The Third Hokage, the leader of the greatest Ninja Village in the Ninja World, nodded like a junior.
Sage Fukusaku was an 800-year-old sage; even the Third Hokage's ancestors would have to stand at attention obediently here.
"Also, you must prevent Uchiha Madara from finding his eyes, otherwise he will be even harder to deal with."
This was a bit difficult; who knew where Uchiha Madara had hidden his eyes after gouging them out?
But the Third Hokage still nodded reluctantly. Was Uchiha Madara without his eyes already this terrifying?
If he had his eyes, wouldn't the Five Great Ninja Villages be in the palm of his hand?
Sage Fukusaku gave a final reminder: "Right, the Great Elder recognized the black rods Uchiha Madara used to control me and the missus earlier—it's Yin-Yang Release, the Six Paths Power."
Six Paths Power? The Sage of Six Paths?!
All the Ninjas were dumbfounded. Was this still the Ninja World? Wasn't the Sage of Six Paths just a myth?
Jiraiya's ears twitched slightly. Six Paths Power... how could Uchiha Madara have the Six Paths Power?
Wasn't the Six Paths Power the strength of the Sage of Six Paths?
If he possessed the Six Paths Power, then his eyes...?
Jiraiya recalled Uchiha Madara's hollow eye sockets; he wasn't blind, he had gouged out his own eyeballs.
The Rinnegan!
Jiraiya immediately thought of his disciple in the Land of Rain, Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan.
Jiraiya had always believed Nagato was a natural-born saint, but since Uchiha Madara was still alive, only he knew what kind of game he had been playing during this time.
The Rinnegan could possibly belong to Uchiha Madara, and he had implanted his own eyes into Nagato's eye sockets.
But that didn't make sense either. Why would Uchiha Madara give away such important eyes to someone else? Especially to Nagato, who had no opinions of his own.
Everything was just speculation.
The Sage of Six Paths was the founding sage, creator of Ninshu; so how could an old demon like Uchiha Madara inherit the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths?
Jiraiya didn't want to believe it, but at a time like this, he could no longer hide anything.
He gestured for Minato to come closer, then whispered the matter about Nagato into Minato's ear.
Minato's azure eyes gradually widened.
The Rinnegan—!
The legend of the Sage of Six Paths wasn't fake; the Rinnegan truly existed.
Once Jiraiya finished explaining everything, Sage Fukusaku teleported him back to Mount Myōboku.
The Third Hokage also wanted to know the secret Jiraiya had told Minato, but since Jiraiya chose to tell only Minato, he wouldn't force it.
The Third Hokage scanned the surroundings, thinking about how to handle the matter of Uchiha Madara.
Jiraiya and Sage Fukusaku had already made it clear that only a Shinobi Alliance could deal with Uchiha Madara; the Third Hokage naturally couldn't let the Village's Ninjas go to their deaths.
If things truly reached an irreversible point, the Third Hokage thought of the Uzumaki Clan's ultimate sealing technique.
At this point, he could only sacrifice his own old life to preserve the sparks of Konoha.
"Cough, cough..."
The Third Hokage cleared his throat and was about to instruct everyone when a Ninja suddenly arrived at the door to report.
"Hokage-sama, Ryou has appeared!"
"What?!"
"That kid dares to show his face! Grab your gear, we'll chop him into mincemeat and feed him to Kuromaru later."
"Woof, woof, woof!"
At the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Fire, there was a bottomless canyon.
Ryou stood atop the head of a giant Ryūchi Cave snake, a Ninja blade strapped to his back, arms crossed, exuding the aura of a master.
Asuma and his companions were the first to discover Ryou; the opponent had already been posing on the other side for a long time.
Anko noticed the giant snake beneath Ryou and immediately realized it was a snake from Ryūchi Cave.
She questioned him: "Ryou, why can you summon a giant snake from Ryūchi Cave? What did you do to Orochimaru-sama?"
Ryou laughed: "Orochimaru has already been killed by me. I looted his body and obtained the Ryūchi Cave summoning scroll."
"By the way, Orochimaru's giant snake is really useful!"
"Aaaah—"
Anko screamed in rage, pulling a shuriken from her tool pouch, ready to jump over and fight Ryou to the death.
"Ryou, I'm going to kill you!"
"Anko, calm down!"
Yūgao grabbed Anko's arm, holding her back.
Looking at Ryou's stance, he had at least the strength of a Jonin. Anko was simply no match for him.
Asuma snorted: "Ryou, stop lying to us. You don't have the strength to deal with Orochimaru-sama at all."
Ryou smiled without saying a word.
Shizune questioned Ryou: "Ryou, I heard Lady Tsunade say that you used to give my uncle the wrong medicine, causing him to lose interest in women."
"Is that true?"
Ryou nodded in admission: "So what if it is?"
Shizune angrily raised a Kunai: "Dammit, you quack!"
Ryou looked at Shizune with a smile and said, "Shizune, Tsunade is in my hands. Just wait obediently to drink at our wedding!"
"Dammit, give Lady Tsunade back to me!"
Even Shizune couldn't maintain her Ninja composure in front of Ryou.
Kurenai pulled Shizune back: "Shizune, calm down. Ryou is no longer someone we can deal with."
Asuma was dismissive: "Even if he's different from before, he's at most a Jonin. We are all Chunin; if we all attack at once, we can definitely capture him."
"A mediocre view!"
Ryou sneered. He closed his eyes and then opened them; three blood-red tomoe surrounded his pupils, looking extremely wicked and charming.
Asuma and the others were startled.
"Sharingan?!"
Kurenai said solemnly: "And it's a three tomoe Sharingan. In the Uchiha Clan, only Jonin possess the three tomoe Sharingan!"
Asuma quickly warned everyone: "Don't look into his eyes!"
Too late. Ryou glared at Anko.
Sharingan: Genjutsu!
Although Ryou had only recently awakened his eyes, having lived for so many years, he had already mastered the basic techniques of the Sharingan.
Some people might seem unable to lift Mjolnir on the surface, but in reality, they've already mastered a whole set of combos.
Asuma shouted anxiously: "Watch out, Anko is being controlled by the Sharingan!"
Anko was instantly hard-controlled by Ryou's Sharingan, becoming his puppet. Driven by Ryou, she performed Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, binding Yūgao Uzuki, who was closest to her.
"Yūgao!"
Hayate jumped in anxiety, terrified that Anko would suddenly slit his childhood friend's throat.
But Anko didn't harm Yūgao after restraining her; instead, she planted a kiss right on Yūgao's lips.
"Anko—!"
Yūgao's eyes widened. Her first kiss... it was just taken by Anko.
No, it wasn't Anko.
Anko was just being controlled by Ryou's Sharingan. Ryou was the culprit behind it all; Yūgao could see the reflection of Ryou's Sharingan in Anko's eyes.
Damnable Uchiha!
Anko released Yūgao and turned to reach for Kurenai.
Asuma roared: "Ryou, you shameless bastard, don't you dare lay a hand on Kurenai!"
A golden flash suddenly appeared, grabbing Anko's hand and injecting Chakra, instantly dispelling the genjutsu she was under.
"Minato-senpai!"
"Great, it's Minato! We're saved!"
Ryou stopped playing around, his expression turning serious: "Minato!"
After recovering, Anko looked at Minato holding her hand and asked in confusion, "Minato-senpai, what just happened to me?"
Hayate approached, looking a bit frail, and said, "Anko, you were just controlled by Ryou's Sharingan."
Anko clutched her head, feeling a bit of a breakdown: "Ah! I was controlled by him? Did I do anything irreversible?"
Hayate said angrily, "You kissed Yūgao! Dammit, that was Yūgao's first kiss!"
"You even tried to harass Kurenai. Luckily, Minato-senpai arrived early to help you break the genjutsu."
Anko looked at Yūgao. Yūgao couldn't face Anko, her face turning beet red.
Anko pushed Hayate away bossily: "Hayate, I'll take responsibility for Yūgao. Please stay away from her, or I might get the wrong idea."
"Anko—"