Shisui regained his mobility under the treatment of the Spore Clone and joined the persuasion: "Ryou-senpai, Itachi has missed you very much, and Lady Mikoto also thinks of you often."
"Senior, don't hide yourself in the darkness, and don't think that you're the only one left in the world."
"There are still people hoping for your return—those relatives who truly love you have never left your world; they have always been waiting for you to turn back."
"..."
Ryou fell silent. Candy appeared on Ryou's shoulder and gave his head a knock: "You idiot, if Shisui hadn't destroyed his own eyes, you would have snatched them."
"He had to destroy his own eyes."
That's right!
"(／‵Д′)／~╧╧."
Damn it, I almost turned over a new leaf because of this kid Shisui!
Ryou became furious: "Shisui, who gave you permission to destroy my eyes?"
At this moment, the Spore Clone took Shisui's hand and injected chakra into Shisui's eyes. Shisui was suddenly stunned.
"Shisui, I'm leaving Itachi to you!"
The Spore Clone smiled at Shisui, then threw him away, staying behind to block Ryou.
A clone is just a clone after all; Ryou easily restrained the Spore Clone with Wood Release in just a few moves.
When he went to deal with Shisui, Minato suddenly appeared, grabbed Shisui, activated Flying Thunder God, and teleported away.
"Minato, you're using this trick again!"
Ryou's fist smashed into the ground, creating a large crater, but there was no one left on the spot.
Candy stood on Ryou's shoulder, pointing at the Spore Clone and said: "Ryou, I saw it just now. This traitorous fellow seemed to be passing chakra intelligence to Shisui and the others."
"What?!"
Ryou was enraged: "What a brat. It seems I'll have to give him a good interrogation. Let's go, back first. I'll make sure this traitor gets what's coming to him."
"As if I can't handle you!"
Ryou tied up the Spore Clone, brought along the Thousand-Armed Kannon, and then controlled the Buddha to leave the battlefield.
However, the Buddha in its Thousand-Hands form was somewhat difficult to move.
Ryou performed a technique, causing the wooden Thousand-Hands on the back to merge into the body, and directed the Buddha to walk toward the Hidden Rain Village.
Under the setting sun.
The Thousand-Armed Kannon walked toward the sunset, each step light and slow.
Each step taken was like a lotus petal gently unfolding, showing no lingering attachment, no sorrow, and no joy.
It was as if a true Buddha was merging into a clear, holy light.
Black and White Zetsu emerged from the ground like a pitcher plant.
Black Zetsu breathed a sigh of relief: "He almost managed to seize Shisui's Mangekyo. Although it's a pity it was destroyed, it's better for such power to be gone."
White Zetsu said: "The Hidden Cloud delegation seems to have scouted the chaos in Takigakure. The Fourth Raikage is heading this way, and the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails have also entered the Land of Waterfalls. Should we have Ryou capture them?"
Black Zetsu was overjoyed: "The Hidden Cloud are truly a bunch of reckless fools, not even looking after their Jinchuriki. Notify Ryou to capture the Eight-Tails and Two-Tails as well."
"This way, we'll have captured four Tailed Beasts. The advantage is ours!"
White Zetsu nodded. Neither of them believed that the people from the Hidden Cloud Village could handle Ryou, who possessed the Thousand-Armed Kannon.
...
At the place where the Takigakure villagers and Konoha Anbu had gathered to flee, Minato, Jiraiya, and the others appeared together.
Minato suddenly collapsed to the ground, too weak to stand.
Jiraiya quickly called out to the Anbu: "Medical Shinobi! Medical Shinobi, come and check on Minato quickly!"
Minato stopped Jiraiya, his chest heaving slightly: "Jiraiya-sensei, there's no need! I'm just a bit exhausted."
Minato's chakra had been drained by the vines on the Thousand-Armed Kannon. After being rescued by Jiraiya, he relied on the chakra provided by the White Zetsu clones within the Eight Trigrams Seal to activate Flying Thunder God and teleport.
It was also thanks to the White Zetsu clones inside his body; otherwise, they wouldn't have made it back this time.
Minato was fine, but the one in the worst state was Shisui.
Jiraiya called the Anbu Medical Shinobi to treat Shisui's eyes, but Shisui's eyes were already destroyed.
His eye injuries had already been healed by the Spore Clone earlier, so there was no need for the Anbu to treat them again.
Shibuki walked up to Jiraiya: "Lord Jiraiya, the Village—"
Jiraiya scratched his head, not knowing how to answer Shibuki.
Because Takigakure had been completely destroyed. The Village was ruined, and both the Seven-Tails and the Great Tree of Takigakure had been taken away by Ryou.
Takigakure had been completely wiped out.
"I'm sorry, I failed to keep my promise. The Seven-Tails and your ancient tree were snatched away by the person who attacked you."
Jiraiya's words caused the Takigakure Shinobi' expressions to change drastically, freezing them in place with nothing but sheer shock.
Not just the Takigakure Shinobi, but also the Konoha Anbu.
Defeated, defeated again!
Before the power of the Uchiha, it seemed they had never won even once.
Shibuki's eyes reddened, looking as if he was about to cry.
The personal Jonin who had been guarding the Takigakure Leader stood forward and placed a hand on Shibuki's shoulder.
"Shibuki, don't cry. You are the leader of the Village now; you must carry everyone's hopes."
"I know... sob—"
Shibuki still couldn't help but cry. Within a single day, his father was killed, the Village was destroyed, and the Seven-Tails and the Great Tree of Takigakure were taken.
Shibuki was still just a child; he couldn't bear such a blow.
The Takigakure villagers also began to cry, and with everyone weeping like this, Jiraiya felt like crying too.
Unable to stand the atmosphere, Jiraiya took Minato and Shisui further away from these poor, homeless people.
Get away from them!
After reaching a distance, Jiraiya sighed in his heart.
He had always been like this. So what if he was one of the Sannin? So what if he was a Sage?
He couldn't even keep a promise to a child; he had always been a failure.
He was in the past, he is now, and he will be in the future!
With hollow eyes, Shisui said to Jiraiya and the others: "Lord Jiraiya, Lord Minato, we aren't completely useless. I've obtained some very important intelligence."
"Regarding the abilities of Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan!"
"What?!"
Jiraiya and Minato's eyes widened, and even Fukasaku and Shima were taken aback.
Shisui explained: "It was Ryou-senpai's clone. His will was altered by Kotoamatsukami. When he was treating my eyes, he passed the intelligence about Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan to me in the form of chakra."
Jiraiya quickly covered Shisui's mouth: "Shisui, don't speak here. Talk when we get back! You've performed a great service this time."
A Shinobi's battle is all about intelligence.
In the original work, Jiraiya was willing to give his life for intelligence on Nagato's Rinnegan, so one can imagine how important intelligence is.
They had also fought Madara several times, but each time they were kicked aside like stray dogs on the street.
The intelligence they had on the Rinnegan was not much.
Most of the fear of Madara stemmed from the mystery of the Rinnegan.
The abilities of the Sage of Six Paths certainly wouldn't be limited to just the use of repulsive and attractive forces.
Shisui felt a bit melancholy after hearing Jiraiya's words: "I think this might have been intentionally conveyed to us by Ryou-senpai!"
"..."
Jiraiya and Minato fell silent.
Kakuzu's angry voice roared from a distance: "Uchiha Shisui, I was almost killed by you!"
Jiraiya was pleasantly surprised; Kakuzu wasn't dead.
This is great. Although the Seven-Tails was snatched by Ryou, this time—they have won!
Not just a victory, they've won big time!