The Third Hokage felt something was amiss and asked Hizashi next to him, "Hizashi, activate your Byakugan and see if this is Uchiha Madara."
"Yes!"
Hizashi activated his Byakugan.
This time, the Hyuga brothers did not go to the front line together. Hiashi was in the command center, taking on the role of Ao from the original work, using his Byakugan to perceive the battlefield.
After Hizashi activated his Byakugan, he observed the chakra of the person suspected to be Madara. He had never seen Madara's chakra before.
But such a massive chakra with an evil aura could only be Madara or Ryou.
"My apologies, Lord Third, we can't distinguish!"
Hizashi said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
The Byakugan couldn't tell if the Madara opposite them was Ryou in disguise.
This was because the White Zetsu cells allowed for a perfect Transformation Technique, capable of perfectly mimicking someone's chakra by absorbing it.
The Byakugan's limitations were actually quite high. In the original work, during Naruto's Chunin Exams, Neji's Byakugan couldn't even distinguish between Naruto's main body and his Shadow Clones.
Jiraiya stroked his chin, took out an adult magazine from his Shinobi tools pouch, and threw it towards Madara.
Madara, or rather, Ryou disguised as Madara, broke character in a second, steadily caught the adult magazine Jiraiya threw, and silently hid it in his Shinobi tools pouch.
Jiraiya cursed loudly: "Ryou, you brat, why are you scaring us dressed as Madara?"
Ryou's Spore Clone couldn't keep up the act any longer.
He then dispelled the White Zetsu Transformation Technique.
Ryou had Madara's cells in his body, so he could simulate Madara's chakra.
Naturally, the Byakugan couldn't tell that he was impersonating Madara.
The Third Hokage clutched his chest and scolded Ryou: "Ryou, you almost gave me a heart attack!"
Ryou apologized: "Monkey, my apologies. I thought Madara's appearance would be more intimidating than mine."
That was certainly true!
Seeing Madara made the Third Hokage, Danzo, and others feel like they had thorns in their backs, but seeing Ryou made them want to grab their weapons and attack.
Asuma quietly hid behind Shinnosuke. He had to admit, his voice was a little too loud just now.
Even if it wasn't Madara, Ryou could easily deal with him.
Sarutobi Sasuke looked at Ryou's face and exclaimed, "With that appearance, if you didn't say he was Uchiha Ryou, my first thought would be Uchiha Izuna."
"He's the one who resurrected Uchiha Madara?"
Shinnosuke nodded: "Yes, Grandpa, Ryou-senpai developed a Forbidden Jutsu that takes others' lives, and later used this Forbidden Jutsu on Madara."
"The Shinobi World's current chaotic state is all because of his Forbidden Jutsu?!"
Some members of the Uchiha Clan who had never seen Ryou's face were astonished by his youth.
Only the Police Force that had pursued Ryou had seen his true appearance; others had not.
Upon seeing him suddenly, they realized that Ryou was no longer that frail person. Now, he faced tens of thousands of Shinobi Allied Forces troops with composure.
"Uncle…"
Itachi clenched his fists, somewhat excited. He had finally met his uncle.
Although Mikoto and Ryou were not blood relatives, Ryou had always been very good to Itachi.
It's just that he would sometimes say inexplicable things, like asking him to show mercy in the future and let his uncle off the hook.
Itachi was very puzzled, only taking it as Ryou's madness.
He never believed his uncle would degenerate into a great villain, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.
"(;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`) Lord Ryou…"
Might Duy, disguised as an Anbu, was so excited he was shedding tears. If it weren't for his companions nearby, he would have jumped up and down.
Because Ryou's kindness to him was truly endless.
Sakumo pressed on Duy's shoulder: "Duy, don't get excited!"
There were many people more excited than Duy at that moment.
A Shinobi from the Uchiha Clan, to whom Ryou had borrowed money and never repaid, shouted: "Ryou, you old deadbeat, you still haven't returned my money!"
"Mine too! This bastard said he'd return it in a month, but I never thought he'd just defect to avoid paying me back."
"This is too much!"
Ryou pretended to be deaf at this moment: "What? What are you saying? Speak louder, it's windy here, I can't hear clearly!"
The Uchiha Clan Shinobi to whom Ryou had borrowed money were furious. When you borrowed money, you were humble, but now that you've defected and become a expert, you're not going to pay it back!
How could they tolerate this?
"What are you Konoha people doing?!"
The Fourth Raikage was furious. As soon as Ryou appeared, the solemn atmosphere just now turned into a makabaka mess.
There was no immediate life-or-death battle; even debt collection had started. How could they defeat Madara with this bunch of degenerates?
Mifune, the leader of the Samurai army, also found it absurd. He said to the Third Hokage, "Hokage, be serious, we're at war!"
The Third Hokage nodded, "We're at war! How can we start collecting debts?"
Jiraiya called out to Ryou: "Ryou, no joking around. We are currently on opposing sides."
Ryou instantly switched to a serious face.
Actually, neither side wanted to start a war at this moment.
The Shinobi Allied Forces command was waiting for the Second and Third Divisions to reach their pre-arranged positions.
Then the Shinobi Allied Forces would attack the main battlefield, and the elite Shinobi led by the Five Kage would infiltrate the Hidden Rain Village to seal Madara.
As for Ryou's side, his main body was training in Sage Mode in Ryūchi Cave, and Madara had tasked Ryou alone with holding back the Shinobi Allied Forces.
Clones alone couldn't withstand the elite forces of the Shinobi Allied Forces.
He could only buy as much time as possible.
Ryou scanned the Shinobi Allied Forces, seeing many of the Shinobi World's top Shinobi. Normally, if he wanted to shine their shoes, they wouldn't even acknowledge him.
His Sharingan, synchronized with White Zetsu's perception abilities, observed the Shinobi Allied Forces's situation.
Of note were the Third Hokage, Fourth Raikage, Killer Bee, Jiraiya, and Minato.
Besides the elites of Konoha and Kumogakure, there were also samurai from the Land of Iron, armed like something out of Star Wars.
These Shinobi were heavily defended and could use chakra, not to be underestimated.
The rest were Shinobi from smaller countries.
There were Shinobi from Takigakure, Yugakure, and the Fuma Clan from the Land of Rice Fields.
The Shinobi from Takigakure looked at Ryou with extreme resentment, daring not to speak out, as if Ryou had slept with their mothers.
Ryou was puzzled. Had he offended Takigakure?
He suddenly remembered that he had stolen Takigakure's Seven-Tails and ancient tree.
However, Ryou helped them kill Shibuki, who betrayed the Village. This was a kindness, but unfortunately, the people of Takigakure couldn't remember such kindness!
Ryou even saw Shinobi from the Land of Bears with a star symbol among them. This was a small Shinobi Village called Hoshigakure.
It was named after a radioactive meteor hidden within the Village.
The Shinobi in the Village practiced the "Peacock Mysterious Method" through the meteor, which allowed them to materialize chakra for attack or flight, but long-term use would harm their bodies.
Their leader dared to arrogantly call himself Kage.
Ryou even saw some characters from the anime at the gathering place of Hoshigakure.
She had long, smooth dark brown hair, clear emerald green eyes, and wore Hoshigakure's iconic star-marked forehead protector.
This was Natsuhi.
In the anime, she was a Jonin from Hoshigakure, a rare genius who had mastered the Peacock Mysterious Method to its peak. Because she discovered the threat of the "Star" to the human body, she fled with Hotaru, taking the "Star" with them.
Later, she was discovered and expelled from Hoshigakure by the Third Hoshikage, under the pretext of protecting the Village.
Natsuhi was a great beauty, and a married woman at that. Ryou wanted to snatch her away as soon as he saw her.
Natsuhi was also accompanied by two men. One with black hair was named Hotaru, Natsuhi's husband.
The other, with light purple hair, was named Akahoshi, who assassinated the Third Hoshikage and instigated a rebellion in the anime.