Ryou now knew that Madara wanted to kill Tsunade to force him to awaken the Mangekyo.
If he truly loved Tsunade, he should take her and fly far away right now, getting as far from Madara as possible.
That would be the correct course of action.
But Ryou didn't love Tsunade that much; between his own life and a woman, he chose himself.
However, he would make amends, such as threatening Chiyo to force her to develop the Ones Own Life Reincarnation, standing by to resurrect Tsunade at any moment.
But this was merely patching up a wound.
Ryou was playing a leading role in this; even doing nothing was a sin. Knowing where the red line was and choosing not to cross it was, in itself, a form of red-line behavior.
If he remained in control of the situation, how could he ever awaken the Mangekyo?
The more Ryou thought about it, the more troublesome it seemed, and he clutched his hair in distress.
Candy jumped onto Ryou's shoulder, licking his face as she said, "Don't obsess over it. Everyone looks out for themselves, and besides, you've prepared a backup plan for Tsunade!"
Ryou nodded, no longer dwelling on it.
He then looked at Candy and suddenly paused. "Candy, my bond with you is even stronger than with Tsunade. If I kill you, I'll definitely awaken the Mangekyo!"
"Screw you!"
Candy kicked Ryou square in the face with a paw.
Pushing thoughts of Tsunade aside, his clone on the Shinobi Allied Forces front lines soon summoned Moryo over.
Ryou and Candy rode Manda into the depths of Ryūchi Cave.
On the way, Candy suddenly jumped up in excitement.
"Ryou, great news! We've obtained the Edo Tensei!"
"What?!"
...
Konoha Orphanage.
The Konoha Orphanage wasn't actually located in Konoha; its address was in the nearby Kikyo Castle, though it wasn't entirely disconnected from Konoha.
During times of peace, Konoha provided funding for the orphanage.
Due to the chaos of war, Konoha could no longer bear the orphanage's expenses.
So, during the war, it was Nonō going out on missions that kept the orphanage running.
During the Third Great Shinobi War, Sunagakure Shinobi attacked Kikyo Castle, causing massive casualties; Kabuto was an orphan from the Battle of Kikyo Castle.
Under Ryou's orders, Snowy carried a stereo to Kikyo Castle to find the Konoha Orphanage.
It found the orphanage and was preparing to play 'Only Mama is Good in the World' at the entrance, but then it sensed that none of the orphans were inside.
None of the nuns were there either; the Konoha Orphanage was empty. Even interrogating the officials at Kikyo Castle yielded no information.
Snowy remembered that Nonō's adopted son was in Danzo's hands and guessed that the people from the orphanage might have been taken by Root to be used as experimental subjects in Konoha.
So, it made its way all the way to Konoha.
Because Konoha had a barrier, and knowing that White Zetsu could travel underground, Konoha's barrier now extended beneath the earth.
Therefore, Snowy could not enter Konoha directly.
However, Ryou had a spy inside Konoha: Kuromaru.
Snowy contacted Kuromaru, telling him to help it infiltrate Konoha.
Kuromaru didn't want to betray Konoha, so Snowy activated the spores inside Kuromaru's body to control him.
Kuromaru then guided Snowy into Konoha.
Inside Konoha's sewers.
Kuromaru was currently kneeling pitifully before Snowy, pleading, "Snowy, please don't do anything to harm Konoha, or the Inuzuka Clan will be implicated because of me."
Snowy patted Kuromaru's head. "Little Kuro, my master is a rogue Shinobi. If I, as his Summoned Beast, don't do anything to harm Konoha's interests, wouldn't my master's defection be for nothing?"
"Lord Snowy, please don't!"
"Stop whining. Take me to Root's base immediately, or I'll kill Tsume."
Kuromaru was helpless. Snowy's strength was truly terrifying; it could move freely through the earth and carried a sharp scythe on its back.
If an ordinary Jonin encountered it, they'd probably have their feet sliced off from underground!
Kuromaru didn't resist Snowy; he activated his Ninjutsu, turning on his super-smell to lead Snowy to the Root base.
Root was the most mysterious department in Konoha. Many Shinobi in the Village didn't even know where the Anbu was located, and Root was even more secretive; those without the right clearance had never even heard of it.
Root was hidden very deep; only a small number of people knew its location.
Kuromaru didn't know specifically, but after using his Ninjutsu, his sense of smell could pick up every scent in Konoha.
Underground in Konoha, Kuromaru latched onto a complex scent and led Snowy forward.
That scent contained the smell of blood, the stench of rotting corpses, the medicinal smell of formalin...
This was undoubtedly where the Root base was located.
As Kuromaru led Snowy toward Root, he asked curiously, "Snowy, did you come to Konoha to destroy the Root base?"
Snowy, riding on Kuromaru's head, gave him a swipe with its claws and said fiercely, "Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask."
Kuromaru didn't dare ask anymore. People said tabby cats were fierce, and it was certainly true.
Seeing that Kuromaru really couldn't contain his curiosity, Snowy gave him a little bit of information: "I'm here this time for the Konoha Orphanage!"
"Konoha Orphanage? The one near Kikyo Castle established by the nuns?"
Kuromaru had some memory of the Konoha Orphanage.
Snowy nodded. "That's the one. Their director offended my master, so my master sent me to the orphanage to play 'Only Mama is Good in the World'."
o((⊙﹏⊙))o.
Kuromaru shivered. He wasn't afraid of a 'dog' person, but he was afraid of someone who was truly a 'dog'.
Even though he was a dog, he felt Ryou was even more of a dog than he was. How could anyone do something so heartless?
Aren't they afraid of losing their whole family?
Kuromaru then remembered that Ryou was an orphan and suddenly understood.
Kuromaru focused his attention elsewhere: "I heard Tsume say that everyone from the orphanage has disappeared, and the officials from Kikyo Castle have commissioned Konoha to find them."
"If Tsume hadn't been ordered by the Inuzuka Clan to stay on bed rest and not move around, she probably would have taken the mission and brought me to find the missing people from the orphanage."
"Wait—Snowy, are you having me look for Root because—"
Kuromaru was a smart Ninken and quickly figured out the cause and effect. Snowy was acting on Ryou's orders to give the orphans a hard time.
But since the nuns and children weren't at the orphanage, Snowy coming to find Root meant that the people from Root had taken them.
Why would Root take the people from the orphanage? It certainly wasn't to help them get rich.
Snowy scratched another bloody mark onto Kuromaru's head. "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask. The more you know, the faster you die!"
"Woof~"
Kuromaru had already guessed it; Root must have kidnapped the orphans to use them for human experiments.
Kuromaru didn't say anything more. This was a matter for Konoha's high-ranking officials; even the Inuzuka Clan didn't dare to question it, let alone a single dog!
No wonder the clan elders used to warn them not to use their super-smell indiscriminately within the Village.
Knowing where the red line is, is itself a form of crossing it.
The sewer ahead was a dead end; Root and Konoha's sewers were not connected.
Snowy had Kuromaru indicate the direction, and it used the Mayfly Technique to approach Root in the direction Kuromaru pointed.
The closer they got to Root, the more Kuromaru smelled. His nose twitched. "There's the smell of children's corpses. Damn it, the Root people really are using the orphanage children for human experiments."
"Konoha's higher-ups really say one thing and do another."
"Snowy, from now on I'll follow your master. As long as it doesn't harm the Inuzuka Clan's interests, I'll help you guys."
Snowy gave Kuromaru another swipe. "Fool, you have our spores in your body. Your dog life is in our hands. If we tell you to do something that harms the Inuzuka Clan, you'll have to do it!"
Kuromaru: "╥﹏╥..."