The Third Hokage pointed at Ryou's white cat clone and said, "Uchiha Ryou, I want to speak with Uchiha Madara."
The white cat yawned. "If you want to talk to him, go to Amegakure! Oh, and bring your wife along; Madara is quite interested in Biwako."
"..."
The Third Hokage didn't know what to say; Biwako was nearly sixty years old.
The Third Hokage suddenly flew into a rage and grabbed the white cat by the scruff of its neck. "Uchiha Ryou, I'm not joking with you. Find a way for me to speak with Uchiha Madara immediately."
"Otherwise... I'll throw you in the toilet!"
"Meow—"
The white cat was a bit frightened and nodded repeatedly. "Fine, fine, fine. First, undo the seal on me so I can connect with the main body's Chakra."
The Third Hokage looked at Kushina. Kushina nodded, took the white cat, and manipulated the seal to unlock its Chakra meridian system.
Immediately, far away in the Land of Rain, Candy monitored that the spore in Konoha had re-established its connection.
Hidden Rain Village.
Amidst the torrential cold rain, a sturdy steel building stood alone in the center of the Hidden Rain Village, its cold, hard metal exterior enveloped by a curtain of rain.
The muffled sound of raindrops crashing echoed through the cold, hard silhouette, surrounded by a heavy, frozen silence.
This was the residence of Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure.
"Search carefully! Search everywhere thoroughly!"
Fortune showed off his power like a great general, ordering the Ninja Cat of the Uchiha Clan to plunder the valuables in Hanzo's residence.
The Ninja Cat found many precious items.
Money, secret techniques, summoning scrolls, Ninja tools... Hanzo was, after all, the leader of Amegakure, the man hailed as Hanzo the Demigod. The foundations of his household were naturally incomparable to those of an ordinary Ninja.
Suddenly, the Ninja Cat found something extremely valuable.
"Fortune-sama, come look! A Salamander summoning scroll!"
"What?!"
In the tallest tower of Amegakure, Hanzo's former office and the village's mission distribution center.
Ryou was working in Hanzo's former office.
Konan and Nagato led the members of the Akatsuki back from disaster relief outside the village, looking travel-worn.
Konan and Nagato went to Ryou's office to apply for more funds to aid the disaster victims.
As they reached the office door, Konan grew alert as she heard some coarse sounds from inside.
Konan leaned closer to the door to listen; Ryou was "ascending to heaven."
"Comfortable, so comfortable. This is the life a deity should live."
"Keep going!"
Konan kicked the door open and shouted, "Uchiha Ryou, you damn perverted, lecherous Uchiha!"
But Konan suddenly froze.
Ryou was indeed surrounded by "beauties," but these beauties weren't humans; they were cats.
Russian Blues, Scottish Folds, Calicos, American Curls... they were of all colors: blue, white, black... they could practically form the Eight Colors of Konoha.
However, there were no traces of Chakra; they were all ordinary cats.
After the Uchiha Clan's Ninja Cat occupied Amegakure, they forcibly took common cats; these flirtatious cats were intended as tributes for Madara.
But Ryou had enjoyed them first; he was currently feeding the cats treats.
Ryou stopped playing with the cats and looked at Konan seriously with his arms crossed. "Konan, how many times have I told you? Use my official title when we're working."
"Please, try again. Call me General!"
"Pah!"
Konan spat and then approached him, staring intensely into Ryou's eyes. "Control those Ninja Cat of yours! They demand kickbacks just for us to enter your office building."
"If this continues, is there even a hint of the spirit of changing the Ninja World?"
Nagato chimed in, "I heard they're even selling village intelligence to outside spies. It's time to discipline them!"
Ryou nodded. "Hmm! It is indeed time to discipline those unruly fellows!"
Konan then said, "Allocate more funds to the Akatsuki for disaster relief. The scope of the damage in the Land of Rain is huge this time; even the Hidden Rain Village was affected by that attack from the sky."
The Akatsuki had not disbanded; on the contrary, they had recruited many pacifists under the guise of disaster relief.
Nagato had no opinions of his own, so Konan became the leader of the Akatsuki.
The Akatsuki had merged into Amegakure, and along with Kusagakure, they became the Anbu of Amegakure.
It's just that lately, they've only been doing disaster relief missions.
The Golden Wheel Rebirth Explosion had wiped out over a dozen villages and towns in one blast; those places didn't need saving.
But the shockwave from the Golden Wheel Rebirth Explosion covered almost the entire Land of Rain, causing countless losses and requiring vast amounts of money and supplies for relief.
Where would the money come from?
The Daimyo?!
Expecting those hedonistic fellows to cough up money is just wishful thinking!
Ryou glanced at Amegakure's total finances; the disaster situation in the Hidden Rain Village and the surrounding towns alone was already becoming unsustainable.
Ryou stood up and shouted to Fish Ball and Snowy next door, "Fish Ball, Snowy! Are the interrogations done? If the Daimyo of the Land of Rain still won't pay, just boil him."
The Daimyo of the Land of Rain's exasperated voice drifted over: "Uchiha Ryou, you Ninja scum!"
Every country has a Daimyo; even a small, poor country like the Land of Waves has a Daimyo, let alone the Land of Rain.
The relationship between Daimyos and Ninjas is interdependent; Daimyos and nobles are the Ninjas' financial backers.
For example, Ninjas are like a group of food delivery riders, while Daimyos, nobles, and the wealthy are the customers who can afford to place orders.
As for the common people, how could they afford to hire Ninjas? They can just go eat budget meals.
Ninjas rely on commercial orders from Daimyos and nobles to survive; otherwise, they'd have nothing to eat.
Now, Ryou kidnapping the Daimyo to extort funds was like a delivery rider kidnapping his most important customer.
This wasn't being a Ninja anymore; it was being a terrorist.
Even rogue ninjas weren't that arrogant.
Yes, even rogue ninjas have professional standards.
Someone like Kakuzu, even as a rogue ninja, still follows the rules of the black market, taking orders to kill people in exchange for commissions.
The same went for the Akatsuki; they obtained operational funds within the rules of the Ninja World, by provoking conflicts between small nations and accepting war commissions from countries to get money.
They clearly could have just robbed people!
Ryou just robbed them directly because robbery was the fastest way to get money.
Wearing a Ninja headband while ruining the reputation of Ninjas, he was a terrorist disguised as a Ninja.
Ryou went aggressively to the interrogation room where Fish Ball and Snowy were questioning the Daimyo of the Land of Rain.
Konan and Nagato looked at each other, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
Because Ryou's actions were truly too unorthodox.
In the minds of commoners like them, the Daimyo was a descendant of the gods; they were the subjects, and the Daimyo was the sovereign.
If the sovereign wants the subject dead, the subject has no choice but to die.
Even a Demigod like Hanzo had to be extremely respectful in front of the Daimyo of the Land of Rain.
Ryou didn't have a shred of respect for the Daimyo in his bones.
This was also why the sun was never seen in the Hidden Rain Village, because the sun the villagers believed in was currently being tortured.
They arrived at the interrogation room.
The Daimyo of the Land of Rain's face was somewhat pale, looking like the result of excessive indulgence.
After being dealt with by Snowy and Fish Ball, his face became even paler.
Ryou walked up to him and wiped the mark on his headband.
Hey! Now he was a Konoha Ninja!