"Clone, I'll leave them to you."
Uchiha Ryan handed the dog leashes to his shadow clone.
"Got it. Once the timing's right, I'll cancel the jutsu."
As Ryan's shadow clone, it naturally understood the deeper meaning behind this task.
Its job was simple: raise the two dogs by the river, stay hidden, and wait.
On the day Shisui jumped from the cliff, the moment the clone dispersed, the memories would flow back to Ryan instantly.
Ryan's home was roughly six kilometers away. With the restriction of a five-hundred-meter swap range, he'd need to stop by the Inuzuka kennels later, buy a few more dogs, and quietly place them at intervals along the route.
As for whether this would draw suspicion—
Unlikely.
After all, he and Sasuke had already thoroughly disgraced the Uchiha name.
The whole village was joking that Fugaku's two sons would one day rival the Inuzuka clan—
…specifically in the field of ninja dogs.
After settling the dogs and reminding the clone to keep a low profile, Ryan gathered his things and left the Naka River.
"Yawn—"
"Looks like it's finally over."
Kakashi stretched lazily, stifled a yawn, closed his book, and followed Ryan at a distance.
Focused entirely on getting off work, Kakashi didn't notice what he'd missed—
Or perhaps, he simply didn't care.
"I'm back."
Ryan timed it perfectly, returning just as dinner was about to start. The moment he opened the door, the aroma of food filled his nose.
"You're back?"
His father stood in the courtyard like a gate guardian, greeting him flatly before shifting his gaze to the sunflower field.
"Father… you wanted to talk?"
Ryan could tell Fugaku had been standing there for a while.
Clan matters?
Did something happen?
Did Danzo move on to Shisui already?
Ryan's mind spun wildly—
Until Fugaku raised a hand and pointed at the sunflowers.
"Go drag your brother out."
With that, Fugaku clasped his hands behind his back and walked inside.
As he passed Ryan, he shot him a glance.
"You're becoming more and more unruly."
After the clan meeting, Fugaku had returned home utterly exhausted—only to find Sasuke squatting in the sunflower field.
Children being naïve, he could accept.
But—
His youngest son had completely lost it.
Sasuke had pulled out two sunflowers, taped them to his shoulders, and was shouting things like:
"Talk!"
"Transform!"
"Hurry up and spit something out!"
The sight had left Fugaku speechless.
Maintaining his dignity as a father, he deliberately stood in the most conspicuous spot, expecting Sasuke to notice him, come over, and admit his mistake.
Instead—
An hour passed.
Sasuke never even looked up.
That frustration quickly turned into resentment toward the root cause of all this madness—
Ryan, the one who'd filled the courtyard with sunflowers in the first place.
"And one more thing,"
"Clean up the courtyard before dinner."
Fugaku's deep voice echoed from inside the house.
Ryan stood there, completely baffled.
So you stood there for over an hour… just because you hated my flowers?
With a sigh that perfectly embodied living with a father is like living with a tiger, Ryan obediently began pulling out sunflowers.
"Transform already!!"
"Why aren't you transforming?!"
A familiar, deranged voice rose from the flower field.
Ryan followed the sound.
In the corner, Sasuke was squatting, his entire body wrapped in clear tape with half-dead sunflowers stuck all over him.
Everywhere except his head.
Blending perfectly into the sunflower field—if you didn't look carefully, you'd never spot him.
Even worse—
Sasuke was slapping the sunflowers as he shouted.
From this alone, Ryan could tell:
After he'd left, Sasuke had definitely touched the light orbs and experienced the healing effect.
And now—
He was trying to summon a contract beast… by yelling at flowers.
Ryan slapped his own forehead, the sound crisp and loud.
The courtyard flowers…
Yeah.
They really did need to go.
"What are you doing?"
Ryan appeared silently behind Sasuke.
Sasuke glanced sideways at the plastic bag in Ryan's hand, swallowed unconsciously, then turned back and slapped the sunflowers harder.
Stubborn to the core.
His face, however, was bright red.
As if continuing this nonsense was the only way to ease his embarrassment.
"Transform! Talk to me!"
Ryan: "..."
At that moment, Ryan deeply regretted ever misleading his idiot brother that morning.
But explaining this properly was almost impossible.
For the first time, he genuinely wished Itachi would come back and divert Sasuke's attention.
"You're not training the Beast Substitution Techniqueanymore?" Ryan asked.
Sasuke didn't reply—his slapping only got faster.
"Didn't you say you were about to master it?"
"And are you sure this'll give you a summoning beast like mine?"
That finally made Sasuke stop.
He clenched his teeth and shouted without turning around:
"Mind your own business!"
"I can get strong on my own!"
His voice trembled.
Ryan had guessed right.
After experiencing the sunflower's healing, Sasuke had clearly realized how far behind he was—
Behind Ryan.
Behind Itachi.
He wasn't angry at Ryan.
He was angry at himself.
Angry that he couldn't become strong enough to make his parents proud.
Ryan's mouth twitched.
Funny—
Wasn't this the same kid who said that morning:
"Only idiots would believe you!"
"There's no such thing as ninja flowers!"
The kids were truly exhausted.
Ryan sat down beside him, pulled out the dango he'd bought, and handed it over.
"Tomorrow, I'll train you."
"As for Beast Substitution Techniques…"
"They don't suit you."
Sasuke's back stiffened.
After a long silence, he spoke softly:
"School starts the day after tomorrow…"
"Can we start tonight?"
When he'd touched the light orb, Sasuke had noticed something else—
It reduced exhaustion from training.
Which meant—
With the sunflower, he could train recklessly, without worrying about injuries or chakra backlash.
That obsession wasn't about the summoning beast.
It was about not falling behind.
Ryan understood this clearly.
He didn't expose Sasuke's thoughts—just smiled faintly.
"Sure. We'll start tonight."
"Maybe…"
"You should try Lightning Release."
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/MythArcStudio