Ryosuke's punch hadn't even used his full strength—just a solid blow to teach the other a lesson.
After all, they were of the same clan. There was no need to go too far.
Even the onlooking Uchiha clansmen were shocked.
Ryosuke hadn't fallen under Inoka's genjutsu, which left only one explanation.
The power of the Sharingan determined the strength of one's illusions. That meant Ryosuke's ocular power was above Inoka's. But how could that be?
Ryosuke had only just awakened his three-tomoe Sharingan, while Inoka had possessed his for at least a year or two.
At this moment, Inoka climbed back to his feet. He knew Ryosuke had held back, that the punch was only meant to hurt, not cripple. But what enraged him even more was that he had lost—to someone who had only just awakened his three-tomoe Sharingan. It felt like a dream, his eyes filled with disbelief as he demanded,
"How did you not fall into my genjutsu? That's impossible—your ocular power can't be higher than mine!"
Ryosuke countered calmly.
"Who said my ocular power isn't greater than yours?"
Inoka was speechless. He studied Ryosuke's Sharingan more closely.
And then he saw it—Ryosuke's eyes burned even redder than his own, glowing with an ominous crimson light.
He was stunned. Ryosuke was absolutely a prodigy.
To surpass him immediately upon awakening the three-tomoe Sharingan—it was terrifying. Could it be that Ryosuke's true talent was only just beginning to show?
There were indeed some people whose gifts remained hidden early on, only to explode forth in youth or adulthood. Perhaps Ryosuke was such a case.
Understanding this, Inoka no longer wallowed in the shame of defeat. Instead, he felt relieved. Because the relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha's leadership was worsening by the day, he couldn't believe reconciliation was possible.
The village's upper ranks were increasingly hostile, even forcing the Uchiha into the outskirts of the village.
They even slandered the clan by blaming them for the Nine-Tails' attack.
They allowed baseless rumors from the villagers to spread unchecked.
As an elite jōnin of the clan, Inoka knew better than anyone that no one in the Uchiha possessed the ability to control the Nine-Tails.
If he himself couldn't, then how could anyone else in the clan?
What made matters worse was that the clan's two greatest geniuses, Shisui Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha—one of them the clan leader's son—had joined the Hokage's Anbu. That was nothing less than helping outsiders suppress their own blood.
The betrayal stung deeply.
But now, another genius had emerged.
Ryosuke was already this strong. If he learned the clan's advanced genjutsu, with ocular power stronger than his own, then Ryosuke would be another genius to rival Shisui Uchiha.
Inoka even felt a sudden urge to recruit Ryosuke into the radicals.
Because he knew the moderates' talk of peaceful dialogue with the village was useless.
He could feel the deep-seated hatred Konoha's upper ranks held for the Uchiha.
Under mounting pressure, Clan Head Fugaku Uchiha chose to retreat again and again.
That only encouraged the Hokage's faction to push harder.
But if they could draw Ryosuke in—perhaps even win over the Great Elder through him—the radicals' strength would surge.
They could even pressure Fugaku to change course, to stop retreating in the face of Konoha's oppression, and instead confront them head-on.
To restore the clan's pride.
And the radicals already had a leader: the clan's Eighth Elder.
But before anything, he would need to report this to him.
Ryosuke, of course, had no idea what Inoka was plotting in his heart. He still had training to finish and didn't want them lingering around, getting in the way.
"All of you, leave. Don't get in my way again. And stop looking down on Guy just because he's only a chūnin."
After his display, naturally no one dared to argue further.
Just a month ago, his taijutsu had been so weak he couldn't have matched them. Yet now, he was beyond their reach.
The Uchiha revered strength. None of them would trouble Ryosuke again.
He hadn't brought shame to the clan at all—instead, he had grown stronger.
Some even began to think that if Guy had earned Ryosuke's respect, then Guy must truly have something extraordinary.
Once they were gone, Ryosuke resumed his training, not overly proud of having used the Eight Gates to teach them a lesson.
After all, his real enemies weren't his clansmen.
They were those two traitors, and the so-called leaders of Konoha.
The true path forward was to keep growing stronger.