A Spar

Uchiha Fugaku's tone left no room for discussion with Ryosuke.

Although Ryosuke had guessed what he was after, he had no way to refuse—not for now.

If he wanted to remain in the Uchiha Clan and stay in Konoha, he had no choice but to do as Fugaku said.

Fortunately, he still had time.

As long as he grew strong enough to surpass Fugaku before the Chunin Ninja Exams, he would at least be able to protect himself.

Truthfully, Ryosuke had no idea how strong Uchiha Fugaku was.

He didn't know whether Fugaku had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.

If he had, then Ryosuke's Two-Tomoe—or even Three-Tomoe—Sharingan wouldn't be enough to stand against him.

Even with the techniques recorded by the system, it would be extremely difficult.

The reason was that Uchiha Fugaku really had died at the hands of the thirteen-year-old Uchiha Itachi during the Uchiha Clan Massacre, four years later.

And Itachi had only had the Three-Tomoe Sharingan at the time.

It was possible that Fugaku had died because of "plot convenience," or that he had "laid down his arms" and allowed himself to be killed out of consideration for Itachi.

If Ryosuke were in his place, he wouldn't have so many favorable circumstances.

Nothing happened that night. Ryosuke thought over many things before finally drifting off into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, little Sasuke was the one who woke him.

"Ryosuke, Father told me to come get you. We're going to school together."

Looking at little Sasuke's innocent eyes, Ryosuke understood that Uchiha Fugaku wanted to keep an eye on his every move.

But he didn't take it to heart.

"Let's go. We'll head to school together and take care of everything we need to today."

Ryosuke hopped off the bed and stretched. A moment later, he had finished washing up.

Before leaving home, however, he left a clone hidden in the shadows.

With the amount of chakra he had at the moment, the clone could only last around three hours, but that should be enough.

On the way to school, the people of Konoha pointed and whispered as he and little Sasuke passed.

Ryosuke was already used to it.

Once they reached the classroom, he told little Sasuke to wait for him while he went to the bathroom, then headed to the graduating class.

The Chunin teacher in charge of the graduating class rubbed his eyes when he saw Ryosuke.

"Which class are you from? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take the graduation exam. I have Lord Hokage's permission. You can ask him if you don't believe me."

"Are you kidding? How old are you? Get out of here."

The Chunin teacher couldn't be bothered with Ryosuke. He reached out to shoo him away.

"Sonido!"

Ryosuke blurred out of sight and appeared behind the Chunin teacher.

"Body Flicker Technique?"

The Chunin teacher's eyes widened as he stared at Ryosuke in disbelief.

Only then did he notice the Uchiha Clan Crest on Ryosuke's clothes.

"Can I take the exam now?"

The other students in the graduating class stared at Ryosuke in surprise, too.

But their eyes were clearly filled with fear and wariness.

Ryosuke ignored them and walked to the back row.

The Chunin teacher's expression shifted several times before he finally said, "The exam will begin in fifteen minutes. Wait here for now."

With that, he left.

He had probably gone to confirm things with the Third Hokage.

Ryosuke didn't mind. Instead, he sat down and closed his eyes to rest.

Before long, though, someone tossed a crumpled piece of paper onto his desk.

It read, "Hey, Uchiha brat, why are you coming to school in Konoha?"

Ryosuke looked around and spotted a little boy with his hair tied in a ponytail, picking his nose and staring at him disdainfully.

From the way he was dressed, he seemed to be from the Nara Clan.

But this kid was nothing like Nara Shikamaru. He was loud and attention-seeking, and he loved showing off.

When he saw Ryosuke looking at him, he immediately walked over and hopped onto the desk in front of him.

"Hey, you still haven't answered my question! Why would someone from the Uchiha Clan come to our school in Konoha?"

His behavior immediately caught the attention of many of the children in the class.

But not one of them stepped in to stop him. They all just watched, eager to see what would happen.

"What's wrong with being an Uchiha? Aren't the Uchiha part of Konoha?"

Ryosuke asked calmly.

"Are you? You really have no self-awareness at all. Everyone in the village knows the Uchiha Clan wanted to betray the village long ago. Why else would they have been assigned to the place farthest from the village?"

As he spoke, the boy flung a little ball of whatever he had picked from his nose at Ryosuke.

Ryosuke had already activated his Sharingan and saw the boy's every move clearly.

But just as he was about to strike back, he realized he couldn't move. It was as if some force had bound him.

He immediately understood: it was the Nara Clan's Shadow Possession Jutsu.

Sure enough, the system's voice sounded almost at the same time.

[Beep! Detected B-rank ninjutsu: Shadow Possession Jutsu. Recorded.]

The Nara Kid looked at Ryosuke with a mocking expression, as if he could already picture him making a fool of himself.

"Lightning Release: Sandamurei!"

Ryosuke unleashed a B-rank ninjutsu without even forming Hand Seals.

The Nara Kid didn't have time to react. Several arcs of electricity struck him, sending him flying.

With the shadow's hold broken, Ryosuke stood up.

The ground all around him had been scorched black.

"You—who are you? How can you use ninjutsu without forming Hand Seals?"

The Nara Kid spat blood and stared at him in terror.

Ryosuke walked over and planted a foot on his chest.

"So this is how you use the Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

Ryosuke glared at the Nara Kid as his shadow stretched into several arms that clamped around the boy's neck.

The Nara Kid stared at Ryosuke in horror, unable to make a sound.

He couldn't believe he'd been trapped by his own clan's secret technique. Was this the power of the Sharingan?

Just then, a furious shout came from outside the classroom. "Uchiha Ryosuke, what are you doing? Stop at once!"

It was the Chunin teacher who had just left.

He rushed over and even tried to cut the shadow binding the Nara Kid with a Kunai.

Ryosuke stepped back and withdrew his shadow at the same time.

"I was just sparring with my senior here, right, Nara?"

Ryosuke looked at the Nara Kid.

"Is that so?"

The Chunin teacher looked at him, too.

"Cough, cough. He—yes. That's right. We were just sparring."

The Nara Kid looked at Ryosuke's Two-Tomoe Sharingan and felt an inexplicable shiver of fear. He quickly went along with Ryosuke's story.

He had been the one to provoke Ryosuke and strike first. Making a big deal of it would do him no good.

The Chunin teacher glared at Ryosuke before returning to the front of the classroom.

"Now we'll begin the graduation exam. Here are your papers. You have ten minutes to hand them in. Anyone who fails will leave immediately."