Tsunade and Konan caught up, looking at the surrounding buildings that had been destroyed and left in a mess.
Fortunately, the place Ryou chose for his secluded meditation was on the top floor of the office building; otherwise, the entire building would have collapsed from the impact.
Konan was a bit worried: "Ryou, will he be beaten to death?"
Tsunade was also very worried. That guy Ryou would take an inch and want a mile; give him a little color and he'd open a dye shop.
Who exactly was Madara?
He was a great enemy that even her grandfather had to face with full alertness, the ultimate demon king who made her second grandfather instantly enter battle mode just by mentioning him.
How could the current Ryou possibly deal with him?
Candy hopped over and comforted them, "Don't worry, Madara won't kill Ryou. He still needs Ryou to capture the Tailed Beasts for him."
The few of them felt relieved.
Candy looked back and saw Fish Ball and Fortune fighting tooth and nail over the family property, and she roared in anger, "What are you doing? Hurry up and set up the shrine and the wedding room!"
"If you're one step late, I'll punish you all by making you clean the toilets."
Fish Ball and Fortune immediately stopped their bickering.
Fortune went to decorate the shrine for the wedding venue, while Fish Ball led the Ninja Cat toward Tsunade to capture her and dress her up.
Tsunade retreated forcefully: "Stop it! I am a Konoha Ninja, the granddaughter of the First Hokage, and the princess of the Senju Clan."
"It's impossible for me to marry an evil Uchiha."
Fish Ball stroked his cat paws and laughed wickedly, "The princess of the Senju Clan is exactly what we want! My Uchiha Clan wants to humiliate the people of the Senju Clan ruthlessly."
"Just thinking about our thousand-year rivals having to watch their princess marry into our Uchiha Clan while panting in frustration makes me tremble with joy!"
"Fish Ball, don't do this!"
Konan stepped forward to protect Tsunade.
Candy shouted at Konan, "Konan, stop it. This is Madara's order. If you don't want to die, don't get involved."
Konan stood by the justice in her heart: "Teacher Tsunade doesn't agree. This kind of thing shouldn't be forced."
"You're rebelling!"
Candy barked an order to the Ninja Cat: "Tie Konan up too. We'll marry her off as well in a bit."
"Don't you dare hurt Konan!"
Nagato rushed forward to block them.
Nagato and Konan were both Jonin, even elite Jonin.
Candy and the other Ninja Cat totaled about thirty. That meant thirty Jonin. Dealing with Konan and Nagato should have been easy.
Despite that, before long, the Ninja Cat were howling and kneeling on the ground, begging for mercy.
Their rank was Jonin, but in essence, they were just kitties. The fact that they could speak was already quite impressive.
Fish Ball hissed at Konan and Nagato: "You two wait! Don't move from here; I'm going to call for reinforcements right now!"
The people Fish Ball wanted to call were the Ninjas from Kusagakure and Amegakure, as well as Hanzo's Summoned Beast, Ibuse.
Candy took out the Gunbai and snorted coldly at Nagato and Konan: "Nagato, Konan, do you really think Madara's orders are a joke?"
"As long as he wishes, he can slaughter the Hidden Rain Village at any time."
"It seems Madara's disregard and my master's high regard for you have made you forget yourselves. You've failed to see that you're just a group of prisoners."
...
Madara pressed Ryou's head and charged for over a dozen miles, slamming him directly into the massive lake created by the Golden Wheel Rebirth Explosion.
The people of the Land of Rain had even given this lake a name—Magatsu Lake.
'Magatsu' refers to the legendary deity Magatsuhi-no-Kami. He is the god who governs calamities, punishes evil deeds with disasters, and achieves judgment over sins through 'bringing misfortune'.
Simply put, he's just someone who plays at being a judge.
The people of the Land of Rain believed they must have done something against the gods to make Magatsuhi-no-Kami furious, causing him to send down divine punishment and blast out this crater.
Some superstitious people refused rescue from the Akatsuki. They believed this was a punishment from the gods, and since it was divine punishment—they should just endure it!
Ryou was slammed into Magatsu Lake by Madara.
Madara then stopped on the surface of Magatsu Lake, keeping an eye on the situation below while observing the sky with his Rinnegan.
Madara had been wary of the gods in the sky, while also testing whether the gods were specifically targeting him.
He wanted to use this opportunity of teaching Ryou a lesson to erupt the power of the Rinnegan and verify if the gods were specifically targeting him.
If they were indeed targeting him, then Madara would have to start adjusting his plans.
First, he would slaughter these meddling gods, and then proceed with the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Or secretly capture the Nine Tailed Beasts to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, gaining power comparable to a god.
In any case, Madara would absolutely not allow any gods to interfere with his Eye of the Moon Plan.
Even if the Sage of Six Paths came, it wouldn't work—so said Madara.
Ryou showed no movement below for a long time, and Madara grew a bit impatient.
"Brat, are you dead yet? If you're dead, make a sound!"
"Madara-chan, don't be in a hurry. It'll be ready soon."
Ryou's voice drifted up from beneath Magatsu Lake, sounding somewhat exasperated: "That Water Dragon Bullet Technique developed by that guy actually has 44 hand signs."
What Ryou was performing under Magatsu Lake was the Water Dragon Bullet Technique; it was impossible to use Fire Release Ninjutsu in such an aquatic environment.
Where did Ryou's Water Release Ninjutsu come from?
Naturally, he had scavenged them from Hanzo's home.
Besides poison and swordsmanship, what Hanzo was best at was Water Release.
Most of the Hidden Rain's techniques were Water Release. Because it rained all year round in the Land of Rain, Water Release Ninjutsu consumed less Chakra than other elements.
Ryou's current Water Release Ninjutsu included Water Body Flicker, Water Dragon Bullet, Water Clone, Water Trumpet, and Great Waterfall Technique.
Ryou didn't just loot Hanzo's body; he went straight to his warehouse to haul things away.
Besides Water Release, Ryou also learned the Rain Tiger at Will Technique, a Ninjutsu that senses things by infusing Chakra into the rain.
In the original work, Nagato used this technique to monitor the entire Hidden Rain Village around the clock, effectively preventing infiltration by external forces.
This wasn't a technique within the scope of the Rinnegan; it was likely something Nagato had looted from Hanzo's home.
Ryou felt he had been fair enough to Hanzo.
Ryou had only put Hanzo's family members in jail, providing them with good food and drink, and he hadn't publicized Hanzo as some big villain; Hanzo was still the 'sun' in the eyes of the Hidden Rain villagers.
He was 'killed' by a conspiracy of the Land of Fire's imperialism.
As for Ryou raiding his home, that was 'protecting the Village's property'.
What? You're asking why Hanzo's family members were locked up in jail?
"How dare you, insolent peasant! Which eye saw me capture them? These are no longer ordinary villagers; we must strike with a heavy fist."
Back to the topic.
Ninjutsu requires hand signs, which are used to perform nature transformation and shape transformation of Chakra.
Practicing hand signs is also practicing Ninjutsu.
The Water Dragon Bullet Technique is the technique that requires the most hand signs.
However, Ninjas specializing in Water Release can simplify the signs. For example, Tobirama simplified the Water Dragon Bullet to just four signs.
Maruboshi Kosuke, who was taught Water Release Ninjutsu by Tobirama, only needs six signs to perform the Water Dragon Bullet.
A Mizukage like Mei Terumī can also simplify the signs for the Water Dragon Bullet.
Hand signs are only an aid to performing Ninjutsu, not an absolute requirement.
Experts play around with sign simplification in all sorts of fancy ways.
There are those who perform one-handed signs, like Haku, Itachi, and Minato.
Some use their feet to perform signs, like Jiraiya.
And some use other people's hands to perform signs, like Obito.
The most ridiculous are those cheaters who just clap their hands and get whatever they call for.
In the later stages of Naruto, those whose Ninjutsu still required hand signs were too embarrassed to even step onto the battlefield.
Only Kisame was an honest man, performing hand signs with total seriousness.