After Kakashi left the grove near the Uchiha compound, he headed straight to the Hokage's office.
The Third Hokage looked up and asked immediately, "Did you deliver my order to Uchiha Ryosuke?"
He was deeply concerned. Every extra day Ryosuke spent with Naruto was another step undermining his carefully laid plans.
Naruto was a crucial pawn—one the Hokage had to keep firmly under his control.
Kakashi replied truthfully, "Lord Hokage, he refused."
"Hm," the Third Hokage responded at first, then his expression shifted.
"What did you say? He refused?"
How dare he defy the orders of the Hokage?
"What exactly did he say?"
Kakashi repeated Ryosuke's words honestly.
The Third Hokage's face darkened with fury.
Damn that arrogant Uchiha clan—always sabotaging my plans.
But he held back the fire in his heart.
He had already had Ryosuke investigated. The boy was the only grandson of the Uchiha clan's Grand Elder. If he made a move against him, the entire Uchiha clan would rise up in protest.
The Grand Elder was highly respected, even by the clan's most moderate members.
More importantly, the upcoming peace talks with the Hidden Cloud Village were approaching. Now was not the time to further worsen the relationship with the Uchiha.
He needed another strategy.
"Fine," he said. "If he insists on interacting with Naruto, let him. But tell him he must never reveal Naruto's true identity as the Fourth Hokage's son. If that information spreads, Naruto could become a target of his father's old enemies."
With that stipulation in place, the villagers would continue to shun Naruto. Meanwhile, the Hokage could maintain his kind façade and continue instilling the Will of Fire.
As long as he treated Naruto better than Ryosuke did, he was confident he could win the boy over.
Children were easy to manipulate. That was his specialty.
Kakashi agreed silently and left. He returned to the grove and relayed the Hokage's updated order to Ryosuke.
To his surprise, Ryosuke nodded in agreement.
So all it took was a little pressure and the old man backed down.
Must be because of those peace talks with the Hidden Cloud, he thought.
Whatever the reason, as long as they didn't block his contact with Naruto, that was enough.
He smiled at Kakashi. "Tell the Third Hokage—I'll keep the secret."
Maybe it was possible that the Fourth Hokage's enemies would try to assassinate Naruto someday.
Still, in Ryosuke's view, just the fact that Naruto's status as the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki had been made public already made him extremely vulnerable.
The tailed beasts were ultimate military weapons—especially the Nine-Tails, the strongest of them all.
Other villages would definitely covet such power.
Naruto was still just a child. If they kidnapped him, no matter the cost, it would be worth it to forge their own jinchūriki.
Sure, taming the Nine-Tails wasn't easy, but many factions would try if given the chance.
Kakashi was relieved to hear Ryosuke agree and quickly returned to report back to the Hokage.
Time passed quickly—more than two months went by.
During this time, Konoha's leadership didn't make any moves against the Uchiha.
And Ryosuke was free to focus entirely on strengthening himself.
Every day, he worked on improving his physical attributes. When he wasn't sparring with Guy, he trained solo using the One Punch Man method taught by Master Saitama.
Even that was enough to boost his physical stats over time.
By now, his taijutsu alone had reached the level of a jōnin.
In his spars with Guy, he was already starting to get the upper hand. And Might Guy's taijutsu was unquestionably at jōnin level—at least a standard one.
Ryosuke wasn't sure exactly how strong he was overall, but he knew one thing: he was no rookie anymore.
Even the Eight Gates technique—thanks to his complete disregard for pain—had progressed rapidly. In just two months, he had already unlocked the fourth gate.
The third and fourth gates—Seimon (Gate of Life) and Shōmon (Gate of Pain)—were located along the spine, and opening them brought excruciating pain.
When he first unlocked them, it felt like his back was about to explode. He even feared walking for a bit afterward.
Luckily, his body always recovered overnight.
That was all thanks to the system. Without it, not even he would dare to recklessly train so hard.
Anyone else trying this would not only blow their brains out from the pain, but probably their kidneys too.
That's why most taijutsu specialists needed 20 years to fully master the Eight Gates.
Might Guy had been watching Ryosuke's progress closely—and was stunned.
He couldn't help but feel inferior when it came to sheer grit.
It had taken Guy seven or eight years to open the fourth gate. Then another two or three to reach the fifth.
Ryosuke was already just one gate behind him.
Still, Guy wasn't jealous.
Even a ninja who normally felt envious of others' talent wouldn't envy Ryosuke—not after witnessing his training methods.
That wasn't talent—it was insanity.
No one else would ever train like this. It was something beyond human.
Instead of jealousy, most people would probably just be shocked.
Guy had also realized Ryosuke's body was different. No matter how brutal his training was, he always recovered the next day.
It was the perfect physique for taijutsu.
Hard work was the only true secret to mastering taijutsu—but only if your body could survive it.
And Ryosuke checked both boxes. So it was only natural his strength kept skyrocketing.
One morning, Ryosuke arrived at the grove near the Uchiha compound, just like he did every day.
A single round of the Saitama workout wasn't enough to tire his body anymore or improve his stats.
The solution was simple: do a second round.
Sure, it took more time—but if it boosted his stats, it was worth it.
As he trained, someone approached quietly from the edge of the grove.
It was an Uchiha clansman—Raihō.
He had been warned by Elder Yatsushiro not to approach Ryosuke again.
The boy was too dangerous—even more radical than the so-called "radicals" of their faction. A madman, some said, who wanted to wipe out all of Konoha's leadership.
But out of the three geniuses of the Uchiha clan, only Ryosuke openly sided with the clan.
Sure, his thinking was extreme—but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.
If he really could eliminate the higher-ups, then the Uchiha would finally have peace and power.
Raihō wanted to see for himself how strong Ryosuke had become.
The boy's strength had skyrocketed before—how far had he come after another two months?
If his power matched his ambition, then maybe… just maybe… his words weren't madness.
Maybe they were the words of a man who could actually make them happen.
TL/N: Since I already gave you this chapter a week in advance and scheduled it for automatic release until chapter 50, I don't know if you've kept your promise to give me enough power stones. I'll wait and see the results first. Based on that, I'll decide whether you truly deserve 4 chapters per day.