Hokage: Ryo’s Path

Chapter 53: Rasa’s Might

Sakumo and Chiyo are old rivals, and are familiar with each other’s strengths and fighting methods.

Sakumo should have a slight edge on her in overall strength, but Chiyo’s skill with using Chakra threads to control puppets is not something to be under estimated.

After all, she was also a quasi-Kage tier ninja. With her superb mastery of puppet, Sakumo wasn’t able to land hits on her.

On the other side, what was even more spectacular was the battle of Jiraya against the 4th Kazekage.

Rasa had the magnet release Kekkei Genkai. The manga does not indicate what releases are fused to get Magnet Release, but Ryo speculated that it was a fusion of the wind and thunder properties. (Translator note: By elimination, one can speculate that it’s actually a fusion of wind and earth release, as Rasa had Wind, Earth and Water release in addition to his Magnet and Yin release abilities. Check out Narutopedia for more Info.)

Someone as strong as a Kage must have more than just the ability to use one nature attribute. Most elites actually have 2 or more.

Naturally, the 4th was no exception. From his use of Magnet release, Ryo can know that he has at least the control over both thunder and wind.

Just like his opponent, Jiraya understood more than most people about Ninjutsu. He’s inherited the mastery of the 3rd who had flawless technique himself.

It was difficult to predict the outcome of the fight. With the exception of Thunder Release, Jiraya was a master of all other nature transformations. But the 4th Kazekage was also extraordinary in Ninjutsu.

“I didn’t expect that the 3rd’s disciple would be this great of a ninja. If we were fighting elsewhere, it wouldn’t be so easy for me to beat you!” Said Rasa.

“You mean that since we are in the desert, you’ll be able to easily beat me?” Jiraya was able to gauge his enemy’s level during the fight, and he knew that he shouldn’t be able to beat him unless he enters his sage mode.

“Don’t you have the Hyuga clan and their Byakugan? Don’t they notice anything different with the desert’s sand?” The Sand controlled by Rasa was rushing towards Jiraya.

“You control sand? Then you are the Ichibi’s Jinchuriku? No, you don’t have the seals on your body.” Jiraya didn’t pay much attention to the sand moving towards him, and just made an Earth Style Wall to protect himself.

“What!” The wall was easily crumbled by the sand wave. Jiraya looked like he was going to lose when he was wounded by the sand rushing his way.

“Jiraya, it’s over!” The 4th Kazekage proclaimed victory and wanted to finish off his opponent.

Right when Jiraya was hit, he activated one of Ryo’s healing stones. The 4th Kazekage also launched a B Grade Wind Release Jutsu. With the help of the healing stone, the damage taken from it was controlled. So Jiraya was able to avoid a fatal blow from the 4th Kazekage.

“ [Summoning]” Jiraya needed to recover a bit from his injuries. Gamabunta would help in holding Rasa back.

“Gamabunta, be careful! This guy’s sand is heavier than normal.”

“Oh, I won’t be as useless as you!”  Gamabunta’s words couldn’t be further from the truth. Actually, the Kazekage increased his vigilance. Many years of fighting experience made him understand that Jiraya was on to something special.

“Is that his summon? Just like rumored, it’s a giant red toad!”

On the battlefield, Konoha’s Ninjas whose morals were low because Jiraya was injured saw Gamabunta and regained the will to fight.

Ryo got his team working on healing the poisoned and injured Konoha Ninja, while sneaking himself into the battle.

Konoha wasn’t winning. It is true that the overall level of Konoha’s Ninjas is superior to that of Sand’s just like Sakumo said. But in this environment, the two sides became almost equal in strength.

In terms of numbers, Konoha had their medical team on the field, along with over 8000 fighting ninjas. But the Sand village had over 12.000 people.

It was very clear to Ryo that if Sakumo or Jiraya are beaten in this battle, Konoha’s army would be slaughtered. Among them, there were nearly 300 from the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance.

A moment ago, Ryo saw Jiraya use [Summoning] to bring Gamabunta to the battlefield. He thought of using it to bring Gamahiro along. This won’t just help defeat the 4th Kazekage, it might also draw attention away from Jiraya giving him time to recover.

It was impossible for Ryo to just sit and watch. He had to fight for the sake of the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance, and also for Jiraya.

When he came into the battlefield, he found Jiraya buried under the 4th Kazekage’s sand. He activated his Sharingan and found out that while his head was on top of the Sand, his arms underneath it were raised with his palms against each other. He was clearly trying to enter Sage Mode.

Rasa’s gold dust was made out of sand mixed with gold particles. For that reason, it was much heavier and far more destructive than ordinary sand. There was no way for Gamabunta to beat such a powerful attack, so he was just giving support for Jiraya.

“[Summoning]!” Outside the battlefield, a huge cloud of white smoke rose as Ryo summoned Gamahiro.

“Hiro! Please, the targets are the Sand Ninjas!”

“Good!” Gamahiro was a true warhead. He would never let go an opportunity to show off his skills.

He was like a wolf amongst the sheep, he rushed into the crowd and raised his pair of short swords and swept through them. The Sand Ninjas panicked and used all kinds of Ninjutsu to attack him.

However Ryo entered the Ice-Lightning Chakra mode. Every now and then, he would blink in and use the Chakra scalpel to slit the throats of his enemies while avoiding their large scale Jutsus.

The 4th noticed him along with Gamahiro and how they killed 4 Jonins and God knows how many Chunins.

He couldn’t stand letting Ryo kill so many Sand ninjas. This was the mystery 3rd fighter who was close to the level of a Kage. So Rasa turned his attention from Jiraya and rushed to attack Ryo.

“You’re leaving? I finished getting ready to take you on!” Of course, Jiraya would never let Rasa attack Ryo, he finally entered Sage Mode.

“The 1st time you summon us, it’s such a horrifying place?!” Shima complained.

“Ma, Jiraya Chan probably had no other choice. No need to be mad. So Jiraya Chan, who’s your opponent? Why did you need us?” Said Fukasaku.

“Boss Ne-sama, I’m really sorry. This time I’m facing the 4th Kazekage. I can’t beat him without your help.”

While the 3 were chatting, Rasa launched an attack. He was so anxious to go take out Ryo so he wanted to finish Jiraya off immediately.

The gold dust turned into a wave and went quickly towards Jiraya “This sand has gold in it?” Fukasaku was able to see the essence of Rasa’s attack with his perception.

He once again used an Earth Release Wall to hold it off. But this time, it was infused with Senjutsu Chakra that greatly amplified its strength, so it was able to hold the gold dust back.

The 4th Kazekage looked at Jiraya in awe noticing the 2 toads on his shoulders. He formed seals and the gold sand on the ground started surrounding Jiraya.

“[Sand Coffin], [Sand Funeral]!” The tremendous pressure made by the sand got Jiraya in trouble.

“Jiraya chan, create a large amount of Oil!” Said Shima!

“[Senpo: Goemon]!” The gold was desolved due to the extremely high temperature, and the sand was also turned into solid clear crystal.