After the decision was made, the 3rd Hokage ended the meeting. Just as everyone prepared to leave, they were stopped by Danzo.
“Hold on! The Hokage's post issue has indeed been solved, but are we not going to talk about the new Kyubi Jinchurki?”
Everyone heard that, and they immediately turned to the 3rd Hokage.
“My men have seen Minato splitting the Kyubi in two. I guess half of it must have been sealed back into Kus.h.i.+na, as she's still with us. But, how about the other half? You should at least tell us who this new Kyubi Jinchurki is!”
After hearing Danzo, the room instantly froze. Everyone had thought that the Fourth Hokage had sealed the Kyubi back in Kus.h.i.+na. They never expected that there would be two Kyubi!
After a long silence, Hias.h.i.+ Hyuga had to speak: “Sandaime sama, Danzo san is right. We all have the right to know who our Jinchurikis are!”
“Yes, Sandaime sama! We should know!”
As everyone's voices went louder, Kus.h.i.+na's face turned more and more gloomy. She did not want others to know of Naruto's ident.i.ty, as she wanted him to enjoy a normal childhood.
“Ne-san, you can't wrap fire with paper. You should tell them about Naruto!” Ryo telepathically said to Kus.h.i.+na. (Translator Note: You can't wrap fire with paper is a Chinese saying that basically means that great events cannot be hidden forever, and that someone would eventually know.)
“But if Naruto's ident.i.ty as a Jinchuriki is exposed, it would have a great impact on his growth!”
“Don't worry; we'll be there for him! And Naruto is your and Minato's son, I believe he will get through it.”
With Ryo's words of support, Kus.h.i.+na gathered enough courage to face the rest of the people in the meeting, and nodded to the 3rd.
Hiruzen seemed to be more hesitant than her, taking his time, but then he sighed and said: “The new Jinchuriki is the son of Kus.h.i.+na and Minato, who will be known as Uzumaki Naruto.” The 3rd pointed to Naruto who was in his mother's arms.
“This is an S Cla.s.s secret matter, and no one is allowed to disclose it!” He added.
Hearing the words of the 3rd, everyone looked at the baby in Kus.h.i.+na's arms with admiration in their eyes.
They could see the epitome of what a Ninja would have to bear for his village. Not only did Minato sacrifice his own life to save Konoha, he also made his own newborn child a Jinchuriki. They all admired and appreciated his selflessness.
Still, their admiration did not take away from their greed. When knowing that the new Jinchuriki was this child, many of them began to feel interested.
Kus.h.i.+na could perfectly control Kurama's power, and her child should be able to do the same as well. If he was to be raised in their clans…
Of course, most clan-heads remained calm, for they knew that this was a dead end.
Let's say that this child was destined to become a perfect Jinchuriki, let's suppose anything about what he could bring to their clans; who could dare to try to take this baby from so many Kage Tier Ninjas?
Even Danzo did not dare say anything more after learning that the Jinchuriki was Kus.h.i.+na's baby.
“Since he is the Yondaime's son, I am relieved.” Danzo took the lead leaving the conference room, and everyone else followed suit right after him.
After leaving, Sak.u.mo and the others went to Kus.h.i.+na's place. Back in the conference, Ryo urged them to go against electing a new Hokage for a reason that he did not disclose. He promised to tell them everything later, and they decided to trust him. Now, they all went to Kus.h.i.+na's place to know the truth.
“Ryo, what was the reason behind your request?!” Sak.u.mo asked.
“Very simply, it's because in a few years, Minato Ni-san will be back!”
Ryo said those words so casually, but they hit everyone like a bag of bricks. They never expected that this could be Ryo's reason.
“Minato will… NO! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! I have seen Minato's body with my own eyes!” Jiraya was agitated, feeling lost in a storm of hope, frustration and disbelief.
“Well, please don't resist this.” Saying that, Ryo opened his Mangekyo, and pulled everyone's soul into the Ice World.
The sudden change of the surrounding scenery took everyone by surprise.
Ryo immediately explain to them: “This is My Mangekyo's ability, Ice World. This is a s.p.a.ce made out of Spiritual Power and Natural Energy, one that resides between illusion and reality.
“Ryo, why did you bring us here? Is Minato here?” Jiraya hastily asked.
“Calm down Jiraya san, I'll tell you everything. Now, only your souls are actually in here, not your bodies. In this world, I also have Ni-san's soul.”
Ryo walked with the group in front of an igloo. This one was holding Minato's soul. As for Yahiko's, it was hidden by Ryo, who controlled everything inside this world and did not want to expose Yahiko's death. With a snap of his fingers, the igloo disappeared, and minato's soul appeared before everyone.
“Ni san used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal the Kyubi. This technique absorbed all of his Chakra and vitality, and just when it was absorbing his soul, I used my Mangekyo and saved it.”
“Ryo kun, are you thinking of creating a body for Minato?” Orochimaru was the first to guess Ryo's intentions.
Ryo nodded: “Yes, I intend to use the Cloning Technology and make him a new body. With that, I could save Ni-san.”
“Cloning? What's that?” Besides Orochimaru, everyone was dumbfounded.
Ryo told them all about cells and cloning. Although they didn't get much of Ryo's scientific jargon, they all had a vague idea about the concept of cloning in mind.
After understanding the plan, Sak.u.mo asked: “How long should this take? I don't want to be a Hokage Subst.i.tute for too long.”
“That depends on how fast Orochi san's research progresses. All of our previous prototypes had their fair share of problems, and they can't be used for Ni-san's resurrection.”
After that, most of them had question about details, and Ryo answered them one by one.
In the end, everyone fully understood Ryo's plan, and the latter took them back to the real world.
The next day, the new Hokage Subst.i.tute officially took office. With him in charge, Konoha was on track for being reconstructed in an orderly manner.
At everyone's request, Orochimaru put his White Zetsu research on hold to focus fully on cloning technology.
Jiraya also left on the same day. Whenever asked, he said he was going to do research for his next book while in fact; he was just looking for clues on the masked man.
As for Kus.h.i.+na, she quickly cheered up. All that mattered to her was to be there for Naruto and to let him have a happy childhood. After all, Minato had to find a well raised son when he returns.
As for Ryo, he began repairing and healing Minato's soul along with Korin. Using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal had its great toll on the young Hokage's soul.
That was topped off with extra damage caused by Ryo's battle with the s.h.i.+nigami. Just repairing the soul turned out out to an extremely difficult job.
While none-speaks of the good, the bad spread to the horizons! The news of a Kyubi Attack inside Konoha that caused heavy losses quickly spread throughout the world.
All villages that received the news were eager to make a move, especially the hidden Cloud, who lost only to Konoha during the 3rd s.h.i.+n.o.bi World War.
The spies of the various villages flocked and began to sneak into Konoha…
