Hokage: Ryo’s Path

Ryo went behind Guy and his team while carrying the Ice-Covered Might Duy. The three were not fast. Even though they weren't carrying anything, Ryo caught up with them in no time.

The three were vigilant, and found out that someone was behind them. They immediately went into hiding.

"Guy! Come out! I haven't seen you in so long. I'm your old classmate you know!" Ryo reached them and called them out.

"Dad!" The first to look at him was Guy, who was hiding behind a rock. He saw his father and immediately ran towards Ryo.

He was followed immediately by Ebisu and Genma who also jumped from behind the two trees they were hiding behind.

"Guy, sorry! I cannot save Duy san. This all I can do, to give you the chance to see each-other one last time!" After putting Duy on the ground, Ryo removed the ice.

Guy looked at the dark charred body of his father. If filled his heart with sorrow, and he couldn't keep his tears from pouring down.

"Guy, don't cry. It is an insult to cry for someone who's burning for their conviction." A weak voice could be heard.

Hearing his father, Guy held back his tears: "Dad, you…"

"Don't be sad! I willingly sacrificed myself to protect Konoha's future. This is the peak of my youth!"

The father and son farewell left Genma and Ebisu silent. Ryo also felt extremely emotional.

Eventually, Duy left this world with a smile. He had fulfilled his wish, and protected his son and Konoha's future.

Guy refused Ryo help, and chose to carry his father's corpse on his own. All the way through, he did not shed a tear.

Ryo asked the three to take him to Konoha's camp. They were really reluctant at first. Ryo's great deed had not been transmitted to their camp, and they had no idea that he was Kage tier.

"Ryo, there are still the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Wouldn't it be too dangerous to head back to the camp?" Said Genma.

"Right! If we go back and encounter them, it would make Duy san's sacrifice go in vain!"

"Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist? Duy san already killed four of them, he gave his life for it!" Said Ryo, looking at the two.

"What! Duy san…" Genma could not even find words to say. He never expected Guy's father to be able to do such a thing.

"But still, there are three of them, all Jonins, and Ninja Swordsmen, we still can't beat them!" Ebisu said.

"Res assured! Although I'm not as strong as Duy san, but I'm confident that I can kill those three!" Ryo declared his Kage tier status to the three.

With that, all four returned to Konoha camp. Seeing the horrible state it was in, Ryo was furious. All the Ninjas who stayed there were killed, including those who were injured.

After confirming that there was no danger around, Ryo left the three in the camp and went towards the place where the battle was going on.

The main battlefield between Konoha and the hidden mist was a wasteland not too far to the front of the camp. After Ryo rushed in, he found that Konoha's camp was doing much better than he had anticipated. The three Quasi Kages of the mist were being restrained, and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were not there. The mist had no other Jonins, so the high-end of Konoha's troops didn't have much trouble.

Ryo immediately summoned Gamahiro. Both camps were extremely startled by the sudden appearance of this giant toad.

"This is Jiraya sama's summoning! I've seen it before! He summons a toad!" Said one of Konoha' Ninjas.

"Yes, I remember it too! It's reinforcements! Reinforcements are here!"

In no time, all of Konoha's ninjas started cheering, after realizing that they just had reinforcements from Konoha.

The Mist Ninjas were also stunned to see the immense figure of Gamahiro. Such a behemoth should be too lethal on the battlefield.

"Inoichi, is it Ryo?" Choza Akamishi saw Gamahiro and immediately asked his teammate.

"Yes, he's here! The kid's finally here!" Inoichi was extremely relieved to see the big toad.

In fact, all members of the Ino-Shika-Cho team were relieved as they knew that Ryo had arrived.

Ryo told Gamahiro to help the regular Ninjas while he went to the Ino-Shika-Cho team.

"Inoichi Nii-san, you've been in a tight spot! Sorry I'm late!" Ryo said to the three.

"We have no time to reminisce Ryo. Those guys are at their limits there. Go to help them restrain the Yuki clan head." Shikaku Nara pointed at the five Jonins facing the Yuki clan head.

Ryo nodded and went in to help immediately. He had a special motive in this case, as he was really interested in the Yuki clan's Ice techniques. This might be a good opportunity to copy them!

The main force facing his opponent was that of the Hyuga twins. The fact that he was facing them together along with their companions showed his immense strength.

It was just that the five Jonins had no answer to the Yuki clan's Ice. Whether it was in defense or in attack, their Ice performed really well.

Ryo didn't immediately go for attacking. Instead, he observed how his enemy used his Kekkei Genkai. Although his ice is different from that of the Yuki clan, both were the same in shape and similar in use. There were many things he could learn from a Yuki master.

After watching for a while, he found that the five Jonins' strength was severely inadequate. So he made his move, blocking an ice attack that was directed towards the Hyuga twins.

"Kid, who are you?" The Yuki clan head asked with vigilance.

"One should give his name before asking others about theirs!"

"Indeed! Then here: I'm the Head of the Yuki clan: Bing Yuki! Now it's your turn kid!"

"Ryo Yamanaka!"

After confirming that there was no Ryo Yamanaka mentioned among the top tier Ninjas of Konoha's camp, Bing immediately attacked.

Ryo opened his Sharingan to copy the attack, and then used it, and the two Ice attacks collided. Obviously, Ryo's Ice was harder, and Bing ended up being hit.

He stood up from the ground after falling, and stared and Ryo asking: "Who are you? How can you use the Yuki clan's ice?"

"Who said that only the Yuki clan can use ice? Ice is composed of Wind and Water attributes. I awakened Ice Release by fusing them!" Ryo was just lying with a straight face, but Bing seemed to be falling for it.

"I didn't expect that Ninjas outside of our clan could achieve such a thing. You're very talented kid! Wouldn't you be interested in just dumping Konoha's camp and joining our clan? You can learn the strongest of our clan's Jutsus!"

"Not really! I don't thing that you have any technique that I don't!" Said Ryo with a smile.

"You're too arrogant!" Bing despised Ryo's attitude. How would an outsider know all the Yuki Ninjutsus? That is nonsense! He decided to teach Ryo a lesson.

But on the other side, Ryo was overzealous! His greatest opportunity of stealing the Yuki clan's secrets was finally here!