With the remaining âhalf of the Kyubiâ suppressed by Ryo, no accidents occurred as Minato sealed it within Naruto.
Minato looked at the clueless Naruto, and then at Kushina who was in tears next to him, and smiled bitterly. He wished that he could stay with them, but he know that it was impossible.
He walked to his wifeâs side with whatever power he had left in him, and hugged her in silence.
At this time, Ryo could clearly perceive that Minatoâs Chakra and vitality were at the point of exhaustion. They were being absorbed by the Shadow of the Shinigami behind him, and now all that was left was his soul.
At this moment, Ryo opened his Mangekyo and shouted: âMinato, look here!â
Minato let go of Kushina, and looked back at Ryo, and the latter immediately used his Jutsu, taking away Minatoâs soul from the claws of the god of death!
Just as Minatoâs soul was about to enter the Ice World, it was strongly pulled by the Shinigamiâs Shadow, which wanted it to pull it back to him.
Ryo was shocked. He had speculated that the shadow didnât have its own will, but did not expect that its instinctual actions had such a force.
Nevertheless, Ryo wasnât about to give up, opening Ice World, and controlling its endless ice and snow to flood into the shadow.
As the Shinigamiâs shadow was somewhat in a soul-like state, the Ice and Snow which was composed of Spiritual power had a certain impact on it.
Under its effects, the lower half of the Shadow was frozen, and its pulling force exerted on Minato soul was significantly weakened.
The small Kyubi inside Kushina, being a special being himself, could clearly perceive Ryoâs battle.
After some hesitation, Kurama decided to tell Kushina: âKushina, relax your spirit, and use my power to perceive the kid and the Shadow of the Shinigami!â
Kushina had no mind to listen to the Kyubi. At this moment, she was completely immersed in the pain brought by Minatoâs death.
Kurama helplessly sighed, and then guided her consciousness towards the ongoing battle.
Soon, in her consciousness, she could see the battle between her disciple and the Shadow of the God of Death over her husbandâs soul.
Perceiving such an unimaginable scene, Kushina was somewhat confused: âKurama, whatâs going on?â
The Kyubi shook his head and replied: âI have no idea, but from the looks of it, the kid is trying to capture Minatoâs soul. This brat might actually have a way to save Minato!â
When she heard the Kyubi, light instantly shined within Kushinaâs dim eyes. There was actually a straw of hope she could hang on to as she watched Ryo going through this battle.
The whole thing gradually evolved into a tug-of-war, with Ryoâs Ice and Snow temporarily gaining the upper hand.
Ryo then had the idea of making his power explode out of the Ice World, freeze the entire Shadow, and take away Minatoâs soul.
But Korin stopped him: âStop Ryo! Canât you see? This shadow has begun to absorb your Ice and Snow!â
Ryo was once again surprised! Like Korin said, the Ice and Snow around the Shinigami began to melt little by little, just to be absorbed by it.
He immediately closed the Ice World. The Shinigamiâs pulling force was stronger than what he anticipated, and being that it absorbed Chakra and Vitality, it started to pull his Spiritual Power-composed Ice as if it was Minatoâs. For a moment, Ryo had no idea what to do.
âKorin, what should we do now?â
âYou can only persist! The Shinigamiâs shadow had already absorbed all of Minatoâs Chakra and vitality. He is already dead, and this resistance youâre putting should not be happening. If you persist for long enough, you should be able to emerge victorious!â
Ryo nodded, and he could only follow Korinâs advice. To his surprise, she was right!
A few long minutes later, the Shinigamiâs pull was weakened a lot, and it even began to get more and more translucent.
Ryo used all his force, and pulled Minatoâs soul away, getting it directly into the Ice World, which he then immediately closed. The tug of war finally ended.
The Shinigami could no longer perceive Minatoâs soul, and with nothing to pull, it could only remain in place.
In a short while, it began to dissipate from bottom to top, until it disappeared all together.
Ryo was finally relieved, and he then entered the Ice World, examining Minatoâs soul.
He found that it was seriously damaged by the tug of war and the summoning of the Shinigami that occurred. However, Ryo had lost too much of his Spiritual Power tonight, and had no way of helping Minato repair his soul.
All he could do was controlling Ice around him into an igloo, in which he put Minatoâs soul to protect it.
By the time Ryo returned from the Ice World, the 3rd and Orochimaru arrived to the scene.
Hiruzen looked at Minatoâs cold corpse, and in an instant, he looked many years older.
He had always had high hopes of Minato. Although the two had their fair share of political disagreements, the 3rd had always believed that Minato was the best Hokage that Konoha could have.
âIâm sorry for your loss, Kushina!â He muttered. Then, he could only push through his sorrow. He turned around to Orochimaru, and said to him: âOrochimaru, go help Jiraya.â
He then left as well to support Sakumo. As he left, Kushina ran to Ryoâs side, who knew what she wanted to ask about. He hid nothing, explaining the whole situation to her.
When hearing that there was a chance to resurrect Minato, Kushina could no longer hold herself, and she fainted on the spot.
Ryo made a Shadow Clone that picked up Naruto, while he picked up Kushina. All four teleported to her place.
After putting the mother and son in bed, he went back to the battle scene, just to find Minatoâs body being watched by three of the Anbu.
âHold on, Ryo! Thereâs something wrong with Minatoâs body!â Ryo was about to pick up Minatoâs body, but Korin stopped him.
Immediately, he examined the body, but he found nothing wrong.
âRyo, when you took Minatoâs soul from the Shinigami, the latter couldnât take anything attached to it. The Kyubiâs soul and Chakra are still in his body!â
As she was speaking, red Chakra began to ooze out of Minatoâs body, and he gradually stood up!