The Three Toad Brothers did not follow Jiraiya, Minato, and the others as they infiltrated the Land of Rain; only Fukasaku and Shima accompanied them into the infiltration.
With their massive size, Gamabunta, Gamahiro, and the others were simply unable to carry out stealth operations.
Therefore, they remained behind to assist the Shinobi Allied Forces in defeating Ryou.
Gamabunta's short blade, Gamaken's iron fork, and Gamahiro's dual longswords struck out.
They blocked Satori's movement from three directions.
It could be said that Satori had very little room for error, but in such a cramped space, Satori managed to dodge every single attack.
This caused the Three Toad Brothers' attacks to collide with each other.
Gamabunta landed steadily on the ground, his expression solemn: "It's no good, we've all had our thoughts seen through by Satori!"
Satori's charge made Ryou realize that he couldn't keep playing house with the Shinobi Allied Forces; it was time to get serious.
With so many people on the front lines, Madara's White Zetsu couldn't possibly have failed to scout them out.
He had to put on a proper act; he couldn't just do nothing and let the Shinobi Allied Forces charge into the Land of Rain.
Ryou shouted to the Shinobi Cats army: "Troops, hear my order! Charge with me! Kill your way to the other side and seize women for this General!"
"Nekomata, let's go!"
"Meow—"
Nekomata transformed into a white blur and charged to the other side of the river, and Ryou's cat army began its charge under the leadership of their commander.
In another part of the battlefield, a figure resembling a pitcher plant emerged from the ground.
White Zetsu felt a sense of relief: "It's finally started; I was dying of impatience!"
Ryou had guessed correctly; the moment the Shinobi Allied Forces arrived in the Land of Rain, Madara's White Zetsu had discovered them from underground.
Black and White Zetsu had even appeared.
It was just that they had been watching the boring duels between the Shinobi Allied Forces and the Shinobi Cats army, and they were getting a bit impatient.
They wanted to see a fight to the death.
Only then would it be impossible for Ryou to defect to the Shinobi Allied Forces and instead follow Madara down the path to the end!
Black Zetsu said expressionlessly: "The reason for the war is just that Ryou wants to snatch up the pretty female Shinobi from the Shinobi Allied Forces!"
White Zetsu said: "Let him be. He doesn't have much time left to enjoy himself. Once Lord Madara's plan is complete, he too will be dragged into the world of illusion."
Black Zetsu sneered inwardly. A world of illusion? It was nothing more than a wedding dress for Mother's resurrection!
However, Ryou could be kept around as a male favorite for Mother.
Riding Nekomata, Ryou realized something was wrong halfway through the charge, because there wasn't a single cat following behind him.
Only the Nekomata he was riding was a combat cat.
The other cats were just there to make up the numbers; it was already good enough that they could bang drums and blow horns for Ryou, or hiss at the enemy.
Make a bunch of Shinobi Cats fight against the elite of the Shinobi Allied Forces?
How could Ryou make such a cruel decision?
Ryou was just a clone; if he died, he died, but the cats valued their lives.
As soon as they heard Ryou yell for everyone to charge, they all stayed put, and some even fled in panic.
Even Fortune and Fish Ball refused to charge with Ryou!
Ryou cursed loudly: "Useless! A bunch of useless trash! I treat you with the same benefits as a Jonin, and when the critical moment comes, you don't even dare to fight!"
"When we get back, you're all getting demoted to Genin status!"
Ryou was riding Nekomata and getting ready to go to Kumogakure to snatch Samui and Mabui, but he was suddenly intercepted by a group of people with the Uchiha fan crest on their backs.
It was the Police Force of the Uchiha Clan.
Leading them was the captain of the Police Force—Uchiha Fugaku!
The rest were the elites of the Police Force.
Yashiro, Tekka, Yakumi...
And Inabi and Shisui, who had joined the Anbu, totaling about twenty Jonin.
It could be said that this was the cream of the Uchiha Clan.
Yakumi roared at Ryou: "Ryou, pay up! You borrowed a total of 600,000 Ryo from me. Do you think you don't have to pay it back just because you defected!"
Uchiha Yakumi, a Jonin of the Uchiha Clan, assisted Uchiha Fugaku in the Police Force.
He had a strong sense of belonging to the Uchiha, but he wasn't part of the hawk faction; he was considered a relatively normal Uchiha.
He had a very good personality, and Ryou used to specifically go to him to borrow money.
Ryou spread his hands: "Yakumi, it's useless to come to me; I'm just a clone."
"I'll tell you the truth! My main body is in Ryūchi Cave training in Senjutsu. If you have the guts, go to Ryūchi Cave and ask the main body for it."
The members of the Uchiha Clan were shocked.
They were not part of the Allied Forces' high command, and because the two major villains the Shinobi Allied Forces were dealing with were both from the Uchiha Clan, the Uchiha Clan was still being guarded against by the Allied Forces' leadership.
The command headquarters had only given them orders to deal with Ryou; the Third Hokage and the others hadn't made it clear to the Uchiha Clan that the Ryou currently here was just a clone.
The Uchiha Clan members were very surprised that Ryou had actually gone to Ryūchi Cave to seek Senjutsu!
Yashiro shouted: "Senjutsu?! You brat, first Wood Release, now Senjutsu—you've managed to get your hands on all the good stuff."
Yashiro was jealous; he didn't want his brother to suffer, but he was also afraid of his brother succeeding.
The Uchiha Clan and Ryou shared the same blood, and it hadn't been long since they last saw Ryou, yet he was about to become a legendary Sage.
This gap had widened too much.
When did this huge gap start to widen?
It was when Ryou used Forbidden Jutsu to restore his health, and when he defected from Konoha.
Fugaku said, trying to get on his good side: "Brother Ryou, give Itachi a chance at Senjutsu! He is your nephew, after all!"
"Screw you!"
Ryou pulled out a Kunai and threw it at Fugaku: "Now you know to call me brother? Back then, you were the first person to strike me from the family register."
Fugaku caught the Kunai steadily and replied: "I had no choice. Your Forbidden Jutsu would have pushed the Uchiha Clan into the spotlight!"
"Pah!"
Ryou spat: "What spotlight? If the clan had obtained my Forbidden Jutsu, they could have bypassed the Hokage and made deals directly with the Daimyo!"
"Fugaku, your mind is always limited to those few old geezers."
"..."
Fugaku was silent for a moment.
He had to admit that Ryou was right; if the Uchiha Clan had obtained Ryou's Immortality Technique, they could have completely bypassed the Hokage and made deals with the Daimyo.
Someone as powerful and high-ranking as the Daimyo of the Land of Fire could never resist the temptation of immortality.
If the Uchiha Clan couldn't escape Konoha's internal blockade, then they should have found a way to use external forces to break this isolated situation.
The relationship between the Hokage and the Daimyo was not a binary, equal relationship, but a hierarchical one.
The Daimyo is the master of the country, and the Hokage is the Daimyo's subordinate.
The head of a military district and the head of state are not on equal footing.
The Uchiha's predicament wasn't simple, but it wasn't difficult either.
It just needed a single word of support from the Daimyo, and the isolation that had plagued the Uchiha for decades could have been broken.
The political power of the Daimyo was not something a military district head could compare to.
Even if the Uchiha couldn't survive in Konoha, at worst, they could just go to the capital to seek refuge with the Daimyo and become Guardian Shinobi.
There was no need to be deeply bound to Konoha.
It's like if I were being isolated by the homeroom teacher in class; I could just switch classes or switch schools.
There's no need to suffer internal strife and jump off a building.
But this kind of breakthrough thinking was something only a transmigrator like Ryou possessed.
Natives like Fugaku and Yashiro couldn't wrap their heads around it; their ingrained concepts prevented them from understanding things that went beyond their own cognitive range.
Yashiro said: "Ryou, we're giving you a chance now: return to the clan and work with us to deal with Lord Madara."
"Give me a chance?! Hahaha..."
Ryou looked at Yashiro and suddenly couldn't help but laugh: "Yashiro, do you think that pathetic clan has anything left worth my attention?"
Ryou suddenly erupted with powerful chakra; even if it was just a clone, this chakra was far beyond that of a normal Shinobi.
The hurricane formed by the chakra made the elites of the Police Force break out in a cold sweat.
When Ryou said he was just a clone, the Police Force was very angry—was a mere clone worth the Uchiha Clan taking action?
But when Ryou's clone erupted with all its chakra, it left them drenched in sweat.
The Uchiha Clan was also a clan with massive chakra reserves, but Ryou's chakra was just way too off the charts.
And this was just a clone; if it were the main body, wouldn't he be a human Tailed Beast?
"Dealing with you small fry doesn't require this General to take action at all!"
Ryou reached out his hand, pulled out a long thread, and dragged Sasori, who was hanging from a pillar on the other side, over to him.
"I choose you, Sasori!"