Hokage: Ryo's Path

Maan knew well who Kakashi was, but he didn’t exactly have a good impression of him. Mainly, he was a foreigner who unrightfully owned a Sharingan.

“Kakashi, take us to Hokage sama!” Fugaku requested.

Kakashi nodded, picking up Danzo from the ground, and then returning to the village with the two Uchiha.

On the way, Fugaku explained to Maan his cooperation with Sakumo.

After the Kyubi’s night, the contradictions between the Uchiha and Konoha grew more and more intense, and Fugaku was obviously seeking a resolution.

The clan was under pressure, and the only solution was for it to relocate to the periphery of the village temporarily. This was to ease tension, and also make people feel more sympathetic to the Uchiha.however, this also caused some higher-ups, led by Danzo, to be frustrated.

Before Sakumo’s “Assassination Attempt”, the plan was going fine. However, once that happened, Danzo and his group tried to use the incident.

The whole matter was very peculiar, as the Uchiha’s investigation concluded that they didn’t really have something to do with the matter, and also that no clues at all led to Danzo and his squad.

Being that the matter was hard to solve, Fugaku took the initiative to contact Sakumo.

At the time, he knew one thing: the Uchiha, on their own, could not survive a battle against the village. If the Hokage was to assist however, there would be hope.

Just like Fugaku, Sakumo wasn’t willing to just sit by and watch the Uchiha and the village go at each other.

At the time, the cooperation between the two began as an exchange of information. However, there was one thing that Fugaku didn’t take account for: It wasn’t just the village that had a beef with the clan. The Uchiha had enough, and many of them openly showed their discontent with their state in the village.

The dissatisfaction soon turned into frustration, and then into blind anger, or lust for power, the latter of which was what threw Maan in the hands of the Uchiha’s greatest enemy: Danzo himself!

Danzo and the others used Maan to get information on the clan. With his Cursed Seal, he was well under control, and this made the Uchiha’s situation far more difficult.

If it wasn’t for Sakumo, the Uchiha wouldn’t get decent tasks anymore, as bonds of trust were severed between them and the village.

Hearing this, Maan was filled with guilt, never expecting that his obsession with power actually brought such serious consequences to his clan.

“Well, you shouldn’t blame yourself Maan. Danzo had always been a trickster and a master of persuasion. It is understandable that you would be confused by him.” Fugaku tried to comfort Maan.

“But...”

Fugaku patted Maan’s shoulder and said: “No buts! You should just follow my lead, and everything is going to be okay!”

At the same time, back in the forest, White Zetsu was extremely anxious after seeing Kakashi picking up Danzo and going alongside with Fugaku: “Black, Danzo did not die, but evidently, the current Hokage is going to cover up this whole matter!”

“That seems to be indeed the case. Everyone at the top of Konoha had been wary of the Uchiha. However, this Sakumo is actually covering for them.”

“What should we do? If Obito’s plan doesn’t work, would our work be all wasted? It seems to me like we’ve just given our enemies a pair of Mangekyo!”

Black Zetsu showed a cold smile and answered: “Oh, things are never easy! Don’t forget what Obito said; he planted a booby trap in Konoha. As long as it did not explode, it would only have the potential of being useful!”

......................

In the Konoha’s office, Sakumo was chatting with the 3rd.

“So, any news about Maan yet?”

“You can rest assured, Sandaime. Uchiha Maan....” “Knock, Knock!”

Outside, a knocking on the door interrupted Sakumo’s words. He frowned, and then figured out that it should be Kakashi back with everyone.

He looked at the 3rd and then calmly said: “Come in!”

Kakashi pushed the door in, leading Fugaku and Maan, all while carrying Danzo.

As the 3rd saw his unconscious friend on Kakashi’s shoulders, his face turned gloomy and he asked: “What’s wrong with Danzo?”

“Do not worry, Sandaime. Kakashi, put Danzo down.”

Kakashi nodded, letting go of Danzo. Immediately, the third went in to check on him.”

“His spirit had been damaged? Did he get hit by the [Spirit Transformation Technique]?” Although the 3rd was no specialist medical Ninja, he could always assess injuries rather precisely for so many years.

“Kakashi, what on earth is going on?” After confirming that Danzo was not in danger, the 3rd spoke out, very annoyed.

“Well, I’ll explain! Danzo attacked Maan, and ended up heavily injured.” Fugaku said faintly.

“What? Did it actually happen like this? Maan had been dissatisfied with what Danzo had done. He has the clearer motive; he wanted to retaliate. Now it seems like... Fugaku, you and Maan have let me down!”

“Sandaime, don’t rush to conclusions. Kakashi, what actually happened?” Sakumo asked Kakashi with a rather innocent look on his face.

“Well, Danzo took his Root Ninjas today on ‘a mission’. He brought out a team and sealed Maan inside a barrier to.... Should the Sandaime sama know?” Kakashi stopped, and glanced at the 3rd.

“Yes, I know Danzo had a mission out of the village today. He’s had his Chakra unsealed, and he’s been keeping away from trouble.”

“But Sandaime, do you know what his mission was exactly?” Kakashi asked again.

“It was...” The 3rd frowned. Indeed, Danzo did not tell him what he was going to do.

“Danzo’s target was me. To be accurate, my eyes!” Maan finally spoke, just as he planned with Fugaku.

“Your eyes? What do you mean?”

“I mean the eyeball in my head. Danzo wanted my eyes!” As he said that, Maan activated his Mangekyo.

Seeing his eyes, the 3rd was taken back, and his trust in Danzo was shaken immediately.

After knowing Danzo for so many decades, he knew that going after the Mangekyo Sharingan was definitely not out of his character.

“Kakashi, what happened? How did you know about this?”

“At the time, I happened to be returning from a mission. I saw Danzo’s men surrounding Maan, locking him up in a barrier. When I approached, I could hear Danzo asked him to dig out his eyes in order to let him go.

Maan, obviously refused, and he used a special method that I’ve never seen before to escape the barrier and kill all his enemies.

I wanted to stop him, but I saw that he was, rightfully, furious out of his mind. On top of that, he had the Mangekyo Sharingan. I felt I would not be able to stop him, so I went to find a Ninja from the security department, just to bring him another Uchiha to rationalize with him.

Luckily, the one I found was Fugaku san. When we arrived, Danzo was already like this. This is what I saw, and Sandaime, you can go to the forest and check; you will find traces of the barrier.”

Kakashi’s last words made the 3rd completely believe that Danzo was the one to attack Maan, and ended up losing to him...