"Hahaha—!"
Deidara couldn't help but collapse to the ground, clutching his stomach in laughter. "Sasori, he actually thought you were a Pokémon! Hahaha! I'm dying here!"
Sasori's face darkened, a visible storm of killing intent radiating from him as he glared at Jiraiya.
He was seething inside. A Pokémon? Seriously?
You're the damn Pokémon. Your whole family's Pokémon.
"Ahem—"
Jiraiya finally caught on, glancing apologetically at the two. "Well, uh… it's a misunderstanding. Honest mistake. The name just sounded like a Pokémon's."
"Sasori" sounded like something animal-related, and in the back mountains, if it had to do with animals, it was probably a Pokémon. After all, there were Pokémon with "scorpion" in their names…
"Jiraiya, calm down. This might all just be a misunderstanding," Tsunade said as she finally arrived, frowning.
She stepped beside Jiraiya and, sensing Sasori's murderous intent, grew more serious.
Jiraiya scratched his head and explained awkwardly, "It was a mistake. Sasori's a person, not a Pokémon."
Sasori's face turned even darker at the repeat of that word. Deidara started laughing again uncontrollably.
With a cold glare at Deidara, Sasori looked back at Jiraiya and said darkly, "Jiraiya… I'll remember this."
Then he turned and left.
"Sasori! Wait for me! You haven't accepted my challenge yet—let's have a battle!"
Deidara quickly got up and ran after him, no longer laughing.
Tsunade shot Jiraiya a look of pure exasperation. "Embarrassed now?"
Jiraiya nodded. "Yeah… pretty embarrassed."
"Idiot."
With that, Tsunade also turned and walked off, clearly fed up. She couldn't understand why he couldn't think things through first.
Would Ryo really have told them to go capture Pokémon up here if it wasn't safe? Didn't he consider that others might also be aware of any dangers?
Shizune glanced at Jiraiya, wanting to say something, but ended up just sighing and following Tsunade.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Wait—wait for me!"
Tsunade didn't respond, her eyes still heavy with concern as they walked on. Those two men just now… she could tell they weren't ordinary.
She had never seen them before, and clearly, neither had Jiraiya. Which meant—they weren't from the Leaf.
Dangerous individuals showing up inside the village like this—how could she not be on edge?
"I'll have to ask Ryo about this later."
If they were here, then Ryo would surely know something.
With that in mind, she continued looking for a Pokémon to capture.
…
Back at the Pokémon House, Ryo looked at the four standing in front of him and nodded with satisfaction. "Starting today, you four will be managing the shop. I'll teach you in the mornings. For the next two months, you'll split into two teams—two of you handle the shop, the other two will watch the mountain. Rotate shifts."
The four members of the Akatsuki twitched at the corners of their mouths, staring at Ryo in disbelief.
Just a short while ago, they were all feared S-Class rogue ninjas. Now, they were… retail workers?
The fall from grace was dizzying.
"What? Got a problem with that?"
Ryo's eyes narrowed at their hesitation.
The four quickly shook their heads. "No, boss."
Ryo nodded. "Good. Then observe for now."
With reluctant nods, they sighed and moved off to the side.
"Boss, we're back!"
Just then, a loud voice rang from the entrance, followed by the sound of the door opening as three people walked in.
"Oh, you're back? So? Any luck?"
Tsunade and Shizune both smiled slightly and nodded—obviously, they had captured Pokémon.
But when Tsunade noticed the four Akatsuki nearby, she frowned and turned to Ryo. "Boss, who are these people? Aren't you going to introduce them?"
Jiraiya's eyes also turned toward them, surprise flashing across his face.
"These are the employees I hired. You've seen them before, haven't you?" Ryo replied casually.
Sasori couldn't hold back and muttered, "Seen them? Oh, I remember very clearly."
"Hahaha—" Jiraiya chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, seen them… for sure…"
Ryo started to feel something was off. "Wait… what's going on with the atmosphere here?"
Before he could ask, Tsunade walked up to him and whispered, "Ryo, those people… they're not simple. Be careful."
Then she turned to Shizune and Jiraiya. "Let's go."
As the trio walked away, Ryo looked between them and the four Akatsuki, growing even more confused.
What the hell just happened?
Why couldn't anyone just explain things to him?
He turned to the four. "Did something just happen?"
Deidara looked like he wanted to speak, but after catching Sasori's expression, decided against it.
With no answers, Ryo could only sigh and slump onto the couch.
It wasn't long before new customers arrived, pulling Ryo back from his thoughts. He shifted into host mode, greeting the guests while explaining where everything was to the four newcomers.
Before they knew it, it was already noon.
At Gardevoir's call, everyone gathered around the backyard dining table.
"Ryo, why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong?" he asked as soon as he sat down, instantly sensing an icy gaze directed at him.
"Why did you take Hoopa to the casino?" Cynthia demanded. "Is that how you teach him?"
Ryo blinked in confusion. "Who said I took him there?"
Cynthia pointed directly at Hoopa. "Hoopa already confessed. Who else could it have been?"
Ryo's mouth twitched, and he turned to look at Hoopa in disbelief.
Hoopa, having just heard Cynthia's words, turned to him and nodded cheerfully. "That's right! Ryo took Hoopa to the casino! It was super fun! Hoopa loves going with Ryo. Can we go again? Every day would be even better!"
Ryo stared at the increasingly furious Cynthia, feeling the corner of his mouth tug uncontrollably.
Inwardly, he screamed, Thanks a lot, Hoopa. Seriously, thanks…
Looking back at Cynthia with a bitter smile, he asked, "Cynthia… if I said this wasn't my fault, would you believe me?"
"Heh—"
Cynthia's cold laugh and sharp look gave him a very clear answer.
Ryo sighed and stopped trying to explain.
The table went quiet after that, and the group began to eat their lunch in tense silence.
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