Ryu sat behind the door to the Temple. The villagers stood at the other side of the Temple hurling insults at him and Michael and the others did nothing to stop it.
"Hey Ryu! I bet my little brother could beat you to a pulp! What a loser!" the insults kept coming.
The angry sounds from outside were unbearable to Ryu but the greatest part of the pain was that, not even his own companions and brother, Michael, trusted him.
"Why? Why is this happening, Dragon of Destiny? Why are you allowing this to happen to me? Why are you plaguing me by weaving doubt all around me? WHY?!" Ryu cried in anguish.
His cry could be heard outside.
"What's wrong Ryu? Are you crying like a baby?" Someone mocked.
Ryu shut his eyes in order to get rid of the sounds of mockery.
"IF YOU WERE GOING TO ALLOW ALL THIS HAPPEN TO ME…" Ryu paused.
"The false hero is hiding!" someone mocked.
"WHY DID YOU BRING ME BACK?!" Ryu roared at the top of his voice.
Suddenly, his ring began to leak a strange new energy. The same energy came from the rings of the others and some of it even came from outside the village.
"What's going on with our rings?" Michael looked at the others with a puzzled expression.
"We haven't summoned the saints" Nadia looked puzzled herself.
The mockery ceased.
The energy assembled and formed…The Dragon Lord! The surprised expressions on the faces of Michael, Atlanta and Nadia changed into smiles. Ken was however shocked.
"That's…the Dragon Lord!" Ken exclaimed in amazement.
The expression on the face of the Dragon Lord was grim.
"What's going on? Why are you here?" Michael asked curiously.
"To reverse…a mistake" the Dragon Lord said plainly.
"Th-There's no need to. We saved the Wind ryu" Atlanta said.
"You saved the Wind ryu? I really wonder about that" the Dragon Lord said seriously as he narrowed his eyes in such a ferocious way that the others couldn't help drawing away from him.
"Th-There is no mistake…is there?" Michael asked.
"Oh there is; the worst kind of mistake. The exact reason why destiny should never be meddled with, even by me…its creator…especially not for the sake of humans" the Dragon Lord said.
The other saints reappeared.
"What is happening here? Why have you come into this realm?" Crystal asked.
"I'm proud of you my dragon brethren, especially you two…Molten and Tornado…however…for the human saints and this village…my rage is beyond limit!" the Dragon Lord's eyes began to glow gold.
Ryu heard his voice and came out. When the Dragon Lord saw Ryu, his anger turned to sorrow and a tear flowed down his face.
"How can I ever face you now, legendary dragon Ryuujinn" the Dragon Lord said as more tears flowed down his face.
The others stared in shock.
"Why are you speaking of Ryuujinn now, Dragon Lord?" Crystal asked.
"To think that Ryuujinn forsook his godhood because of the faith he had in these…pitiful creatures! It makes me so angry, I'm beginning to sympathize with Tristran!" the Dragon Lord declared.
The other dragons were extremely shocked for they understood the gravity of the Dragon Lord's words.
"Why is the Dragon Lord speaking like this?" Michael asked worriedly.
"Have you heard of the Celestial code…'Heart and Hate'?" Molten asked the human saints.
Michael and the others shook their heads.
"You know, we dragons created the world and as such, we love our creation with great passion. A dragon may be omnipotent but no matter how powerful he is, he is limited by one rule. A dragon, no matter how powerful can never hate his creation. But the Dragon Lord just said this…'I hate humans. Creating them was a mistake for they cause us dragons such grief.' To say such a thing…it takes great pain. That kind of pain cannot even be compared to witnessing a massacre of diabolic proportions" Molten said sadly.
"You don't need to say anything Ryu, I've seen it all" the Dragon Lord said.
Then the Dragon Lord turned to face the villagers.
"You think Ryu is a false hero? You think he ran away because he was afraid? Do you honestly think that the damage you just received is greater than the pain Ryu has had to endure and do you really believe that Nemesis would actually attack with such a small army? Michael, Atlanta, Nadia, do you actually believe that Ryu intentionally refused to enter the Jinn State because he was mad at you?" Dragon Lord questioned them all.
"The Shadow ninja really were fewer than before and the Dark mongerers just burst into flame but…what has that got to do with Ryu?" the villagers murmured.
"First of all, let me tell you that Ryu has no obligation to protect you! Each Saint's duty is to his own ryu! You do not even value your own saint! It was you who forced him to take the wrong path!" the Dragon Lord said.
"I am most disappointed in you three, Michael, Nadia and Atlanta. Why do you think I brought Ryu back?" the Dragon Lord questioned them.
"Without Ryu, we can't seal Shekan" Michael replied.
"There you go again, thinking that Ryu is a walking duty. You treat him like a tool to be used against the enemy, like a shuriken or kunai. Now I will tell you why I brought Ryu back" the Dragon Lord said. "If it was left to sealing Shekan alone, I would never have brought him back. I saw how much you loved Ryu. How much you needed him to be complete and it reminded me of the love Ryuujinn had for mankind. You loved him like a person then, so much that each of you were willing to give up what you treasure most to have him back. But just like you did Ryuujinn, you forsook Ryu. You called him selfish when he made the greatest sacrifice of all, even greater than yours Atlanta…to come back to you" Dragon Lord continued.
"Ryu…made a sacrifice to come back?" Atlanta questioned in disbelief.
"First, I will show you. Then…I will do what I have come here to do" the Dragon Lord said as the village scene slowly changed.
Soon, they were in the spirit realm.
"Th-That's the Crystal Temple!" Michael exclaimed in astonishment.
The door to the Temple opened in a flash of light. Inside, Ryu sat between his parents as they told him how proud they were of him.
"When Ryu died, he found peace, rest. He discovered that he was forgiven and most importantly, he forgave himself. He was reunited with the people he had loved and lost. Yet, to keep your sacrifice from being in vain Atlanta, he came back" the Dragon Lord said. "You may think Ryu is selfish Atlanta but…I will let you judge for yourself".
The scene changed. Ken and Ryu were racing on Molten and Tornado. They seemed to be conversing happily.
"Ken, I guess now is the right time to tell you about my promise. Atlanta…well…I died and she brought me back to life by making a terrible promise. To save her from keeping that promise, I promised to create a jutsu more powerful than Gaiden's on the condition that she'd be freed from having to keep her promise. The others may see this journey as a journey to save the world. To me, this journey is all about my promise to Atlanta. I guess that's why I've stuck with it so long or I'd have abandoned this mission a long time ago" the Ryu in the scene said.
Atlanta opened her eyes in surprise and then, she lowered her head in guilt. She could no longer look at Ryu.
"Do you still think Ryu is selfish Atlanta?" the Dragon Lord said gently. "Ken, I'm proud of you. You found the right path after so many years of pain" the Dragon Lord said to Ken.
"Now back to you three. After all the nasty things you said to Ryu, you couldn't understand his rage when he tried to run away. You should have forgiven him because he came back…or rather, he forgave you and came back. How difficult that must have been" the Dragon Lord paused.
"Do you think he ran away? When he single-handedly took down the Elder Twisting Devil. Do you think he'd run from mere Shadow ninja?" the Dragon Lord asked.
"We didn't think about that" the chuunin girl said.
"You didn't think at all" the Dragon Lord said as the scene changed to the time of the party.
"Out of the way Ryu! You have no idea how much harm this pest has caused!" the scene from the party replayed.
"No! If you want to hurt him, you will have to go through me first!" the Ryu in the scene defended Ken as he summoned Molten and flew away with Ken.
"Would you like to be my brother?"
"Brother? Ryu, do you really mean it?"
"Yes, from now on, let's be brothers" another scene played.
"If Ryu hadn't taken Ken to safety. Do you realize what would have happened if you had killed Ken?!" Dragon Lord questioned the villagers.
There were murmurs amongst them.
"You are so blind. You despise Nemesis so much for your pain that you fail to see the real threat…Shekan!" the Dragon Lord roared.
"Shekan?" Lee repeated the name in confusion.
"Without Ken, Shekan cannot be resealed and by taking Ken away, Ryu was protecting your miserable lives!" the Dragon Lord roared. "And that is not all…LOOK!" the Dragon Lord motioned for them to watch the scene.
"Did you feel that? The image of Ryu asked the image of Ken.
"Yes! More chakra apart from ours, with dark energy" Ken growled.
"SHADOW NINJA!" Ken and Ryu growled angrily.
"They might be seeking the Wind ryu!" Ryu deduced.
"Not again! We've got to do something…BUT WHAT?!" Ken exclaimed worriedly.
"I have a plan" Ryu said with a mischievous smile.
"What do we do Ryu?" Ken asked.
"If Mikey were here, he'd be the best guy in the world to make a plan" Ryu said.
"You really look up to him don't you?" Ken asked.
"Yeah, although he's just…lemme just say, a catastrophe to be around and annoying, and rude, and insensitive, he's my role model. He always knows when to take charge and I depend on his orders and instructions for strength" Ryu said.
Guilt came over Michael. The scene clearly showed that Ryu had already gotten over his rage.
"What of the two girls?" Ken asked.
"If you want to know about Nadia, she's pretty much a pain, a royal pain in the behind! She's tough, smart-mouthed, rude, tough-talking. I can write a whole book about how nasty she is" Ryu said.
Ken laughed.
"Fine, fine, what are her good points?" Ken asked.
"Actually, all her bad points are a façade. Inside, she's really caring, she's strong. She's got everything a saint needs including the most important thing, the passion to protect her village and everyone. Though she's got a thing for Michael. FIRE ELEMENT! MICHAEL AND NADIA JUTSU!" Ryu called as the ridiculous image appeared.
Ken laughed.
"That's so funny!" he said.
Nadia watched on. She despised the ridiculous technique but she couldn't bring herself to hate Ryu anymore. Even the villagers found themselves smiling.
"Ryu, what do you think of the Wind Village?" Ken asked.
"In truth, although I've stayed here only for a week, it's the next thing to home. The villagers are so nice. The chuunin are cool. In truth, it's greater than home. Don't tell Michael, Atlanta, Crystal or the others this but…if I die in the process of sealing Shekan, I'll be at peace knowing that I have protected the people who made me feel…truly happy" Ryu said.
It was the turn of the villagers to feel guilty.
"Okay Ken, let's get the Shadow ninja" Ryu said.
"W-Wa-Wait! Hold on a minute. What of the other girl, the one that scolded us?" Ken asked.
"Oh…you mean Atlanta. She-uh, it's-um-how to put it…complicated between us. In the entire team, there's no one who understands me more than she does. And because of that, it hurts me the most when she…also because I…forget it. Let's just stop the Shadow ninja" Ryu said and then, he introduced the idea of the race and how it would be used to take out the Shadow ninja.
The villagers finally saw how Ryu and Ken destroyed the main force of the Shadow ninja while pretending to be racing going so far as to even create a genjutsu(illusion technique) that caused the Shadow ninja to see themselves being attacked by the united forces of the ryu.
"S-So these two single-handedly took out an entire army of Shadow ninja?" the chuunin girl stared at the scene in guilt and surprise.
"And destroyed eight Dark mongerers that would have destroyed your village" the Dragon Lord said as the scene disappeared.
"I see. Ryu really helped. In fact, he did most of the work but if he had entered the Jinn State, the casualties would have been less" Michael said.
"No one died or did you not realize that?" the Dragon Lord said.
"But if he had entered the Jinn State, the village would have been less damaged" Atlanta supported Michael.
Ryu wept silently.
"If you really want to know, I will tell you" the Dragon Lord said sorrowfully.