Hokage: Ryo’s Path

The Sanbi’s look was getting closer and closer to that of a Ragdoll Cat that Ryo had raised in his previous life, just many times larger than that.

Looking at the immense cat before him, emotions surged within Ryo’s heart.

‘What about the Juubi, or the Sanbi? What is this? A ghost from the past?’

Ryo took a deep breath, made himself calm down and then said to the Ragdoll cat: “So, aren’t you a turtle? How come your species changed?”

“I saw this creature in my master’s memory. Master still liked it very much, so I changed.” The Ragdoll cat’s voice had a hint of grief in it.

“My memory? How do you see my memory?”

The cat did not answer. Looking at its tangled expression, Ryo guessed that it didn’t know either.

“You don’t know either don’t you? Let’s change the question. Is your soul that of the Sanbi?”

“The Sanbi? That big turtle? Isn’t that the food that master gave me?” The cat licked its lips. It must be that the Sanbi’s soul was pretty delicious.

Ryo realized that it was the Mini Jubi’s soul that actually swallowed that of the Sanbi. No wonder this new creature wasn’t hostile towards him.

This was rather strange; a soul newly born into this world swallowing up that of the Sanbi. It seemed just as absurd as seeing a baby beating up a grown man.

Ryo didn’t get much time to think about that. The Ragdoll cat’s voice was ringing in his head: “Master! Don’t you like me? Now, you can change me into whatever you want, but I won’t be able to change once my body and soul fully merge!”

Ryo thought the matter over and decided to change the beast’s shape. After all, a Ragdoll Cat wasn’t the most fitting creature to fight in the Naruto world.

“What do you want me to look like master?”

“Anything is okay??” Ryo asked with some curiosity.

“Yes, but you’ll have to be fast master; my soul’s about to fully merge with my body.” The cat urged.

Ryo thought of the image of the oriental dragon in his mind, and then passed it over to the mind of the puppet cat. Being originally Chinese, he was deeply attached to that image.

“No, I don’t want to be a mollusk!” The cat refused directly.

The corner of Ryo’s mouth twitched! That’s a dragon! Not a freaking mollusk!

The cat was unwilling to become a dragon, so he could only keep thinking about other creatures from Chinese Mythology. However, they were all rejected by the cat, one after the other.

In the end, Ryo simply gave up, and let her decide what she wanted to be.

In the end, the image chosen by the cat surprised Ryo.

It had a lion’s head, antlers, lavender eyes, a moose’s body, blue water skin covered with dragon scales, and a purple gold dragon tail. She looked like a water Kirin.

“Master, does this look good?” The voice of what had just been a cat rang within Ryo’s mind.

“A Water Kirin, could that ever be bad? Where did you see this image?” Ryo did not think of Kirin, let alone a water Kirin.

“I saw master’s Ninjutsu, [Raiton: Kirin]. I think it looks good. As for the color of my body, it seems to come with the ability of the turtle. He can control water, and I ate him, so I can control water as well!” As it was speaking, a massive mass of water appeared around the Water Kirin.

Ryo looked at its appearance with attention, and then found that it didn’t look exactly like the legendary Kirin he had in mind.

Normally, a Kirin would have an ox tail, but this had a Dragon’s tail. Also, this beast should be a Biju, but it only had one tail.

This made Ryo speculate that it was no stronger than the Ichibi. However, he quickly omitted this theory. This Water Kirin had great amounts of Chakra, far surpassing the Ichibi. It also had Natural Energy, making his Chakra akin to the Senjutsu Chakra.

On top that, it controlled water. The Yonbi, let alone the Ichibi, might not be able to take on the Water Kirin.

“Master, I still have no name! Give me a name!” Again, the Water Kirin’s voice interrupted Ryo’s thoughts.

Naming was never Ryo’s forte. He generally liked using colors to name. The Water Kirin’s color was Blue.

“For now, I’ll call you Korin! I’m not good at picking up name. Have your sweet time choosing a better one in the future!” (T/N: Korin has the same Ko from Kogin, meaning Small. Rin means female Kirin.).

Korin breathed a sigh of relief after hearing her name wasn’t going to mean Little Blue. They were both connected so it was clear to her what Ryo was thinking about.

“By the way, Korin, are you still a Biju?”

Korin nodded, and then shook her head. She nodded because her Chakra source is the same as that of the Biju, and shook her head as she was different life form.

The nine Biju were the result of the splitting of the Juubi by the Rikudo Sennin, with their souls also endowed by him.

Korin had some kind of consciousness that was practically made out of nothing, by the accumulation Chakra. It was similar to that of the Juubi that knew nothing but destruction.

Later, Ryo injected the Sanbi’s soul into her body.

After the Sanbi’s soul sensed the “Mini Juubi’s” consciousness, it got too scared to resist it. Korin easily swallowed the Sanbi’s soul, gaining his wisdom with that.

However, she was still like a newborn child at that point, like a blank sheet of paper. The Sanbi’s soul didn’t “digest” for a while, so at the beginning, it seemed like the beast was going to be the Sanbi.

When her soul and body started merging, Ryo’s spiritual power grabbed her attention.

With curiosity, she looked into Ryo’s spirit. Doing so, she saw him injecting the Sanbi’s soul within her, which was the key to her true birth. This made her regard Ryo as her master.

Ryo was very surprised when he learned about how things went. This was coincidence, and something that he had never seen before in the Manga.

“That is to say Korin, that you are of a new life form? Different from all 10 Biju?”

“Yes master. My soul is different from them. Even the Juubi would be able to swallow me.”

“Korin, don’t call me master anymore, call me Ryo!” Ryo never cared for enslaving others. To him, all creatures comparable in wits to humans are equal.

This was the case with Kogin, and now it’s the same with Korin.

Kogin felt Ryo’s goodwill and respect as he said those words. She had the wisdom and feelings of human beings, and Ryo’s attitude towards her made her recognize him even more.

“Nevertheless, your size is really troublesome. How can I bring you back to the village?” Ryo felt he was in a bit of a pinch.

“You can seal me into your body, just like a Biju! I am different though from other Biju; I have a physical body. So you seal my Chakra, and my soul and body will still be free to move freely.

Ryo’s heart was shook. After thinking for while, he decided to become Korin’s Jinchuriki.

Ryo used to want to be the Sanbi’s Jinchuriki. He needed the beast’s Chakra and water control abilities. Now, Korin is definitely the superior choice.

Korin’s sealing went flawlessly. Like they previously decided, Ryo used the Eight Trigrams Seal to seal her Chakra into his body. He also left a gap on the seal so that she could use her own Chakra at will.

Korin’s body was originally the Gedo Mazo’s arm. Now, it’s that of a Water Kirin. This look won’t be easily dealt with by everyone. Ryo taught her transformation, and she turned into a Ragdoll cat just like before, and jumped into Ryo’s arms.