Hokage: Ryo's Path

After coming out of the training grounds, Orochimaru hurriedly took his notes and began preparing for the making of a more perfect clone in the future.

Ryo was by now basically certain about one thing: Only when one moves from a physical body while using Living Corpse Reincarnation could they preserve their strength.

Later, he asked Orochimaru to make a clone for Minato, and then he returned to Konoha to continue teaching the kids.

Like Yahiko’s clone, Minato’s also took about a month to be created.

After getting the news of its completion, Ryo went to Kushina’s place, telling her that her husband can finally be resurrected!

Hearing his words, Kushina burst into tears. Always holding on to hope, she had been looking forward to this day. Now, her wish finally came true.

It took Ryo and Kurama a long time to calm her emotions down. After that, Ryo suggested that Naruto should be left with his mother, as he shouldn’t be subjected to this while matter.

After all, young Naruto was only four years old, and one cannot expect young children of his age to be able to keep such things a secret.

After thinking about it, Kushina agreed to Ryo’s request, personally delivering her son to Chinse’s place.

Then, Ryo left to Orochimaru’s base with Kushina and Yin Kurama.

Because of their link to Ryo, Kushina’s and Orochimaru’s relationship was actually good. As she entered, he welcomed her: “Kushina, long time no see!”

“Orochimaru san, thank you!” Resurrecting Minato wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Orochimaru’s long and grueling efforts. For this, Kushina was most grateful to him.

Orochimaru just waved his hand in response. This might seem like a massive favor to Kushina, but to him, it was just part of his experiments toward immortality.

“Kushina, this is?” After receiving Kushina’s thanks, Orochimaru couldn’t help but notice the red-hair man next to her.

“This is Kurama. Minato divided him on that night into two halves. One was sealed into Naruto, and this is the other one.”

Hearing Kushina’s answer, Orochimaru was shocked! He thought that this was an Uzumaki, and never expected him to be the Kyubi!

In spite of the years passing, the horrifying power of the beast was still fresh in his mind. Unconsciously, he took a few steps back.

As for Kurama, he noticed this reaction, but he didn’t care about Orochimaru at all.

The Sannin sighed and walked into the operation room.

As they entered through the door, they all saw Minato’s clone lying on the bed, and tears swirled again into Kushina’s eyes.

“Ne san, don’t rush to cry. What you are seeing is but an empty shell, and Minato Ni-san will really resurrect!”

After finishing his words, Ryo walked to the side of Minato’s clone, and his consciousness entered the Ice World.

There, he lifted the Igloo protecting Minato, and awakened his soul.

Just like Yahiko, Minato’s memories were still stuck at the time of his death. After Ryo gave him a brief explanation of the situation, he taught him Living Corpse Reincarnation.

Taking Yahiko’s case into consideration, Ryo decided to directly to inject Spiritual Power into Minato’s soul, to make sure that he would have full control of his body.

Therefore, he began this process in the Ice World, and when he estimated that Minato had high enough Spiritual Energy, he took him back to the real world.

Following Ryo’s instruction, Minato entered his new body using Living Corpse Reincarnation. With the Spiritual Energy given to him in advance, his soul was very quickly integrated into his new body, and he rapidly gained some control over its actions.

As Kushina watched him sitting down on his bed slowly, she couldn’t help herself, and she rushed straight at him.

Still, Minato had just been resurrected, and his control over his body was not perfect. On top of that, he only had a trace of his old power, like that of a talented civilian who never refined his Chakra. Therefore, he made no resistance to Kushina slamming into his body, and he laid straight back on his bed.

“Hey... Ku... na... You... pressed me!” Right now, he couldn’t even speak straight. Still, merely hearing his voice after so many years was enough for Kushina, who burst into tears hugging him tightly.

Ryo smiled in silence to not disturb the two lovers, and he went out with Orochimaru and Kurama.

“Ryo kun, your face is so pale... Are you okay?” Out of the lab, Orochimaru noticed that Ryo did not seem okay.

“It’s nothing; I just consumed a bit too much of my Spiritual Power.”

Orochimaru immediately took Ryo to a nearby room to let him recover, and Ryo didn’t resist. Some rest was indeed good for him; he had just supplemented Minato’s soul with Spiritual Power on his own, without resorting to Korin’s power!

By the afternoon, Ryo recovered. When he left the room, he found Orochimaru and Yin Kurama chatting with the newly reunited couple.

“Hello, Minato! Long time no see!”

Hearing Ryo’s voice, Minato’s face showed a bright smile as he turned around: “Ryo, long time no see!”

After greeting each other warmly, Ryo asked: “So, how does this new body feel, Ni san?”

“Not bad! But I’m still not used to having just a trace of Chakra in my body, and this body lacks physical exercise as well. I just feel... weak!”

“I couldn’t do anything about that, sorry. For Chakra, you’ll have to refine it yourself. As for exercise, I can accompany you. Now, I need you to give me a rough estimate if possible: How long will it take you to get back to your usual level?”

Minato frowned when hearing Ryo’s serious tone, and worriedly asked: “Is there a problem in Konoha? Do you need me to help?”

Ryo shook his head: “No; it’s something else that might come up in the future. But if it isn’t handled properly, we might be in trouble.”

“So serious? But I will need at least five years to get back like before! When it comes to Chakra and physical power, it shouldn’t take me long to get that back. To adapt this new body to the fabric of time and space however, that should take a while.”

“Five years is enough. This won’t come up anytime soon, so you don’t have to worry.”

Minato sighed, and Ryo closed the topic to give him some more time to recover.

After the more serious matters were dealt with, Minato asked everyone about Konoha’s state.

When learning that Orochimaru was actually expelled from the village, Minato was a little surprised. However, when looking at the massive lab around them, he quickly understood that Orochimaru probably wanted that, and that Konoha was probably not suitable for him.

Everyone talked some more, and before they knew it, the sky went dark, and Kushina who had to see Naruto could only return to Konoha.

After she reluctantly left her husband, Ryo went with her and with Yin Kurama and returned to the village.