Although Uchiha Izumi was a pretty great girl, if she really liked Uchiha Itachi...
And if Itachi wasn't one of those brainwashed Will of Fire types...
Then Ryousuke had no interest in getting between them.
There were plenty of beautiful women in the shinobi world anyway. Since he was named Uchiha Ryousuke, of course he was going to go big or go home.
Plus, his "Many Wives, Many Kids" system rewarded him more the stronger the women he had children with.
When it came to powerful women in the shinobi world, none ranked higher than Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin.
Tsunade should be in her thirties right now—definitely the peak of her womanly charm.
In the original timeline, she lived her whole life alone, and honestly, that's just cruel to any woman.
A woman without a man is just as miserable as a man without a woman.
So his goal was to save Tsunade. Maybe let her take a little maternity leave or something.
Hell, if he was bold enough, he'd even give Kaguya Ōtsutsuki a maternity break.
Sure, it all sounded a bit delusional now, but hey, dreams weren't impossible.
Right now, Uchiha Itachi disliked Uchiha Ryousuke, especially because last time, Ryousuke had shown possessiveness toward Izumi—and that made Itachi very uncomfortable.
He even considered trying to keep Ryousuke away from her.
He wanted to stay close to Izumi and protect her—just in case Ryousuke did something. After all, the Uchiha were an intense bunch. Who knew what someone like Ryousuke might do to such a young and kind girl?
Izumi noticed that both of them looked annoyed.
They were all from the same clan—she didn't want them fighting.
She smiled and suggested, "Ryousuke-kun, I asked Itachi to teach me kunai-throwing. Why don't you join us?"
"I need your guidance too."
She hoped the lesson might smooth things over between them.
Ryousuke nodded right away—this was a great chance to talk to Itachi and get him to abandon that whole Will of Fire nonsense.
Itachi kept a calm expression and didn't say much.
He didn't feel the need to pay too much attention to Ryousuke. Even if Ryousuke had awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan, Itachi still saw him as a grunt.
Right now, the priority was teaching Izumi how to throw kunai so she could improve her skills.
There was no way Ryousuke could be a better teacher than him, so he'd have to do it himself.
His shurikenjutsu could curve midair—it involved some complex mechanics that were too advanced for Izumi.
Better to teach her the basics.
Now that Izumi was a genin, most of her early missions would be simple. Basic kunai-throwing would be enough. No need for advanced skills yet.
He pulled out a kunai, gripped it tightly, and demonstrated.
"Izumi, the trick to throwing kunai is to grip it tight, lean your body slightly forward, and use your waist for power. The arm only adds to it—the real focus is on aiming."
"That's how you make it fast, accurate, and deadly."
"Got it?"
Izumi shook her head. It was a little abstract. Even though she'd learned this at the Academy, she hadn't really mastered it.
Itachi then explained in more detail.
He demonstrated in slow motion with his body.
Then he flicked the kunai—it hit dead center on a tree trunk.
Izumi couldn't help but gasp. Itachi's accuracy was crazy good.
His explanation had way more detail than their teacher's and he was super patient about it too.
He even filled in the knowledge gaps she had. She pulled out a kunai from her pouch and threw it the way Itachi had shown her.
It didn't hit dead center, but it still struck the trunk.
Which meant Itachi's method worked.
She grinned and said, "Itachi, that was amazing! With just a little practice, I'll be hitting bullseyes too."
"You're such a genius!"
"Nah, it's just the basics."
Itachi was secretly happy at the compliment—especially seeing her smile.
He didn't mind being patient with Izumi.
Ryousuke, watching from the side, had already understood Itachi's method just by listening.
But kunai throwing didn't really have much value in large-scale battles. Same as the Fireball Jutsu—it was mostly for distraction, just to cover other jutsu like clones or something.
Izumi turned to Ryousuke.
"Ryousuke-kun, want to try it too?"
Ryousuke didn't turn her down.
He also wanted to try using this kind of weapon.
He reached out his hand, motioning for her to give him a kunai.
Izumi blinked, then quickly handed him one from her bag.
Ryousuke followed exactly what Itachi had said—body leaned slightly forward, controlling the direction with his hand, and flung the kunai. It landed squarely in the center of the tree.
Izumi gasped. "Ryousuke-kun, that was awesome too!"
Ryousuke chuckled. "Once you reach Chūnin, you'll be this good with kunai too. I just used Itachi's method—it's solid."
Itachi felt weird hearing that. Last time Ryousuke had been all hostile, like he'd swallowed a grenade or something.
Now he was giving him props? It felt... off.
Izumi was happy seeing Ryousuke like this. It really was the right call to have them train together—it was helping their relationship.
For the next while, Izumi kept practicing with the kunai from her bag.
Even using Itachi's method, sometimes her throws were off. Some kunai missed the mark and shot deep into the woods.
She groaned, "That one was way off..."
Itachi reassured her. "With more practice, that won't happen."
Izumi nodded and kept at it. Soon, her bag was empty.
She turned to them and said, "I'm gonna go look for my kunai!"
And then she darted off into the forest like a little bunny.
Her family wasn't rich enough to just let lost kunai go, so she had to retrieve them.
Now it was just Ryousuke and Itachi left. Things went quiet.
Ryousuke figured now was the time to talk—there were some things Izumi didn't need to hear.
She was too young for family-level politics. No need to drag her into that kind of mess.
Ryousuke looked at Itachi and smiled. "If the clan and the village higher-ups came into conflict, whose side would you take?"
Itachi's heart skipped a beat. He was currently in the Hokage's ANBU.
But actually, his dad had sent him to spy on the Hokage, to bring intel back to the clan.
Only... he wasn't doing that.
He'd promised the Hokage he'd become a double agent—feeding village intel about the Uchiha back to the higher-ups.
The Hokage had sworn to handle the clan-village conflict properly.
Itachi was doing all of this for peace.
So Ryousuke asking that question... he probably suspected Itachi had already sided with the Hokage.
Whether Ryousuke was a moderate or a hardliner, Itachi couldn't reveal his spy status.
He smiled calmly. "Of course I'd side with the clan. I'm Uchiha, after all."