The members of the Akatsuki and Amegakure gathered around Uchiha Ryou, listening to his words.
Nagato and Konan hid far away and closed their eyes, knowing that Ryou was about to start brainwashing people again.
Ryou unconsciously activated his Sharingan, and several generic-looking Ninjas appeared around the Akatsuki and Amegakure members.
Ryou first framed the conflict between Amegakure and the Akatsuki as a misunderstanding.
"The people of Konoha were afraid that our the Akatsuki and Amegakure would unite to challenge the status of the Five Great Nations, so they drove a wedge between us."
"Lord Hanzo believed the rumors spread by that villain Danzo, thinking that we, the Akatsuki, would seize his leadership in the Land of Rain."
"In truth, our the Akatsuki is an organization dedicated to peace in the Ninja World; we never intended to take power from Lord Hanzo."
"This was all a misunderstanding, all a conspiracy by Konoha."
The members of the Akatsuki and Amegakure looked at the corpses littering the ground, feeling a bit confused. How could it be a 'misunderstanding' when things had turned into such a bloodbath?
Amegakure's Anbu had mostly been taken out by Nagato's Phantom Dragon, while the Akatsuki had been slaughtered by the combined forces of Amegakure and Root.
Ryou made eye contact with those who had brains and were skeptical; instantly, their critical thinking vanished.
Several generic-looking people who had joined the crowd out of nowhere immediately echoed Ryou's words.
"Exactly! Ryou-sama is right! We were all deceived; this is a conspiracy by the Great Nations."
"Konoha is too wicked, and Danzo is even worse, making us fight amongst ourselves!"
"That's right, the Rinnegan was originally bestowed upon our Land of Rain by the Sage of Six Paths. The Akatsuki was going to lead our Land of Rain to become a Great Nation."
"But because of the evil Konoha, our dream of becoming a Great Nation has been completely shattered."
As the Amegakure and the Akatsuki members analyzed it, it actually seemed to make some sense.
If Lord Hanzo had known from the start that the Akatsuki had the Rinnegan, he wouldn't have called them here to kill them.
Perhaps if the Akatsuki had integrated into Amegakure, the Land of Rain could have become a Great Nation with the power of the Rinnegan.
It was all those despicable Konoha Ninjas who stopped our Land of Rain's dream! These wretched outsiders are truly too wicked.
One of the generic faces shouted: "The most important thing for us now is unity! Only by uniting can we avoid being used by the Great Nations!"
"Yes, we must unite!"
"Lord Hanzo is dead. We now need a wise leader to command us and lead our Amegakure to its peak!"
"Indeed, this country has been weeping for too long. It desperately needs a great leader."
"Then, who can lead our Amegakure and the Akatsuki to rise?"
"I choose Ryou-sama! He is the one everyone wants!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the people of Amegakure and the Akatsuki all looked at Ryou.
Ryou quickly refused: "No, no, I am just a rogue ninja from Konoha. I don't have the virtue to lead you."
The generic faces immediately knelt: "Ryou-sama, you saved us! You are a Sainthood of Medical Ninjutsu! Only you are the hope of this country."
"You are the true leader of Amegakure!"
"You are the leader!"
The Akatsuki and Amegakure members all pleaded with Ryou to become their leader.
Previously, Hanzo had invited Ryou to join Amegakure, promising him the position of second-in-command.
Although Ryou hadn't agreed, in the eyes of Amegakure, he was qualified to be their second-in-command.
Now that Hanzo was dead and the elite of Amegakure were mostly gone, only Ryou was fit for the position of Amegakure's leader.
Ryou shook his head like a rattle: "No, no, I'm still just an outsider. I cannot become the leader of Amegakure!"
"Ryou-sama, stop being so humble! Right now, only you can give hope to this weeping country!"
"Only you can lead us out from under the control of the Great Nations!"
A few generic Amegakure faces stood up, having somehow obtained Hanzo's clothing and equipment.
"Ryou-sama, excuse our rudeness!"
Ryou quickly backed away: "What are you doing? You can't do this; this isn't according to the rules."
The generic Amegakure faces put Hanzo's gas mask on Ryou and draped Hanzo's deep blue waterproof trench coat over him.
Amegakure didn't have the title of 'Amekage,' otherwise Ryou's spore clones would have made an Amekage cloak for him.
In a moment, Ryou was dressed exactly like Hanzo.
The Amegakure and the Akatsuki members all knelt down together.
"Greetings, Leader!"
Ryou's voice came through the gas mask, sounding very troubled: "You guys... you're really making things hard for me!"
Madara suddenly appeared on the shoulder of the Gedo Statue, frowning as he looked down: "What... are you all doing?"
Ryou quickly tore off the Hanzo uniform and controlled the Amegakure and the Akatsuki members to kneel before Madara.
"Greetings, Lord Madara. Lord Hanzo is dead; we ask Lord Madara to take over Amegakure and assume the position of leader."
What kind of mess was this?
Madara didn't care about this nonsense and directly shocked Ryou with electricity, making him scream in pain.
Madara didn't even care about being the Hokage of Konoha, so why would he care about the leadership of such a small country?
He had already reclaimed the Rinnegan; it was time to say goodbye to the Ninja World!
...While the Akatsuki and Amegakure members cleaned up the battlefield, Madara met Nagato and Konan by the Gedo Statue.
He had Ryou introduce the Eye of the Moon Plan to Nagato and Konan.
Ryou explained it clearly to Nagato and Konan.
After hearing it, Nagato looked filled with yearning.
Yahiko had been driven to death by Danzo and Hanzo; Nagato no longer believed in the Akatsuki's original philosophy—mutual understanding and achieving peace through dialogue.
He now only wanted to make the world feel pain, using the nations' fear of war to achieve an end to conflict.
This was the speech Ryou had given in the Akatsuki before, and Nagato still remembered it clearly.
But the Rinnegan didn't belong to Nagato; it belonged to Madara.
Therefore, Nagato no longer had the ability to make the world feel pain, nor did he have the burden of changing the world.
As everyone knew, the Rinnegan was the eye of the Sage of Six Paths, the one who would bring change to the world.
Now that the Rinnegan belonged to Madara, it proved that the child of prophecy was not Nagato, but Madara.
He was the one who could bring change to the Ninja World. Nagato could now only believe in Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan and follow him to create a world without conflict.
Konan, however, remained silent. A world where everyone lived in a genjutsu?
Is a false peace still peace?
Illusions are illusions after all; they can never replace reality.
She wanted to say something, but Ryou held up a finger and looked at her coldly.
Konan's face flushed, and she stopped talking.
Nagato watched with confusion, not quite understanding what was happening.
Having tricked two more young people into joining the 'park,' Madara was in a somewhat good mood. But suddenly, White Zetsu appeared by Madara's side, with Black Zetsu possessing White Zetsu's body.
"This is bad, Lord Madara. Obito broke free from your genjutsu and was rescued by Minato. Tobi has also been captured."
"Oh!"
Madara nodded, unperturbed.
Now that he had the Rinnegan, he was the strongest person below the Six Paths. To Madara, a situation like the Ninja World was just a fish pond, and he was the one using dynamite.
Ryou reminded him: "Ancestor, Obito knows about the Eye of the Moon Plan. If he reveals it..."
"...then we will become the public enemies of the entire Ninja World."
The Eye of the Moon Plan involved putting everyone into a peaceful world of genjutsu.
The ruling classes of the various nations would never agree to that. When the time came, Madara would become the ultimate enemy of the entire Ninja World.
Madara showed no fear; instead, he revealed a smile of slight interest: "Being the enemy of the whole world... my blood is starting to boil a little."
"I hope an opponent appears who can make my blood pump, so this game isn't so boring."
Konan and Nagato glanced at each other, suddenly feeling that Madara wasn't that keen on peace; in his heart, he craved a hearty battle more.
Black Zetsu's mood was quite poor. Had Madara disregarded the entire Ninja World a bit too much?
Although he was invincible with the Rinnegan, the Ninja World had countless Beyonders and various bizarre secret techniques that were hard to guard against, especially sealing techniques which were the greatest threat to Madara.
Even the Progenitor of Chakra, like Mother, had stumbled because of sealing techniques. With Madara's personality, he would get what was coming to him sooner or later.
But Black Zetsu couldn't remind him. It was currently playing the role of Madara's will and could only be obedient.
Ryou nodded. Seeing Madara still maintaining this attitude of looking down on everyone in the world, he felt much more relieved.
Ignorance is not an obstacle to survival, but arrogance is.
At this stage, he would just play the role of the filial descendant. When Madara's momentum faded, he would jump out and snatch his Rinnegan.
To truly count as a man of mark, it still has to be me, Uchiha Ryou!