still every time that released a Jutsu. The reason for that is that he was slow when it came to forming seals, as he wasn’t trained by ninjas. It took him about two seconds to release a Jutsu. If interrupted, that would make for a guaranteed 3 seconds where he does nothing at all.

“Hiro, I found his weakness. I’ll attack him and when I tell you, use [Water Release: Gunshot] to attack him.”

Ryo said that really loud. There wasn’t only Gamahiro that heard that clearly, there was also his opponent, Bunpuku!

The latter didn’t believe any of Ryo’s words. After all, no ninja would announce his tactics so loudly. He was very confident in Shukaku’s absolute defense. Even to tailed coat is non damageable by ordinary Ninjas.

That’s exactly what Ryo was relying on. No Ninja would shout out his combat plan. He knew well that while Bunpuku wouldn’t be shaken by his words, Gamahiro would still prepare himself to attack on his command.

The next time Bunpuku attacked, Ryo shouted out loud: “Hiro, attack!”

Hiro’s Water Gunshot had exactly the impact that Ryo had imagined. His foe was completely focused on forming his seals. By the time he noticed Hiro’s attack coming, he had no time to avoid it.

“Freeze!” Ryo froze the great masse of water, and a huge water ball fell from the air.

The Ichibi is a tailed monster claimed to give his owner an absolute defense. When hit by that huge Ice ball, only the coat had serious damage done to it, while Bunpuku had a minor injury.

Bunpuku wiped the blood from his mouth and had a glimmer of madness show up in his eyes as Shukaku started to take over his mind.

The relationship between the two of them wasn’t that bad. At the very least, Shukaku didn’t interfere with Bunpuku’s fighting when in war.

But the thing was, Shukaku’s Chakra thrived when its Jinchuriki had more negative emotions, and those erupted inside of Bunpuku when he was injured.

His body started slowly changing just like Gaara’s in the Manga, and he went into partial transformation. However, Ryo was actually getting him there on purpose.

The Ice ball’s wreckage was right behind Bunpuku, and Ryo used it to teleport behind him. He then used a Kunai to hit him from his blind spot with a [Thousand Years of Death]!

Obviously, Ryo remembered that Naruto was able to use this technique in the manga to break Gaara’s partial transformation

Now, using the same principle, Ryo was also able to do the same thing to Bunpuku as well.

“I didn’t expect you to see through the blind point of Shukaku’s partial transformation. Just like Rasa said, you have a special teleportation technique, you are great kid!” Bunpuku was showing his sincere admiration for Ryo.

“Do you want to continue?” Ryo’s Chakra had already bottomed out and he had to take a food pill before asking that question.

“Oh, I promised Chiyo that will definitely kill you. Yet, it seems that I can’t do it. So, let’s bring out Shukaku!” As he finished his words, Bunpuku closed his eyes.