Hokage: Ryo's Path

Ryo kept teaching Naruto, while he himself kept practicing as well. Without realizing it, half a year passed this way.

Yesterday, Naruto had his 4th birthday. In the past six months, Ryo had taught him a good basis for Wind Release, and a bit about the Body Flicker Jutsu.

While it was rather expected, it was still a pity that the body flicker was a bit too much for Naruto at his age. After spending a lot of time and effort, he still didn’t manage to grasp its basics.

However, Ryo was not in a hurry. The most dangerous events should still be far into the future in case they were to happen, and Naruto was still young, and he should learn faster as he grows up.

Another major event happened around Ryo, as team six participated in the Chunin Exam.

Lain and Itachi became Chunins smoothly, while Izumi failed the exam for some reason!

With Itachi becoming a Chunin, he left the team and, under Shisui’s recommendation, he took his teacher’s place in Kakashi’s Anbu team.

Lain on the other hand took what was recorded of Hashirama’s Jutsu from Ryo and often practiced in the Forest of Death on her own.

With his other two disciples finding their own ways, Shisui often took Izumi out on missions with him.

However, just a few days ago, he asked her not to accompany them, as he went together with some companions of his from the Anbu to perform a secret mission for Sakumo.

A few days later, he returned, seriously injured. As for his old companions, they all fell in the line of duty.

Hearing the news, Ryo directly teleported to the Sakumo’s office.

Obviously, the latter knew that Ryo would come to him to understand the situation. Before neither of them spoke, he actually handed him a scroll recording the details of Shisui’s task.

Ryo opened the scroll, and after reading it, his face changed greatly! He put down the scroll and said: “Sakumo san, this matter should be classified as an S-Class secret. No one in the village should temper with it again. Otherwise, things could turn south fast!”

Sakumo rarely saw Ryo so serious, and immediately realized how important the matter was: “Ryo, is there anything special about that place? What is it?”

“Sakumo san, please don’t ask. I don’t know how to explain it now!”

Fully trusting Ryo, Sakumo did not ask. Following his recommendation, he classified the matter as an S-Class secret.

In the evening, Shisui was awakened by Ryo treatment. As soon as he woke up, he remembered the scenes of his old companions, the ones he grew up with, dying to save his own life. Pain overtook him, and as it intensified, his eyes were stimulated.

His Three Tomoe kept spinning in his eyes, eventually turning into a pair of windmill-like patterns. Shisui’s Mangekyo was finally awakened!

This consumed a lot of Shisui’s spiritual power. He was already weakened because of his injuries, so he immediately fainted.

On the second day, when Ryo checked on Shisui again, he found out that his Spiritual Power was close to bottoming out.

Thinking of the enemy that Shisui had probably faced, Ryo was very nervous about the situation, and decided to temporarily move into the hospital to make it easier for himself to observe his student’s state.

For two days and three nights, Shisui remained in this state. On the fourth day, he finally woke up.

As he opened his eyes, he found Ryo sitting by his side. As he slowly opened his eyes, his Sensei could see his large windmill-shaped pupils!

“Mangekyo?! Shisui, you’ve opened your eyes!” Ryo was surprised, but at the same time, relieved. The Mangekyo’s development explained the dip in Shisui’s Spiritual Energy. At least, it didn’t seem to be the result of his fight.

Shisui heard Ryo’s words, and then unconsciously reached for his eyes with his fingers.

Ryo smiled, condensing an Ice Mirror for his student. Only as Shisui looked in the mirror did he finally sea his Mangekyo.

“Sensei, I...”

“Don’t worry; don’t say anything! Let me take a look at your wounds first!”

Shisui hesitated, but he said nothing more.

After a few days of treatment, his Spiritual Power got back close to normal, and Ryo cleared him out of the hospital.

On the night on which he left, he sat down with Ryo, explaining his experience to him.

Ryo gradually pieced what he remembered with Shisui’s narrative, and he became more and more convinced of his previous speculation.

However, he said nothing about this to Shisui, instead chatting with him about the Mangekyo.

Shisui’s Mangekyo was incredibly powerful; yielding the ability to alter one’s thoughts without being noticed, effectively changing them into a completely different person. This was Kotoamatsukami, the most powerful Genjutsu!

In the Manga, because of these eyes’ terrible ability, too many people coveted them, which caused all sorts of trouble to Shisui.

But for now, it seemed like his Mangekyo ability was still awakening.

“Sensei, why can’t I feel my eyes’ ability?” Shisui also realized that his Mangekyo wasn’t active yet.

“Don’t worry about it. It will appear when you need it later.”

“Was it the same for you Sensei?”

“Well, yeah!” Ryo nodded, but he knew that this was different. Ryo’s abilities were there for him immediately, but Kotoamatsukami was different.

On top of this, Ryo could also feel the difference in his Sharingan’s ability immediately as it was activated.

All things set aside, Shisui felt relieved when he heard Ryo’s reply.

Then, he started asking Ryo about using the Mangekyo, to benefit from his experience.

Without any reservations, Ryo passed on his experience of a few years with the Mangekyo to Shisui, telling him about many of its secrets.

When learning that the overuse of this eye could get a man blind, Shisui was shocked.

However, thinking of how Ryo didn’t seem to be losing his sight after using his own Mangekyo so frequently for so many years, he concluded that his Sensei might have found a way to counter this hidden risk.

At this thought, Shisui asked carefully: “Sensei, do you have a way to preserve your sight when using the Mangekyo?”

Ryo smiled and nodded, ensuring to Shisui that he as well won’t have to suffer from this side-effect when using his own Mangekyo.

Back in the day, Ryo acquired Kagami Uchiha’s Sharingan from Orochimaru. Although his eyes did not turn into Mangekyo, they did complete a part of the evolution.

Ryo estimated that these eyes would be enough to prevent Kagami’s grandson, Shisui, from ever going blind. As for it evolving into a true Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, he was not sure.

Moreover, even if Kagami’s Sharingan failed to protect Shisui’s Mangekyo, Ryo could always go for transplanting Hashirama’s cells into his body.

In the next few days, under Ryo’s guidance, Shisui began to learn using the power of his Mangekyo.

Everything about Shisui’s Sharingan had improved a lot with it transforming into a Mangekyo. Even without using its main ability, he was definitely Quasi Kage Tier.

Shisui was very happy about Shisui’s growth. In this world, with all the trouble they might end up facing, the stronger he is, the better.