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By the time Uchiha Sasuke returned to school, five days had already passed.
Just as Ryūsei had expected, the Uchiha who reappeared now exuded an icy, ruthless aura.
The demonic obsession had already begun to take root.
However, Sasuke's fan club was completely unaware of this.
In fact, they found the current Sasuke even cooler.
The girls in Class 1 felt incredibly fortunate.
Not only did they have the warm, sun-like presence of Ryūsei, but now there was also the cold, aloof Uchiha Sasuke—they couldn't decide which one to pursue.
Watching Sasuke, whose intimidating aura had even scared his deskmate into trembling in fear, Ryūsei fell into deep thought.
Though not yet able to activate it at will, Sasuke had already awakened the Uchiha clan's Sharingan.
So, did that mean the chances of triggering the Sharingan and Indra's chakra had also increased?
Just as Ryūsei was pondering this, Sasuke suddenly turned his gaze toward him, as if sensing his scrutiny.
"His eyes are terrifying!"
"What's wrong with Sasuke?"
Ino and Sakura were both startled by Sasuke's piercing glare.
Ryūsei, however, met his gaze without flinching.
After staring at Ryūsei for several seconds, Sasuke finally turned away.
Ryūsei knew it then—he had become Sasuke's target.
Now an orphan, Sasuke would fiercely uphold the Uchiha clan's honor.
He would never allow anyone to insult or look down upon the Uchiha.
Even more so, he would never tolerate himself—the last bearer of the Uchiha's pride—being overshadowed by Ryūsei.
From now on, Sasuke would undoubtedly train and study with relentless determination, striving to seize the title of top student.
This suited Ryūsei perfectly.
If not for the difficulty of freely approaching Naruto and Sasuke, Ryūsei would have challenged them to fights every single day.
These reincarnations of the Sage's sons were the greatest treasures of this era.
If he could fully exploit their potential, Ryūsei's ceiling would rise to the level of the Six Paths.
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Time flew like a fleeting steed, and in the blink of an eye, it was March of Year 59 in Konoha.
Unbeknownst to many, nearly four years had passed since the Uchiha clan's massacre.
The fall of one of the top three noble clans in Konoha—and arguably the entire shinobi world—had sent shockwaves across the nations back then.
Of course, since Ryūsei couldn't leave the village, he had no idea just how widespread the impact had been.
But the Uchiha's demise had dealt another devastating blow to Konoha, which was already in decline.
Strangely enough, however, none of the enemy nations seized the opportunity to attack. Instead, the existing balance of power remained intact.
This was good news.
Had war broken out, Ryūsei's generation would undoubtedly have been sent to the battlefield prematurely.
If Ryūsei hadn't awakened his system, the prospect of war wouldn't have mattered much—after all, at their age, they wouldn't have been deployed to the front lines.
But now that he knew his own potential and what kind of powerhouse he could become, Ryūsei didn't want war—at least, not yet.
Not only would he lack the strength to fight on the front lines, but he'd also have to worry about enemy forces sending assassins to wipe out Konoha's next generation.
The thought of being killed off before he could fully develop—perhaps by some nameless side-character who wouldn't even matter in the Fourth Great Shinobi War—was worse than the cliché of a martial artist shouting "I'm invincible!" only to be crushed by a random sandal falling from the sky.
The fact that the Five Great Shinobi Villages maintained their current balance was the best possible outcome for Ryūsei.
Just as he had predicted, over these past four years, Sasuke had relentlessly competed with him, determined to snatch the title of top student from his grasp.
During minor exams and impromptu taijutsu sparring sessions, Sasuke would even proactively request to be paired against Ryūsei.
There was even an incident where Naruto provoked Sasuke, only to be effortlessly defeated in seconds.
Seeing Sasuke's aggressive demeanor—as if he'd beat up every other classmate if he wasn't allowed to fight Ryūsei—Iruka was at his wit's end.
But he didn't immediately agree. Instead, he asked for Ryūsei's opinion.
Of course, Ryūsei accepted. He had been wondering how to get matched up with Sasuke in the first place.
Thus, for nearly four years, aside from major exams, Ryūsei's opponent in every taijutsu spar—and even in kunai and shuriken combat starting from their third year—had always been Sasuke.
And throughout these years, Sasuke had lost every single challenge.
Sasuke might have trained hard, but Ryūsei trained harder.
Having mastered the Shadow Clone Technique as early as his first year, Ryūsei wasn't training alone—he was growing exponentially, and he had long since reached the level where he could graduate early.
If not for his hope of triggering certain rare rewards during these six years, Ryūsei would have already followed Itachi's example—sending a shadow clone to attend classes while his real self trained elsewhere.
Without the ability to activate his Sharingan, Sasuke stood no chance against Ryūsei in fundamental shinobi skills.
The title of top student naturally remained Ryūsei's every single year.
His consistent dominance, especially over the heirs of prominent clans, had not only made him famous within the academy but also drawn the attention of certain high-ranking figures.
In particular, Yamanaka Inoichi and Hyūga Hiashi had taken a keen interest in the boy who had charmed their daughters.
They had even secretly observed Ryūsei's training sessions.
Watching as Ryūsei taught Hinata and the others techniques typically reserved for genin—and seeing them master those skills—both clan leaders were deeply impressed. They no longer discouraged their daughters from associating with him.
Even Hiruzen had taken notice of Ryūsei.
With the Fourth Hokage as precedent, Hiruzen held high hopes for civilian-born prodigies.
Bloodline limits didn't matter—talent did.
Among the four Hokage, only the First had possessed a Kekkei Genkai.
The fact that Ryūsei could consistently outperform the heirs of major clans and maintain his position as the top student proved his exceptional talent and potential.
With proper investment and guidance, he might even become a pillar of the village in the future.
Ryūsei, of course, had no idea that his supposedly "low-key" self had attracted so much attention from influential figures.
Had he known the Hokage was watching him, he would have breathed a sigh of relief.
He wasn't afraid of Hiruzen's attention—what worried him was the possibility of Danzo Shimura taking an interest in him.
Fortunately, both of Ryūsei's parents had been Konoha chūnin, firmly aligned with the Hokage's faction.
This made Ryūsei a "purebred" loyalist in the eyes of the village. No matter how overbearing Danzo was, he couldn't just abduct and brainwash Ryūsei without cause.
Such were the intricate power plays within a single village.
But then again, the saying "wealth doesn't last beyond three generations" fit Hiruzen's tenure perfectly.
In its heyday, Konoha had been overflowing with power.
The number of Kage-level shinobi had been too many to count on one hand.
Yet, through Hiruzen's and Danzo's machinations, most of those elites had either been eliminated or driven away.
Now, with only himself left as the sole pillar of the village, Hiruzen was finally realizing the gravity of his mistakes.