Ryou grabbed Nagato's hair: "Nagato, someone like you should just be a pendant on the God Tree from now on, living in a dream world! You can have everything in your dreams!"
"As for Konan and me, we'll be tumbling between the dragon and phoenix in reality!"
"Enough, Uchiha Ryou, do you even consider us as comrades?"
Konan finally couldn't take it anymore and walked over to grab Ryou's hair.
Ryou's fingers formed a seal, and suddenly Konan's eyes rolled back, her body trembling as if she were being controlled.
Nagato looked at the controlled Konan in anger: "Dammit, you guy, you don't love Konan at all; you're just treating her as your plaything!"
Ryou patted Nagato's face: "Still barking? Everyone is my plaything, and the Shinobi World is my den of debauchery."
Suddenly, Nagato and Konan looked behind Ryou as if they had seen a savior.
Madara had appeared.
One of Madara's hands pressed down on Ryou's shoulder.
"You said everyone is your plaything? Does 'everyone' include me?"
Ryou swallowed hard, his heart felt like it was being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, and even his breathing became somewhat erratic.
His strictest father had arrived.
Ryou smiled somewhat awkwardly: "Ancestor, to me, you are special. You are my elder; how could I say you are a plaything?"
Crackle!
In the next moment, Madara released a powerful electric current, like countless red-hot needles piercing into Ryou's flesh.
Although it was painful, Ryou's heart somehow felt at ease!
That felt good!
Ryou had been away from Amegakure for some time, and it had been a while since he was electrocuted by Madara's current.
Without being shocked for a few days, he felt a bit restless.
This is Madara—
This was the first time Sasori had seen Madara, the first time he had seen the legendary Madara—the one who shared equal fame with the God of Shinobi, the First Hokage, who had pacified the Shinobi World.
Madara wore a set of red battle armor and had long, wild black hair as dark as ink. A pair of Rinnegan looked down on everything as if nothing in the world was worth his notice.
Sasori knew at first glance that this was an extremely proud and self-centered person, just like himself.
At the same time, his strength was not something Sasori could fathom. Just by catching a scent of his aura, Sasori's pectines (a scorpion's chemical sensing system, an organ specifically for identifying danger) trembled and fed back signals to Sasori.
Run, run now, before it's too late.
Madara just stood there, without releasing even a hint of chakra pressure.
Yet he pressed down like a living shadow; every inch of Sasori's skin felt numb and tight, and he didn't dare to meet his gaze.
This was Madara, a living legend, the Uchiha ghost returned from hell.
Actually, Madara's pressure was still there. The way he used Lightning Release to shock Ryou was exactly how Ryou had shocked Sasori. With all the crackling, even a man as tough as Ryou was directly shouting for his ancestor to have mercy.
Sasori's scalp felt numb. No wonder Ryou would use electric currents to shock him from time to time; it turned out he was frequently shocked by Madara as well!
At the same time, Sasori's mood brightened slightly.
Well done! It would be best to shock this evil Uchiha to death.
After teaching Ryou a lesson, Madara rescued Nagato and Konan, then looked at the scorpion observing him nearby.
Seeing Madara's gaze, Sasori quickly lowered his head and pretended to be a Summoned Beast.
Madara only assumed Sasori was Ryou's Summoned Beast and didn't pay it any mind, instead shifting his gaze to Rasa's body.
"Is this Sunagakure's Fourth Kazekage?"
"Yes, Ancestor!"
Ryou stood to the side, massaging his injuries while stealing all of Sasori's credit.
"I killed him!"
Madara was puzzled: "How did he end up in this puppet form?"
Ryou then explained the concept of a Human Puppet to Madara.
He said it was a skill he had learned while going to Sunagakure.
Madara looked at Rasa, who had been made into a Human Puppet, and sneered: "What a pathetic Kage, to be used by others even after death."
"Alright, I don't care about him. Let me see the Tailed Beasts you've captured!"
Madara walked under the Great Tree of Takigakure and looked at the two massive Tailed Beasts.
One was a large sandy-yellow tanuki, which seemed a bit out of place in Amegakure's humid environment. Upon entering the Land of Rain, it became listless, like a blooming flower that had withered.
The other Tailed Beast was an insect-type, tied up by the vines of the Great Tree of Takigakure, currently in a deep sleep.
Ryou walked to Madara's side. Shukaku's consciousness had been sealed by Ryou.
He was afraid this big tanuki would wet itself from fear of Madara.
When Shukaku arrived in Amegakure, Ryou had his Spore Clone on its body absorb its chakra.
He didn't absorb much, roughly a Jonin's worth.
At this moment, a portion of Shukaku's chakra was stored in Ryou's body in the form of spores.
Ryou planned to use Shukaku's chakra to practice Magnet Release.
Ryou pointed at the two Tailed Beasts and asked Madara: "Ancestor, shall we seal both of them?"
Madara stroked his chin. The Seven-Tails' Chakra was somewhat lifeless; its chakra must have been absorbed by Ryou's Wood Release.
It needed time to recover its chakra.
Furthermore—
"Didn't the people of Kusagakure want the Tailed Beasts' Chakra to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss? Have them come over."
Ryou rubbed his head, almost forgetting about Kusagakure's Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Satori inside the Box of Ultimate Bliss was a demon at least at the Beyond Kage level. Even Sage Naruto and a fully Tailed Beast-transformed Killer Bee combined couldn't defeat it.
Satori could crush ordinary Kage and Tailed Beasts.
Ryou followed Madara's instructions and called the people from Kusagakure over, telling them that Madara was interested in the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
The people from Kusagakure were immediately overjoyed.
They had joined Madara's camp and risked becoming enemies with the Five Great Nations just to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss and fulfill Kusagakure's long-standing wish.
All the high-level officials of Kusagakure, the leader, the heads of the "Grass Fruit" and "Grass Flower" factions, and the 12 Zodiac Jonin had all arrived.
They all bowed before Madara, looking like elementary school students.
Madara asked Shirakawa: "What's-his-name..."
For a moment, Madara didn't know the name of the Kusagakure leader.
The people of Kusagakure were somewhat speechless. They had been in Madara's camp for some time, yet this top boss didn't even know what their leader was called?
This showed how little Madara thought of his subordinates.
"Where is your Kusagakure's Box of Ultimate Bliss? Bring it out for me to see."
Shirakawa said with some embarrassment: "Lord Madara, the Box of Ultimate Bliss has always been hidden by us in Hozuki Castle. If possible, we would like to ask you to bring the Tailed Beasts to Hozuki Castle!"
The Box of Ultimate Bliss was a massive object, weighing at least dozens of tons. The people of Kusagakure were only ordinary humans and couldn't easily move it from the remote overseas Hozuki Castle.
Moreover, the current Land of Rain was blockaded by the shinobi forces of the Five Great Nations.
Although the Five Kage Summit had not yet been held, the Five Great Nations had a mutual understanding to blockade the Land of Rain.
When Konan and Nagato left the country's borders, they relied on White Zetsu's guidance.
Transporting such a large object back from the overseas Hozuki Castle now would surely arouse the vigilance of the Five Great Nations.
Therefore, Kusagakure's idea was to have Madara transport the Tailed Beasts to Hozuki Castle.