Ryou was on the shore holding a bowl, eating cat food while watching the enemy situation on the other side.
That's the one thing a Spore Clone has over a Shadow Clone; it can replenish its own energy.
It doesn't even need to eat; just drinking some water and soaking up some sunlight is enough to maintain its activities.
In essence, it's a tree-person.
Ryou observed the opposite side, where a Shinobi from the Hyuga Clan was keeping a constant eye on him.
This member of the Hyuga Clan was actually a character from the original work, Hyuga Tokuma, a Special Jonin of the Hyuga Clan who belonged to the Konoha reconnaissance Squad.
His Byakugan didn't just see far; it could also track others.
During the Fourth Great Shinobi War, Tokuma had formed a squad with Anko and others to track down Obito's base, with Muta Aburame and Ran as his teammates.
Ryou held up his bowl toward the other party, signaling to ask if he wanted some.
Tokuma was stunned for a moment, then shook his head.
Ryou felt a moment of regret, then immediately went back to finishing his cat food.
Fortune goose-stepped over to Ryou and saluted very seriously; just standing there, he looked every bit the soldier.
"Report, General. The army's rations have been prepared. Please provide your instructions, General."
Ryou nodded and then issued his order: "Order the three armies to break camp immediately and retreat half a millimeter. Do not fail to carry this out."
"( ￣ _ ￣ | | | )."
Fortune had a speechless expression. The General had actually started micromanaging.
Ryou kicked Fortune: "Didn't you hear me? There is no fine salt in the army!"
"This subordinate understands, I will go handle it at once!"
Fortune went off to break camp.
Fish Ball walked up and said to Ryou: "General, the elite Shinobi on the other side have disappeared. The Monkey, Danzo, the Raikage, Minato, and Jiraiya are no longer within range of my perception."
Fish Ball had one of Ryou's spores inside it. While making cat food, it had been monitoring the other side—it was busy soliciting prostitutes, so it hadn't noticed when the elites on the other side became undetectable.
Ryou immediately lost the appetite to continue eating cat food. He asked Fish Ball: "When did they disappear?"
Fish Ball said: "When the three armies were lighting fires to cook! About 20 minutes ago!"
Ryou was furious and smashed the bowl in his hand.
Ryou grabbed Fish Ball with one hand and lifted it up: "20 minutes?! If they were running, they would have already entered the Land of Rain; if they used Body Flicker, they would be at the Daimyo Palace by now; if they were flying, they would already be at the Hidden Rain Village!"
"If the elite Shinobi Allied Forces get into the Hidden Rain Village and disturb Uchiha Madara, what am I supposed to do if he shocks me?"
Fish Ball replied in a low voice: "He'd be shocking you, not me!"
"How bold!"
Ryou kneaded Fish Ball into a ball.
Fortune came up to complain: "General, when this kid Fish Ball was supposed to be scouting earlier, it summoned eight slutty cats to form an Eight-Nation Alliance to wash its feet, so it didn't have time to scout."
Ryou was even angrier: "Fine, fine, fine. An Eight-Nation Alliance? You're playing even wilder than I am? I must control you!"
Ryou hung Fish Ball up, right next to Sasori.
Taking advantage of Ryou's anger, Fortune pulled out a scalpel and reminded him: "General, this guy actually solicited prostitutes in the military camp, abandoned its post, and delayed military operations."
"General, let's cut it off!"
Fish Ball hissed madly at Fortune: "Fine, fine, Fortune, you're playing me like this, huh? Just you wait, one day you'll fall into my hands."
Ryou took the knife from Fortune and prepared to castrate Fish Ball.
As soon as Fish Ball saw the gleaming knife in Ryou's hand, it began to tremble, its pupils shrinking to pinpricks, filled with terror.
"Ryou, Master, Brother, Dad, no!"
Fortune scratched Fish Ball's face and sneered: "Fish Ball, if we cut you, you won't have any inheritance rights anymore!"
Sasori opened one eye to the side, then closed it again.
These people and cats... their sweetness level is truly off the charts!
Hyuga Tokuma activated his Byakugan and detected Ryou holding a scalpel, preparing to neuter the cat, and was filled with confusion.
What the hell is this guy doing?
The Shinobi of the Uchiha Clan walked up, holding their bowls and eating while they approached.
The Uchiha Clan had excellent vision and could clearly see Ryou on the other side doing something terrifying to a cat.
Shisui and Itachi both put down their bowls, anxious.
The members of the Uchiha Clan were hardcore cat slaves and couldn't stand seeing others abuse cats.
Itachi shouted loudly: "Uncle, don't hurt Fish Ball!"
Ryou stopped and turned his head to look in the direction of the Uchiha Clan.
The Uchiha Clan were also elites, so why hadn't they moved with the Third Hokage and the others?
Fortune guessed: "Probably because they wanted to leave them behind to deal with you! The Uchiha Clan is still suspected by the high command of the Allied Forces."
"If they went to the Hidden Rain Village, they might blow up!"
Ryou nodded and returned the scalpel to Fortune.
The Uchiha Clan was also observing Ryou; they had received orders from the command center that they would be responsible for dealing with Ryou later.
Fugaku said to the members of the Police Force beside him: "Although it is just a clone, it is a clone with Yang Release chakra properties and can use the main body's Kekkei Genkai and Forbidden Jutsu."
"We cannot let our guard down later!"
If the situation became critical, Fugaku touched his eyes.
Then he would have no choice but to reveal his Mangekyo Sharingan.
If his life was about to end, there was no point in hiding it.
...Ryūchi Cave. Ryou's second trial stage.
Ryou took Candy and used the Mayfly Technique to find Manda. After a round of crazy torture, he made Manda lead the way to Ichikishimahime's trial grounds.
Manda's entire body was covered in injuries from lightning strikes, looking extremely miserable.
It really couldn't understand how Ryou had found it when it was hiding so well.
After finding it, it was just a set meal of electric currents; Manda was shocked numb.
Manda guessed it was the spore Ryou had implanted in it earlier. That thing was equivalent to a clone of Ryou, allowing Ryou to find its location.
Manda was very angry that Ryou was controlling it.
But it could only rage impotently. For the sake of its life, it was driven by Ryou to arrive at Ichikishimahime's trial grounds.
Ryou sat on Manda's head, looking at a mark on the back of his hand—it was a mark of a small fan.
It was the Gunbai.
After Ryou injected Wood Release chakra into the Gunbai, it became his life-bound spiritual artifact. This term was a bit like something from a cultivation novel.
But that was roughly the meaning.
It was just like Itachi's totsuka blade; the totsuka blade wasn't awakened after Itachi unlocked his Mangekyo Sharingan.
Rather, it was because after he found the totsuka blade later, the sword was sealed within his soul in the form of a spirit.
Orochimaru had wanted to find the legendary totsuka blade, but he hadn't expected Itachi to get there first.
Now, the Gunbai had merged into Ryou's chakra in the form of a spirit.
With this, Ryou had truly become the clan leader of the Uchiha Clan in every sense.
Furthermore, because the core of the Gunbai was Wood Release, it was capable of splitting.
With a thought, Ryou split a small fan adapted for Candy out from the Gunbai.
Ryou gave this small fan to Candy: "Candy, here you go. Now this fan is adapted for you!"
Candy took it happily and licked Ryou's palm.
Ryou rubbed its head.