Knowing full well there was no escaping it, the brothers obediently followed Fugaku to the training ground in the courtyard.
Having their father take the time to test their cultivation was, in truth, something to be happy about.
As clan head, it was already considered rare for him to be free enough to sit down and eat with them.
Training together?
That was almost unheard of.
Sasuke, however, couldn't bring himself to feel happy at all.
Among the three brothers, Itachi's talent was something Sasuke couldn't even dream of reaching—someone he genuinely admired.
And Sasuke knew very well that he fell short of his older brother in terms of talent.
Ryan's talent was also terrifying. Even their father and elder brother had openly shown praise toward him before.
The first ninjutsu the brothers learned was Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique. Sasuke practiced countless times before managing to spit out a tiny flame.
As for Ryan…
That guy just glanced at it once, formed seals, and released the technique successfully—then even had the nerve to smugly declare things like "Great Fireball? Even dogs don't bother learning that."
It was enough to show just how absurd Ryan's talent was.
Yet despite all that, Ryan was usually lazy during training, constantly slacking off.
Because of this, their father never praised him.
Standing between Ryan and Itachi, Sasuke couldn't help but feel inferior.
And now that it was time for their father to test their strength again, Sasuke inevitably grew anxious, worried that he'd perform poorly.
Seeing his brother's low spirits, Ryan reached out and slung an arm over Sasuke's shoulder, his tone irritatingly casual.
"Oi, my foolish little otōto~"
"The fight hasn't even started yet, and you're already scared?"
He wasn't good with sentimental words, so provoking Sasuke a bit was the only way he knew how to encourage him.
If one were to say Sasuke had talent…
It really wasn't obvious early on. Especially considering the whole clan massacre later on—awakening a single tomoe through sheer rage—thinking about it was honestly painful.
But to say he didn't have talent?
He'd eventually become one of the two biggest cheats in the entire Naruto world.
Ryan could only conclude that Sasuke's talent simply hadn't fully bloomed yet.
Take their recent taijutsu training, for example.
Sasuke's improvement rate was almost keeping up with Ryan's gains—even with Ryan's 200% boost.
To Ryan, it felt just like those quiet nobodies back in high school—completely unremarkable, until the final stretch before exams, when they suddenly exploded into the top ranks like they'd activated a cheat code.
Absolutely baffling.
"I'm your older brother!"
Sasuke slapped Ryan's hand off his shoulder, once again emphasizing his status. Ryan had no idea why this kid was so obsessed with that detail.
Sasuke lowered his head, shoved his hands into his pockets, and quickened his pace, deliberately pulling ahead.
Just before reaching Fugaku, he spoke—either to encourage himself or to declare his resolve.
"I won't lose!"
"Ryan, I'll definitely catch up to you and nii-san!"
Fugaku's gaze lingered on Sasuke for a moment. He could tell the boy was under immense pressure.
But he said nothing.
Sometimes, pressure wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
"You two—come at me together."
Fugaku stood with his hands behind his back, motioning for both brothers to attack. Yet his eyes never once left Ryan.
It wasn't that he didn't care about Sasuke.
As a father, how could he not?
This was simply his way of pushing Sasuke a bit harder.
"Father, please be careful. I'm coming!"
Sasuke formed the Seal of Opposition, then swiftly drew kunai and shuriken from his ninja pouch and hurled them at Fugaku.
Ryan was far less polite.
The moment the fight began, he started circling around Fugaku, invisibly adding pressure just by his presence.
Sasuke's shuriken and kunai were thrown simultaneously, yet each followed a different trajectory through the air.
Their angles were vicious—aimed straight for Fugaku's throat, eyes, and lower vitals.
By then, Ryan had already moved behind his father.
Unlike Sasuke, he didn't strike immediately. Instead, he waited patiently, searching for the perfect moment to land a decisive blow.
The idea was simple—
Fatherly love and filial piety.
Fugaku didn't move an inch as the shuriken and kunai flew toward him.
He simply watched them approach.
They struck him squarely, making Sasuke's hands clench tightly in the distance as cold sweat formed on his palms.
But in the next instant—
Bang!
Fugaku's position exploded into smoke, and a wooden log clattered to the ground.
"Ryan, if you don't move now, you won't get another chance."
Fugaku's voice suddenly rang out behind him.
Ryan's body reacted instinctively. He twisted and lashed out with a sweeping kick toward the sound.
Fugaku raised an arm, blocking the strike with the back of his hand, then smoothly grabbed Ryan's ankle.
He began to comment mid-motion.
"Good reaction."
"But your strength is lacking."
Stepping back, Fugaku flung Ryan away with ease. At the same time, his hands began forming seals rapidly.
Sasuke's young voice rang out a beat earlier.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Blazing heat flooded the courtyard as a fireball over two meters wide shot straight toward Fugaku's face.
Ryan had once taught Sasuke certain tricks—one of them being to interrupt enemies before they could finish hand seals.
He'd also told him that shouting out technique names during combat made it easier for enemies to evade or counter.
But there was no helping it…
Sasuke's Great Fireball was finally halfway decent. This was the perfect moment to show off.
Not shouting it out in front of his father would've felt worse than death.
"Sasuke, remember this."
"Never show your Fire Release in front of an Uchiha—unless you're stronger than them."
Fugaku's eyes narrowed, three tomoe spinning into view.
He calmly formed seals of his own. Just as Sasuke's fireball reached him, he inhaled deeply and spat out an even larger flame, swallowing the smaller one whole and sending it roaring back toward Sasuke.
At that moment, a leg suddenly appeared in front of Fugaku—kicking straight for his face without warning.
The three tomoe in Fugaku's eyes rotated, the world slowing down around him.
He shifted his body slightly, narrowly dodging Ryan's attack, and once again caught the boy's leg.
This time, his grip tightened.
He was going to throw Ryan hard.
Opening his Sharingan, yet still charging in with pure taijutsu—
Did this kid really think he was one of the village's ninja dogs?
"Ryan! Did you learn shuriken and ninjutsu just to use them on village dogs?!"
Ryan's vision blurred as he was about to be slammed into the ground.
But at that instant, a strange image flashed before his eyes—
At the gate outside the Uchiha compound, a brown ninja dog lifted its hind leg, having steeled itself for a long-awaited pee to vent its lingering fear.
In the courtyard, with his father about to smash him into the ground, Ryan shut his eyes tight and shouted—
"What are you barking about?!"
...
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