The Third Hokage shouted, "Everyone scatter! Don't bunch up in one spot!"
All the Konoha Ninjas scattered in every direction.
The Third Hokage formed hand seals and cast a Ninjutsu: "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Walls of earth condensed and rose up, blocking Ryou's Demon Lanterns.
The other Ninjas weren't just watching either; they cast their Ninjutsu one after another to resist the Demon Lanterns.
"Human Bullet Tank!"
"Insect Wall Technique!"
"Kuromaru!"
"Woof!"
"Fang Over Fang!"
Through the coordination of the Konoha Ninjas, they successfully exhausted Ryou's ultimate technique.
The Third Hokage flickered rapidly, pressing a Kunai against Ryou's neck.
"Ryou, it's over."
At this moment, Ryou didn't even have the strength to stand firm, let alone prepare any defense against the Third Hokage.
To the Third Hokage's confusion, Ryou didn't show the panic of being captured; he remained as calm as ever.
Ryou even had the leisure to chat about the past with the Third Hokage: "Third Hokage, if we went back to that day at the Ninja Academy, would you have chosen me to be your subordinate?"
Ryou had one regret, which was that he hadn't been taken in as a disciple by the Third Hokage when he graduated from the Ninja Academy.
Back then, except for his practical combat skills which held him back, Ryou's performance at the Ninja Academy was that of a top student; he had also fantasized about receiving guidance from the Third Hokage.
Most importantly, Ryou knew better than anyone that Hiruzen, who was only a Jonin at the time, would later become the Third Hokage of Konoha.
Ryou wanted to invest early; firstly, to change the political status of the Uchiha, and secondly, to get closer to Tsunade.
But the Third Hokage hadn't chosen him, and after that, Ryou was left to be manipulated at will by the higher-ups.
Hearing Ryou's words, the Third Hokage felt some emotion; Ryou still cared deeply about this.
If he had taken Ryou as a disciple and educated him properly back then, Ryou wouldn't have turned into what he was today.
With his natural talent, if the hereditary disease were resolved, his talent would be on par with Jiraiya and the others, and with the Sharingan, it would be even higher.
But the Third Hokage knew his teacher well, as well as the Senju Clan's resistance toward the Uchiha; taking Uchiha Kagami into the Shadow Guard had already been the greatest concession.
Those of the Senju lineage had always remained wary of the Ninjas of the Uchiha Clan.
"I'm sorry, Ryou!"
The Third Hokage responded with some guilt.
Ryou laughed loudly, then sneered, "Monkey, our grievances are settled. The next time we meet, it will be a fight to the death."
The Third Hokage found it strange; could Ryou actually escape from his hands?
"Ryou, stop playing tricks. Hand over the intelligence on Uchiha Madara and face your judgment properly."
"Judgment?? No one in this world can judge me. To hell with the Heavens—"
"Explode!"
All of Ryou's remaining Chakra transformed into Fire-attribute explosive Chakra. With a boom, he resolutely blew himself up.
The Third Hokage rushed out from the explosion, his gaze complicated.
"Ryou, you fellow, would you rather blow yourself up than accept Konoha's judgment?"
Minato and some Jonin walked to the Third Hokage's side, looking at the traces left by Ryou's self-destruction.
From beginning to end, the Third Hokage did not believe that Ryou was just a clone.
He didn't think a clone of Ryou could last so long and possess so much Chakra.
The lead on Ryou was now broken, and Minato had no way to know Obito's whereabouts.
He was somewhat disappointed, but he pulled himself together and looked at the Third Hokage.
"Hokage-sama, what should we do now?"
The Third Hokage looked toward the Land of Grass. Madara was within the borders of the Land of Grass; how could the Third Hokage leave him be?
But the Sannin had been completely defeated; could ordinary Ninjas even deal with him?
When Sage Fukusaku left, he specifically warned that Madara must not be faced alone; such a person required the combined strength of the entire Ninja World to be eliminated.
The Third Hokage made the following arrangements: leave a portion of sensory-type Ninjas in the Land of Grass to monitor Madara's movements, and the rest were to retreat to Konoha.
The Third Hokage prepared to convene the Five Kage Summit to form the Shinobi Alliance to crusade against Madara...
"Madara-sama, Konoha's Ninja army has left!"
Land of Grass, Kusagakure, the location of the Gedo Statue.
Madara's underground base had previously been destroyed by Orochimaru's snakes, and Madara had abandoned that base.
Now that Madara had regained his youth, he no longer needed to hide.
He directly took the Gedo Statue and occupied Kusagakure.
By the time he arrived, the Ninjas of Kusagakure had already fled completely, so Madara settled down in Kusagakure.
At this moment, White Zetsu was reporting the situation in Konoha to Madara, and incidentally told Madara about some of Ryou's actions.
The giant snake of Ryūchi Cave, the Fourth Great Ninja War... Madara sneered, "Orochimaru, quite the Orochimaru. I didn't expect that a punch from the Wood Golem wouldn't kill him; he truly is a snake with a tough life."
As evening approached, Ryou followed the connection with his clone and found Kusagakure.
When he arrived, the Spore Clone had already transmitted the memories of his confrontation with Konoha; the people of Konoha thought he was dead.
In reality, he wasn't dead yet.
Ryou jogged toward the Gedo Statue's location. Outside, he struck with heavy punches, but at home, he had to be timid and submissive.
"Ancestor, your grandson has already dealt with that Orochimaru. I didn't expect his life to be so tough; he actually survived being hit by Ancestor's forbidden jutsu."
Ryou used his peripheral vision to observe Madara's condition and saw that the tubes of the Gedo Statue were plugged into Madara's back again, and part of the skin on his body was still black.
It seemed Orochimaru's poisonous cursed seal was quite potent; even Madara hadn't recovered yet.
"Ancestor, I see you're about to kick the bucket. Let's hurry up and divide the family property!"
"Give Obito a few White Zetsu to be his girlfriends! The rest will belong to me."
"Damn brat!"
Madara roared and sent Ryou flying with a slap.
Madara was so angry he began to cough; seeing this, Black Zetsu quickly stepped forward to pat Madara's back.
"Madara-sama, please calm your anger. Don't let yourself be provoked by such a heartless fellow."
Black Zetsu was a truly filial son and looked down most on disloyal and unfilial people like Ryou, who were just like those two heartless fellows, Hamura and Hagoromo.
After Ryou's antics, Madara didn't bring up the matter of Ryou signing a contract with Ryūchi Cave.
At the level of Madara and Hashirama, Summoned Beasts could no longer keep up with their battles, unless it was a Tailed Beast like the Nine-Tails.
Madara didn't think much of the giant snakes of Ryūchi Cave at all.
However, the White Snake Sage was indeed someone to be wary of.
Madara had been afflicted by the White Snake Sage's Sage Snake Poison and had to rely on the Gedo Statue to detoxify. He probably wouldn't be able to go to the Land of Rain to retrieve his eyes for the next few days.
He planned to arrange for Ryou to go, but before that, he had to handle some matters.
"Where is Obito? Bring Obito up."
Ryou's orange cat, Fish Ball, signaled Tobi to bring Obito up.
After waking up, Obito remained stubborn.
"Let me go! Let me go!"
Upon seeing Madara, Obito immediately cursed, "Uchiha Madara, your ambition to rule the Ninja World cannot be realized! My teacher will definitely take care of you!"