Ryosuke didn't use his full strength with that punch—it was a heavy strike, but restrained. Just enough to teach Raihō a lesson.
After all, they were clan members. There was no need to go too far.
Even the watching Uchiha were stunned.
Ryosuke hadn't fallen under Raihō's genjutsu. That could only mean one thing: his Sharingan's pupil power surpassed Raihō's. But how was that possible?
Ryosuke had only just awakened his Three Tomoe Sharingan, while Raihō had possessed his for at least a year or two.
Lying on the ground, Raihō slowly pushed himself up. He could tell Ryosuke had held back—he only felt pain, not serious injury. But what truly frustrated him was the fact that he had lost… to someone who had only just awakened his Sharingan. It was like a dream. His eyes full of disbelief, he asked:
"How did you not fall into my genjutsu? That's impossible. There's no way your pupil power is higher than mine."
Ryosuke shot back calmly,
"Who said my pupil power isn't higher than yours?"
Raihō was speechless. He stared hard at Ryosuke's eyes.
To his surprise, Ryosuke's Sharingan gleamed even redder than his own, exuding an ominous glow.
He was stunned—Ryosuke was undoubtedly a prodigy.
To awaken the Three Tomoe Sharingan and already surpass him? That was terrifying. Could it be that Ryosuke's true talent was only now revealing itself?
Some people didn't show their gifts early on, but when the time came, they would explode with growth. Maybe Ryosuke was one of those types.
Realizing this, Raihō stopped feeling sad about his defeat. Instead, he felt… relieved.
After all, the relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha's leadership was deteriorating rapidly. Raihō no longer believed there could be true understanding between the two sides.
The village leaders were increasingly alienating the Uchiha. They had even forced the clan to relocate, and falsely accused them of triggering the Nine-Tails incident.
They allowed the villagers to spread baseless rumors unchecked.
As an elite jōnin of the clan, Raihō knew there was no way someone in their family had controlled the Nine-Tails. Even he wouldn't know how to do that—how could a random clan member?
What troubled him most was the betrayal of the clan's top talents—Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi. One of them was even the clan leader's son. Yet both had joined the Hokage's ANBU.
To Raihō, that was nothing less than siding with outsiders against their own people. Their actions deeply chilled the hearts of the clan.
But now… a new prodigy had appeared.
Ryosuke was already this strong. If he trained in the clan's genjutsu techniques and developed his Sharingan further, his pupil power might even surpass his own. He could become a genius on par with Shisui.
Raihō now felt a strong urge to recruit Ryosuke into the clan's radical faction.
He knew that the moderate faction's attempts to cooperate peacefully with Konoha were useless.
He could clearly sense the village leaders' deep-rooted disdain for the Uchiha.
Clan head Fugaku had backed down again and again in the face of pressure, and each retreat only emboldened Konoha's leadership.
But if Ryosuke joined the radicals, they could even win over the Grand Elder.
That would massively strengthen the radicals' influence and possibly force Fugaku to change the clan's direction—stop retreating, and fight back against Konoha.
Revive the pride and strength of the Uchiha name.
The leader of the radicals was the clan's Eighth Elder.
Before anything else, Raihō would need to report this to him.
Of course, Ryosuke had no idea what was going through Raihō's mind. He still had training to finish and didn't want these people hanging around.
"Everyone leave. Don't bother me again. And stop thinking of Might Guy as just an ordinary chūnin."
After what they'd seen, no one dared argue with him anymore.
Just a month ago, his taijutsu had been weak—completely unable to match any jōnin. But now… it was the other way around.
They couldn't even match Ryosuke.
The Uchiha clan revered strength. No one would trouble Ryosuke again.
Far from bringing shame to the clan, he had elevated himself.
Some even began to think that if Ryosuke respected Might Guy this much, then perhaps Guy was far more extraordinary than they had assumed.
Once they left, Ryosuke continued his training. He didn't get cocky from defeating Raihō with the Eight Gates.
After all, his enemies weren't his fellow clan members. His real enemies were those two traitors—and the so-called Konoha leadership.
To defeat them, he had to keep getting stronger. That was the only path forward.