"Be careful!"
Ino's startled cry attempted to halt the action, but someone not skilled in taijutsu like her could never react in time.
Sakura, who had not yet become Tsunade's apprentice, was naturally in the same situation, so Ryun could only act himself.
Chakra was expertly channeled into his limbs. Ryun turned abruptly, his index finger swiftly thrusting towards a certain spot, then lightly flicking.
His finger had already hooked the ring on the back of the kunai, and then he grasped the kunai in his hand, looking towards a boy on a distant rooftop.
The newcomer had his hands in his pockets, wearing an expression as if the whole world owed him ten thousand ryo, his eyes fixed intently on Ryun, a faint, almost imperceptible curl of disdain at the corner of his mouth.
With that look, it was definitely Sasuke.
Actually, Ryun had already sensed his presence earlier, but because he had never met Sasuke before, he couldn't match this chakra signature with the name Sasuke.
The moment the other party leaped onto the roof of a small building within the Uchiha compound and threw a kunai at Ryun, Ryun had basically confirmed his identity.
"Who is it!"
Ino's heart was still pounding wildly. Annoyed, she followed Ryun's gaze and saw Sasuke's figure.
For a moment she hesitated, but then her body's instinctive reaction made her shout out directly, "Bastard Sasuke, who told you to attack someone with a kunai so recklessly? Nojuro is an ordinary person, aren't you afraid of killing someone?"
Sakura beside her looked at Ino in surprise. Was she actually getting angry at Sasuke?
It seemed Ino really wasn't interested in Sasuke anymore...
Sakura felt a bit happy, but for some reason, more than that, she felt a sense of loss.
In that moment, it seemed to her that the noisy, playful times with Ino were more fun than Sasuke himself.
Sasuke completely ignored Ino. With a few leaps across the rooftops, he landed on the high wall in front of Ryun, another kunai now in his hand.
Looking down from above, he spoke coldly, "Who allowed you to come here? What do you want to do? Do you intend to steal something from the Uchiha clan?"
Being ignored made Ino so angry steam seemed to come from her ears.
Sakura didn't forget her duty and quickly said, "Um, Sasuke-kun, we came to find you because we have some business..."
"Shut up. I didn't ask you."
Sasuke didn't even glance at Sakura. In his eyes, girls like Sakura, Ino, and the others were the most boring and useless creatures, their uselessness second only to that dead-last, Uzumaki Naruto.
In contrast, he was more interested in Ryun, whose strength was clearly greater.
There were no opponents left in the class who could make him fight seriously. What he most looked forward to was graduating early, then testing himself against the Jonin sensei, to see how big the gap still was between him and that man.
Now, seeing Ryun, Sasuke's hunting instincts were aroused, and naturally he wanted to spar with Ryun.
He pointed the kunai at Ryun and said, "Answer me, or I will arrest you and take you to the Military Police Force."
Ryun sized up Sasuke. He had expected Sasuke to be in a bad mood now, but he hadn't thought the other would deliberately pick a fight.
Why?
Because of Sakura and Ino?
At their current age, it's the time for little boys to fight and get jealous over girls, but obviously Sasuke wasn't in that category.
He genuinely had no interest in women. Every woman who had ever followed him had almost been killed by him at some point.
So Sasuke could only be interested in him.
Ryun flicked the kunai in his hand, then tossed it back to Sasuke, who caught it casually.
Even though Ryun felt there wasn't much hope left, he still wanted to give it a try.
"I am Nojuro Ryun. I came to discuss a business deal with you. I want to expand my house..."
Before Ryun could finish his sentence, a whooshing sound passed by Ryun's ear as a kunai flew past, cutting a few strands of his hair.
Ino's eyes widened, her heart almost stopping.
If Sasuke's earlier attack was just a probe, then this last one was a warning with killing intent.
She instinctively shifted her footing, moving to Ryun's side, grabbing his arm, wanting to pull Ryun away to escape.
Ino was very clear about Sasuke's strength. It wasn't something Ryun, who only knew basic taijutsu, could oppose.
"Sasuke, calm down, Sasuke!"
Sakura forced a smile, her legs trembling.
But she still tried to position herself between Ryun and Sasuke, saying, "If you don't agree, you don't need to get so angry, right? Ryun isn't a bad person. He even wrote a biography of your clan's ancestor!"
It would have been better if Sakura hadn't said that. After she did, Sasuke fixed her with an icy stare. This was the first time Sakura felt killing intent from Sasuke.
Why?
Sakura didn't understand.
Fortunately, Sasuke didn't leave her guessing. He jumped down and walked step by step towards Ryun.
Sakura still wanted to block Sasuke, but he casually pushed her aside, making her fall to the ground with a pained grunt.
From beginning to end, Sasuke didn't spare her another glance.
Sasuke walked up to Ryun, looking up at him. Then his words made Ryun understand why this guy was so angry.
"I know you. The guy who wrote the biography of Uchiha Madara. I heard you also plan to write about my father, about Brother Shisui, even about that man."
Sasuke laughed. This appearance of laughing in extreme anger rather resembled the future "Laughing Uchiha's" style.
He grabbed Ryun's collar and said, "Who are you? What right do you have to comment on our Uchiha clan? Do you think all the Uchiha are dead?"
"The Uchiha clan has not fallen so low that we need an outsider to write our family history!"
Ryun understood the reason for Sasuke's anger, and his own mood calmed down.
He met Sasuke's gaze and replied calmly, "Have you read the book I wrote? Getting so angry without even knowing what I wrote, what if I was praising the Uchiha?"
"Not needed!"
"I order you to stop writing this book. Otherwise..."
Sasuke flipped the kunai in his hand, pressing it against Ryun's neck.
Yet Ryun remained unmoved, because in Sasuke's eyes he saw anger and anxiety, but not much genuine, actionable killing intent.
After all, the current Sasuke had even forgotten that he had already awakened his Sharingan, so he naturally wasn't qualified yet to be called a true Uchiha.
"Very regrettable."
Ryun spread his hands and said, "Not long ago, I already gave the first draft of 'The Biography of Uchiha Madara' to the Hokage. He approved the publication of the book."
"You!"
Sasuke angrily pressed the kunai harder, while beside them, Ino slowly began forming hand seals, and even Sakura started to refine chakra.
They didn't have much courage to attack Sasuke, but they absolutely could not stand by and watch Sasuke harm someone from the village.
"Then you stop right there. From now on, you are not allowed to write any more biographies about the Uchiha clan!"
Sasuke could only lower his demands, but Ryun felt like teasing this version of Sasuke a bit.
After all, if he didn't tease him now, it might be too late later.
"It's not that it can't be discussed... but what's the price?"
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