Hokage: Ryo's Path

As he entered, what surprised him most was the fact that in the 3rd’s office, Minato was sitting at the Hokage’s desk. The 3rd himself was on the side leisurely drinking tea.

The 3rd smiled to Ryo saying: “Hey, you’re back! Now, report to Minato and don’t bother me.”

“Hokage sama, I remember Ni-san is scheduled to succeed you after this time. Are you leaving office ahead of schedule?”

The 3rd put down his cup of tea and said: “Well, you could say that. Minato had made great progress, and he’s at a stage where I could let him handle everything with my mind at ease. So yeah, for now, I’m giving him to position for a while, until he succeeds me officially in a few days and I officially retire!”

Ryo still had a lot to ask about, and he was for once liking the 3rd’s choice and feeling some trust in the old man, when he was interrupted by Minato: “Ryo, don’t disturb the Sandaime Sama! Don’t you have a task to report on?”

Ryo looked at Minato in surprise; didn’t he always urge Ryo to make his relationship better with the 3rd? Why stop them from talking now?

Thinking of that, Ryo felt that there might be something wrong. He telepathically asked Minato: “What’s going on Ni-san?”

“Ryo, after you leave the office, go to the west of the country, and find Tsunade sama!”

The first thing that came to Ryo’s mind was Tsunade’s medical capabilities. He immediately asked: “Are there any serious injuries requiring treatment? I can go and see!”

“No, this matter is completely different. This matter is related to the village having a new Hokage. The Daimyo would usually have someone from his family marry a Ninja from Konoha, to strengthen the relationship between both sides.”

“Yeah, the usual political marriage, so what’s wrong?” Ryo asked.

“So the groom to be the the Daimyo’s son; and the proposed optimal bride is none other than the new Hokage’s disciple: Rin!” Minato’s thoughts sounded very helpless to Ryo.

“What? How could this be?” Ryo almost became visibly agitated.

“I don’t want this to happen as well, so I want you to go to Tsunade sama.”

“How could she solve this matter?” Ryo didn’t think of Tsunade’s status.

“Well, Princess Tsunade is the 1st Hokage’s granddaughter and the Senju clan’s most prominent figure, on top of being one of the Sannin. Her word holds great weight. If she goes against the marriage, the matter could be forgotten.” With this explaination, Ryo finally understood why Tsunade was needed.

“So, Ryo, please take care of the matter. The 3rd had put me in this position, probably to get me too tied up with duties, and to keep me from stopping this marriage that should benefit the village. There are also other people in the village siding with this decision; you might have some people in your way, so be careful.”

“Don’t worry Minato Ni-san! Such people don’t matter to me.”

Ryo cut the link with Minato and gave him a scroll about the mission, and then immediately teleported out of the office.

Seeing Ryo leave, the 3rd sighed and said: “Minato, is this your final decision?”

Minato nodded firmly: “Hokage sama, sacrificing Rin would be too unfair to her.”

The 3rd said nothing, just showing a smile of satisfaction.

In fact, he himself did not want to agree, but the higher-ups of the Fire Country were putting too much pressure on him. The 3rd then had to cooperate with them on the matter, and used that as pretext to give the governing of the village to Minato. This way, he actually thought he would give him the most optimal position to interfere.

However, after many days of being in the position, Minato did nothing. Therefore, the 3rd feared that he might have given up, and was rather disappointed; he never thought that he was just waiting for Ryo! (T/N: Poor Hiruzen; always misjudged!)

After leaving the office, Ryo left immediately to Ryo’s place.

Sure enough, like Ryo warned, Rin’s place had three quasi kages and 7 Jonins surrounding it. They all thought they were hiding in secrecy, but Ryo had long been aware of their position.

His Ice-Lightning Chakra Mode broke out, and like a lightning bolt, he rushed into her place.

Before the 10 Ninjas had any time to react, the thunderbolt that had passed before their eyes disappeared again, along with Rin who was inside on her sofa.

“Ryo, you are finally here!” Rin said excitedly to Ryo.

For the past few days, she had been monitored by Root, and therefore was very anxious. With Ryo there she could finally relax.

“We have no time to waste Rin, we must immediately find Tsunade sama. Minato Ni-san said that she’s the only who could help you. Otherwise, if you just leave after the marriage is officially arranged, you’ll become a rogue Ninja!”

Rin did not want to have to leave the village, and said anxiously: “Then, let’s go Ryo!”

Ryo nodded, and the two disappeared outside the village.

At the same time, in Root’s headquarter, Danzo looked at the 10 Ninjas and said: “You good-for-nothings! You can’t even guard a single person!”

They all muttered random words, of which one was clear to his ears: “Ryo Yamanaka! That brat is getting more and more presumptuous! He’s disregarding Konoha’s interests for him own damn whims!”

“What’s more problematic is that this marriage was never announced officially. So, technically, we have no legitimate reason to sanction him.” added Homura, who was in the office.

“The only way we have no is to tell the various families of Konoha about this, getting them to pressure the Ino-Shika-Cho to take the initiative to surrender Ryo.” Danzo said.

“Indeed, that’s all we could do!” Homura nodded in agreement.

Indeed, all the heads of clan received news of Ryo taking away the one who’s supposed to marry the Daimyo’s son, within minutes of their agreement.

This marriage was to be very beneficial to all of Konoha, so Ryo’s behavior actually harmed many people interests.

Along with some incentives from Danzo, this was enough to get all clans to put pressure on the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance.