"I am now threatening you in the name of a Konoha Ninja from the Land of Fire. If you don't hand over all your money, I'll kill your whole family!"
The Daimyo of the Land of Rain said stubbornly, "Uchiha Ryou, by attacking the Feudal Lords, you have become an enemy of the entire Ninja World."
"If you're smart, release me quickly and hand over the Immortality Technique while you're at it."
The Daimyo of the Land of Rain became greedier as he spoke.
"Uchiha Ryou, if you want money, I can give it to you. But as long as you give me immortality, I can give you as much money as you want."
The Daimyo of the Land of Rain was nearly fifty, but with his look of excessive indulgence, he probably didn't have many days left to live.
Regarding Ryou's Immortality Technique, people like the Daimyo of the Land of Rain—powerful, wealthy, and whose lives were beginning to decline—were the greediest.
Snowy roared, "Why waste words with him? Just kill him. Ryou, you become the Daimyo. If anyone refuses to obey, kill them."
Snowy was right.
Ryou snatched the frozen fish from Fish Ball's hand, intending to teach the Daimyo of the Land of Rain a lesson, when Tsunade suddenly burst in and grabbed Ryou's ear.
"You brat, what were you doing during politics class when you were a kid?"
Tsunade dragged Ryou aside to lecture him.
"You are the leader of Amegakure now. You call yourself General Ryou, which means you are the Daimyo's general. Isn't kidnapping the Daimyo for robbery the behavior of a local thug?"
"Do you know why the villagers of Amegakure are so desperate to flee this Village? It's because you, the leader, haven't been recognized by the Daimyo."
"If even the Daimyo can be kidnapped, can the ordinary villagers feel at peace?"
Ryou silently took Tsunade's lecture. She was right. He believed that the Daimyo and nobles were parasites of the country who could be removed at any time.
After all, he had 'beaten the local tyrants' in his previous life.
However, the prototype of the Ninja World was based on Toyo, where conservative forces were mainstream, and the people here still had deep-seated class concepts.
For instance, if Ryou wanted to 'beat the local tyrants and redistribute the land,' everyone would be scared away the moment he mentioned it.
This place had never seen the concept of a bottom-up revolution.
Ryou was a common man and never thought about saving others.
"Tsunade, it's better if you become the leader of Amegakure. Tell me, what should I do?"
Not long after.
The Daimyo of the Land of Rain looked about twenty years younger. With a refreshed expression, he shook hands with Ryou in front of many Amegakure villagers.
It was a scene of 'I'm good, you're good, everyone's good,' suggesting a promising future for the Land of Rain.
Immediately, the atmosphere of terror in Amegakure began to dissipate, and the villagers tentatively started to step out of their homes.
This was Tsunade's approach: have Ryou use a Forbidden Jutsu to help the Daimyo of the Land of Rain regain his youth, but not all at once—give him vitality slowly.
Control the Daimyo of the Land of Rain by using the temptation of immortality.
If they killed the Daimyo of the Land of Rain, the Feudal Lords would just appoint another one. The common people of the Land of Rain only recognized the Feudal Lords.
It was better to control the Daimyo.
Furthermore, money alone wasn't enough. Money is used to buy resources, but who held the resources?
They were in the hands of the Daimyo and the nobles.
If you offended all the Daimyos and nobles, who would sell you grain?
The Daimyo and nobles could only be coaxed, not offended.
Ryou had Snowy escort the Daimyo of the Land of Rain back to the Feudal Lords. He instructed Snowy to keep an eye on the mansion and have them transport money and supplies to Amegakure as soon as possible.
As the Daimyo of the Land of Rain left, he waved to Ryou repeatedly, appearing very reluctant to go.
Although there were some misunderstandings in the middle, both sides got what they wanted.
For a worldly man like the Daimyo, no amount of money was useful if he died. The most painful thing was dying with unspent money.
Ryou's Immortality Technique was like a drug to him; once he was hooked, it was impossible to refuse.
After finishing the political work, Ryou handed over the affairs of Amegakure to Tsunade, while he stood behind her massaging her shoulders.
"Tsunade, you're the best. You really have the bearing of a Hokage!"
Tsunade was a bit proud: "Of course I do!"
Tsunade then froze for a moment. What was she doing?
She was the granddaughter of the First Hokage, the Princess Tsunade of Konoha. She was naturally opposed to a major villain like Madara.
Yet, her actions were deviating from Konoha's Will of Fire.
She had taught her Monster Strength to Ryou and had even become the leader of Amegakure.
Was she still a prisoner?
Tsunade looked at the documents on the desk again. Not a single one was related to the Eye of the Moon Plan, nor were there any about military reorganization or developing the arms industry.
They were all disaster relief documents.
Perhaps this was the reason Tsunade sat here!
Did the faction really matter?
Yes, it mattered a lot. If the path was wrong, no matter how much you did, you were just aiding the enemy.
But her heart did not reject this kind of life.
In Konoha, Tsunade couldn't even reform a single Konoha Hospital, but in Amegakure, Ryou did whatever she said!
Maybe, following this guy, there was nothing to fear!
Tsunade turned to look for Ryou, but he wasn't behind her. She looked left and right and found that Ryou was already crouching under her desk.
"What are you looking at? Is there anything worth seeing? Let's not get in each other's way, okay?"
"Uchiha Ryou, you bastard—"
Tsunade wanted to punch Ryou, but vines spread from her body, binding her movements.
Tsunade suddenly became like a powerless wife.
The living room of the Hanzo Building.
Kiyomi and Fried Rice teamed up to make a table of delicacies, calling Ryou, Tsunade, Konan, and Nagato to eat together.
Kiyomi looked at the sulking Tsunade with some confusion. Whatever dish Ryou reached for, she would snatch it away, leaving Ryou without a single bite.
It seemed Ryou had made Tsunade angry again.
Everyone ignored it; it was a common sight by now.
Nagato liked grilled fish.
But Fish Ball put all the grilled fish on the table in front of itself, as if intending to hog them all.
Kiyomi picked up a grilled fish from in front of Fish Ball and gave it to Nagato: "Here, Nagato, I made this specifically for you."
Nagato looked at Kiyomi, who was caring for him, and felt a warmth in his heart. It was the first time he had felt the care of a relative.
This wasn't the kind of relative like Konan or Yahiko, but a relative related by blood.
They shared the same blood and the same hair.
Nagato smiled at Kiyomi: "Thank you, big sister!"
"Meow—"
Fish Ball wanted to hiss because its grilled fish was taken, but Ryou grabbed it and tossed it aside.
He picked up a piece of tempura, and Tsunade immediately tried to snatch it. Ryou moved quickly and didn't let Tsunade take it this time.
Tsunade hissed: "Dammit!"
But Ryou didn't eat it; instead, he placed it in Tsunade's bowl.
Tsunade was stunned.
Ryou smiled at her: "I'm full anyway!"
Tsunade was furious. She reached out and grabbed the soft flesh on Ryou's ribs, giving it a hard pinch.
Ryou immediately winced in pain.
Konan was a bit confused and asked Ryou with concern: "What's wrong?"
Tsunade quickly withdrew her hand.
Ryou shook his head: "Nothing, I was just bitten by a dog."
Tsunade was about to strike again, but this time Ryou caught her hand, not letting her take advantage of him anymore.
Kiyomi asked Konan: "Konan, how is the disaster relief going?"
Konan said: "The towns around Amegakure are mostly fine. We're just waiting for the Feudal Lords to transport the supplies."
Konan added, feeling somewhat lucky: "It's also fortunate that the Divine Punishment hit the wilderness; otherwise, the entire Land of Rain would have been affected."
Ryou fell silent for a moment. He didn't know what to feel about the Sword of Damocles in the sky.
On one hand, that thing could cleanse the Ninja World at any time. It was no longer just wariness, but fear.
On the other hand, Ryou also had to thank the Ōtsutsuki Clan on the moon.
If it weren't for Madara's wariness of them, Madara would have personally initiated the Eye of the Moon Plan and captured the Nine Tailed Beasts by now.
With the Rinnegan, which Village could stop Madara?
Even if Hashirama and Tobirama were both resurrected, they wouldn't be able to stop Madara.
Madara would probably have cleared the world in two or three days.
When the Infinite Tsukuyomi was activated, everyone would be forced into a daydream.
How the hell could Ryou have time to develop then?
It was precisely because of Madara's wariness of the extraterrestrial powers that Ryou was given time to grow.
Madara gave Ryou the Hashirama cells to increase his strength so he could deal with those extraterrestrial powers.