âKid, so youâre unable to speak?â Seeing Ryoâs helpless face, Jiraya made that guess.
Ryo nodded with his head keeping on the same expression.
âRyo, arenât you a Yamanaka? Use your clanâs secret technique to communicate with us!â Said Sakumo.
Ryoâs face froze, he forgot that he had such a technique he could use. He scratched his head in embarrassment and then began to use his spiritual power to communicate with them.
âSakumo San, Jiraya San, Great Sage Toads, are you all right?â He asked those he was in communication with.
âWe are fine. The Sandâs target is you. They werenât even hesitant to sacrifice elite Jonins in order to kill you. They made us think that their focus was beating Jirayaâs Sage mode, while it was all made up to get to you.â
Sakumo explained the Sandâs actions to Ryo, and Jiraya still had fear apparent on his face.
Today, if Ryo didnât have such a card hidden, he wouldâve been probably killed by Shukaku.
The death of the leader of the medical team would certainly bring chaos to Konohaâs troops. The village wouldâve also lost one of its future pillars. And Jiraya didnât even want to think about what Kushina would do if she heard such news.
âHey, Jiraya san! Youâd let me die in such a way?â Ryo was connected to every one of them and he could see what they were thinking of.
âRyo Chan, Jiraya Chan doesnât mean such a thing. Donât blame him, we were all afraid. But more importantly, whatâs with that form? This is the 1st time I ever see such a gathering of natural energy.â Asked Fukasaku.
Ryo transmitted to them the principle of making [Ice Colossus].Of course, he kept the parts related to his previous life hidden.
Sakumo did not know too much about natural energy, though he did hear about it. He did not expect that Ryo would be able to directly use it with his special Ice Release.
Fukasaku and Shima were also surprised to see Ryoâs transformation. They originally thought that he just had a Kekkei Genkai that allowed him to turn his body into ice, and to use natural energy.
But now it seems that his Ice Elementization allowed him to become Natural Energy itself.
âKid, how long can you stay in this mode?â Jiraya asked Ryo looking at the situation of Konohaâs Ninja.
âLess than one minute!â Ryo checked out the flow of natural energy within the [Ice Colossus] before answering.
âGreat, then go and get rid of that puppet division!â Jiraya was referring to the sand Jonins on the battlefield.
When he looked around, Jiraya had an idea about the situation of the battlefield. Konohaâs losses in deaths and injuries were too heavy. They had to redeem some of them.
Ryo nodded, disconnecting with the lot, and running towards the Puppet division who were also coming his way.
âSakumo san, if you had to face the kidâs Ice Colossus, could you win against it?â Jiraya asked after Ryo left.
âRyoâs new technique is really terrible. I wouldnât be able to take one punch. Itâs really a shame that its shortcomings are obvious and too heavy.â
Jiraya understood well what Sakumo meant, and he was already thinking the same. Ryoâs new technique was appropriate to face a tailed beast, but against Ninjas like Jiraya and Sakumo, it wasnât such a great threat.
Retreating, Chiyo found a wounded Bunpuku.
âHow can you fail? How did it happen?â Chiyo was furious as she asked him.
âRyo Yamanaka suddenly grew in size and wrapped himself in Ice. He was able to block Shukakuâs Air Bullets with one hand. He was extremely strong, and Even Shukakuâs absolute defence was useless. Just one of his punches is enough to pierce Shukakuâs body.â
âChiyo Ba-San, isnât that the technique of the Akamichi Clan?â Rasa heard Bunpukuâs description, looked at Ryo and then asked that question.
âIt fits the description indeed. Being a Yamanaka, it isnât too surprising that he got to learn one of the secrets techniques of the allying Akamichi clan. But their techniques rely too much on calories, requiring them to be fat, and the kid is not fat at all.â Chiyo answered with surprise herself.
âKazekage Sama, Chiyo San, Ryo Yamanakaâs Ice is also very strong.â Said Bunpuku.
âOh, this battle was a loss, a loss for the Sand. I thought we would be able to kill the kid with this plan, I didnât expect him to hide a technique thatâs so powerful.â Said Chiyo.
âBut this time we did get some wins. Theyâve lost a Jonin, and at least a 1000 Genins and Chunins.â Said Rasa.
âWhat should we do next?â Chiyo was confused and didnât know what to do.
âFirst, we should retreat. Iâm afraid that if Jiraya and Sakumo join the war, our losses would increase exponentially.â Said Rasa.
In the other side, the battle between Ryo and the Puppet Division had ended.
Their ways of attack were varied, and their poison was powerful. However, they couldnât do anything to Ryo who had the protection of the Ice Colossus, a protection so powerful, that even Shukaku was unable to break it.
It didnât take long for Ryo to beat them. And at that time, Rasa issued an order of retreat against the Sand. Unlike the last battle, this time, Konohaâs men did not have Ryoâs assistance, and the battle took too long. Their losses were heavy. Over 7000 Ninjas went into the battlefield, but only 6000 have survived.
When they received the retreat order, the Sand Ninjas stopped fighting and withdrew quickly.
Ryo also went out of Ice colossus mode when they retreated. The mode, which relies on natural energy, instantly turned into water after the last bit of natural energy that Ryo had was gone.
After he left that mode, not only was Ryoâs Chakra exhausted, the Natural Energy he Had in his âYin Sealâ had also bottomed out. Where the Ice Colossus used to be, Ryo was left, weak and unable to move.
âRyo, are you alright?!â Sakumo who had his eyes on Ryo, immediately went in front of him to protect him from the sand Ninjas as soon as he went out of the Ice Colossus mode.
âIâm okay, a bit weak though. My Chakra has bottomed out.â Answered Ryo, smiling.
Sakumo left the battlefield with Ryo leaving the command of the army to Jiraya.
Konohaâs Ninjas cleared the battlefield under Jirayaâs command, bringing back the bodies of their companions.
âJiraya Chan, Iâll go back with Ma to Mount Myoboku then. Call us whenever youâre in need.â
âOkay, Boss, One-san, goodbye!â
When Ryo was back to his tent, he fell asleep. Sakumo summoned some members of the medical team to take care of him and left. There are still so many things in the camp that required him to handle them.
On the other hand, Jiraya took responsibility of arranging patrols and protecting the camp to prevent any sneak attacks from the Sand.