Later that day, Ryusei met with Renjiro in one of the quieter valleys near the hideout, far from the noise of the gathered armies.
Renjiro stood with his arms crossed, calm and composed, the mismatched pair of eyes reflecting clearly in the dim light of the evening.
One red. One white.
The fused Ketsuryūgan, refined from two and made into one.
And the Byakugan grafted beside it, perfected through Ryusei's methods.
Ryusei looked at him for a moment, then spoke.
"So. How does it feel? Red and white. All of it built for strength."
Renjiro tapped beneath his eye lightly.
"It feels… right," he said. "Like I was always meant to have it. If I'd stayed with Konoha's leash, I'd never reach even a fraction of this."
Ryusei gave a small nod. "You don't regret following me then."
Renjiro let out a short breath, almost amused.
"Regret? No. I'm grateful. You're the only reason my clan has a future. And when we walk into Konoha… I won't hesitate. They'll pay for burying the Hatake name and hiding us like background tools."
His eyes hardened.
"Our name will resound again. Everywhere."
Ryusei stepped closer.
"Then I'll make sure you can use that eye to its fullest."
He placed a hand on Renjiro's shoulder, Slug Sage Mode flickering through him in quiet waves.
Lines of bluish-green light danced beneath his skin as natural energy and dense Yang-based vitality gathered in his palm.
A soft hum filled the air.
Then the chakra flowed, pure vitality, temporarily reconstructing and strengthening microscopic pathways inside Renjiro's body, fusing deeper into the Ketsuryūgan's structure.
Fragments of Ryusei's own adaptive sage essence sank into Renjiro, granting him the volume and density of Yang chakra needed to truly unleash his dojutsu in the upcoming battle and rise to another level.
Renjiro inhaled sharply, the red eye glowing a deeper, richer crimson.
The Byakugan beside it surged, veins tightening.
"…I feel stronger," he said quietly. "Significantly."
Ryusei let go.
"You'll need it."
Renjiro nodded.
"I'll use it well."
They didn't speak further.
No more words were needed.
Soon afterward, the entire army mobilized.
Fifteen hundred shinobi, split between Orochimaru's corps and Fugaku's Uchiha forces, began marching south toward the Land of Fire.
The sound of thousands of feet echoed over the hills, steady and deliberate.
Ryusei walked at the front.
Fugaku slightly to his right.
Orochimaru on his left, his young vessel quiet and calculating.
Behind them, their closest allies followed.
Ashina Uzumaki, stronger than ever, eyes burning with an old clan's hatred, eager to sink his seals into Konoha's throat.
Kiyomi walked on Ryusei's other side, Sharingan sharp with purpose.
She would rescue her clan from the inside and free her grandfather…
Pakura moved with blazing calm, Scorch Release flickering faintly around her, ready to burn Sunagakure's sins and Konoha's arrogance alike.
Kanae walked silently—not cold, but simmering.
Kanae's evolved Byakugan pulsed beneath her eyelids, now completely beyond the reach of the Main Branch's cursed seal.
She wanted them to see it with their own eyes.
To prove it was possible.
That she had broken the chains they all believed were unbreakable.
She was ready to stand before the clan that once treated her like a slave…and spit their entire doctrine back in their faces.
Nagato walked alone, slightly behind Ryusei.
Konan did not come.
She stayed behind under the guard of one of Ryusei's clones, keeping the hideout safe.
This was Nagato's greatest wish now: for her to remain safe.
Because even with her unique in the world paper–based Yang Release techniques, she would still be one of the weakest on that battlefield.
Now that Ryusei's clones carried fragments of his own essence fused with Katsuyu's, they no longer dissolved as quickly as ordinary slugs.
They could remain stable for long periods, even across great distances.
That made them finally perfect longer-distance and time Flying Raijin anchors.
Reliable.
Durable.
Impossible to erase easily.
This was why Ryusei sealed his laboratory and hideout in general thoroughly but didn't bother relocating it.
Additionally, if he lost the coming battle, he would be dead anyway—so the lab's location wouldn't matter.
Nagato, meanwhile, had his own reasons for marching.
The moon's attacker.
The destruction of Amegakure.
Madara's manipulation.
He intended to confront all of them.
And Ryusei, he knew, had a plan that involved luring every monster in the shadows onto one battlefield.
All of them converging on Konoha.
The living.
The dead.
The moon.
The masked.
The Sage's puppets.
The strongest anomalies of the shinobi world.
The final battle was coming.
And Ryusei led them forward, step by step, toward the Land of Fire…
and into the heart of Konoha.
...
As the army began its long march, Ryusei didn't simply leave a single clone behind at the hideout.
Quietly, while no one watched, a heavier, chakra-loaded clone separated from his back like liquid shadow peeling away from flesh.
Its form shimmered thanks to his instantaneous, passing Slug Sage Mode, then stabilized, denser, more solid than any ordinary clone.
A Slug Division clone.
He infused it with nearly half his chakra—its mission warranted nothing less.
It slid into the mist, dissolving into the terrain, merging with the earth and moisture the way only his reborn essence allowed.
It was nearly undetectable now, moving silently through the underground like a drifting pulse of natural energy.
This one had a different mission.
To track any Hyūga signatures that might flare during the battle from somewhere outside the village.
To locate the source of that mysterious energy vessel, he once vaguely felt, which the clan had hidden away somewhere else, something they would almost certainly use once again the fighting began.
And to watch for the invader from the moon, should he return to Earth again, possibly to claim it for himself.
All Ryusei could do was anticipate both developments and prepare accordingly to take advantage of them.
Ryusei wasn't satisfied with just confronting him later.
He wanted more.
Much more.
And this clone would make sure he found it.