A Warrior's Path

The civilian kept on going until he reached a room. He checked whether anyone was near and slowly opened the door.

On the bed lied a girl, she was sleeping peacefully. Seeing the girl lay on the bed, pain flashed on the man"s face.

Ryu watched from the shadows, he recognised this man. He was none other than Hiashi Hyuuga.

The girl on the bed is Hinata. Hiashi was worried when he heard Hinata was in hospital. He couldn"t just simply rush out, he waited for hours until everyone left before disguising as a civilian and coming here.

Hiashi used Byakugan to check her condition. Confirming she is alright, he silently left.

Ryu followed Hiashi. After they reached a secluded valley, Ryu revealed himself " Why do you need to sneak to check on your own daughter, Hiashi san? "

Hiashi was startled when he suddenly heard someone speak. He readied himself but after seeing it was Ryu, he calmed down.

Ryu continued " Why do you do that? Couldn"t you openly show your concern, you are her father. "

Hiashi was silent, it was until a few minutes later Hiashi spoke sadly " As Hyuuga clan leader, the clan needs to be lead by someone strong.

If I show weakness my enemies would capitalize on that, even people within my own clan may try to bring me down."

Hiashi was bitter as he said this. He and Ryu can be considered good friends as Ryu had made acquainted with him years ago. They often sparred and exchanged their take on different techniques.

Ryu never poked around Hiashi"s family problems, it wasn"t his place to do so.

Ryu sighed " Haaaa... Hiashi san, you should atleast show some care towards Hinata. She is a girl after all."

Hiashi face showed pain " I want to but.... I can"t. All I can do is watch from a distance. Hyuuga clan consists of head and branch family. I can"t show any form of weakness otherwise the branch family will rebel.

Eventhough the curse seal is there to control them still there are plenty of ways to get around it if they set their minds on it. That is also the reason I show ruthlessness even to my own daughters."

Ryu looked at Hiashi. He was always stern towards his kids, even more so to Hinata since she is too kind. He want her to be strong, strong enough to protect herself in this world.

Ryu listened, he understood Hiashi. The branch family hated the head family not only because of the curse seal but also due to their att.i.tude towards them. The branch family members are seen as nothing more than slaves by main family.

He pondered for a bit before saying " Hiashi san, your problems are easily solvable. You just needs the resolve to do it."

Hiashi brows furrowed when he heard that. He asked " What do you mean?? "

Ryu smiled " It isn"t that hard. let me explain. Just kill of all the trashes that still holds onto that wretched tradition. With my support its possible.

Simple, isn"t it?"

Hiashi was shocked. Indeed, with the ident.i.ty of Ryu, he has a significant hold over the village"s overall situation. He had always thought of this solution but never had the opportunity but now....

Hiashi looked at Ryu and nodded. Ryu smiled, he said " Alright, since you agreed mark those trashes within your family. Goodbye."

Hiashi snapped back when he heard Ryu"s words, he nodded " Don"t worry."

Ryu left, he went towards Hinata"s room. She was awake. Her teammates and Naruto were in her room. Ryu pushed open the room and entered.

Everyone looked back to see who came in. Ryu smiled towards them as he said " You know Naruto, Lee is also in this hospital. You should atleast go see him rather than spend all the time with Hinata."

As usual Naruto was a blockhead as he yelled " Hey!! I was gonna see him."

Hinata blushed hard when she heard Ryu. Sakura was giving Hinata a knowing smile while the rest just smirked.

Sasuke also said " Some friend you are Naruto. I guess you don"t have time as you gotta be with Hinata."

Sakura was shocked when she heard Sasuke speak " Is this the same Sasuke I know? ".

Ryu was slightly surprised but he already knew Sasuke was slowly coming out of his sh.e.l.l. One day the darkness in his heart will fade.

Hinata head gave off steam. Sakura cut in before Hinata fainted due to embarra.s.sment " We were about to visit him. The medic said he was fine, a week"s rest would heal him."

Ryu nodded " Guys, could you give us a minute? I wanna talk to Hinata about something."

Everyone was confused but still left. Hinata also looked at Ryu with confusion.

Ryu didn"t beat around " Hinata, do you want to become strong? "

Hinata was startled, she looked at Ryu, he stared at her waiting for an answer.

Hinata " Yes."

Ryu smiled " Alright then, it"s decided. I will train you.

Come meet me at training ground 8 two days later. Bye"

Ryu left leaving these words. Hinata was dazed, she couldn"t understand what just happened. Naruto"s brother suddenly told her he would train her. She calmed down after a few minutes and smiled sweetly.

Ryu left the hospital. He went directly towards Sarutobi"s office.

Sarutobi was dealing with his archenemy " paperwork " when Ryu came in. He smiled wryly " Ryu, what is it? I am busy so make it fast."

Ryu smiled at Sarutobi"s situation " Well well well, this is fun. Doing all this paperwork, right? "

Sarutobi scowled " Brat, don"t make me come over there. Tell me why you are here. "

Ryu stopped his teasing, he said " I want you to spread news about me having the ability to purify any Bloodline to reach its highest level."

Sarutobi nearly fell off his chair, he seriously doubted whether Ryu was intentionally making him mad " Do you know what kind of consequences that can have? Any Bloodline gets weaker as time pa.s.ses, some may awaken to a high purity while others may deteriorate.

your ability to purify a Bloodline is coveted by all. Sure you are strong but.... you can"t always protect everyone. "

Ryu " I know what this leads to. But don"t worry. Release the information like this.

My ability can only be used once a month, the more stronger the Bloodline..... more time it takes for me to use this ability again.

And lastly, each time I use this ability, it shaves away a bit of my lifespan.

Now this can be released, right? "

Sarutobi pondered for a bit.

True, usually an ability like that can be very demanding so it isn"t far fetched if the info about his ability is released as such.

Sarutobi stared at Ryu " Brat, be honest. Why would you want to do this? "

Ryu " To help a certain someone. "

Sarutobi " Who? "

Ryu retold what happened at the hospital, he explained what he was about to do to Sarutobi. After hearing Ryu"s plan, Sarutobi sighed.

He always hated that trash tradition but he couldn"t meddle in a clans affairs so he kept quiet. Sarutobi immediately agreed. He ordered his Anbu to spread this info.

The next coming days not only the leaf village buy the rest of the villages will also be shaken by a piece of information.