The next morning, Ryosuke slowly opened his eyes in bed, stretching and cracking his joints. Remarkably, the pain he'd felt from yesterday's intense sparring was gone. Despite having been beaten black and blue, he had recovered quickly.
Honestly, with the extent of his injuries, such rapid healing shouldn't have been possible. But thanks to both his improved physical attributes and the Uchiha clan's exclusive medicinal salves, his recovery had been unusually fast. After all, the Uchiha were a prestigious clan—how could their treatments be anything ordinary?
After a quick wash-up, Ryosuke sat in the living room to clear his head, already planning to seek out Might Guy for another round of beatings. His face even showed a glint of anticipation.
Just then, a petite figure ran into the room.
"Ryosuke-nii! I heard you got beat up badly yesterday, so I brought some fruit to check in on you!"
It was Uchiha Izumi—small and cute—who plopped down beside him and placed a basket of fruit on the low table.
Ryosuke gave her a puzzled look. "Aren't you supposed to be in school today? Don't skip class just to visit me."
Izumi pouted. "Nii-san, it's the weekend. The Academy is off today."
Seeing her expression, Ryosuke was overwhelmed with affection. What a sweet and adorable little lady. It'd be a tragedy for someone like her to die young. He couldn't help but reach out and gently pinch her cheeks.
Izumi froze in surprise. For a moment, she didn't dodge at all as Ryosuke playfully kneaded her soft cheeks, causing her face to flush red.
Ryosuke-nii, how could you treat a proper young lady like this?
And yet... she found it oddly comforting.
As Ryosuke marveled at Izumi's cuteness, he couldn't help but think of another iconic beauty—Hyuga Hinata. As a child, Hinata had also been petite and delicate, only to blossom into a stunning, well-endowed woman as an adult.
So what was better—petite and adorable, or tall and curvy?
Why not both?
Maybe his true mission in this life was to protect girls like Izumi from tragic fates. He had to grow stronger. Losing such beautiful lives would be a loss for the entire shinobi world.
After a while, Izumi's cheeks began to ache. She finally spoke up with a small complaint. "Ryosuke-nii, you're so mean! Anyway, I'll leave the fruit here. Make sure to eat properly and take care of yourself."
She left quickly, cheeks pink and voice sweet.
Ryosuke watched her go, slightly reluctant. Adorable, sweet, and thoughtful—she even washed the fruit. He was growing more fond of her with each passing day.
Later, at a familiar ramen stand, Ryosuke downed a quick breakfast. Ramen was clean and convenient—better than cooking. After refueling, he wandered the streets in search of Guy.
Eventually, near the outskirts of the village, he found Might Guy running with Rock Lee.
Guy spotted Ryosuke and waved, smiling broadly.
"Your recovery seems fast! The bruises on your face have faded quite a bit."
Ryosuke smiled back. "Yeah, that's thanks to my clan's medicinal salve. It really sped things up."
Guy nodded. "We're just finishing up 20 laps around the village."
Then, with surprising seriousness, he asked, "Ryosuke, can I buy some of that salve from you? Lee and I focus heavily on taijutsu. We train hard, and it's rough on the body. That kind of recovery aid would help us immensely."
For most Uchiha, Guy wouldn't even consider asking. They'd likely scoff or refuse. But Ryosuke felt different—humble, open-minded.
Ryosuke was happy to oblige. "No problem. I can give you some. If you need more, I'll check with my grandfather."
After all, he had gained physical stat boosts just from sparring with Guy. Their continued friendship might even lead to learning the Eight Gates. A bit of medicine was a small price to pay.
Guy shook his head earnestly. "No, I can't just take it for free. It's too valuable. Let me pay you. Lee and I will probably use it often—we train daily."
As taijutsu users, they had no choice. Without constant training, their strength would fade. Physical discipline had to be maintained consistently.
Ryosuke relented. "Alright, I'll check if we have more to sell."
Then he asked, "Since you're training… mind if I join you?"
If getting beat up boosted his stats, maybe training to the point of exhaustion would too. He didn't want to be pushy by directly asking for a sparring session again, especially since Guy was mid-run with Lee.
Both Guy and Lee looked surprised.
After all, almost no other shinobi in Konoha trained like them. Most dismissed their methods as weird or ineffective. They were often the butt of jokes.
Guy hesitated. "Are you sure? Running with us might hurt the Uchiha clan's reputation."
After all, even a friendly spar with Guy had brought the Uchiha Police to intervene. Public physical training like this was seen as "unorthodox." Why waste time on taijutsu when you could polish ninjutsu?
Ryosuke just grinned. "It's fine. My grandfather is Uchiha Jin, the clan's elder. The Police can't touch me."
Guy was surprised. Another big-name grandson, just like Kakashi of the Hatake clan. He hadn't expected another elite to reach out to him like this.
A wide smile spread across his face. "Alright! If you don't mind, I certainly don't!"