Ryou stood atop the head of the Thousand-Armed Kannon, looking down at the world below, his heart filled with heroic ambition.
"Alone I uphold the sun and moon to guard the mountains and rivers, smiling as I watch the heroes struggle in vain. All the world's heroes bow their heads; in this world, only my song remains."
"Hahaha..."
Ryou couldn't stop laughing. Standing atop the head of this Thousand-Armed Kannon, which felt like a divine Senjutsu, who wouldn't laugh?
"Ryou—"
Suddenly, a loud shout from behind interrupted Ryou's triumphant moment.
Ryou turned his head and saw it was Jiraiya.
At this moment, Jiraiya had returned to the complete form of Sage Mode, with Fukasaku and Shima both standing on his shoulders.
Ryou turned around, crossing his arms and looking down arrogantly at Jiraiya: "Jiraiya, do you have a death wish? Didn't I already let you all off once?"
Jiraiya shouted loudly: "Hand over the Seven-Tails, or don't even think about leaving today."
"How bold!"
A fierce expression appeared on Ryou's face: "I really gave you too much face, didn't I? Out of respect for our time as classmates, I've let you go time and again, yet you remain so persistent."
"Jiraiya, you really deserve to die!"
Ryou suddenly realized that Jiraiya was refusing the easy way out. In his previous life, Jiraiya's death had moved Ryou to tears.
But from an enemy's perspective, he truly felt that Jiraiya didn't know what was good for him.
In the original work, Nagato killing Jiraiya and Obito killing Minato were both acts of killing one's master, but the nature was different.
Obito's infiltration of Konoha was an active provocation—releasing the Nine-Tails, causing the death of Minato and his wife, and planting the seeds for the Uchiha clan's massacre...
Whereas Jiraiya went looking for death himself.
Is it legal to infiltrate someone else's hidden village?
Shinobi villages are highly centralized military bases. Loitering or taking photos outside is illegal.
Let alone infiltrating one?
Inside someone's military base, Jiraiya was gathering intelligence, attacking Amegakure Shinobi, and crucially, even visiting brothels.
That was going way too far.
Even if Nagato and Jiraiya shared a bond of master and student, it was perfectly reasonable for Nagato to kill him.
To a Shinobi, intelligence is life. Coming to scout my intelligence is an assault on my life.
Nagato was acting in passive defense.
Secondly, when Jiraiya infiltrated Amegakure, he was discovered by Nagato's Rain Tiger at Will Technique as soon as he was exposed to the rain. Later, he also learned from the mouths of the pawns that Pain could sense things through the rain.
Jiraiya already knew his infiltration had failed. At that point, he should have retreated, but he insisted on being greedy.
In the series of battles that followed, Jiraiya had many opportunities to escape.
For example, when three Pains appeared and Jiraiya hid in the underground pipes, Pain had already lost track of his location.
At that moment, he could have retreated with a single use of Earth Release.
The second time, when the Six Paths of Pain appeared together, Jiraiya was already far from being their match.
After summoning the Gourd Toad and using the barrier inside its stomach to defeat the Animal Path, Jiraiya could have completely released the Gourd Toad's summoning contract and returned to Mount Myōboku with it.
But he didn't. By then, Jiraiya had already gathered a lot of intelligence on Amegakure.
Hanzo was dead, the leader of the Akatsuki, Pain, had the Rinnegan, Pain was his own disciple Nagato, there were six of them, they shared vision, and each had different abilities...
This intelligence was enough. Even Fukasaku urged Jiraiya that it was time to drop the bag and leave.
But Jiraiya didn't, he was still being greedy.
With six people blocking the bridge, you still think you can retreat?
Jiraiya's eventual death was of his own making.
And now, Ryou had cleared the map and was ready to make a wealthy retreat, yet this smelly rat Jiraiya still wanted to snatch the Seven-Tails.
It was truly a lack of self-awareness.
Ryou formed hand signs: "Wood Release: Five Release Great Combo Jutsu!"
The five small buddha heads atop the Thousand-Armed Kannon opened their mouths, releasing high-level Ninjutsu attacks of five different chakra natures.
This was the five-element combination Ninjutsu used by Tobi in the original work.
The Thousand-Armed Kannon's stats were very high, but its mobility was lacking.
The Five Release Combo was developed to compensate for the Thousand-Armed Kannon's long-range attacks.
Shima said in surprise: "Five chakra natures! Little Ryou has become an all-around Shinobi just like Little Hiruzen!"
Fukasaku reminded her: "Mother, don't talk. We are attracting Little Ryou's attention to let Little Minato bring Little Shisui close to him."
Shima nodded.
"Prepare to use Wild Wave Storm Guard to block this technique!"
"Right!"
Jiraiya, Fukasaku, and Shima acted as one.
"Senjutsu: Wild Wave Storm Guard!"
Jiraiya released Water Release, Fukasaku released Wind Release, and Shima released Earth Release.
The deflection mechanism of the wind and the physical mechanisms of the water and earth complemented each other; it was the strongest defensive combination Ninjutsu of Jiraiya and the two Great Sages.
The moment the hand signs were completed, a massive rock wall fifty meters high surged from the ground. Guided by the fierce wind, the surging tide became a swirling water column, rotating at high speed around the rock wall, firmly blocking the Five Release Combo released by Ryou.
Jiraiya shouted: "Minato, Shisui—now!!"
Suddenly, a Kunai whistled through the air toward the top of the Thousand-Armed Kannon's head, so fast the eye couldn't track it.
The Kunai appeared about 10 meters away from Ryou, and immediately a Yellow Flash appeared—it was Minato, carrying Shisui's figure with him.
At this moment, Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan was already open, the pinwheel pattern within it spinning rapidly. All the chakra in Shisui's body was concentrated in the area of his left eye.
Seeing this, Ryou cried out in dismay: "Oh no—you two are the real killing move!"
He hurriedly controlled the Thousand-Armed Kannon, extending hundreds of wooden arms to attack Minato and Shisui.
But it was too late!
Shisui shouted: "Ryou-senpai, come back!"
"Protect Konoha!"
Blood-red tears streamed from Shisui's left eye as he released his strongest Genjutsu upon Ryou—Kotoamatsukami!
Immediately, a powerful and forceful Genjutsu power delved into Ryou's mind, forcibly altering his will...
Ryou's life story was changed.
In his previous life, he wasn't evil aligned, he hadn't played Valorant, he hadn't camped bridges, and he certainly wasn't Ayaka's loyal dog.
After being reincarnated, he was an Uchiha who loved life and was positive and proactive, always believing in the Will of Fire and positive energy.
"..."
The wild winds from the Thousand-Armed Kannon's wooden fists struck toward Minato and Shisui, but suddenly came to a halt.
The Thousand-Armed Kannon stopped right there, as if someone had pressed the pause button.
Not only did the wooden arms stop, but the Five Release Combo released to attack Jiraiya also ceased.
"It worked!!"
Minato and Shisui were overjoyed.
"Cough, cough..."
Shisui suddenly coughed up blood. After releasing two Kotoamatsukami in succession, Shisui's body was reaching its limit.
Although he had been replenished with Seven-Tails chakra earlier, Kotoamatsukami had a ten-year cooldown after one use; once this technique was cast, it exhausted all available chakra.
Shisui's chakra had hit rock bottom.
Minato brought Shisui down onto the Thousand-Armed Kannon's body and asked worriedly: "Shisui, is your chakra completely gone?"
Shisui supported his weak body and said: "Yes, Minato-sama, but it was all worth it."
"Ryou-senpai's evil will has been modified by me. He's back; he's our comrade now!"
Shisui and Minato looked toward Ryou's figure.