Hokage: Ryo's Path

The last time they met, Ryo left Rin with his Teleportation Barrier Scroll. So this time, he directly teleported to her with Lain.

To his surprise, when they arrived, they found Tsunade negotiating with the 4th Raikage and a subordinate of his. The Raikage was threatening of forcing her to treat another subordinate of his. Immediately, Ryo remembered the scene from the Anime.

Ryo just walked in, pushing the 4th Raikage to the side carelessly and saying: “Tsunade hime; long time no see!”

“Didn’t feel like too long to me boy. What brings you here?”

“Well..”

“ENOUGH! My subordinate is in danger; your chitchat could wait for later. Save him first!” The 4th Raikage interrupted Ryo.

Tsunade frowned, but then smiled. Before, as she faced the 4th Raikage, she was reluctant to get violent in her rejection. After all, as fearless as she was, she had no way to guarantee the safety of Shizune and Rin.

Now however, Ryo was here. While she would never admit it, Tsunade knew that this young Ninja was even far stronger than her. Now with him by her side, she no longer had to worry about her two disciples.

Therefore, after he blatantly threatened her and her desciples, she was not willing to help him at all.

Ryo looked at her, and from her expression, he knew exactly what she was willing to do.

When it came to his own thoughts, Ryo actually wanted Tsunade to help the 4th Raikage. However, he wasn’t going to just tell her to do so against her will.

After a long silence, Tsunade was about to reject A’s request when suddenly, her eyes shined: “Hey, let’s make a bet. If you beat me in arm-wrestling, I’ll save your companion!”

The eyes of the 4th Raikage lit up brightly, while Ryo just slammed his palm against his face; Tsunade once again made the same choice.

Obviously, despite her being the stronger of the two physically, Tsunade still lost the bet to A. After all, it was a bet....

She did not want to help still, but she had to. After all, she lost the bet. What she did not lose however was the young Kage tier that could support her!

“Hey boy, you heal the 4th Raikage’s assistant, and Rin and Shizune will handle the rest!”

“Me? Why should I...”

“I told you it’s your problem now. Can’t you do it, Ryo Yamanaka?”

Ryo sighed helplessly, and then him and Rin looked at each other and began the treatment. Tsunade on the other hand smiled to Lain, asking her to follow her out.

“Lain, I’ve heard you’ve managed to use the Wood Human Jutsu. Is that true?” Tsunade asked excitedly.

Lain nodded, and then made her hand seals and released a Wood Human.

“Outstanding! You’re a genius Lain! I think you’re 12, right? Back in the day, my father only came up with this Jutsu when he was 13...” Tsunade praised Lain, and then took out a Scroll.

“Lain, this is the Shikkotsu Forest Summoning Contract Scroll, which was left to me by Grandpa!”

Lain did not expect Tsunade to take the initiative and give her the summoning scroll, and a look of surprise showed on her face.

Tsuande one the other hand thought that Lain would not understand the true value of this scroll, and she quickly explained: “Lain, The Wood Release Kekkei Genkai is extremely powerful. However, it wouldn’t have been enough for grandpa to beat such a powerful Mangekyo user like Madara who had the Kyubi on his side. The thing that gave him the edge was actually the fact that he learned Sage Mode in the Shikkotsu forest.

Being that your brother is powerful Sage Mode user, you probably know all too well about it. He and the toads could give you great advice, but the Slug’s style of Sage mode is different, perfectly suiting your Wood Release!” After Tsunade finished her explanation, she opened up the scroll for Lain to Sign it.

Lain bit her finger and wrote her name in her own blood. Next to it, she could see Tsunade’s name, followed by the now dull name of Hashirama himself.

“Well, I guess you don’t need me to show you how to perform [Summoning]. Wait for your brother to finish helping the Raikage, and then go to the forest to meet Katsuyu!”

Lain immediately nodded with a smile: “Yes, Tsunade hime!”

Soon, Ryo finished the treatment, and he, Rin, Shizune, A and his medical assistant came to Tsunade and Lain.

“Thank you, Tsunade hime!” A said to Tsunade.

“No; I’m just paying for losing the bet.”

“In any case, you’ve helped us greatly today, and I will not forget that!” After A finished his words, he left with his men.

As he disappeared, Lain excitedly held on to Ryo’s sleeve: “Oni san, Tsunade hime made sign the Shikkotsu Forest Summoning Contract!”

Ryo was taken by surprise, and then he smiled. He did not expect Tsunade to be so generous. She didn’t even wait for him to ask, actually giving Lain what he wanted for her.

On the other hand, Tsunade still thought that Ryo had something to ask her, and she said: “Hey boy, why did you come here again?”

“Oh it’s just that I wanted you to help us out with something!” With what he wanted for Lain already fulfilled, Ryo thought quickly and decided to take this opportunity to have Tsunade do something he always wanted.

“What is it? Speak up!”

“Here’s the deal, I want you to help Orochi san study something!”

“What?”

“Here it is!” Ryo took out a scroll, and unsealed it, releasing the White Zetsu Chakra stored within it.

This Chakra was the Yamanaka clan’s main resource for making the improved Healing Stones.

However, with the number of captured White Zetsu being limited, this resource was bound to run out. When that happens, the advanced Healing Stones should no longer be in production.

Therefore, Ryo wanted Tsunade’s help, as she had studied her grandfather’s Chakra for so long, and she might be able to help Orochimaru find or create a new alternative to this Chakra.

After observing this Chakra for a while, Tsunade seemed intrigued. After asking Ryo about his purpose, his answer made her immediately agree.

Ryo was very surprised, actually expecting this to be more of a hassle. Tsunade on the other hand understood him well, and she said with a smile: “You know that I’m the one behind Konoha’s current medical system, right? Your Stones have a huge leap forward into its improvement, so I will obviously want to further develop them.”

Here, Ryo couldn’t help but make a bow of respect to Tsunade. Her devotion to the medical cause was just to admirable, and for veteran doctor like him, it was of great value.

“Shizune, Rin, you two go pack up. I’ll be waiting here for you with Ryo. He will take us to Orochimaru directly.”

“Yes, Sensei!”

“And yeah, before we go, you should summong Katsuyu, Lain. Remember not to use too much Chakra.” Tsunade remembered that she had not told Katsuyu about Lain.

Lain nodded, and following Tsunade’s recommendation, she used a relatively small amount of Chakra to summon an adult sized Katsuyu.

“Hello Katsuyu! This is Lain, a new contractor of the Shikkotsu Forest. I trust her completely, and she is a user of Wood Release. Take her to the forest; you know what to do!”

Katsuyu stared at Lain for a moment, and then took her and disappeared.