The next morning, after finishing breakfast, Ryo left the Pokémon Home with Cynthia and several Pokémon, under the resentful stares of the Akatsuki members.
"Alright, no need to see us off. It's not like we won't be back. Just head on in—we'll drop by every few days," Ryo said, waving at them.
The corners of the Akatsuki members' mouths twitched again at that.
That tone… was he serious?
It wasn't him they were reluctant to part with—it was Gardevoir!
"We're off. Take care of the shop," Ryo added, then turned with Cynthia and the Pokémon, heading toward the center of Konoha.
This time, they wouldn't be staying in the village for a while. It was only right to let Tsunade know in advance.
After all, Tsunade would often come to the Pokémon Home to visit Cynthia or Hoopa for no particular reason.
Watching them leave, the Akatsuki members weakly raised their arms to wave goodbye.
As their figures disappeared, Deidara glanced sideways at the others. "Should we talk about… who's gonna cook now?"
The three others slowly averted their eyes.
Fighting? Sure, easy. But cooking?
That was a whole different story—none of them had ever even tried.
"…So are we just not going to eat anymore?" Deidara asked, lip twitching again.
The others sighed in unison, their expressions clouded with confusion.
Never in their lives had they imagined that S-rank rogue ninjas—powerhouses at Kage-level—would one day worry about something as mundane as meals.
"…Should we hire someone?" Kisame finally suggested after a pause.
Sasori glanced at him. "Do you still have any money?"
"Uhh—"
Silence.
Yeah… kind of a crucial detail. None of them really had any money left.
They couldn't carry cash on missions, and let's be honest, Akatsuki wasn't exactly known for paying salaries.
Whatever funds they had saved up had mostly been spent during the last Pokémon-taming campaign.
Without Ryo covering the cost of the energy cubes, they probably wouldn't even be able to afford raising their Pokémon.
"…Guess we should learn to cook ourselves," Itachi finally said, glancing at the others.
That idea made their eyelids twitch, but they reluctantly nodded.
"If I'd known this day was coming, I'd have taken a page from Kakuzu's book and hunted down a few bounties," Kisame muttered regretfully. He never cared much about money before, but now? Yeah, he got it.
Sasori and Deidara nodded in agreement. If only they'd paid just a bit more attention to finances…
"Alright, enough regrets. Let's figure out who's going to do the cooking," Itachi said, cutting them off.
Everyone turned to stare at him.
Itachi's eyes twitched. "…Me?"
The others nodded.
"Yeah," Sasori confirmed. "You've got the Sharingan, don't you? You can mimic what you see. Head into Konoha and study the chefs."
"I support that," Kisame added.
"You got this, Itachi," Deidara chimed in.
Before he could say another word, they'd all vanished back into the Pokémon Home, leaving him behind.
Itachi's mouth twisted. "Sigh…"
Guess he didn't have a choice. He shook his head, gave up arguing, and headed back toward the main building.
…
Elsewhere, at that same moment—
Ryo had arrived at the Hokage Building with Cynthia and a few Pokémon.
Without wasting time, he walked straight inside and knocked on the office door.
"Come in," came Tsunade's voice from within.
He opened the door and stepped in with Cynthia.
"Ryo? Cynthia? Didn't expect to see you here. Something going on?" Tsunade asked, visibly surprised.
"Long time no see, Shizune," Ryo greeted with a smile instead of answering right away.
Shizune nodded in response.
Then Ryo turned to Tsunade. "Nothing major. Cynthia and I are heading out for a while—just thought we should let you know."
"Heading out?" Tsunade blinked. "Where to?"
"No idea," Ryo replied. "We'll just go wherever the road takes us."
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Right… and how long will you be gone this time?"
Ryo shrugged again. "Can't say for sure. Depends on how things go."
"Sigh—"
Tsunade let out a long breath. "Alright then."
Still, she couldn't hide the sense of loss in her heart. It felt like everyone she was close to in the village was slowly leaving.
Cynthia noticed the faint sorrow on Tsunade's face and offered a small smile. "Tsunade, Ryo and I will come back every few days to rest. When we do, I'll bring Hoopa and Diancie to visit you."
Tsunade nodded. "Alright."
She didn't say anything more. After a brief chat, they left the Hokage's office.
As they strolled through the streets of Konoha, Cynthia glanced around and murmured, "Ryo, doesn't the main street feel unusually quiet today? Like there aren't many people around."
"Yeah," Ryo replied, nodding slowly. He was puzzled too.
The two of them weren't in a hurry, walking leisurely in the direction of the village gates.
Along the way, they took the time to observe the surrounding streets.
It had to be said—Pokémon had brought huge changes to the village.
As they walked down the road, they would occasionally see Pokémon wandering the streets.
Some of them were even wearing clothes—ranging from traditional garb to modern attire.
At one point, Ryo felt like he'd stepped into a Pokémon world instead of the Hidden Leaf.
Eventually, they arrived at the village gate.
Cynthia glanced back toward it. "So… we're really out."
Ryo nodded. "Yeah. We're out. Come on, let's get going."
With that, the two of them, accompanied by a few Pokémon, vanished into the distance.
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