"Hurry, hurry, Yahiko! We must return to the base as quickly as possible. Uchiha Ryou will hurt Konan."
Yahiko was sweating profusely, but he still pushed himself, extracting Chakra and running toward the Akatsuki's base.
Yahiko's mind was still a complete mess.
He didn't expect Ryou to be a Konoha rogue ninja who had mastered the forbidden jutsu of Immortality. He and Nagato still recalled the words of the black market manager.
"Ryou is an outlier of the Uchiha. As an Uchiha, he actually became a Medical Ninja. His Medical Ninjutsu is quite superb; it's said he's the number one Medical Ninja in Konoha after Tsunade."
"He developed a forbidden jutsu that allows for immortality, turning him back into an 18-year-old. But the matter was exposed, so he became a rogue ninja."
"The Sannin and the yellow flash went to pursue him. Knowing he had no way out, he blew himself up and jumped off a cliff."
"But recently, the black market in the Land of Fire has been whispering that Ryou didn't die and even resurrected Uchiha Madara, haha..."
"There are all kinds of jokes these days. Uchiha Madara was resurrected?"
"Hey! Don't leave. If you have any news about Ryou's forbidden jutsu, let me know. Ten million for a tip, and if you find him, I'll give you an extra hundred million Ryo."
"Eh?!"
Yahiko couldn't run anymore; his Chakra couldn't compare to Nagato's. He panted and shouted to Nagato, "Nagato, don't wait for me. Go ahead first. You must stop Ryou's scheme!"
"Alright!"
Nagato sped away.
Yahiko suddenly froze. If Ryou had any scheme in the Akatsuki, it could only be to seize Nagato's Rinnegan.
But he had treated Nagato's Rinnegan before; he could have taken it then.
Could his target be Konan?!
Yahiko was somewhat skeptical. What Ninja would be so vulgar? Even a perverted immortal like Master Jiraiya wouldn't be so idle.
Nagato rushed to the Akatsuki's base in a panic, barging in without even greeting the guarding Ninjas.
Like a gust of wind, the two guarding the Akatsuki members were instantly dumbfounded. The Akatsuki's Red Flash?
Nagato rushed to Ryou's door, wanting to use Shinra Tensei to destroy it, but he feared hurting Konan.
"Lord Nagato!"
Daibutsu came forward to meet him.
Nagato made a shushing gesture to him, then pressed his ear to the door to listen to the movement inside.
Daibutsu was a bit puzzled. Since when did Nagato like eavesdropping?
"Grandpa Ryou, it's dying! It's dying!"
"Cough, cough, cough... Konan, gently, gently! I can't take such a big shock."
Furious, Nagato kicked open Ryou's door.
"Ryou!! What are you doing?"
But once inside, he was dumbfounded because Ryou was truly teaching Konan Medical Ninjutsu.
He had caught a half-dead fish and was having Konan use Yang Release to treat it.
When Konan said it was dying, she meant the fish was dying. Seeing Konan using too much force, Ryou told her to be gentle.
Konan and Ryou looked at the furious Nagato in confusion.
"Nagato?!"
"I'm sorry!!"
Nagato hurriedly bowed deeply, his face so flushed with shame that he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Nagato quickly walked out and closed the door behind him.
But he suddenly froze. Wait—
"Ryou, show your true form at once!"
Nagato rushed back in and blasted Ryou with a Shinra Tensei.
With a boom—
The rocks of Ryou's stone room were heavily blasted open, and Ryou was knocked out of the Akatsuki cave.
Daibutsu's eyes widened, and he immediately pulled out a Kunai to confront Nagato.
"Nagato, don't treat our Grandpa Ryou like that!"
The members of the Akatsuki heard the commotion and rushed toward Ryou's room. When they arrived, they saw a large hole blasted in what used to be Konan's room, with light from outside shining in.
"Nagato, is there something wrong with Grandpa Ryou?"
Konan was also a bit puzzled, but she still chose to stand by Nagato. The introverted Nagato would never act so impulsively; he must have discovered something wrong with Ryou.
It was the same just now; as soon as she took off her outer the Akatsuki cloak, the other party got a nosebleed.
The Akatsuki members immediately began questioning Nagato.
"Nagato, what are you doing? Why attack Grandpa Ryou?"
"Grandpa Ryou is already so old; after being hit like that, he might not make it."
"Nagato, did Yahiko put you up to this? I knew it; that despicable Yahiko is just jealous of Grandpa Ryou's virtue."
Yahiko followed behind, explaining to everyone while panting, "Everyone, we've all been deceived by him. He's not a wandering Ninja, but a rogue ninja from Konoha, Uchiha Ryou."
"Uchiha Ryou?!" The Akatsuki members were all stunned.
They looked toward the hole that had been blasted open.
A young man with pure black messy hair and narrow phoenix eyes emerged from the dust.
On his forehead was a Konoha forehead protector with a scratch symbolizing a rogue ninja.
He wore a black short-sleeved shirt with a white belt tied around his waist and black wristguards on each wrist.
A pattern was visible on the back of his shirt, a red and white fan, the crest of the Uchiha Clan.
The most striking thing was Ryou's eyes at this moment.
The irises were red, as if burning with a fierce flame. Within the red irises were three black curved tomoe.
The three tomoe circled the pupil like stars orbiting the sun, giving off a deep and captivating feeling.
When the Akatsuki members saw them, they were all lost in the beauty of Ryou's eyes.
Yahiko thought of something and quickly looked away from Ryou's gaze, while shouting at the Akatsuki members, "Don't look into his eyes!"
Jiraiya had once taught them that when fighting someone from the Uchiha Clan, one must never look into their Sharingan, especially the three tomoe eyes.
It was too late. Most of the Akatsuki members were already captivated by Ryou's Sharingan, each of them acting as if they were obsessed, like they'd played Genshin Impact.
Konan's eyes widened. Looking at Ryou, who seemed even better-looking than her, she gritted her teeth in anger.
"Ryou, Uchiha Ryou—"
"You—"
She had stripped naked in front of Ryou before; this—
It's over. My purity has been insulted. I'm no longer clean. Yahiko and I can never be together in this lifetime.
Konan suddenly turned pale and fell to her knees, her life turning to ash.
"Ryou!!"
Seeing Konan like this, both Yahiko and Nagato were beyond furious, believing that Ryou had toyed with Konan's feelings.
Nagato took the lead and rushed out.
"Ryou, go to hell!"
Ryou smiled like a fox. "Grandson, no need to be so enthusiastic toward your Grandpa Ryou!"
When Nagato rushed to the Akatsuki base like the wind, Ryou knew he had been exposed.
He wasn't too disappointed. If he was exposed, so be it. He had come to protect Nagato's eyes; as long as Nagato's eyes were safe, he was fine.
Besides, he didn't like hiding. No one likes hiding.
Nagato rushed forward and unleashed a Rinnegan ocular jutsu on Ryou.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Nagato hadn't fully mastered the Rinnegan yet. Nagato would only be able to use the Rinnegan systematically after Yahiko's sacrifice; then, Nagato would explode with power, and the Rinnegan's strength would be fully developed.
At that time, Nagato could create the Six Paths of Pain, master the Six Paths' abilities, and summon the Gedo Statue.
However, even if the current Nagato was only using the Rinnegan preliminarily, it wasn't something an ordinary Jonin could deal with.
As the Rinnegan's powerful repulsive force surged toward him, Ryou felt as if he had been hit by a heavy-duty truck.
A melody even appeared in his mind.
"Sometimes, even though I'm clearly exhausted,"
"I don't know why I keep persisting."
"The cruel reality"
"Is shattering the strong fortress of my heart."