Ryu was standing on his bent and broken feet, leaning heavily against the tree with his back. His appearance was a horrifying sight, a figure of unfathomable endurance in a half-dead state, his body a ruin barely held together. His right forearm was still bent at a sickening angle. One leg was clearly shorter than the other, bent and broken below the knee, and his foot twisted at an unnatural angle. He was bloodied and severely injured, his face burnt and scarred.
Kaori and Kohinata stared, their hearts filled with terror, at the scene, a cold dread gripping them. How could anyone survive such an impact and a paper bomb blast, especially in that condition? And a boy less than ten years old at that? How much unimaginable pain must the boy be experiencing right now, simply to stand? Many questions like this, laced with disbelief and horror, were still going on in all of their heads, whirling in their minds.
Ryu had finished recharging his chakra using the [Chakra Backup Seal]. The card on his chest had done its job.
- [Chakra recovered: 200 %]
- [Chakra Backup Seal] deactivated
Before leaving the village, he had further enhanced the seal, enabling increased chakra compression and storage beyond his usual limit. Right now he was more than 100% chakra-wise, his reserves overflowing his normal capacity, reaching 200%.
Physically, his life was hanging by a thread, a broken, bleeding mess, but emotionally, a cold, hard rage had settled over him. He was beyond angry at being left so vulnerable. The pain was excruciating, but he knew he had to push through it. With his chakra reserves replenished, he could focus on healing his injuries.
- [Temporary Enhance] working on [Minor Healing]
- [Super Healing] activated
Ryu was part Senju, part Hamura, and part Uzumaki. His chakra itself was naturally very potent, a legacy of his unique bloodline, relating him to three famous families, two of which are known for their vitality and strong chakra. Almost all his inherent abilities that are credited to his reincarnation could be linked with this unique bloodline or bloodlines, to be exact, as he had multiple. Right now his potent chakra, twice his normal capacity, was compressed into his small body by the [Chakra Backup Seal] and fuelled his accelerated regeneration.
Then, despite the visible damage and the impossible angles of his limbs, Ryu's broken hand and leg inched forward slightly. His muscles, driven by an intense and painful surge of chakra and sheer will, began to force his bones to bend back into their natural place. His midair left leg straightened with a sickening series of snaps and pops that could be clearly heard over the sounds of the wind and settling dust. His unnaturally bent fingers also did that, forcing themselves straight with painful, audible clicks.
Raw and desperate, Ryu's screams echoed as his body reformed into its original skeletal structure. However, his outer form was far from its original state; a few areas had burnt and torn, revealing raw flesh beneath shredded clothing. His scorched and scarred face resembled a scene from a horror movie, terrifying enough to unsettle both children and adults, a mask of burnt skin overlaying reforming bone and muscle.
High above, perched silently on a branch, the bird from before, which had warned Tatsuma, could be seen watching the scene, a silent, unblinking observer of Ryu's horrific, miraculous recovery.
Ryu, his body still resetting with those sickening pops and snaps, was looking down at the ground. Then, in a sudden, jarring movement that felt like a jump scare even to veteran ninjas, he snapped his head up. His burnt, scarred face locked onto the bird perched directly above him—the same bird he had noticed spying on him earlier, the same bird he knew was working with Tatsuma.
Ryu locked eyes with the bird, his voice trembling as he struggled to utter the words, "Tell him..."
Ryu huffed, a painful sound, needing a break to gather enough energy, his lungs burning after his last burst of screams during the bone setting. Ryu tried to speak it again, pushing through the pain, attempting to step forward on his still-mending legs. "Tell him…" he repeated, slightly louder, staring intently at the bird.
Everyone watching—Kohinata, the secretary, and even Kaminari—was confused at first, their minds struggling to figure out who Ryu was speaking to and who "him" could be.
Ryu's legs gave out, and he fell down onto one knee, saving himself with his injured hand on the ground. At that moment, a strange, palpable, and utterly chilling killing intent erupted from him, and a heavy pressure settled over the battlefield.
They all recoiled; they sensed the pure danger emanating from Ryu. Kohinata's eyes widened in realisation; the secretary took a step back, and even Kaminari felt a shiver run down his spine as they felt Ryu's rage. They had never experienced such intense and pure killing intent before. It was as if a predator had been unleashed, ready to strike at any moment.
"Tell him…," Ryu said again, his voice gaining a low, dangerous resonance as he slowly pushed himself to stand once more. Then, gathering his remaining strength, he screamed, raw power and defiance in the cry, "I SURVIVED!"
As he screamed, the chakra air around him seemed to click and hum, and a sudden wind blew outwards from his aura, a visible manifestation of his rage.
Ryu exhaled sharply, visibly drained, his chest rising and falling with each laboured breath. Then, his voice dropping to a chilling whisper that somehow carried across the clearing, laced with lethal intent, he continued and said, "tell him...…huff huff.....I will not die that easy…"
He released another burst of killing intent as he finished speaking, much more dangerous and chilling than before, making the air heavy and cold, a tangible threat. If it was that universe, one could mistake this killing intent for Conqueror's Haki.
Perched high on the tree, the bird encountered Ryu's terrifying stare, sensed the oppressive weight of his killing intent, and visibly shit himself in fear, leaving a small white splat on the branch below.
Even in his critical condition, driven by a new surge of chakra and sheer determination, Ryu utilised the blood on his body to automatically form fuinjutsu seals on himself.
- [Magno-Telekinesis Seal] Activated
Ryu reformed the intricate patterns of the [Magno-Telekinesis Seal] on his body, focusing its effect. Across the clearing, the [Healing Cards], still attached to Kohinata and Kaori, vibrated. Ryu's reactivated seal drew them away from their bodies, and as they shot through the air, their edges blurred. They flew towards him rapidly, scattering and attaching themselves across his torso and his back.
The moment the cards connected, a powerful surge of healing chakra flowed through him. They still had some juice left. His already activated [Super Healing] received a dramatic boost, and his own potent healing ability began working in tandem with the concentrated healing energy provided by the Healing Cards, accelerating the regeneration of his external wounds to an almost impossible speed.
At that very moment, Ryu began to scream once more, but this time the sound was not of bone setting but of the excruciating pain of his flesh repairing itself. Even as he yelled, his superficial injuries began to mend, including the smoking burn marks, skin burns, cuts, and tears. The blistered skin grew back at an unbelievable rate, and the raw, molten flesh repaired itself.
- [ReflexGuard Seal] Activated
Ryu did not even scream while receiving these horrific wounds and burns from the explosion and fall, but the process of healing was many times more painful than receiving those initial injuries. All his smoking burn marks healed into perfection in a few tens of seconds, like how Logan healed from the burns in the well in Hiroshima, the flesh reforming and scarring fading with unnatural speed.
And while this rapid, horrifying healing was happening, his screams, raw and piercing, along with the eerie crackle of static-like lightning, turbulent wind swirling around him, his [ReflexGuard Seal] visibly activating and pulsing with energy, instinctively shielding him from any unforeseen dangers lurking in the shadows, and the palpable wave of killing intent releasing from him, were scaring everyone around, a terrifying soundtrack and visual display linked to his physical restoration.
The intensity of screaming and killing intent reached a peak; in a parallel universe like DBZ, the kid might have unlocked his Super Saiyan transformation instantly.
Finally, the screams subsided, and Ryu fell down onto the ground, collapsing completely. He spent all of his remaining chakra while healing, using both his own body and the healing cards to fuel the quick regeneration. He lost consciousness right at the moment he healed completely; his body was unable to sustain consciousness any longer. While leaving everyone around him shocked and surprised.
Having recovered from its shock, the bird ruffled its feathers and swiftly took flight, soaring upwards and away from the battlefield, marking the end of its presence in the scene.
##PoWeR StOnEs##
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