Chapter 94
In Konoha's Barbecue Restaurent, four Ninjas who were staying in the village sat down to eat.
The four told each other about their recent experiences and talked about their wonderful tasks. Such amazing topics made the civilians listen with relish.
"Speaking of that, have you ever heard of Ryo Yamanaka?" One of the strongest among them, a Jonin who goes by the name Shen Sarutobi, asked.
"Ryo Yamanaka? Of course I did. He's the genius medical Ninja, said to rival Lady Tsunade in medical Ninjutsu."
It was Kojima, the only Kunoichi among the four. Kunoichis usually are fans of the geniuses, and she was no exception. When she heard of such a genius in Konoha, she hurried to inquire.
"So what about him?" The man on Shen's left, Hyuga Yizo, asked.
"Why even care about such a genius? That kind of people is out of our league completely." On his right, a decadent young man, Kawamura, swayed his hand saying he wasn't interest.
Shen stared at him, and then lowered his voice, mysteriously saying: "This is a secret in the village. You need to keep this between us, and never tell anyway."
"Yes we know, just say it!" Kojima said.
Shen didn't beat around the bush, and directly cut to the chase: "Yesterday, the Hokage called the higher ups in the village to meet in his office, and they talked about him."
"What's this? He's been talked about by the Hokage? Isn't this confidential?" Kawamura groaned.
"Don't interrupt, let Shen finis.h.!.+" Said Kojima.
Kawamura helplessly grinned with nothing to say. Shen continued to talk to the lot about what he had heard.
"The Sandayme had said in the meeting that the Hidden Rock have already withdrawn their troops because of Ryo Yamanaka. He had killed the Yonbi!"
"Impossible! How old is he even? How can he kill such a creature? Shen, where did you hear such nonsense?" Just as Shen finished his words, Kawamura immediately asked!
"This is news that I accidently overheard from the Room of our clan's head. It cannot be fake!" Shen argued.
In fact, it wasn't just Kawamura. Even Kojima didn't believe this.
Even though Shen looked serious and sure about what he's saying, they all had their doubts. They didn't mistrust him, but this news was just too big!
Ending the battle of the earth country, and killing the Yonbi, is this really a teen's doing?
Shen gave no further explanations, and the three believed that it should be nonsense. The big thing was that the eavesdropping civilians believed his words.
This kind of discussion also took place in several other places: restaurants, hot springs, bookstores, etc…
This way, the info started spreading around Konoha among the civilians: Konoha had won over on the Rock's side, and also managed to kill the Yonbi Jinchuriki. This was the doing of the village's young genius, Ryo Yamanaka!
"Hokage sama, it has been done, and not the civilians are all talking about Ryo Yamanaka." An Anbu reported to the 3rd in his office.
"I already know. Now, go watch how things evolve carefully."
"Yes, Hokage sama!"
This was all the 3rd's plot, using the civilians' curiosity to spread the news about Ryo as fast as possible.
He wanted to make Hero in the village. If the news about Ryo were given directly to the public, they would cause a lot of skepticism. The actual main selling point for the story was the word "confidential" said by the Ninjas spreading the news.
Now he just needs for thing to develop, and then hold a meeting in the village, thus letting the villagers take the initiative to ask about Ryo.
Over the following few days, Ryo's glorious endeavors spread through Konoha. 80 year old women and freshmen at the Ninja school alike, all knew Ryo Yamanaka.
The 3rd took the opportunity to hold an open conference for all villagers to attend.
Everyone gathered under the Hokage's residence, and the 3rd stood on top along with the higher ups of the village.
He gave a long speech, blaming the four countries for their shameful acts that brought war, and then praising the Ninjas fighting on the battlefield, and finally mentioning Konoha's victory in the Earth Country, along with the Rock Ninjas retreat.
His speech was really successful, and both civilians and ninjas cheered for the hard earned victory.
But after cheering, everyone realized that the speech did not mention Ryo Yamanaka. A few villagers gathered their courage asked: "Hokage sama, did we win because of Ryo Yamanaka?", "Did Ryo Yamanaka really kill the Yonbi?!"…
Some took the lead asking, and then many followed. The 3rd pretended to be in a dilemma, making things even more confusing to them.
At last, he acted like he was giving up, and told everyone about the story of Ryo Yamanaka.
This made the crowd boil! "The Hokage had admitted the fact himself! This can't be fake!"
"Ryo Yamanaka is a HERO!" All the villagers felt that way.
"With such a hero in the village, who should anyone in Konoha worry?" This way, the 3rd conquered the fears and doubts brought by war to the villagers hearts.
Even the higher-ups of the village were very satisfied by the 3rd's plot. He's not only calming everyone's mood, he's also making the village more united.
Of course, not everyone was satisfied. An obvious example was Danzo!
To him, the 3rd had not just made a hero, he had also created future opponent. He thought that Ryo would one day become stone block in his path, just like Sak.u.mo.
Ryo wasn't interested in becoming a Hokage. All he wanted was becoming the strongest in the world, and all he sought was strength!
Of course, Danzo had no idea about that, and was thinking that if Ryo's reputation keeps rising, he would never get the chance to become a Hokage!
Back in the earth country, Ryo had no idea about what the 3rd had done. He was busy teaching Anko and getting her familiar with Sage Mode.
Anko relied on her strong perception of Natural Energy, and her progress was really prominent. It was a shame that Ryo was not a user of Fire and Earth releases, and therefore had no way to teach her how to use those skills in battle.
Orochimaru on the other hand was immersed in another subject that Ryo had opened: Genetics! Over the course of those days, he studied gene arrangement like crazy.
The biggest firm believer in science in the Narutoverse, showed great enthusiasm after learning a few concept of modern medicine, becoming self-proclaimed student of Ryo in that field.
He made Ryo ashamed of himself, as he had never been this focused in his college days!