Ryuna's life (part 2)
Ryuna:
In the end, she ended up signing contracts with the leopards and butterflies, while her brother signed with the cats and foxes.
The leopards and cats had practically raised the twins, having been their father's summonings. They saw the children as their own cubs and easily accepted the contracts, even if it meant sharing the children with other summons.
The foxes were clever and stealthy, skilled at adapting to different situations. While the cats were exceptional hunters—silent and intelligent—they weren’t particularly adaptable. This made the combination of summons complementary. Kaito intended to have the cats and foxes work together in some cases to cover each other's weaknesses. Orochimaru helped set up training plans for the summons, curious to see how this collaboration would play out.
Ryuna, despite her contract with the dragons, decided to acquire summons she could use more actively. The leopards would serve as her combat summons, while the butterflies would offer versatility; with their genjutsu skills, they’d be ideal for communication and espionage, gathering information and then displaying it through illusions. Initially, the butterflies weren’t keen on sharing a summoner, but they were persuaded when Ryuna promised to grant them combat abilities they had never had before.
Over the next few months, Team Oro split their time between the battlefield and the Village. Ryuna continued working on her chakra network project as well as her sealing techniques. Minato helped her develop a variation of the Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) technique, a teleportation seal that could not only transport her to another location but also allow others to be transported to a preset location through remote activation. This would be useful for evacuation or rescuing injured shinobi from high-risk areas. In such situations, they could simply summon themselves back to the safety of the Village. However, they needed a way to ensure that enemies couldn’t use the seal to infiltrate Konoha if they ever got their hands on one of these seals.
A more versatile Hiraishin was something that caught Minato's interest, and both he and Kushina joined the project. Kushina even contributed ideas for her reverse storage seal—a name she gave to a seal that activated from within but functioned externally.
Two years passed, and by the time the twins were eight, after graduating from the Academy, Ryuna finally succeeded in creating—well, actually two—new chakra pathways within her own body, connecting her three summoning seals to them. The advantage of this was that she no longer needed to use her own blood to perform the summoning jutsu.
It was around this time that news of Obito being KIA (Killed in Action) reached the twins, and they made efforts to stay close to Kakashi, even when he tried to push them away. He seemed to struggle with the chakra drain from his Sharingan, so Ryu immediately began working on a seal to allow him to block the eye and halt chakra consumption. By connecting the seal to the main network, it should make it possible for Kakashi to switch the eye on and off as easily as a natural-born Uchiha could. Meanwhile, she left the legal aspects of dealing with the eye to Minato and Shin.
People only talked about how Minato-nii was going to be the next Hokage and his prowess in battle, but no one seemed to care about Obito’s death, which left a bitter taste in Ryuna’s mouth. She still hadn’t gotten over the story of Sakumo since learning about her father’s friend. She felt she couldn’t trust Konoha’s shinobi—they’d always see her as expendable if they had a good enough excuse to leave her behind. Was this really the "Will of Fire" these people defended? Tobirama’s journals in the Library—since he had followed Takeshi customs to gain access to his knowledge—spoke about his will to protect others, especially children, because he couldn’t protect his younger siblings.
Ryuna didn’t trust Konoha’s shinobi. She wouldn’t, as long as she believed they saw her as nothing more than a disposable weapon. That was not her Will of Fire: she wanted to protect people, no matter the cost.
It took Ryuna six months to complete Kakashi’s seal, along with another one that would prevent the eye from being stolen by electrocuting anyone who tried to forcibly remove it. The only way to remove the eye would be if Kakashi consciously cut the chakra flow to that specific seal—or if a Hyuga blocked the tenketsu, though Ryuna kept that part to herself to avoid giving anyone ideas.
Kaito begged Ryuna to create a variation of her storage seal, which stored her chakra-infused water so he could tattoo the seal and always have it with him. This took several more months, but she noticed that her completion time was decreasing with each seal she created, which was a promising sign.
Kaito was a powerful sensor, so when he sensed enemies near Konoha’s walls, neither he nor Ryuna wasted any time in warning their father and sensei of the danger along the way. They split up, racing full speed toward multiple pressure points.
Orochimaru headed toward Minato-nii, who was battling A and B from Kumogakure.
Their father and Kaito moved toward a group of seven hostile and powerful chakra signatures that Kaito recognized as matching Might Duy, Might Guy, and other shinobi.
Ryuna ran to where Kakashi was.
She quickly joined the fight against the Kiri-nin, her sword swinging with the ease of a master. The Kiri-nin fell quickly, unable to focus on both her and Kakashi, as neither of them gave any openings to exploit.
Despite her youth, Ryuna was at a tokubetsu-level, though she’d never pursued a promotion. Still, the Sandaime had granted her a battlefield promotion to chuunin, and Danzo had shown interest in both twins, though their father blocked all recruitment attempts.
Everything was going well until Rin stepped into Kakashi’s Chidori.
Kakashi’s hand piercing Rin’s chest made time itself seem to freeze, and Ryuna was already moving before she even realized it.
The moment Kakashi’s hand left Rin’s chest, Ryuna was there, medical ninjutsu glowing in her hands, while a shadow clone went to Kakashi to make him keep fighting off the enemies. Ryuna couldn’t save Rin while under attack.
With few opponents left, Kakashi managed to finish off those remaining, but Ryuna saw another figure approaching out of the corner of her eye, joining the fight beside them.
Ryuna focused on controlling Rin’s blood flow within her chest, using her mastery over water that both she and her brother shared—though Kaito was arguably much better at it—and simulating the work of her heart, ensuring continuous circulation. As silence fell with the last enemy’s death, only heavy breaths remained...
“Rin… is she going to…”
“Obito?!” It was Kakashi’s voice. “How are you…”
Obito was alive? What the hell?!
“Shut up and help me locate any shinobi with a beating heart,” the clone interrupted with authority. “Rin needs a transplant. Now!”
“But doesn’t it need to be compatible?”
Altering cellular structure was incredibly complicated, though Ryuna had done some work on it with Oro-sensei. It wasn’t impossible, but performing such a procedure in the middle of a battlefield with more enemies potentially on the way and no idea if they’d get any reinforcements was far from ideal.
“Rin’s blood type is A+,” she said, keeping the blood flowing.
“Let’s hope there’s a compatible one here,” her clone growled, running among the bodies and checking for intact hearts with medical ninjutsu. She went from one to another, discarding each one that didn’t match. “There’s an A+ here, but it’s a bit large…”
“That’s fine. It’s easier to trim a heart down and heal it than change the tissue itself,” the original replied, pausing tensely. “One more thing… she has a suspicious seal on her abdomen. It might explain why she stepped in front of Kakashi’s strike.”
“Kashi, Obito,” the clone called, “you both need to ensure that any enemies that show up can’t interrupt us. Keep them away, got it?”
“Rin… she’s going to…” Obito choked on his fear.
“I don’t know; even in a hospital, the odds wouldn’t be good,” the clone replied, carefully removing the Kiri-nin’s heart. “On a battlefield with more enemies coming? Even if the surgery goes well, the chances of infection or another complication are huge. We’re doing this for the 1% of chance it’ll work, so help us make it 2%.”
“Obito, watch the right; I’ll take the left,” Kakashi commanded, all Anbu agent even without his mask.
Hound.
“Right. She’s going to be fine,” Obito resolved with determination. “What kind of seal would make Rin do… this?”
“I… I don’t know,” Kakashi confessed, his voice heavy with guilt.
“When I’m done with the heart, I’ll examine the seal. Don’t get distracted,” the original ordered.
The clone brought the resized, healing heart, which beat in her hand, like the fish Ryuna once had to revive while learning medical ninjutsu.
Ryuna swiftly removed the remains of Rin’s damaged heart with one hand while maintaining blood flow with the other before inserting the new heart. She plunged her whole hand into Rin’s chest to connect everything.
She worried about the exit wound on Rin’s back, pressed against the ground, possibly gathering dirt.
“Bring the body from which you took this heart.”
Without a question, her clone ran back to retrieve the fresh corpse. In the back of her mind, Ryuna registered the renewed sounds of fighting. Kakashi and Obito were holding off a new wave of enemies, but thankfully, there weren’t many.
The corpse finally arrived. Unlike the heart, the clone didn’t need to be gentle with the enemy’s body.
“Make an incision and help me with a blood transfusion,” Ryuna commanded. “Use his blood to clean the wound on her back to prevent infection. This blood shouldn’t remain in her body, but a few drops won’t be an issue due to compatibility. Still, cadaver blood isn’t ideal…”
“I’ll keep the corpse’s blood circulating with chakra,” the clone explained, using the familiar green glow of medical ninjutsu on the enemy’s chest. “It’ll be brain-dead, and literally heartless, but the blood will remain fresh, he's not dead for so long.”
“You’ll need to make the lungs work too.”
“I’ll be out of chakra when I’m done,” the clone warned.
“Do it.”
The clone was clearly straining to perform all these tasks simultaneously. In a hospital, an entire team would be handling this, but they had no such luxury. If they didn’t act now, Rin would die.
A 1% chance. Maybe 2%.
The Kiri-nin’s blood flowed through the wound, cleaning any dirt or debris that might have entered through her open wounds or Ryuna’s own hands, unwashed in the rush of performing open-chest surgery.
Her first surgery.
At 8 years old.
She felt a grim sense of gratitude for her fuinjutsu project, incorporating her chakra network to gain the knowledge and skill necessary to save Rin. And Obito… if he was alive and fighting, maybe Kakashi would finally stop haunting the memorial stone. She secretly hoped so.
It hurt to see Kakashi refuse to live when he’d been the only one to survive. It hurt to watch him wither.
“I’m running low on chakra,” the clone warned.
“I’m almost done,” she replied.
She managed to connect the heart to Rin’s body, sealing any hemorrhages in her lungs to prevent her from drowning in her own blood after all their efforts to save her from her own recklessness. It would have to be enough to get her to a hospital.
Lifting Rin’s blood-soaked shirt, Ryuna noticed a vaguely familiar seal she’d learned from her father. The Jinchuuriki seal—at least a variation of it.
A badly crafted one. Doomed to fail.
Ryuna pursed her lips in irritation. No, it wasn’t badly made; it was perfect for what the Kiri-nin intended. They were planning to use the attack to destroy Konoha from within, using one of the Yellow Flash’s students.
Casting a quick glance up, Ryuna saw her father fighting alongside Kakashi, drenched in blood, likely from a previous battle. Kaito stood beside Obito, fighting as well.
Refocusing, Ryuna studied the seal carefully, sending a strand of chakra to test its integrity, feeling the corrosive chakra of the bijuu burn her as it tried to escape.
Her reserves were lower than she felt comfortable with, but she had to act now. The seal was already disintegrating; if she delayed even a moment longer, there was little chance that anyone here would survive the wrath of a bijuu.
Ryuna had created her own version of a Jinchuuriki seal as an exercise her father gave her to refine her skills. He approved its integrity, confirming that it would be strong enough to contain a bijuu if necessary. That was all that mattered, but Ryu, despite her actions, had a gentle heart, so she worked to make the seal both effective and comfortable.
Her father once told her of the bijuu, and she felt pity for them, creatures imprisoned simply for existing.
The fox had been controlled by the Sharingan to attack Konoha, then sealed away, punished for a crime it had been forced to commit.
So Ryuna had worked hard to make her seal at least bearable for whoever might be inside.
Creating a new clone with minimal chakra, she focused on the seal on Rin’s stomach, while the clone began drawing containment seals on the ground around them. The battle raged around them, but Ryu couldn’t afford distraction; she had no idea how to remove this flawed seal to replace it with a functional one.
From the corner of her mind, Ryuna heard the quiet after the battle when the new wave of enemies had been defeated. Harsh breathing, like lungs full of fluid...
Ryuna looked up to see her father slumped against a tree, pale. He smiled at her when their eyes met. Kaito was beside him, tears brimming in his eyes.
– Otou-san… – Ryu could feel her eyes filling with tears.
– Keep doing what you’re doing, dear, – her father smiled before glancing worriedly at Rin. – Is that a Jinchuuriki seal?
All that blood… not all of it was from the enemy. Her father had already been wounded when he arrived to help them with Rin’s situation. He would never have left Kakashi without backup.
– Yes, – she nodded, forcing her tears back. They were of no use now. She could cry for her father when she was done. – It was designed to fail. They planned to use the attack to destroy Konoha from the inside.
She could see Kakashi and Obito’s eyes widen in realization, finally understanding why Rin had done what she did. Kaito was crying because he too realized what this meant: Ryuna couldn’t prioritize her father’s wound.
Takeshi Shin was going to die, and none of his children could save him.
– Use chakra suppressors to keep the bijuu from escaping, – her father grimaced in pain before continuing. – Use natural chakra as fuel for the seal. A person’s chakra isn’t strong enough to contain it alone. The Jinchuuriki can only hold it due to the seal’s strength, but a weak Jinchuuriki wouldn’t have the strength to sustain such a powerful seal… Your seal is more suited for that. You made it to feed off natural energy, didn’t you? Rin isn’t an Uzumaki; she won’t survive the sealing if you use a traditional seal.
Ryuna had studied natural energy out of curiosity after learning about Minato-nii’s Sage abilities. She began studying the subject and discovered that trees were a strong source of natural energy. That’s why the Shodaime was so powerful.
So Ryuna had started practicing bonsai at home whenever she had free time. She hadn’t told anyone what she was doing because she felt no one would approve. She meditated while humming and tending to the miniature tree. At the same time, she poured her chakra into the small tree, into the soil, into the water that nourished it. She connected the tree to herself and her chakra so deeply that she could feel the natural energy through it. It wasn’t enough for Ryuna to control natural energy like Minato did, incorporating it into her body, but it was enough for her to gain the understanding needed to create seals that fed on it instead of human chakra. The only human chakra required would be the initial activation, but afterward, it would be self-sustaining.
Ryuna hadn’t known her father had discovered this hidden feature of her seals, but she should have guessed.
– Ryu, – her father called, his voice weak and his eyelids heavy. – When you return to the Village, you’ll be the leader of the Uzo clan. – It had been almost a year since Kushina approached Shin about merging the Takeshi and Uzumaki clans into one clan, Uso, to secure a place on the council. And from that moment, Ryuna was the new leader of that clan.
– Kakashi. You… you’re such a smart boy, yet so foolish at the same time, – Shin chuckled. – I know you resent your father for leaving you, but you need to stop living for the dead and their expectations and start living for the living… for yourself. It’s hard, I know, but life is hard. Death… death is easy; it’s the end of all troubles, but you’re not the kind of person who’d take the easy way out… I know you don’t want to hear this from me now, but I think if I don’t say it now, I won’t have another chance. Don’t mourn the dead as if they’re still suffering. They’re not… only the living suffer, Kakashi, don’t forget that, you don't need to feel so guilty.
Kakashi was crying – silent tears streaming down his face – as he listened to the man who had tried to care for him like a son, but whom he had pushed away all this time. Just like with Obito’s supposed death, Ryuna knew he’d blame himself for this and that she’d have to scold him for it. But maybe now he’d stop pushing her and Kaito away when they tried to get closer to him.
– Kaito… you’re strong. So strong. Your heart wasn’t made to bow. Don’t let anyone govern your heart, son. You’re like… like the sea: strong and… and unstoppable. – He smiled, holding Kaito’s face with pride and affection as the boy cried silently. – Those you love can sail your waves, even in the midst of a storm, but no one governs the sea. Never forget who you are… Your sister will need your strength, and you, hers… Support Ryuna so she doesn’t give up… your resolve has always been so strong… I love you so much…
– Ryuna… you have a big heart, big enough to hold so many… so many people, my girl… Never forget… there are no orphans in the Takeshi clan… You’re like a rock in a river… strong, steady… reliable… no matter how fierce the current tries to pull you away, you remain there so the desperate have something to hold onto… Beware of rotten roots… don’t let them drag you down… don’t let them drag those under your care down either. – Ryuna closed her eyes and tried to focus on her work, but she could only stare blindly at the seal on Rin’s stomach as she listened to what she knew were her father’s final words. – Your brother is emotional… it’s not a bad thing; he’s the storm while you’re the calm… he’ll need your calmness to keep from acting rashly, and you’ll need his heart to keep from straying… Power corrupts, so don’t turn your back on those who stood by you when there was no power to strive for… Be someone you can be proud of when we meet again. Live without shame… die without regrets…
Tears streamed down her face, but Ryuna forced her hands to remain steady as she began deactivating the faulty Jinchuuriki seal to apply the new one. She didn’t look up, but she knew the exact moment her father died from the way Kaito began to sob even harder.
When reinforcements finally arrived, Ryuna had already finished sealing the bijuu with a safer seal, was suffering from chakra exhaustion, and…
And her father had been dead for a long time.
People were not pleased with Ryuna’s seal design when they understood its implications.
Sure, it was far more secure than traditional seals, with no risk of the tailed beast escaping or chakra leaking—but that was precisely the problem: there was no chakra leakage whatsoever. Rin, even as a jinchuuriki, couldn’t “borrow” the beast’s chakra in combat. It wasn’t much different from a fully sealed storage seal.
Ryuna thought she could have sealed the bijuu in a piece of paper if she hadn’t believed the paper would burn under the initial surge of chakra during the transfer. Once the bijuu was inside? A sheet of paper would likely hold.
The Konoha Elders, upon learning what had happened, were initially excited at the prospect of another jinchuuriki, but their hopes were quickly dashed. There were arguments about how Kirigakure might demand the Three-Tails back, but for that to happen, they’d have to know Konoha had it. How could they know if there was no trace of chakra to prove it? Gossip, Ryuna argued in her first council meeting as clan leader and a freshly promoted jounin, could easily be countered by rumors claiming that the beast’s host had died and the bijuu dispersed its chakra, waiting to reform in a few years. By then, there might be peace, or if not, there would have been enough time for Konoha to use the complete lack of evidence as proof of innocence.
Kirigakure had little to stand on in demanding anything from Konoha, and the only way to prove their certainty that Konoha held the bijuu would mean admitting they had willingly made a Konoha citizen its host. In the council, Ryuna shrugged as if to say, “They gifted us the beast; what were we supposed to do?”
With Minato slated to be the next Hokage—his inauguration scheduled for a few weeks—and Rin as his student, the idea of “trading” her back to Kiri as a political move got no support. The elders weren’t thrilled that the next Hokage seemed disinclined to yield to their demands.
Sadly, Ryuna couldn’t convince the council to switch Kushina’s seal to one similar to Rin’s. They didn’t want to lose their “weapon,” and were content to let the Three-Tails’ seal remain as it was, fearing that knowledge of the beast’s presence in Konoha could reignite a war that was in its final stages.
Obito’s return was met with both suspicion and thorough investigation, but Team 7 and Minato celebrated. The Uchiha now had proof that Kakashi hadn’t stolen Obito’s eye but received it as his friend’s final wish. This didn’t mean the clan was happy with a non-Uchiha possessing the Sharingan, but at least this time, Obito shared the negative attention rather than leaving Kakashi as the sole target.
Rin, meanwhile, was in the hospital recovering from the damage to her body, sparking debates over whether her heart could withstand the high-stress shinobi life or if she should retire from fieldwork. It was decided that she’d remain in the hospital for a few months to avoid stressing the transplant and limit chakra use until Jiraiya could study her jinchuuriki seal further. Her career would be reassessed later.
Kakashi visited his father’s grave for the first time. He didn’t evade Kaito’s presence after Shin’s funeral, though anyone who knew him could tell he wanted to. He no longer fled from his twin cousins when they visited, though he was uneasy with the attention. He was often seen around the village with Obito, Rin, one of the twins, or sparring with Guy.
Yumi, his mother, resented Konoha for being the kind of place that drove Sakumo to suicide, in turn causing her family to move to that miserable place. She disliked how she was disregarded as a woman and civilian and resented the village for the loss of her husband. She didn’t plan revenge, as Ryuna observed, but she wouldn’t lift a finger to aid Konoha, either. Ryuna decided to give her mother a more active voice by assigning her as the clan’s representative in council meetings in place of the clan head. Yumi, once a diplomat, excelled in the role. This also put her in a position to shield her children from corrupt elders.
Hiroshi privately mourned his son-in-law but was proud to know Sakumo had died honorably protecting his children. It was a worthy death, he called it. He understood his daughter’s grief but believed no place was perfect, and Konoha, like any village, was a product of its past. He argued that only a leader with the courage to take risks and innovate could move things forward. Sarutobi, however, seemed unwilling to change the policies of his master, treating them as sacred.
Kaito began learning medical ninjutsu after convincing himself that he might have bought his father some time if he’d known it. His chakra control wasn’t the best and wouldn’t improve without significantly more time dedicated to meditation and medical practice than he could afford, but he was determined to learn enough to at least provide first aid, even if he’d never be as skilled as his sister.
Similarly, Ryuna threw herself into her projects, sleeping little as she worked. She successfully created a variation of the Hiraishin and was developing an execution plan to present to Minato upon his inauguration as Hokage. This would allow teleportation seals to be used as escape routes or emergency aid for injured teams. If she’d created it earlier, they might have saved her father, but Ryuna wouldn’t dwell on the past. What was done couldn’t be changed, but she could ensure it wouldn’t repeat.
She placed these teleportation seals on the wings of her butterfly summons, along with other seals since each wing was divided into four parts, allowing Ryuna to equip each summon with four distinct seals. This gave the butterflies versatility and offensive capabilities, fulfilling her promise to make them combat-ready.
Ryuna also started developing a seal that would absorb natural energy and release it into her body in the ideal measure, tracking her chakra reserves to prevent her from turning to stone or anything similar. Essentially, she was creating a seal that would allow her to enter Sage Mode at will without extensive meditation or training—a cheat, but she couldn’t stand to be out of chakra and helpless when someone was dying in front of her. As a result of the constant natural energy flow, she gained red markings around her eyes, which could pass as geisha makeup.
Additionally, her “clone” project held great potential if it worked. She was modifying shadow clones, aiming to create a more durable version. It was still in its early stages, but she needed the assurance of backup if her comrades or family were caught under fire.
After Minato’s inauguration, things shifted. Kakashi, Obito, Kaito, and Ryuna were recruited into the Anbu, largely because the elders insisted on pursuing them.
Kakashi for bearing the Sharingan without being an Uchiha (several Uchiha elders still complained about it).
Obito for his mysterious disappearance and reappearance, with no sign of the supposed old man who saved him or any giant statues.
Kaito joined because Kakashi did, refusing to let his “brother of heart” face the shadows alone—not that Kakashi knew this.
Ryuna, because her jinchuuriki seal was controversial, and Jiraiya was quite impressed with her idea of using natural energy. Minato also wanted to test the teleportation seals’ effectiveness in the field, and the Anbu missions needed them most.
The war officially ended.
In the months following her father’s death, Ryuna’s mother finally revealed the “rotten roots” her father had warned her about on his deathbed. Learning that Danzou wasn’t merely unpleasant but a real threat to the family sent chills down Ryuna’s spine. She was now responsible for her family’s security, so she calmed herself with medical ninjutsu to regulate her heartbeat and breathing.
She and Kaito began plotting: Danzou had to fall.
They spoke to Minato, who immediately launched an investigation into the elder. The twins stayed informed as they were Danzou’s targets and involved in the investigation.
Over time, Danzou lost influence in the council, and he was nearly removed from his advisor position.
Then, Kushina announced her pregnancy.
The fact that Danzou used children for his private army, along with Minato’s new sense of fatherhood, drove the Fourth Hokage to strip every ounce of power left in Danzou’s hands. Investigations led them to an orphanage where the man took unregistered children.
Minato wanted to handle things swiftly but feared civil war if the full extent of Danzou’s activities under the Third Hokage’s watch became known. He worried that the truth would erode trust in the village’s leadership, leading to Konoha’s eventual collapse.
Ryuna, Kaito, Obito, and Kakashi formed an Anbu squad tasked with gathering evidence on Danzou since Minato couldn’t be sure of other agents’ loyalty after discovering Root operatives within the Anbu and regular forces. Surprisingly, it was Orochimaru’s knowledge that provided the breakthrough when they discovered that the Third had assigned him to work with Danzou nearly a decade ago.
By unraveling the tongue seal on Orochimaru, Ryuna devised a way to neutralize it, and within weeks, they had a complete testimony on Danzou’s human experimentation, authorized by Sarutobi. The experiments had used the First Hokage’s cells.
Lineage theft, executed and sanctioned by the Village itself. A dangerous precedent.
This could truly incite civil war. The clans would abandon Konoha the moment this surfaced. Thus, they needed to handle everything quietly, but efficiently, so that when the truth inevitably came out—as it would, with so many involved—they could control the circumstances and ensure the clans and Konoha’s citizens saw that the current Hokage was doing the right thing. That the Will of Fire still burned within them.
With Kushina’s pregnancy, Minato began working on reinforcement seals for her Jinchuuriki seal, weakened during childbirth. He considered incorporating natural chakra to strengthen it, but Ryuna refused to make it easier to enslave the tailed beast.
She stated that if he wanted her help, it would be to end the concept of Jinchuuriki once and for all, not to turn them into more efficient weapons.
Though frustrated, Minato knew he couldn’t really force Ryuna to assist. Besides, it would be incredibly foolish to compel someone’s help while giving them power over you. It was like threatening a doctor to heal someone: what would stop them from worsening the condition instead? Ryuna made it clear he had to choose what was most important to him—Konoha or Kushina. The seal he chose would reflect that.
Minato continued studying Rin’s seal but did not approach Ryuna again for help.
Precautions were taken for the birth, and when it finally happened, everyone noticed. Not because they knew about Naruto’s birth, but because a giant fox could not be ignored.
The twins were in the village while Kakashi and Obito were assigned to protect Minato and Kushina while Biwako handled the delivery. Something had gone terribly wrong…
Or someone had ensured it went terribly wrong.
Kaito and Ryuna quickly began organizing the evacuation, with both siblings tending to more serious injuries just enough for people to reach medics in the shelters. Kaito, a sensor, could quickly locate people trapped under debris, while Ryuna used her butterflies to find anyone lost, especially children separated from their parents.
As they assisted, Ryuna saw homes and entire streets destroyed in an instant. Tears filled her eyes, but this was not the time.
When this was over, she would have to find a way to ensure it never happened again... At the very least, the homes should be safe.
One of her butterflies had flown far, sending a message through genjutsu:
Minato and Kushina standing between the fox and their newborn baby.
The beast’s claw piercing through them, while Kushina’s chakra chains held it back.
Kakashi and Obito fighting masked ninjas who were clearly trying to reach Minato, Kushina, and Naruto. Did they want the Jinchuuriki or revenge against the Yellow Flash? Did it matter now?
There were seals on the ground, but Ryuna couldn’t read them through the genjutsu.
One thing she knew: Naruto was being prepared to be the next Jinchuuriki.
The seal was activated.
No!
Without thinking, Ryuna activated the teleportation seal she’d placed on her butterfly and transported herself to their location.
The fox was being absorbed into the baby, but the child had just been born, and Ryuna wasn’t sure if he could absorb that much chakra without harming his chakra pathways. Even though at this age, they should be flexible, and his reserves would naturally be larger and more elastic than most due to his Uzumaki heritage.
With the traditional Jinchuuriki seal, which allowed access to the Beast’s chakra, there was still the risk of permanent damage, however slight.
Ryuna rushed in and activated the seals on her arms to absorb any chakra that touched her skin. She might not be able to stop the sealing now, but she could lessen the initial chakra load and hopefully reduce the strain on Naruto’s pathways. Eventually, the Beast’s chakra would regenerate and grow again, but by then, the baby’s pathways would have adapted to their new host. And Ryuna would be there to ensure he didn’t collapse, monitoring his adaptation.
The corrosive Nine-Tails chakra burned her skin like acid, but Ryuna would be damned if she let Naruto die just because she couldn’t endure some pain. Just a little more, she thought, almost there.
When it finally ended, Ryuna used her own chakra to heal her wounds but couldn’t continue. Instead, she tried using the abundant chakra of the Fox stored in her seal to heal her arms. Like dissolves like, she thought, watching the wounds slowly begin to close.
Kakashi and Obito stood nearby, exhausted, and when Ryuna looked up, they had tears in their eyes, looking toward the faint sound of a baby’s cry.
Minato and Kushina had died the moment the Fox’s claw—the only thing stopping their bleeding—vanished from their bodies.
Little Naruto lay crying on the ground, alone.
Ryuna staggered to the child, picking him up as she scanned the seals marked on the ground…
It wasn’t the traditional Jinchuuriki seal.
It was her seal.
Unaltered.
Minato had chosen not to turn his son into a weapon. He’d chosen to break the cycle.
When a team arrived, including the Third, several Anbu, and Kaito, Ryuna had made her decision. She shot a silent glance to Kakashi and Obito, exhausted, conveying a plea for support and trust.
“What happened?” Hiruzen demanded.
“There was an attack during the delivery,” Kakashi reported obediently. “There were about twenty, and Obito and I kept most of them back, but three got through, including who we think was their leader. Minato-sensei dealt with them, but we couldn’t prevent them from tampering with the seal. They did something to control the Fox… Obito used his Sharingan to stop the Fox from continuing its destruction, but… whatever they were doing conflicted with Obito’s efforts to contain the Beast. We managed to take down most of them,” he indicated the fallen enemies nearby, “and sensei sealed the beast again,” he pointed to where Ryuna held Naruto.
Not a single lie.
Ryuna looked down at the baby in her arms and knew instantly what would happen if people knew he was the Jinchuuriki. What the elders would do if they discovered the seal was her model, preventing chakra transfer.
Minato had made his choice, and now it was Ryuna’s turn to make hers.
Live without shame.
Hiruzen’s eyes turned to the baby in her arms, and Ryuna knew what she had to do.
She allowed some of the Fox’s chakra stored in her seals to release. Just enough to cover a small transformation she applied to her eyes, making them red with slit pupils. With such dense chakra concealing it, even the Sharingan or Byakugan would struggle to detect the slight inconsistency indicating the transformation’s presence.
Kakashi and Obito widened their eyes briefly, but the angle allowed this to go unnoticed by the Anbu agents and the Third, and they quickly controlled their expressions to something neutral. The perks of Anbu training.
Kaito looked genuinely shocked, but not because he believed what he saw; he had helped her test that chakra absorption seal and knew better than anyone the feel of it activating and deactivating. He knew that chakra was stored in the seals on her arms.
“I’m the new Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki,” she stated to Sarutobi, and no one contradicted her. All those who knew were those who had been there when it happened, and her twin. Naruto was far too young, and the birth had been difficult; Minato feared he wouldn’t survive the sealing. He summoned me through one of my summons and sealed the Beast in me.”
Just like that, Ryuna destroyed any chance of a normal life she might have had left.
She would not regret it.