Chương 24: Will of fire

Naruto would come to the hospital to visit Ryo sometimes. Several weeks had passed since the incident, and Ryo remained in the hospital to fully recover, both physically and mentally, which impressed the ninja medics who cared for him. They noticed the strong willpower Ryo demonstrated.

Every day, someone would come to talk to him about the incident, wanting to know about the little child. This heightened care was due to Hiruzen's request for Ryo to receive the best treatment possible; he didn't want to lose a ninja with as much potential as Ryo.

Ryo answered all questions calmly but with a serious undertone in his voice. The ninja medic sitting in front of him, Gin Susan, an excellent medic and a skilled ninja, had been intensely treating Ryo in recent days, almost as if he were his own grandson.

In the initial days, Ryo had been completely lost, staring at the hospital ceiling for hours on end, recalling the scenes of the massacre day. He had a pain in his chest, not from the wound, but from feeling weak. Ryo pondered the possibilities. "What if I were stronger? What if I had learned higher-ranked medical jutsu? What if I had used the power of the golden coin earlier?"

However, even with all these thoughts, he didn't believe the outcome would have been different. And talking with Gin-san, Ryo also realized this.

"Gin-san," Ryo spoke, looking at the medic. "I will become stronger, so strong that they won't be able to do this to Konoha or anyone I care about anymore." Hearing this, Gin gave a soft smile, seeing that the young boy still had fiery determination within him.

Ryo placed his hand over his chest where the large scar remained. "Hokage-sama once said that the Will of Fire burns within me and my friends." Ryo looked out the window. "So I'll have to carry Sae's Will of Fire with me from now on."

The old medic was pleased with what he heard, finally getting a response filled with willpower and determination from Ryo. The boy was affected by the incident, but not traumatized; instead, he was determined. Leaving Ryo alone in the room, the medic left to report the progress to the Hokage.

The next day, Ryo left the hospital. He knew Sasuke was still inside; Itachi had subjected his brother to a powerful genjutsu, and it would take some time for him to recover. "Sasuke will possibly follow the original path as well. Me surviving alongside him doesn't change much; I'm not an Uchiha in the end."

However, this wasn't something he was concerned about; Ryo had new goals in mind. Whether he liked it or not, there wouldn't be any major events revolving around him in the next year, and he would have the whole year at the academy to focus on graduating soon and gaining access to more jutsu and means to become stronger.

The boy walked towards the Hokage's office, determined. He wasn't mentally healed, perhaps something he would never fully recover from; he had a deep scar in his heart. But it was a burden he would carry to remind himself of what he had lost and why. Because he was weak.

Entering Hiruzen's office, Ryo could see the old man looking more tired than usual, possibly working beyond normal hours due to the aftermath of the massacre and also dealing with the neighboring nations possibly contemplating action.

"Ryo-kun, please come closer. I've read the report of your recovery; I'm glad you're doing well. You and Uchiha Sasuke were the only ones who survived all of that. I know you're tired of hearing this, but what will you do from now on?"

This was something he expected to hear, and he didn't have to think much to respond. "Hokage-sama, I will keep moving forward. I couldn't save Sae or anyone else in the end, but I'm still here, and I can make a difference. There's something I didn't mention in the report; I wanted to tell you alone, without anyone else hearing or seeing."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow as a dome of white air appeared between them with a simple hand seal, cutting off the view of the rest of the room. "Go on, Ryo." With that, Ryo took a deep breath as he spoke.

"Sae was attacked once before she died, by Itachi, with a senbon. I wasn't fast enough, but I managed to throw my hand in the direction of the attack and stop it." He paused mid-sentence, raising one of his hands, which emitted a small amount of chakra, and the golden coin appeared, floating in the air.

"Ryo, you can use..." Hiruzen's eyes widened, and he made another seal, increasing the impermeability of the dome around them.

"Magnetic Release kekkei genkai, Itachi said it when the senbon flew and grazed his cheek. Hokage, please tell me, is this the power I can use to ensure something like this doesn't happen again? If I were stronger, could I have stopped them ?."

Ryo had thought a lot about this, of course, that this power was something special to him, but he had confidence in the old Sarutobi, not because of his experiences with him, but because of the old man's personality.

"I will move forward with the Will of Fire, as you always told us. I will carry mine and Sae's and all the others who fell with me. Forward. To the future."

Hiruzen had no reaction as he listened; he considered numerous scenarios where Ryo could be of extreme help to Konoha. However, as he heard about the Will of Fire, he gave a gentle smile, thinking, "First, Second, you would be proud of the kids of this new generation; I wish you were here to hear this."

"Ryo, you're already much stronger than you think, both mentally and physically. Our agreement still stands, but I want you to train diligently. I'll give you permission to visit your grandmother; I want you to talk to her about this. I'll teach you Shadow Clone Jutsu before. I'll give you an unofficial mission; I want you to try to master at least three coins by the end of the year. If you succeed, you'll be one step closer to becoming a genin. Of course, you still have to graduate. I'll arrange a training field for you to train alone, and don't show this to anyone else unless it's a life-or-death situation."

Upon hearing that he would receive the ninjutsu earlier, Ryo nodded, then left the place, leaving Sarutobi alone again with his thoughts. "Konoha has a Jiton user after years. But Danzo shouldn't know this so soon; if he finds out, he might try to take Ryo to Root, or worse, use him for experiments. I'll leave some ANBU ninjas to watch over Ryo. Even with a few, there are still those who watch over Naruto; they can handle this."

The rest of the day for Hiruzen was spent contemplating how he would proceed once Ryo graduated at the end of the year. Recruiting someone for ANBU couldn't be done so hastily; the last exception had been Itachi. Hiruzen would have to wait for the events that would unfold in Konoha.

Ryo had a lot to do and adventures he hadn't even imagined. However, upon returning to his grandmother's house, he would discover something about the coins that would leave the boy in shock.

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