Uchiha Ryosuke saw Izumi step between them and realized that if he fought Itachi now, Izumi would definitely be pissed.
After all, she liked Itachi way more than him right now.
Besides, even with two tomoe activated, he was probably no match for Itachi anyway.
Itachi was already eleven and had joined ANBU.
Only elite ninjas could join that group.
Such a waste that all that power couldn't be used for the clan.
And then there was Uchiha Shisui, who probably already had his Mangekyo Sharingan, always teaching Itachi all kinds of big ideas.
Fighting for the village—
That's not a bad thing in itself, but it shouldn't come at the cost of the whole clan.
No Uchiha, no Konoha.
And without the Uchiha, Konoha just isn't important at all.
If it weren't for the higher-ups targeting them, why would the Uchiha even think about rebelling?
If they really wanted to rebel, they should've just run off with Uchiha Madara back then.
Truth is, they just wanted to live in peace.
Ryosuke relaxed his eyes, the tomoe fading as his eyes returned to normal color.
Izumi finally breathed a sigh of relief, glad they didn't actually fight.
"Ryosuke-nii, let's talk about your request when I'm an adult."
She didn't dare make Ryosuke mad—what if he got pissed and activated his Sharingan again?
"Fine."
Of course, Ryosuke never expected her to agree that easily, and honestly, she looked too frail to even think about having kids—better to look for another target.
Then he turned and left, heading out of the village.
He was actually feeling pretty good, trying to steal Itachi's childhood friend right in front of him.
That anger he felt before had mostly faded.
Izumi, left behind, just looked puzzled.
Ryosuke-nii used to treat her like a little sister, never with any romantic feelings.
As a girl, she was sensitive—was it because she was almost an adult now? Was her feminine charm finally showing?
Thinking that, she couldn't help but smile a little.
Itachi, seeing the smile on Izumi's face, asked worriedly,
"You're not actually thinking of agreeing to Uchiha Ryosuke, are you?"
Izumi laughed.
"Ryosuke-nii is a great guy and good-looking, but how could anyone be as cute as you, Itachi?"
Itachi blushed. Cute? His ANBU teammates already treated him like an adult.
But Izumi's answer was reassuring—he didn't need to worry about losing her.
He didn't have many friends, probably because he wasn't good at socializing.
He looked at her seriously.
"Izumi, just now Ryosuke said I couldn't protect you. I promise you right now, I'll definitely protect you from now on."
He had real talent—still a chunin now, but already as strong as many jonin, and he'd already awakened his three-tomoe Sharingan.
Once his chakra and body caught up, he'd be one of the strongest jonin out there.
How could he not protect Izumi?
Uchiha Ryosuke, you're wrong.
Izumi was happy hearing this.
Even if her talent was high, she was still a girl and not as tough as Itachi.
Her chakra was nothing compared to his.
Itachi was a genius—awakening three-tomoe Sharingan at eleven.
With his protection, nothing bad would happen.
"Then Itachi, if I'm ever in danger, you have to protect me, okay?"
"Of course."
Meanwhile, Uchiha Ryosuke was heading toward the village center. It took him about ten minutes to get there.
Along the way, people would step aside when they saw his clothes.
Their eyes had both contempt and fear.
Contempt because of the recent Nine-Tails attack, which they blamed on the Uchiha.
Even if it wasn't the Uchiha who did it, they were sure the Uchiha were involved.
After all, only the Uchiha could control the Nine-Tails with their Sharingan.
Once, the traitor Uchiha Madara controlled the Nine-Tails to attack the village—good thing First Hokage Hashirama was there, or Konoha would have been wiped out.
But Hashirama was long dead now.
A few years ago, the Nine-Tails attack even killed the Fourth Hokage, leaving the village a wreck.
Not just buildings destroyed—tons of civilians and ninjas died too.
And the Uchiha clan was involved in all of it.
Still, no one dared curse them out loud—the Uchiha were a powerful clan, and they controlled the Konoha Police Force.
If you insulted them in public, you'd end up in jail.
Uchiha Ryosuke noticed all those looks too.
They were afraid, and they hated the Uchiha.
Seemed like the Uchiha clan's reputation in Konoha was really garbage.
He secretly looked down on them—these villagers were clueless.
But whatever, let them be dumb.
What pissed him off was the higher-ups encouraging all these baseless suspicions.
In the original, after the Nine-Tails attack, the Third Hokage personally brought people to watch the Uchiha compound, just in case of rebellion.
Even the clan leader, Uchiha Fugaku, offered to help fight, but the Third Hokage refused.
Idiot. No brains at all.
Instead of helping the Fourth Hokage beat the Nine-Tails, he held back his own forces.
What, did he want Minato to die faster?
If Fugaku, Hiruzen, and Minato had worked together, maybe they could've taken down the Nine-Tails.
Minato Namikaze was a talented, righteous guy.
If he was still alive, maybe the Uchiha and Konoha wouldn't be so hostile now.
Too bad he was a real hero.
The village had another powerhouse at the time—the other "shadow" of Konoha.
That dude was an expert at internal conflict and always vanished when it mattered. If he'd shown up to help, Konoha's rep wouldn't have tanked so hard.
How could anyone respect a leader like that?
Whatever—thinking about it just made Ryosuke speechless.
He arrived at a ramen shop.
It was Ichiraku Ramen.
There's no way he was going to miss eating ramen in this world.
He walked inside.
"Boss, one bowl of ramen."
"Alright, anything you want added?"
"Yuba and tofu."
"Coming right up. Just take a seat, it'll be ready soon."
Ryosuke found a seat and waited.
Soon his ramen arrived.
"Enjoy your meal."
Uchiha Ryosuke picked up his chopsticks and dug in.
The noodles were chewy, and the broth was rich and fragrant.
Delicious.
In just a few minutes, he was almost done.
He leaned back and rested a bit.
Then he heard a commotion outside, making him curious to go out and see what was going on.
Might as well walk off the food.
(TL-N) I hope he gets careful of the multiverse fbi