Ryosuke's provocation wasn't just for show—he deliberately enraged the Cloud delegation, hoping they would truly launch an attack on Konoha.
Truthfully, he didn't want this conflict to fizzle out.
After all, his father was killed by Kumogakure shinobi.
He may have never met him, but Ryosuke had inherited the memories of this world's original host, and knew well that his parents looked almost identical to his parents from his previous life.
This wasn't just political—it was personal revenge.
As expected, his final mocking words deeply angered Samui, the envoy from the Cloud. She turned back with fire in her eyes to look at Ryosuke, whose face bore a mocking smirk.
Such audacity!
To openly taunt Kumogakure like that—even if he was from the Uchiha clan, he had no right. Prestige or not, no clan could stand alone against an entire Hidden Village.
Besides, the Uchiha weren't what they used to be. Their past glory had long since faded.
Still, she ground her teeth and snapped coldly,
"I'll be sure to relay your words to the Fourth Raikage. We'll see each other on the battlefield."
Knowing the Fourth's temperament, there was no chance this insult would go unanswered.
With that, Samui and her squad turned and stormed out of the Hyuga compound—not wanting to spend another second in Konoha.
The Third Hokage, standing nearby, now had an even clearer impression of Uchiha Ryosuke.
This young man had stirred the flames of war.
It was as if the Uchiha of the past—so fierce, so domineering—had returned.
Ryosuke, he thought, had the same dangerous charisma and extreme ideology as Madara Uchiha.
Back then, Madara and Hashirama had their falling out precisely because of different visions for the village.
Now Ryosuke had openly challenged Kumogakure, pushing them into war.
There was no way the Fourth Raikage would back down after being publicly humiliated.
Still, the Third Hokage wasn't worried anymore—he wouldn't be fighting on the frontlines.
He spoke calmly,
"Since you're so determined, then when war comes, I'll leave it to the Uchiha and Hyuga to handle."
He then rose to leave. Such a dangerous man was better off dying on the battlefield.
The Fourth Raikage was a powerful shinobi—a Kage-level fighter, and just slightly weaker than Hiruzen himself.
But that was more than enough to eliminate someone like Ryosuke.
As for the Hyuga clan? If they wouldn't side with the Hokage, they could sacrifice themselves too.
Hiashi Hyuga said nothing as the Hokage left. But in his heart, he harbored deep resentment.
If the Hokage hadn't proposed sacrificing someone to appease the Cloud, his younger brother wouldn't have almost died.
Once the Hokage was gone, Hiashi turned toward Ryosuke.
Even though Ryosuke had technically saved them, his taunting words to Kumogakure had been excessive and reckless.
The Hyuga never wanted war either. Their plan had been to use the combined deterrent of Uchiha and Hyuga prestige to scare the Cloud into backing off.
But now, that hope was gone.
There was no way the Fourth Raikage would ignore such direct provocation.
Even if Kumogakure had been the aggressor in the first place.
Hiashi sighed, finally speaking:
"Uchiha Ryosuke… thank you. But don't you think you went too far?"
"Your words may have truly provoked a full-scale war."
Ryosuke, however, remained unconcerned.
"Even if I hadn't said anything, do you really think the Cloud wouldn't have attacked?"
"This shinobi world has always been ruled by fists, not words."
"Besides, Konoha has already suffered heavily from years of war. But you think the Cloud hasn't?"
"Relax—even if war comes, it won't be as large-scale as the last few Shinobi Wars."
"Unless, of course, they intend to wipe us off the map."
Hiashi's heart eased slightly.
Maybe Ryosuke was right. Maybe the Cloud wouldn't bring their entire force over something like this.
Ryosuke turned to leave. He had skipped training that day just to attend the negotiations.
With the matter resolved (or rather, ignited), it was time to return to his regimen.
Once he was gone, Hiashi finally turned to Hizashi.
He looked at him sternly.
"Don't you ever do something that stupid again."
"You're not just a branch member—you're my brother."
"If you die, how am I supposed to explain it to Neji?"
Hizashi couldn't argue.
He had always assumed his brother viewed him only as a servant of the main family. But now…
Now he realized Hiashi truly cared.
He had been selfish.
If he had died, what would become of Neji, still just a child?
"I was wrong," Hizashi whispered.
Hiashi's face softened.
"As long as you understand. Don't be reckless again."
Later That Afternoon…
The news of the broken peace talks with Kumogakure spread like wildfire across Konoha.
The villagers were deeply disappointed—no one wanted war.
And when they heard the reason behind the collapse, they were even angrier:
Apparently, it was the Uchiha Clan who had sabotaged the negotiations.
"The Uchiha again?"
"Those damn troublemakers!"
"What benefit is there to war for them?!"
But even though they were angry, no one dared confront the Uchiha.
After all, they ran the Konoha Military Police.
Many villagers still remembered what happened to those who had tried to go up against the Uchiha in the past—arrested and imprisoned.
No one wanted to land in jail for opening their mouth.
Meanwhile, Ryosuke was home training, pushing himself to master the Fifth Gate—The Gate of Limit—of the Eight Inner Gates technique.
With his current physique, if he could open the Fifth Gate, he might even rival Might Guy in his Seventh Gate.
After all, his body was much stronger than Guy's.
If he achieved that level of strength early, he'd be close to invincible in the early arcs of the story.
Especially with major threats like Pain's assault on Konoha and the revival of Uchiha Madara not far off.
Even now, if war broke out between the Uchiha and Kumogakure, he wouldn't fear the Fourth Raikage with his current Four-Gate level strength.
But if he unlocked the Fifth Gate, he could crush the Raikage outright.
Just as he was deep into his training, his grandfather entered the room.
He had come to report two things:
The rumors spreading around the village—that the Uchiha had ruined the peace talks.
And that the Uchiha Clan had summoned an emergency clan meeting to discuss Ryosuke's actions.
Even his grandfather, usually his staunchest supporter, was angry.
This wasn't just Ryosuke's personal matter anymore—it affected the entire clan.
If the higher-ups decided to punish him, even his grandfather—the Eighth Elder—might not be able to protect him.
The old man asked sternly,
"Ryosuke, why would you do something like this?"
Ryosuke answered calmly.
"I had a reason."
"Hasn't the village already heard the rumor that a Cloud envoy tried to abduct Hinata, and was killed outside the Hyuga compound?"
"What?!"
The elder's face turned pale.
"No… there's been no such news at all."
That confirmed Ryosuke's suspicion.
Clearly, someone had leaked only part of the story, just enough to stir public anger against the Uchiha.
And it wasn't Shimura Danzo—the timeline was too tight for him to have reacted and manipulated public opinion that quickly.
Nor was it the Hyuga. The rumors left out key details—like the attempted kidnapping.
Which left only one suspect.
The Third Hokage.
He had the motive—and the means—to shape public opinion quickly.
Ryosuke frowned and sat down. Since things had already escalated, he decided to tell his grandfather everything that had happened in full detail.
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