Ryuna's life (part 4)
Ryuna:
Returning to fieldwork was inevitable, and it significantly increased the number of attempts on her life.
Danzo wouldn’t dare make so many attempts on someone as publicly visible as Ryuna within the village. She wasn’t weak enough to disappear quietly, and he knew it. Any attempt would draw more attention than he was willing to risk. This, at least, reassured Ryu that his actions weren’t officially sanctioned by the Village. Her political allies had grown after numerous Council meetings where she defended the interests of other clans for the good of Konoha.
Ryuna was starting to gain some fame, both among shinobi and civilians. People would give her slight bows of respect when she passed by in the streets.
She was removed from her specialized Anbu team focused on support and rescue missions. Everyone who operated in the shadows, herself included, knew that this meant the mortality rate would return to what it had been before she had created the team under the Yondaime’s leadership. Minato-nii had helped her select and train the members so she could use her modified Hiraishin seals to transport entire teams remotely. This gave the squads much more mobility and made rescues more feasible. But from the beginning, they all knew it wasn’t a technique that could be widely distributed. It would be catastrophic if an enemy got hold of one and used it to teleport directly to Konoha via the interconnected seals. With Ryu in the field, she could control which seals were activated, preventing such a strategy. Moreover, it wasn’t something she could teach just anyone; it required a true Seal Master.
Ryuna became known as the kunoichi superiors would send to rescue a team in trouble. No matter how dire the situation, she would save everyone who could be saved, even performing medical procedures in the field. After the incident with Rin, Ryuna developed a sort of Portable Surgery Area (PSA), where seals kept dirt and contaminants out (from both the ground and the air, though it couldn’t stop an attacker), allowing her to operate without worrying about isolating the wound from potential infections.
Needless to say, the Anbu weren’t happy with the decision to remove her, but they wouldn’t voice their discontent. Always loyal to the Hokage.
Meanwhile, Kakashi and Obito had become a famous duo with an astonishing mission completion rate. Obito’s Sharingan helped the two work in perfect sync, as if their eyes were still connected. Ryuna’s seal, which allowed Kakashi to deactivate his Sharingan, also helped him conserve chakra.
Anko, with whom Ryuna kept in touch, had started working in T&I. She had begun to uncover dirt on Danzo and the other elders. Ryuna may or may not have hinted that Anko should remain discreet to avoid “disappearing.” She also suggested that Anko try to gather evidence for... a more opportune day.
Meanwhile, Kaito had managed to become one of Danzo’s trusted men. The elder had tried to get Kaito to steal the binding seal technique their father had created for contracts. Apparently, Danzo wanted to enslave all of Root to his will. He already had a version of a control seal based on the Hyuga’s Caged Bird Seal, but Kaito had managed to avoid giving him anything of real value, claiming that Ryuna kept everything under lock and key, monopolizing the knowledge of the technique. This helped create the illusion of a rift between the siblings. Kaito had to publicly insult her and challenge her position as clan leader to prove his loyalty, and at that point, Oro-sensei knew something was going on.
Orochimaru was more than willing to conspire for Danzo’s early demise. He helped the twins validate their story without fully committing by providing Ryuna’s seals, such as the PSA, which could only be used to preserve lives and were strictly defensive. This helped protect the brainwashed victims Danzo had abducted. No offensive or control seals were ever provided, but Kaito’s pride was slightly wounded by everyone seeming to think he couldn’t create top-tier seals when he wanted to.
***
The civilian school was thriving, despite the Council's complaints about Ryuna teaching civilian children to use chakra.
Well, that was their problem; she had the Daimyo’s permission.
Ryuna wasn’t teaching them how to fight or use offensive ninjutsu. No, she was showing them how to use chakra in everyday tasks: Suiton (Water) became popular among older women attending the night school (dedicated to adult education while children attended in the mornings) as it helped with daily chores like doing laundry. It was also employed in the newly installed underground water treatment system, which handled both incoming water and sewage. Fuuton (Wind) was useful for cutting firewood during winter. Katon (Fire) gained favor for warming bodies during the cold season (through chakra circulation to regulate body temperature) and among blacksmiths to keep their forges hot. Doton (Earth) was utilized by construction crews still repairing the damage caused by the Nine-Tails' attack. Raiton (Lightning) was primarily learned by those working in Konoha’s electrical grid maintenance.
No one could deny that the overall quality of life in Konoha was improving exponentially.
Civilians who started using chakra as adults would never progress beyond a few basic tricks, but the children showed promise. It took time for them to truly sense their chakra, but with an experienced shinobi guiding the process with their own chakra, it became more feasible. The Daimyo had already begun hiring engineers and architects to overhaul his sewage and electrical systems and promised to employ civilians trained in chakra use.
There were even noble children enrolling in her school after the initial trial months.
With a growing number of students, Ryuna had to hire more teachers beyond those she had initially recruited from Konoha’s population. This time, she also enlisted retired shinobi, keeping them under secret observation to ensure they weren’t cruel or condescending toward civilians. Some had to be replaced due to poor attitudes, but Ryuna wouldn’t allow such people near children, so they had to go (screw whoever got upset about it, and if it happened to cut out a few of Danzou’s spies, even better).
Ryuna also hired a few Akimichi to handle the school’s kitchen, ensuring every student received healthy meals. Everyone paid a reasonable fee for their education, after all. She couldn’t fund everything alone, and the Daimyo’s sponsorship ended after the school’s construction and the teachers’ salaries for the first few months.
But Ryuna had plans, and she wasn’t the kind of person to let inconveniences stop her.
Using her own money (her parents had left her plenty, including what her father had salvaged from Uzoshio’s vaults), Ryuna built another apartment complex within the Uzumaki clan territory, though outside its protective barriers. The building had enough space to house 150 families of 3 to 4 members in two-bedroom apartments with a living room, kitchen, and bathroom.
She visited the slums and shelters where those who had lost everything in the attack struggled to rebuild despite having no resources. She offered everyone the same deal: shelter, education, and food in exchange for public services. The Hokage approved the initiative, and Ryuna hired a few civilian Nara to manage task distribution: tending the village parks, assisting construction crews, working in the Uzu clan’s gardens that stocked their pantries, and cleaning the school and other public areas.
Ryuna had to address some cases of disrespect toward these people by those who still enjoyed comfortable lives, but the threat of sending any bullies to be "disciplined" by Orochimaru worked wonders for improving behavior. Even some delinquents and former gang members became remarkably respectful under the looming prospect of time alone with the Snake Sannin.
Oro-sensei found the entire affair absolutely hilarious, and Ryuna was certain that anyone sent to be “disciplined” would eventually lose their fear of the threat. But it would serve its purpose as long as people were foolish enough to be deceived by appearances.
A year after the Nine-Tails’ attack, Ryuna had built quite a reputation for herself among both civilians and shinobi, as Danzou ensured she never got a break from fieldwork.
***
Ryuna’s next project was a teaching hospital where the civilian children she had been training could learn iryo-ninjutsu, preparing them to work at Konoha’s hospital or for the Daimyo himself. This initiative also met with resistance from the Council, citing the risk of medical techniques being stolen by other villages. But Ryuna argued that those techniques were useless if they weren’t utilized to their fullest. What was the point of having the best techniques if no one (besides Ryuna) even came close to Tsunade’s level, and the Sannin rarely stayed in the village to help? By teaching more people, there was at least a chance someone could reach or even surpass Tsunade. That wouldn’t happen if only shinobi were allowed to learn, especially since most Academy entrants aimed for combat or intelligence careers.
Not that she needed to convince the Council. The Daimyo wanted medical practitioners capable of healing with chakra instead of waiting for someone from Konoha to travel to the capital to treat a wound that couldn’t be healed otherwise. In some cases, the patient had already died by the time the medic arrived (including the Daimyo’s first child, who died during childbirth two years prior).
It was around this time that Ryuna encountered a boy again, one who was pulling pranks on street vendors. He was an Academy student, and she remembered seeing him months earlier when, consumed by grief, he had insulted her for supposedly killing his parents. He had called her a monster, and Ryuna had given him the same rehearsed words she offered to anyone who tried to vent their frustrations and grief on her.
Umino Iruka. He had been orphaned the night of the attack, like so many other children.
Ryuna invited him to spend time at the complex, where Iruka looked after the babies while they played. He was good with children and would have made a great older brother.
He pulled pranks because he wanted to be noticed. So Ryuna paid attention, bringing him over occasionally, asking about his day and his prank ideas. She scolded him when he crossed the line and caused damage to the vendors, but eventually, he learned that a joke wasn’t funny if it hurt someone. The boy was smart and soon became her first calligraphy student.
Iruka had potential for fuinjutsu.
***
In the months that followed, Ryuna finally succeeded in completing her modified Shadow Clone technique. It was similar, yet so different, that comparing the two was an insult.
For starters, Ryu couldn’t create an infinite number of clones. Her Blood Clones required blood (obviously), which she began storing in one of her seals to always have a reserve for emergencies and avoid the risk of becoming anemic during a fight when creating even a single clone. The clones had all the advantages of Shadow Clones but were far more durable, able to withstand numerous and powerful attacks. The body, made of chakra, blood, and water, would simply reconstruct itself by feeding on natural energy. It was her masterpiece and worked only because of the many seals tattooed onto her own body. This wasn’t just a matter of a few hand signs and chakra—it was not a technique that could be copied.
Until now, her grandfather had taken responsibility for watching over Naruto alongside Mikoto to protect the boy from any attacks by Root agents (since they kept appearing from time to time). With her new technique complete, Ryuna could leave a clone in Konoha while she carried out the missions assigned specifically to her by the Hokage and Danzo.
With Mikoto’s assistance, Ryuna finally managed to carve out some free time, and she created another clone to complete the construction of her new compound while the other clone worked on the newest laboratory within the grounds. With the perimeter set and protected by fuinjutsu (which didn’t even allow the Hokage entry without prior permission), she could work in secret with Orochimaru on her new and urgent project.
It all began with Oro-sensei complaining about how he couldn’t advance some of his projects without experimenting on humans, which would be unethical. Danzo tried offering a morally dubious solution, but it smelled like a trap, so Ryu made a counterproposal to her sensei—one only they would know about.
And so, they began creating clones of herself. Not exactly clones as most people would think. Ryuna used her knowledge of the Body Reconstruction technique and severed her own arm, reconstructing a body from it instead of starting with raw genetic material and creating life from a womb. By changing the starting point, reconstructing a body without going through the initial processes, the resulting body was lifeless and unconscious. It was like someone with brain death—a healthy body but no life. Just a shell.
With her clone and Orochimaru working on it 24/7, they achieved success in no time.
Ryuna used seals to stabilize the process and help guide the chakra so she wouldn’t have to do everything herself every time. The process was incredibly time-consuming and required immense concentration. She had to spend three consecutive days guiding the chakra using medical ninjutsu to reconstruct the body. No eating or sleeping. It wasn’t viable unless she could make the process more stable and less susceptible to variations. Her seals could be programmed to maintain constant chakra variation and calculate the rate of cell duplication. Essentially, the seal would handle the tedious, repetitive work.
When Orochimaru left for a longer mission, she began creating bodies. Though her flesh was the main raw material, she used drops of blood or other genetic material from animals, striving to integrate them into the new forming body. This time, however, she was genuinely creating babies.
She discreetly called Rin for a check-up on her Jinchuriki seal, mentioning something about ensuring its stability after the Fox’s attack and how the chakra of one Tailed Beast could influence another. The fact that Rin’s seal was experimental made her more inclined to trust Ryuna.
She trusted Ryu. Why wouldn’t she? Ryuna had saved her life.
She claimed to have an update to the seal that would make it almost invisible, even to sensors. Ryu argued that it would be safer for Rin, reducing the likelihood of her being targeted because of her condition. Thanks to this, Rin was frequently seen heading to the Uzo clan’s property discreetly to keep the adjustments to a Rank S seal secret (after the attack on Kushina-nee, Rin was worried about the possibility of a traitor in Konoha).
Ryuna felt guilty for taking advantage of Rin’s trust, but she needed to test her new technique on someone (a Jinchuriki, to be precise), and Rin was the only alternative besides Naruto. Ryu wasn’t about to use a baby as a test subject, so it had to be the girl.
During each visit, Ryuna slowly transferred more and more of the Sanbi’s chakra to the baby’s body. Her research indicated that the Three-Tails was an aquatic Beast resembling a giant turtle with coral-related powers. She used turtle blood as the DNA base and included some coral in the skeletal structure. Most of it was still predominantly human, and she was certain it wasn’t a body that could sustain life naturally due to the modifications, but it was made for a non-human creature, so it was fine.
It took three weeks for Ryuna to untangle the Sanbi’s chakra threads from Rin’s without killing her. She had to burn parts of her chakra network but immediately rebuilt them using her original technique. She doubted anyone else could separate a Bijuu from its Jinchuriki without killing the human in the process.
After that, she had a baby in an incubator. The equipment connected to it showed stable vital signs and brain activity.
It was alive.
The chakra was compatible with the Tailed Beast, and its core was linked to the central network. After only a day, Ryuna realized the volume and density of chakra were too much for such a young body, even with Uzumaki DNA strengthening its base structure. Knowing this, she couldn’t fully disconnect the Jinchuriki and the Tailed Beast. The seal would store the excess chakra until the new human body of the Bijuu was physically capable of bearing the load. This meant that the (supposed) mental connection between the Beast and its Jinchuriki would remain until the human body matured.
With the Sanbi successfully given a body and confirming Rin’s vitals were unharmed, it was Naruto’s turn.
Because there was no way she would allow him to continue as a Jinchuriki, a target.
***
While one of her Blood Clones tended to the new babies, the original Ryuna focused on finding a way to gain legal custody of the children. It had to be convincing. There needed to be a trail.
Creating those trails wasn’t the hard part, but doing so without her teammates (handpicked by Danzo) ratting her out was the real challenge. She needed a way to bring the children into her family without drawing too much attention, especially from Root. If anyone discovered what those children truly were, Ryuna would find herself fighting—possibly literally—against her own village for the right to keep them.
She wasn’t about to let anyone turn her children into weapons for someone else’s war.
The solution came to her during a mission in Takigakure, in a way that was tragic yet convenient.
She was accompanied by Might Guy, a standard Konoha jonin and a friend of Kakashi, on a simple espionage and intel-gathering mission. Guy was there as backup, only to step in if needed, while Ryuna handled the “spying” portion—something not exactly his forte. When she told him to stay at the camp and wait for her return, he obeyed.
Might-san didn’t see the dying Uzumaki woman, her body covered in hundreds of bite marks, nor did he see the nearly one-year-old child who bore her own share of bites, though not as many. He didn’t witness the indifference and even cruelty with which the child was treated.
Ryuna knew what she was about to do was problematic. She knew she would face reprimands, and if discovered, it could spark a war.
But she also knew that if she played her cards right, she could back Taki’s government into a corner. After all, they had stolen an Uzumaki child and enslaved her. With the Uzumaki and Takeshi clans allied, declaring war on one would mean declaring war on both. And the current leader of the Takeshi clan was a well-known Jinchuriki.
They wouldn’t dare start a fight with her, not while their own Jinchuriki was as young as Naruto himself. Fu, the Seven-Tails’ host, was being well cared for, so Ryuna had no reason to interfere there—yet. They’d wait for her to grow up before making any moves.
When Ryuna returned to camp carrying three babies—her summons helping with the load—and told the tragic tale of how their mother had died as her chakra was drained by Taki shinobi, her partner was moved to tears. Guy swore to help care for the children until they could return to Konoha. The only way anyone could learn that the deceased woman was the mother of just one of those babies would be by interrogating Taki’s shinobi. That, however, would pose a significant political hurdle—village secrets and all. They wouldn’t allow an interrogation.
Unfortunately for them, a shinobi’s word isn’t inherently trustworthy. If it came down to it, it would be her word—a noble clan leader in good standing with the Daimyo of a prosperous village—against the word of people who had enslaved and abused a pregnant woman to death, along with her infant. Civilians, who held the majority of political power, wouldn’t view Taki favorably even if they were telling the truth.
Ryuna only needed to secure allies before Taki could organize a counterattack. She sent one of her butterflies to inform a Blood Clone about the situation and to prepare letters for the Daimyo and other nobles, particularly women with children and those with close ties to Uzushio. The letters had to be sent immediately to secure their support. She also left the bite scars on the little girl, as they would serve as excellent evidence, alongside the mother’s corpse now sealed in storage. A blood test would prove that all three children carried Uzumaki blood, even if they weren’t full siblings.
And that’s how the babies Karin, Isobu, and Kurama joined the Uzo clan in Konoha.
***
The babies were a handful. Having four of them meant Ryuna had to rely on her summons and her Blood Clone technique to handle everything during those first few months while still completing missions and ensuring a steady income to support her growing family.
Her grandfather helped daily after returning from the dojo, where he taught martial arts to anyone interested, be they civilians or shinobi. His assistance allowed Ryuna to continue her intense training to become strong enough that no one would question why she didn’t use the Fox’s chakra in combat.
Every day, she broke more bones than an average person could survive, endured dozens of lethal blows, and got her butt kicked in every conceivable way. But she didn’t die. Her numerous seals prevented that, healing her injuries faster than they could kill her.
Her new taijutsu technique helped reduce the damage to her body, though she was still refining her moves and adapting them from traditional dance to combat. Kakashi’s friend, Guy-san, proved an excellent training partner, helping her cover her weaknesses.
Kakashi eventually stopped avoiding her, and with him came Obito. Both joined her training sessions, easing some of her stress since she no longer had to worry about the boys. The children alone kept her exhausted.
Her bed saw more use from the babies than from Ryuna herself, but she didn’t mind. Small children needed sleep, and their house was still under construction. Another month or two, and the complex would be complete. Ryuna had a clone working on it full-time. At least she managed to hire a team of contractors to assist with building the school and hospital, lightening her workload. But she wasn’t about to let anyone discover the secrets of her new complex.
The construction took longer than usual due to the countless seals placed on every board, wall, beam, window, and pipe. Seals to keep out insects (except her butterflies), prevent wood decay, stop water infiltration, ensure soundproofing, filter the air, and monitor the property. She would have a record of who entered her home, when, and where they’d been in case of an invasion. She even developed special seals for the rooms that prevented anyone but the room’s owner or the clan head from opening the doors from the outside, turning them into safe havens despite their fragile-looking paper walls. It was essentially a bunker. Diagnostic seals lined the walls, capable of detecting unstable vital signs and activating life-support seals to buy time until medical help arrived.
Her complex was a fuinjutsu masterpiece—worthy of the Uzushio masters’ praise, if she did say so herself.
And that was just the main house. The property’s perimeter walls had their own seals, barring entry to anyone unauthorized—including Anbu and Root. The Hokage and the elders weren’t thrilled upon learning the complex was impenetrable without her permission, but this only elevated her brother’s value within Root. He and Orochimaru (who had been slowly cutting ties with Danzo over the years) were the only ones connected to the elder with access to the property. Her brother even mentioned being tasked with spying on the family.
It was during a diplomatic mission in Suna to negotiate a village treaty that Ryuna saw the young Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast. Just a few months old, slightly younger than Naruto, yet already burdened with dark circles under his eyes.
She saw how the caregivers would jolt the baby awake whenever he began to sleep. The child no longer cried—only whimpering in exhausted protest. His body showed extreme stress signs she never imagined seeing in an infant; not even Karin had been this bad. It was inhumane, cruel, and Ryuna wasn’t about to stand for it.
Learning that the Beast emerged whenever the child slept did little to garner sympathy for the Kazekage. Not after her investigations revealed that the One-Tail had been sealed within the child in utero, resulting in the mother’s death during childbirth, likely due to the Beast’s chakra surge during the baby’s stress.
To hell with the Kazekage.
Not that she voiced any of this.
Publicly, Ryuna played the perfect diplomat, earning the Sandaime’s praise upon her return. Even the elders couldn’t find fault in her work. Privately, however, plans began forming. She knew she’d need a large-scale distraction. The disappearance of Suna’s prince wouldn’t be as easily covered up as the supposed children of a war prisoner.
A distraction large enough to divert the attention of Jiraiya and all the spies from every village. It would take time. Disappearing a child like that wasn’t easy, but accidents happen—even in the best families.
After meticulous planning, Ryuna created her distraction.
She created the Shinigami.
Kaito:
Kaito had a special place for Danzou in his heart.
But not a place of love.
No, it was a hatred that he kept deep in his chest waiting to come out.
Kaito had joined Root a few months ago and had completed a few missions to earn Danzou's trust, but when the man took him to see where the new agents (children) were being tortured trained (they were just children), it took all his self-control not to kill the man right there. That wouldn't solve the problem, he told himself, killing Danzou wouldn't make Root disappear.
When they were going to deliver the final blow, it would be when they had the means to suppress any members loyal to Danzou in the organization. It needed to be done cleanly and quickly if they were to avoid a civil war. That was Minato-nii's greatest fear and Kaito knew that Kakashi wouldn't forgive him if he put the Village at risk. Unfortunately for him and everyone in Konoha, by the time Minato and Kushina died, there were no adults left (aside from Grandpa, but he was more the type to lead a revolt than try to contain it) that they could trust to handle the situation.
Ryuna was not a patient person unless she had no other choice. She hated seeing a problem and having to wait. She always wanted to solve it.
A part of Kaito hated Minato-nii a little for being so cautious. He understood, rationally, that the Yondaime was trying to stop the Elder from destabilizing Konoha when they had just come out of a war and were fragile. A part of Kaito hated the Sandaime for turning a blind eye to a friend and allowing him to twist the will of fire into something unrecognizable, even though another part of him knew that the man had chosen to retire and that he had only stayed in power for so long because there had been one war after another and he couldn't pass the hat on in such an uncertain climate.
He knew all of this, but feelings were never rational and he couldn't help but hate a little all the clan heads who pretended not to see what was wrong as long as they believed it didn't directly affect them. Who were happy in their ignorance.
At times like this he was glad his sister was a good leader. He would hate being the clan head or the head of anything. Politics, long-term strategy, finances, administrative planning and bureaucracy, were all things he hated. He was good at it if he needed to be, his parents had taught him well, but he was glad he didn't have to deal with any of it.
Most of his time was spent on missions trying to keep an eye on Kakashi (the family's stray sheep), spying on Danzou (while pretending to spy for Danzou), and taking care of the cubs so his sister could work on her seals, the construction of the compound, and her own missions. Having Uchiha Mikoto's help was a relief on more than one occasion (it was amazing that the woman was willing to take care of so many children) and he noticed how happy little Sasuke seemed every time his new friends came to spend time at his house or when his mother brought him to spend time at Grandpa's dojo.
When Danzou sealed Kaito's tongue he had to hold back from scoffing.
People forgot that he also knew Fuinjutsu. He may not have been as passionate about the art as his sister, but he was far from an amateur at it. Ryuna broke it in no time after Kaito showed her how the seal was set up and how it was attached to the body. She was skilled enough in iryo-ninjutsu to cut the chakra network connected to her tongue to safely deactivate the seal before reconnecting the network.
But they didn't plan on deactivating the seal completely.
No, they had made minor alterations to the seal so that it would still be present and active in case Danzou checked, but it wasn't connected to anything. It wouldn't stop Kaito from saying whatever he wanted, nor could it be used to cause pain or control him in any way. If the Elder tried to activate the seal, he would feel a slightly uncomfortable tingling sensation on his tongue that would warn him to start the theater of screaming and contortion.
Danzou would never know that the seal wasn't working as it should.
This allowed him to rise in the ranks, gaining access to restricted areas and being one of the Elder's guards at meetings that he knew no one should see. Quite incriminating meetings.
There were three months left until Danzou's downfall.
Ryuna:
It was around Naruto's second birthday that Ryuna put her plan to overthrow Danzou into action.
It wasn't a very honest plan, to be fair. Minato-nii would never have agreed with it, but Ryuna needed to deal with him before Danzou harmed any more of Konoha's children. She needed to make sure he wouldn't be a threat if Ryuna, Kaito, and her grandfather ended up dying.
It was a good plan, though. They would catch a lot of rabbits in that trap.
To hell with honesty and honor.