Meaning the protagonist's has a rival that is obsessed with beating the protagonist but the protagonist doesn't even know they are rivals but keeps beating them anyway.

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[–] 7 points 1 day ago

There was a character like this in the excellent Love After World Domination. It isn't a primary plot point, but there was at least one episode that had it as a focus. Spoilers below:

Short summaryThe green hero character, Daigo, initially is training alongside the FMC, Desumi. She looks up to him as a master-type character, but doesn't realize that she is actually way, way stronger than he is. Whenever they spar, she beats the crap out of him, but interprets it as he is too kind to hurt his disciple. Meanwhile...Daigo has trained his ass off and gotten the super-transforming suit to try to catch up to her and prove his worth.

Another series that has the dynamic you describe is One-Punch Man. Spoiler below:

One-Punch ManSpeed-o'-Sound Sonic views Saitama as his rival...meanwhile I question whether Saitama can even remember Sonic's name.

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