In the future he glimpsed, Uchiha Ryosuke would be the one to lead the Uchiha clan back to strength.
As for Fugaku himself, he had long grown weary of the position of clan leader. Throughout his term, he'd endured nothing but humiliation — forced by the Konoha higher-ups to relocate the entire Uchiha compound, ostracized and powerless. From start to finish, it had all been shameful, and he could do nothing about it.
But with Ryosuke's emergence, he could finally step down.
He didn't care about power — whoever had the ability should take the helm.
Upon hearing this, Ryosuke quickly waved his hand.
"Clan leader, that won't be necessary."
"You've done just fine."
"I have no interest in becoming clan head."
In truth, power was the foundation of survival in the ninja world. While he was already approaching "early-stage invincibility," he had yet to stand atop the true apex of the shinobi world. There were still plenty of threats — like Nagato with his Rinnegan, the traitor Obito, schemer Black Zetsu, Uchiha Madara, and even Kaguya Ōtsutsuki — none of whom he could currently face head-on. He had to become stronger.
Still, there was time. He didn't need to rush.
Fugaku hadn't expected Ryosuke to reject such an important position. It confirmed that Ryosuke was not power-hungry — his eyes did not lie.
At this point, Ryosuke raised another issue.
"Clan leader, there's something else I want to discuss — why hasn't the truth behind the failed peace talks been spread throughout the village? The entire village needs to know what really happened."
Fugaku seemed confused.
"Is that necessary? Do the opinions of villagers even matter?"
Ryosuke widened his eyes.
"Of course it matters! Konoha is where our Uchiha clan lives and breathes. The villagers' gossip influences the other shinobi. If the whole village hates our clan, how can we live peacefully?"
Fugaku thought for a moment — Ryosuke did have a point.
"Alright. I'll arrange for someone to spread the truth immediately. But even if we do, I doubt most villagers will support our stance."
Ryosuke was satisfied with the response and replied calmly,
"Maybe there will be selfish people who prefer to survive by sacrificing others… but not everyone is like that. There are still those who will recognize we did the right thing. Giving away one of our own to appease the enemy? That's shameful beyond belief."
Fugaku straightened, inspired by Ryosuke's words. Indeed — it was humiliating. And if Konoha was humiliated, the Uchiha within it would feel that shame even more.
Seeing that Fugaku had agreed, Ryosuke took his leave.
"If there's nothing else, I'll head back now. Strength comes first."
Fugaku didn't stop him. Watching Ryosuke's back fade into the distance, he felt a weight lift from his shoulders. The future of the Uchiha clan was bright — Ryosuke was their hope. All that remained was to support him. And with other talents like Shisui in the clan, how could the Uchiha not flourish?
Ryosuke returned to his house and immediately resumed training.
In one breath, he focused his chakra and instantly opened the Fourth Gate. A flood of chakra erupted from him, his aura bursting violently.
He began attempting to open the Fifth Gate — the Gate of Limit (Dōmon) — located in the center of the spine. As chakra surged toward it, the familiar pain arrived once again.
This time, though, the pain felt a little less intense.
Even a small decrease in pain meant a more efficient breakthrough. Again and again, he refined his chakra, slamming it against the Fifth Gate. After more than a dozen attempts...
Bang!
The Gate of Limit opened.
His chakra spiked once more, and a terrifying aura burst from him. Objects in the room were flung about, and even the building shook before finally settling.
He assessed his power.
It was a noticeable increase, but still not comparable to Might Guy's Seven Gates at his peak.
At full power, Guy could go toe-to-toe with Six Paths Madara, matching him in speed and even suppressing him for a time. Ryosuke had not yet reached that level.
The Fifth Gate granted a 5x physical boost, while the Seventh Gate granted 30x. Despite his naturally superior physical stats, he still lagged behind peak Seven-Gate Guy.
The Sixth Gate provided a 10x boost. Judging by his current strength, Ryosuke believed he was slightly stronger than Guy with six gates open.
Back then, Guy had been strong enough at Six Gates to defeat Kisame Hoshigaki, a genuine Kage-level opponent who could even hold his own against Killer Bee. If Ryosuke was stronger than that, then he was nearing the super-Kage threshold.
Right now, he could easily beat most Kage-level enemies.
For comparison:
Even if Itachi Uchiha had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and reached a pseudo-super-Kage level, his overall strength only slightly exceeded typical Kage-class opponents. The massacre of the Uchiha clan came at a high cost — constant use of Mangekyō jutsus had rapidly drained his eyesight.
That was likely the reason for his impending blindness — he overused his eyes in the massacre, trading vision for efficiency. A cruel man indeed.
If Ryosuke fought him now, he had a good chance of winning.
And if he could just convince Shisui to side with him and avoid Danzō's assassination, then Danzō might never gain a Mangekyō Sharingan.
Even if Danzō did harbor genocidal intentions, Ryosuke was confident he could pulp the man into mincemeat.
Back in the day, even Might Guy at Six Gates could perform his signature move: Asa Kujaku (Morning Peacock) — a series of blindingly fast punches so intense that the friction ignited flames, creating a barrage of flaming blows.
That technique was powerful enough to evaporate Kisame's massive water dome. Ryosuke considered trying to learn it himself.
Guy hadn't yet mastered it at this point in the timeline since he hadn't opened Seven Gates. But Ryosuke's power already surpassed Guy at Six Gates — there was no reason he couldn't master Asa Kujaku too.
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