Hokage: Ryo's Path

After he finished speaking, he took out a scroll and handed it over to the 3rd.

The latter’s face was very gloomy when hearing the young man’s description of the events. Then, when he opened the scroll, his face showed a bright smile.

Minato, who was also present, did smile as well when sneaking a glimpse of scroll.

“Hokage sama, we sincerely urge you, could you send someone to our village?” The young man asked anxiously.

The 3rd nodded and asked the Anbu Behind him: “Anbu, go find me Orochimaru!”

“Wait a minutes!” After hearing the 3rd’s choice, Minato frowned and quickly stopped the Anbu.

“What’s wrong, Minato?” The 3rd asked.

“Hokage sama, I recommend that the other one goes this time!” Minato said while pointing at his eyes.

The 3rd immediately thought of Ryo gaining the Mangekyo, and immediately asked for him instead.

A few minutes later, Ryo was teleported to the 3rd’s office. After glancing at the stressed out young man before him, he quietly established a telepathic link with Minato.

“Ni san, I just heard from the Anbu that the mission is linked to the Nanabi?” Minato heard Ryo in his mind.

With this happening many times before on the battlefield, Minato very calmly answered. “indeed!”

“What is going on?”

“According to that young man, when the Waterfall Village were changing the Nanabi’s Jinchuriki, they accidentally let the Biju escape. It’s now hiding near the village, retaliating against it randomly for imprisoning him for so long.” Minato explained the situation simply.

Understanding the incident, Ryo guessed the 3rd’s purpose.

Sure enough, the 3rd ordered him to help the village arrest the Nanabi, and eventually seal it.

What surprised Ryo was that his reward for the mission was frighteningly high!

He never thought that the 3rd, who had always been so ‘economic’ with his rewards, would give him so much for achieving the mission. This made Ryo far more eager to go!

“Minato Ni-san, what happened to that old man? Why is he offering so much money?” Ryo quickly asked Minato.

“Well, Ryo, your reward is only a small fraction of what he was promised to be paid by the Hidden Waterfall.”

“I should’ve guessed so! That old cheapskate would never change!” Ryo glanced at the 3rd with distain, and then left with the young man from the waterfall Village.

The latter seemed to be somewhat cautious. After all, while Ryo was well known, he wasn’t exactly famous for being a kind hero; he was quite notorious for being a ruthless killer.

The young man did not dare to speak, and Ryo did not take the initiative. The two reached the 3rd training ground silently.

In the end, the young man couldn’t help it anymore: “Ryo Sama! My name is Shosei! I’m really grateful for your help to our village! Honored to meet you!”

“Wait, are you related to Shibuki?” Ryo remembered the timid new leader of the Waterfall village in the anime.

“How come you know that name? He is my nephew, now only four years old!” Shosei was very surprised.

“Nothing. I just asked. Well, I need some time to prepare myself. We will leave at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning!”

“Okay, Ryo sama!” Shosei immediately agreed to Ryo request. Although the village seemed to be in a very critical situation, it was common sense for a Ninja to prepare themselves for a task.

By preparation, Ryo mainly meant explaining the situation of Chinse, and then bringing him disciple, Shisui, from the Uchiha’s district.

The next day, Shosei was waiting for Ryo’s arrival in the early morning at Konoha’s gate.

Ryo and Shisui also arrived in time at * o’clock. After showing their passes to the guard, the three officially set off.

The Waterfall Country was adjacent to the Fire Country, not further from Konoha than the Wave Country. However, since Ryo was never there before, he could not teleport in.

However, being that all people present were Ninjas, they did not take much time and arrived to the village very quickly.

The Waterfall Country’s location wasn’t actually that great at first glance, being surrounded by four of the five great countries. However, being naturally surrounded by Waterfalls, it was not that suitable for battle and naturally protected. Therefore, it wasn’t really bothered by other countries.

There weren’t many powerful Waterfall Ninjas shown in the anime, with the exceptions being Fu and Kakuzu. The village’s leader shown in the story, Shibuki, wasn’t that strong either.

A few hours later, Shosei arrived to a huge waterfall with Ryo and Shisui. Using a special secret technique, he made the flow rate of the waterfall gradually slow down; to eventually reveal a dark cave.

He jumped in taking the lead, and the others followed.

Every few meters into the cave, there were torches on the walls. Still, the area was too dark and the ending of the cave could not be seen. The three moved forward, and in the end, they found the exit.

Shosei asked Ryo and Shisui to wait a little, and then he ran into the most central building in the village.

Ryo immediately entered Sage Mode, and perceived the Ninjas in the Village.

Indeed, he quickly determined that the village was really weak. The strongest person in it was in the building to which Shosei ran. Ryo speculated that it should be the village leader. He was a Quasi Kage.

There was an elite Jonin beside him and two other Jonins in his presence as well. These were the strongest people in the village. A few other Tokubestu Jonins were scattered around the village, and the rest were Chunins and Genins.

Ryo could destroy such a village on his own with ease. It’s no wonder that they had suffered so much facing the Nanabi.

A few minutes later, the village’s leader led the Jonins to Ryo’s location.

He was around forty to fifty years old, but looked quite younger than the 3rd.

He seemed very enthusiastic to see Ryo. After some talking, Ryo fully understood the reason behind his enthusiasm. The Nanabi’s attacks had left him exhausted, and he was hoping that Ryo would be the one to get peace back to the village!