Minato looked at Ryou, who was standing atop the giant snake across from him.
A giant snake from Ryūchi Cave?
Minato had joined the battlefield mid-way and wasn't clear on the details of the Sannin's battle with Uchiha Madara.
Jiraiya had also been busy rushing back to Mount Myōboku for emergency treatment and hadn't explained things clearly to Minato.
At first, Minato had even thought that Ryou was the one who killed Jiraiya!
Minato didn't know how Ryou had obtained the giant snake from Ryūchi Cave beneath his feet, but since the snake had been summoned by Ryou, Orochimaru's fate surely wasn't good.
Minato frowned and questioned, "Ryou, what did you do to Orochimaru?"
Ryou looked at Minato with his Sharingan, spread his hands, and smiled. "It's quite obvious. Orochimaru escaped from my ancestor's hands, but I caught up to him and killed him."
"This Summoned Beast beneath my feet is just loot that dropped from Orochimaru!"
Minato instantly became enraged. "Damn it, you actually did that to Orochimaru—"
The Third Hokage suddenly appeared, placing a hand on Minato's shoulder. "Minato, do not look directly into his Sharingan."
"I—"
Minato quickly averted his gaze from Ryou's Sharingan.
The basic function of the Sharingan is to release genjutsu through the eyes, interfering with the opponent's spirit and judgment. At best, it causes a brief lapse in concentration; at worst, it traps them in an illusion.
The more tomoe the eye has, the more Chakra it consumes when activated, but the more powerful the genjutsu released.
For Chunin and those below that rank, a single glance from Ryou's Sharingan could leave them 'pregnant' with illusions.
If he weren't just getting used to the three tomoe Sharingan, Ryou could even control Jonin.
Even a Kage-level powerhouse like Minato had just been influenced by Ryou's Sharingan, becoming incredibly angry.
After Minato regained his composure, he looked at Ryou out of the corner of his eye and sighed. "I never thought the day would come when Konoha Ninjas would face off against the Sharingan!"
Following the Third Hokage, a large group of Konoha Jonin gathered behind the Third Hokage and Minato, all seeing Ryou's three tomoe Sharingan.
The clan Ninjas looked away immediately, while the civilian Ninjas stared directly at him without reservation.
"That's Uchiha Ryou? How did he become so young?"
"Haven't you heard? Ryou researched a forbidden jutsu of Immortality. This might be the effect of his forbidden jutsu!"
"Immortality!!"
The pupils of many Ninjas flared with a burning light, especially the middle-aged Ninjas whose stats had significantly declined with age.
The Third Hokage was about to turn and warn them, but some had already fallen under Ryou's genjutsu.
"Hokage-sama, I don't think Ryou's crimes warrant this."
"Yeah, he just killed a few villagers and researched a few forbidden jutsu. It's really not necessary to label him a rogue ninja."
"Exactly! Ryou was born with a unique appearance, double pupils in his eyes—this is the potential of a Hokage!"
"Please, Hokage-sama, rescind the order and step down to let a more worthy person take over."
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Among the Ninjas behind the Third Hokage, five or six civilian Chunin had already fallen for the trick.
Even Inuzuka Tsume's Ninja dog, Kuromaru, accidentally met Ryou's eyes and began to turn against them.
These people were clearly those who didn't take the Uchiha seriously in their daily lives.
They thought the Uchiha were just a bunch of ill-tempered urban managers; they hadn't experienced the Uchiha's 'six strikes in one second,' nor had they seen the power of the Sharingan.
Naturally, they weren't aware of the universally recognized rule in the Ninja World—never look into the eyes of an enemy with a Sharingan.
Even Asuma started to turn, shouting at the Third Hokage, "You old geezer, why are you driving away such a powerful Ninja like Uchiha Ryou?"
"Tell me, are you just jealous of his talent?"
The Third Hokage adjusted his forehead protector, feeling somewhat humiliated.
If these civilian Ninjas were acting out of ignorance, then Asuma was acting purely out of arrogance.
He thought Ryou was, at most, just a slightly special Jonin.
"Hiashi! Hizashi!"
"Yes!"
The Third Hokage asked the Hyuga brothers to help release the genjutsu.
Hyuga Hiashi and Hyuga Hizashi used Gentle Fist to strike the pressure points of the Ninjas who had fallen under the Sharingan's genjutsu one by one.
There are two ways to break a genjutsu: one is external force, meaning interference from a teammate's Chakra or a physical strike.
The other is one's own genjutsu resistance, like Sage Kabuto using snake corneas to resist genjutsu.
Generally speaking, people with high intelligence have higher genjutsu resistance, and those with great genjutsu mastery also possess high resistance.
Some experts can even reflect the genjutsu back.
Kuromaru was about to turn and bite Inuzuka Tsume's foot, but Tsume grabbed its head and delivered a heavy punch, instantly clearing Kuromaru's gaze.
"Woof! What did I just do?"
Inuzuka Tsume tugged on Kuromaru's ear and said fiercely, "You idiot Kuromaru, falling for someone's genjutsu so easily, you're really embarrassing me."
"When we get back, you're facing the wall for three days, and your dog food is cut in half!"
"Woof—noooo—"
Another anomaly occurred in the field: Asuma held a Kunai to his own throat, looking as if he were about to commit suicide.
"Old geezer, your beloved students and your friends—which one of them isn't more evil than Ryou? Just admit it, you're just targeting the Uchiha."
His companions were all dumbfounded.
Especially Anko, who had just wanted to rush over and fight Ryou to the death.
Now, seeing these Ninjas, including Asuma, in such a pathetic state after looking at the Sharingan, she had woken up.
Ryou was no longer the weak Chunin of the past.
"Hokage-sama!"
Hiashi looked at the Third Hokage, finding the situation difficult.
The Third Hokage waved his hand for Hiashi to step back, then instantly used Body Flicker to reach Asuma's side, knocking him unconscious with a blow from his pipe to the head.
With this, the chaos caused by Ryou's Sharingan was completely cleared. No one dared to look directly at the Sharingan anymore, let alone underestimate the Uchiha.
Everyone scanned Ryou on the other side of the canyon with their peripheral vision, finally realizing the true terror of the Sharingan.
To be controlled by a silent genjutsu just by making eye contact, isn't that too sinister?
No wonder the Uchiha Clan could stand toe-to-toe with the Senju Clan during the Warring States Period. It turns out their Kekkei Genkai was this powerful.
The Jonin of the Kurama Clan looked somewhat gloomy. The Kurama Clan was also a genjutsu-based Ninja Clan, and their control over the five senses far surpassed the Uchiha's three tomoe Sharingan.
However, the awakening of the Kurama Clan's Kekkei Genkai was even more demanding than the Sharingan.
For so many years, not a single person had awakened it. The Kurama Clan only had a few 'big fish' left to hold up their reputation, and they were on the verge of being kicked out of the ranks of the Ninja Clans.
The Kurama Jonin was anxious!
The Uchiha's talent for genjutsu was truly enviable.
"Ryou—"
The Third Hokage looked directly at Ryou, meeting his Sharingan head-on.
Looking at Ryou's young face, the Third Hokage seemed to return to the Ninja Academy period.
When he was selecting disciples as a Jonin instructor, Ryou had stared straight at him.
Pick me! Pick me!
Unfortunately, the Third Hokage saw Ryou's hidden ambition, and because of his negative impression of the Uchiha, he didn't choose Ryou.
In the blink of an eye, over twenty years had passed.
Not many of those children from back then were left.
You still dare to look into my eyes?!
Seeing this, Ryou glared intensely at the Third Hokage, pouring Chakra into his eyes as if it were free.
But the Third Hokage across from him showed no signs of being controlled by the Sharingan.