1 month later…
'This boy, he's progressing faster than I thought he would've, definitely faster than I did.
Maybe it's time I test him.
But this kind of test…'
Hinote looked at Ryuu; he was sleeping and exhausted from all the training they did;
Ryuu had earned all his new Fuinjutsu tattoos recently, his body was aching, but he kept pushing his limits to get stronger.
'This test might kill this boy, but I guess it's what must be done…
Tori, you were right, it's easy to grow fond of this boy.
Something about him drives people closer to him without knowing…'
Hinote squinted his eyes in pain and then he held his chest.
"Cough!" Hinote coughed in his hand.
He looked at it and found blood.
'It's almost my time to go. These old bones can't stand anymore and my chakra is depleting, I guess that gives me more of a reason to do this test with him no matter how much I care for him.
And I cannot fail, this must work.'
Hinote walked over to the waterfall.
He dipped his naginata inside the waterfall.
"Grrrr!"
A chilling growl from inside the waterfall made the water ripple and a bright red light glowed from within the water.
"Don't be impatient, your time to rise will come."
After that, Hinote left and went to sleep.
The next morning…
Ryuu woke up first and went to wake Hinote up after cooking some ramen.
'My Ichiraku ramen is finished, it turns out Hinote-sensei also loves ramen and so we finished it.
This one may not be as special as Teuchi's, but it will do, I made it from the ingredients I sealed away.
A ninja must always be prepared for anything.'
After Ryuu finished making the Ramen
"Hinote-sensei! Get up, it's time to go training again."
Hinote slowly got up and went to have a seat.
The dining room and kitchen were one floor below the library.
"Here I made some Ramen for you, it's not the same one we love but I hope it will do.
I made it myself."
Ryuu unsealed chopsticks and gave them to Hinote.
"So, what kind of training are we doing today?"
Hinote frowned.
"Huh? What's wrong? Is something wrong with the ramen?"
He shook his head.
"Nothing to worry about, the ramen is excellent, and don't worry about what we're doing. I'll tell you after having this meal." Ryuu nodded.
'Something is definitely going on with him.
He's behaving so strangely, I have to be worried about him.'
After Ryuu and Hinote were done eating, Hinote led Ryuu near the waterfall.
"Is this what my next lesson is about? The waterfall?" Hinote nodded.
"This next task isn't a lesson. It's more of a test." Ryuu nodded.
"I'm ready for anything!"
Donk!
Hinote hit Ryuu with his naginata.
"Listen, this test is the last thing you need to do for me to allow you to leave.
But that's not the problem.
The problem is, this test could kill you."
Ryuu's eyes widened, and he gulped
'If this was the only way, I'll get back to Minato and the others…'
"I'll do it." Hinote's eyes widened.
"Such resolve is the reason you were selected, young Uchiha, and it's the reason- "Hinote held his chest and fell to his knees.
"Hey, Hinote-sensei!" Ryuu caught him just as he was falling.
He picked him up and teleported him to his bed.
"Just stay there, I can heal you."
Ryuu stood up.
Hinote held Ryuu's hand.
"Hey Hinote-sensei, what are you doing? You're going to die."
"Listen, my time is now, I must see my wife and all my old friends and children, I'm sure they were waiting for a long time." Tears were falling in Ryuu's eyes.
"Stop crying and listen up, I bestow my Naginata and I bestow this palace to you, it's near the pond and once you grab it, do not let go for at least an hour, and when you do, I want you to go inside that waterfall with the Naginata in your hand and do not blink do you understand me?" Ryuu nodded.
Hinote smiled.
"I want you to know, I never met my grandson, but to me… you are what I wish he would be like."
Ryuu looked at him with his eyes widened.
Hinote was running out of breath.
"Take me to my wife." Ryuu carried him near his wife's casket, it was made of gold and was surrounded by fire and beside it was an empty casket.
"Thank you Ryuu, thank you for filling the void of loneliness and emptiness I had felt all these years.
You're truly a special boy…"
Ryuu had tears in his eyes.
"Now I can finally come to you, Torimi-Kun."
He stopped breathing.
Ryuu clenched his fist tightly. Blood was dripping from his hands.
"I won't let your death be for nothing, I promise."
Ryuu wiped his tears away and closed the casket, and left.
He went to the waterfall, where he found Hinote's Naginata standing still.
"It's bigger now." The Naginata was as tall as Ryuu now.
"Is this one of its powers?" Ryuu inspected it.
'It's radiating energy, and that energy is making the ground vibrate.
I've never seen this happen before, does it know about Hinote-sensei?'
Ryuu grabbed a kunai and cut himself.
"Here goes nothing."
He grabbed the Naginata, and the radiating stopped.
"Aaaah!" The Naginata glowed and burned Ryuu's skin.
His body was full of sealing marks, his hair was standing up and his eyes were glowing white.
"Gasp!" Ryuu opened his eyes, and they had returned to normal.
"I feel it, I feel my power has grown so much.
There's so much I didn't understand about sealing, but now…
Now I understand it all…
My chakra feels so much more now.
It's like I can do anything."
The Naginata was glowing gold.
"I understand, this naginata was made by the sage of six paths, it was his most powerful weapon before he made a staff using the truth-seeking orbs.
It has more variety than the sage of six paths staff, but it's far less powerful."
Ryuu walked over to the waterfall.
He dipped the Naginata inside and a growl from inside the water shook everything.
"Hinote-sensei said I have to, so it's time I enter."
Ryuu activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and made an orb of dark ash to surround him.
He entered the water slowly and sank in.
"Grrrr!" a creature from within the water growled, and it was getting louder as Ryuu got closer.
'Hinote-sensei, were you hiding a tailed beast in here or something?
This door is massive, no, not even Kurama is like this…'
A giant seal was placed across the giant door.
'I see, he wanted me to open it, that's why this was the first lesson he taught me.'
Ryuu formed some hand signs.
"Sixteen trigrams sealing style!"
Fwoosh…
A wave of steam unleashed from the door.
There was a red color glowing from inside the door as it slowly opened up.
"Is that…"
Dark wings with red highlights and a giant claw that looked like metal stepped forth.
"The last Phoenix." Ryuu's eyes widened as a giant dark and red Phoenix broke through the door.
It had golden highlights around its wings and it had red and yellow eyes with a red crown.
Ryuu removed the surrounding ash.
He stared at the Phoenix in the eyes.
Whoosh!
The Phoenix appeared in front of him in a second.
It tried to intimidate Ryuu, but Ryuu wasn't scared. He'd seen this before.
"Who the hell are you?" He spoke with a deep and hostile voice, he spoke with arrogance, sounding like he could beat anyone.
"Don't worry, I'm your father's friend and your friend, too." Ryuu folded his fist and aimed it at the Phoenix.
"And who am I?"
Ryuu thought about a name for a minute, then snapped his fingers.
"I'll call you-"
"Nobu?" Ryuu nodded.
"How did you know that?"
"I read it in your mind, am I not supposed to do that?"
Ryuu smiled.
"Don't worry about that, I trust you."
"You aren't my father, so who are you? My master?" Ryuu quickly shook his head.
"No, we're friends, you're supposed to be my Phoenix, a partner of some sort."
Nobu tilted his head.
"Friends? What… is… that?"
"Someone you would do anything for, you love them and you're loyal to them no matter what."
"Love? All these things…" Nobu frowned and shook his head, causing waves.
"Here, your father wanted you to have this."
Ryuu unsealed the giant feather and gave it to Nobu.
"I don't know what's supposed to happen when I give it to you, but it seems important." The feather floated to him and lit up in flames, turning into ash.
"I see…
With this feather, I inherited my father's will, all his memories, and wishes."
"That's great and all, but umm, can we leave this place? I really need to go back home." He nodded.
"Climb on." Ryuu nodded and climbed on the Phoenix's back. He made spikes of Phoenix Flame so that Ryuu could hold on.
'His fire feels different. It's much more powerful, just like he said it would be.'
He stretched his wings first and then he clawed his way out of the water.
Ryuu released the seal containing them inside and then teleported them out of the hideout.
"It's been a while since I flew." He said as he spread his wings.
"Ready when you are," Ryuu stated.
"Alright."
Whoosh…
With one flap, they were in the air.
"Woah." Ryuu's eyes widened as he clung to the spikes and looked at the land from above.
It was during the night, so Ryuu coated Nobu in ash to hide from other people and hide their chakra.
"You never flew before?"
"Not like this, no." Nobu nodded.
"Ryuu, about becoming my host…"
"I'm already aware you aren't ready to help me that much, it's alright you know."
Nobu frowned, feeling helpless for the first time in his life.
"But you can stay inside me for the time being, where else would you go?"
"Inside you?" Ryuu nodded.
"You want to be my Jinchuriki?"
Ryuu nodded.
"That will be the best option, right?"
"Yes, it's the logical solution, you can harness my power, not just Phoenix Flame but also my chakra and nature energy too.
Thank you for this." Ryuu nodded.
"Drop me off above the Hokage statues, I'll seal you inside me, I'll have to make sure you're safe until you get your power."
Nobu landed safely, and Ryuu jumped from his back.
Ryuu held his hand out and offered a fist bump, and Nobu nodded and then returned it to him.
Ryuu absorbed Nobu into him, and Nobu transferred himself into Ryuu, appearing like flames in his body.
"I missed this feeling," Ryuu muttered.
After absorbing Nobu entirely, Ryuu made a wood clone and then lifted his shirt.
The clone made multiple hand signs and then his hands glowed up, his chakra was visible.
He placed his hand on Ryuu's stomach, and then the sealing marks appeared.
"Alright! I'm back."