"Marriage?!"
Sasori was somewhat bewildered. The entire Ninja World was about to attack, and yet Ryou had the mind to get married?
And besides—
"Bullshit! You're of the Uchiha Clan, and Tsunade is of the Senju Clan."
"You are ancestral enemies. How could you possibly get married?"
Ryou explained loudly to Sasori, "It's because I had Old Demon Madara kidnap her to force her to marry me, alright?"
"That sounds more like it!"
Sasori nodded and subsequently calmed down, no longer wishing to fight Ryou. "Uchiha Ryou, I came here to join Uchiha Madara. We have no personal grievances."
"By now you've seen my human puppet technique! I believe Uchiha Madara certainly won't reject such technology."
Sasori wanted Ryou to leave it at that; they were both terrorists, so there was no need to fight to the death!
It would be much better for everyone to sit down, enjoy some wine together, and let the world feel pain together.
In truth, given Sasori's personality, he wouldn't normally say such submissive things, but he was very greedy for Ryou's powerful Kekkei Genkai.
He wanted to turn him into a human puppet to control him.
However, his poison had no effect on Ryou, and the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release couldn't land a hit on Ryou for the time being.
Continuing the fight would require using his trump cards.
It simply wasn't necessary.
Ryou looked at Sasori, crossing his arms arrogantly. "Chicken out?"
Sasori flared up in anger. "Uchiha Ryou, who has Sasori of the Red Sand ever feared? I just don't want us to end up in a situation where both sides suffer."
"Both sides suffer?!"
Ryou put his hands on his hips and laughed out loud.
That kind of laugh was the sort where even a stray dog on the side of the road would want to slap him twice, just like when Sasuke first awakened his Mangekyo.
Sasori's temper flared the moment he saw it. "Uchiha Ryou, are you actually working for Uchiha Madara or not? Won't you consider his interests?"
Ryou laughed loudly. "Sasori, to tell you the truth! I never wanted to carry out any Eye of the Moon Plan."
"I only stay by Madara's side out of necessity. If I could beat Madara, I would have taught him a lesson long ago."
Sasori was shocked. "You brat, you're a traitor!"
Nekomata was somewhat shocked to hear Ryou's words. "Master and the Ancestor aren't on the same side?"
Candy looked at Nekomata. "Nekomata, do you want to enter the world of Genjutsu?"
"This..."
Nekomata hesitated slightly. "We are the Ninja Cats of the Uchiha Clan. We do whatever the main family orders!"
Snowy pulled out a scythe and held it against Nekomata's neck. "Then who do you think is the main family now?"
Nekomata was a bit speechless. "Snowy, don't just pull out a blade at every turn, okay?"
Snowy snorted. "You've signed a contract with Ryou now. You're a Summoned Beast of his, just like us."
"Furthermore, the Uchiha War Fan is with Candy; Candy is keeping it for Ryou. Ryou is the true orthodox successor of the Uchiha Clan."
Nekomata lowered its head. "Fine, I'll do whatever Master says."
"It's just that the Ancestor is too strong. Can we really find an opportunity to defeat him?"
Candy said, "Don't worry, Madara isn't invincible. We'll work for him for now and slowly wait for an opportunity to break free from Madara's shackles."
...Sasori was shocked by Ryou's rebellious nature.
Sasori had never seen Madara's power, but he had heard his grandmother from the city—Chiyo—talk about the stories of Madara and Hashirama before.
Chiyo held those two in very high regard.
She said that if Madara hadn't left Konoha and Hashirama hadn't later passed away unexpectedly, a Village like Sunagakure would never have seen a way to get ahead.
Madara was so powerful, yet Ryou was still thinking of betraying him?
Was this kid born with a rebellious bone?
Ryou said to Sasori, "Alright, Sasori, I won't say much more to you. People like you who don't eat beef are the most ruthless; you probably even looked back once when you were born!"
"I really must control you!"
Ryou condensed a Rasengan in his hand. The Rasengan turned from blue to a black-red color, composed of high-density Chakra just like a Biju Bomb.
It emitted a surging heat and an aura that could destroy heaven and earth.
"Fire Release: Great Flame Rasengan!"
Ryou shouted and threw the Great Flame Rasengan toward Sasori's position in the sky.
"This kind of Ninjutsu?! A Biju Bomb!"
Sasori's pupils shrank. He didn't expect a human to be able to release such high-density, high-heat Chakra.
A technique with such high heat would destroy the Chakra meridian system in a human's hand.
It was just as Sasori said.
The hand Ryou used to release the Great Flame Rasengan was burned by the immense heat, turning charred and black.
But in the next second, the powerful healing ability of the Asura Sage Body manifested, healing the charred skin in the blink of an eye.
"Are you even a Ninja?"
Sasori felt that Ryou was even less human than he was.
He didn't dwell on Ryou's inhumanity and quickly controlled the Third Kazekage to release Magnet Release to block Ryou's Fire Release Forbidden Jutsu attack.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wall!
The Third Kazekage created a massive sphere made of iron sand, blocking the explosion of the Great Flame Rasengan.
But Ryou's attack wasn't over yet; he split into several Wood Clones.
At this moment, Sasori was equivalent to having crawled into an iron pot himself; all that was missing was a big fire.
Ryou came to provide the fire for the iron pot, roasting Sasori with a great blaze.
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!"
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Loud Singing Technique!"
One Fire Release after another struck the iron sand barrier, roasting the iron sand red in no time.
The temperature inside the iron sand barrier rose very high, burning away the clothes of both the Third Kazekage and Sasori.
Sasori looked at the regeneration core in his chest.
Except for the area of his heart, Sasori's entire body was now a puppet, essentially having removed the sensory nervous system of his physical body.
He couldn't feel any pain.
But the part of his body that was still like a human was the regeneration core; this was modified from his heart and was very fragile.
It could be said to be Sasori's only weakness.
But as long as the regeneration core remained, Sasori was immortal.
Sasori controlled the Third Kazekage to release a Magnet Release Forbidden Jutsu.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Order!"
Massive amounts of long iron sand spikes were summoned, covering the entire sky and the area where Ryou was located.
Iron Sand World Order, like Deep Forest Emergence, was a domain-type Ninjutsu.
Streaks of long spikes formed from iron sand attacked Ryou.
Ryou couldn't dodge in time and was pierced through the abdomen by a long spike; immediately after, a large number of iron sand spikes followed, seemingly about to turn Ryou into a pincushion.
Sasori shouted, "It's over, Uchiha Ryou. Today I'll clean house on behalf of Uchiha Madara!"
"Clean house? Sasori, you're far too arrogant!"
Ryou revealed a smile and formed hand seals. "Magnet Release is a very strong Kekkei Genkai, but it's not the strongest."
"Sasori, do you know what the strongest Kekkei Genkai is?"
"..."
Sasori was puzzled, and at the same time, he had a bad premonition in his heart.
There were many Kekkei Genkai in the Ninja World: bodily types like Sharingan, Byakugan, Dead Bone Pulse... and technique types like Ice Release, Lava Release, Boil Release, Magnet Release... But if one were to speak of the universally recognized strongest Kekkei Genkai, it was undoubtedly the Wood Release of the First Hokage who settled the Warring States Period.
Saying it that way wasn't entirely accurate either; the strength of a Kekkei Genkai was relative.
One couldn't intuitively distinguish which was stronger or weaker!
The strength of a Kekkei Genkai depended on the Ninja's development.
Wood Release might not be the strongest Kekkei Genkai, but the First Hokage's Wood Release was definitely the strongest Kekkei Genkai.
Sasori looked at Ryou, who was erupting with powerful Chakra.
Could it be? No way! Impossible!
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"