"Have you thought it through?"
Oda Ieyasu stared at Ryosuke across the tea table.
Oda Ieyasu had long since relinquished the authority and responsibilities of a daimyo, but as a companion who had accompanied Ryosuke all the way to this point, his management abilities were recognized by everyone, and he was naturally entrusted with important duties in the Human Federation.
Today was a rare day off for him. He had already made plans with little Hideyoshi to attend the fireworks festival together after work.
Because of that, he had even put on a cartoon jacket printed with Kamen Rider.
Unexpectedly, just as he set out, unrest broke out inside Kyoto City. He immediately rushed back to take charge, deploy manpower, and protect the city's residents.
After being busy nonstop, he did not even have time to change his clothes.
Oda Ieyasu had no spare energy to care about his attire at all. He fixed his gaze tightly on Ryosuke's eyes and said in an extremely serious manner, "Once you go out there and die..."
He lightly tapped the documents on the table.
"Everything we've worked for these past years will be completely ruined."
Abolishing the daimyo system, transforming private ownership into collective ownership, and transferring as many benefits as possible to ordinary people… all of these things sounded good and were currently progressing steadily.
But the key problem boiled down to four words, 'The foundation is unstable.'
These changes would need years, even decades, to slowly digest the hidden dangers that would emerge from them.
There would be many conflicts during this process. To deal with these conflicts, the Anhilation Army, Sasuke, Terumi Mei, Mayuri… these companions who had followed Ryosuke all along would inevitably have to head to the front lines.
They would eliminate conflicts, but they would also be affected by them.
If Ryosuke were to die in the outside world, the current situation might hold for three years, five years, but it would not last thirty years, fifty years, or even...
"I'll put it bluntly."
Oda Ieyasu said, "When that time comes, once war breaks out, a lot of people will die."
"A lot, a lot of people."
Ryosuke understood what Oda Ieyasu meant.
With Ryosuke's combat power, in the Naruto world there was basically no need to worry about life and death.
But the JOJO world was different.
From the perspective of physical combat power, Stand users in the JOJO world could not be compared with ninjas at all, but there were far too many rule-based monsters.
The simplest example, the alley you cannot turn back from.
Once you're caught by it, even Ryosuke might not be able to withstand it.
Using the Saint's Corpse to travel between worlds was not the same as a trial mission. If you died, it was not something that could be solved by consuming an Ascension Star Core, you would truly die.
Moreover, Ryosuke still had to consider one more issue, the flow of time.
Think about how long it had been since Ryosuke returned from the Steel Ball Run world.
All told, it had been about three months.
And according to Hot Pants's account, less than two days after the SBR race ended, Dio and Father Pucci had come looking for her. Later, when traveling between different worlds, it only took another day or two.
The total time, no matter how you counted it, was less than five days.
Five days versus three months.
The time ratio clearly did not match.
Even if Ryosuke truly became invincible and killed Dio.
What if, after returning, he discovered that dozens of years had passed in the Naruto world, the world was once again thrown into chaos, and all his friends had died in battle… what then?
The risks and pros and cons were things Ryosuke had already thought through clearly, even without Oda Ieyasu saying them.
But...
"Sorry, I still have to make this trip."
Oda Ieyasu weakly pressed a hand to his forehead.
He knew it would be like this.
From the very first day the two of them met, Oda Ieyasu had realized that Ryosuke was someone who was easy to talk to most of the time.
But once he looked someone in the eyes and spoke a decision seriously, it was absolutely impossible to change.
Ryosuke picked up the teapot and poured tea for Oda Ieyasu, patiently explaining, "I have two reasons why I must go."
"First, I can feel that this is misfortune locked onto me. There's no escaping it, only facing it. If Hot Pants can come over, then the enemy can come over as well."
After obtaining the Saint's Corpse, Ryosuke had vaguely sensed the connection between the two worlds.
For Dio to come over, the price he would have to pay was far greater, and far more time-consuming, than traveling within the JOJO world itself, such as going from Steel Ball Run to Morioh.
Dio was someone who was very flamboyant and arrogant in words, but extremely cautious and meticulous in action.
Even after beating an enemy to severe injury, he would lie on the ground listening for their heartbeat, fully displaying the wisdom of an old man.
Dio might send out advance forces, but for him to personally lead an army to the Naruto world, it would certainly be after he had completely taken control of the JOJO world.
Not going now would be giving Dio time to purge his own internal issues. Once everything was arranged, what Ryosuke would have to face would be an endless stream of Stand users.
Ryosuke wanted to take care of things in advance.
After listening, Oda Ieyasu pondered for a long time, then slowly nodded.
He accepted this reason.
"And the second reason?" Oda Ieyasu asked.
"The second reason…"
Dio knew that Ryosuke possessed the ability to stop time.
So here was the question.
How did Dio know?
When had Ryosuke ever used time stop in front of Dio?
There was only one answer.
The Star Platinum trial mission.
During that trial, Ryosuke controlled Star Platinum and used extremely high speed to perform a fleeting "instant" of time stop, forcibly dragging the escaping Dio back into the blazing flames of the gas station. With fists coated in gasoline and fire, he completely killed Dio.
That was the only time Ryosuke and Dio had ever met.
Combined with Hot Pants's appearance, she retained her memories of Ryosuke, and recalling that when he had contact with Joseph Joestar, Joseph had repeatedly mentioned that he seemed to know Ryosuke,
From this, Ryosuke deduced a conclusion.
The worlds of trial missions were not disposable "instances" that ended once used. The memories from trial missions could circulate between different worlds.
Dio could remember Ryosuke.
Hot Pants could come to the Naruto world.
What about the others?
Jotaro, Koichi, Kishibe Rohan, who fought side by side in Morioh…
Joseph and Stroheim, who helped Ryosuke kill Kars…
And then Hot Pants, Johnny, Gyro, Lucy…
They were all teammates who had fought alongside Ryosuke.
"…If I didn't know, that would be one thing. But knowing they might be in danger, I have to go and take a look."
Ryosuke said, "That's the second reason."
Oda Ieyasu remained silent for a full ten seconds. Then he took a deep breath, placed both hands on his knees, straightened his back, and his gaze suddenly became sharp, "I understand. Leave the matters of this world to me. I promise you, before I die, the world will not fall into chaos."
Such simple words, spoken from his mouth, carried tremendous weight. Even the Kamen Rider jacket he was wearing seemed as formal and solemn as ceremonial attire.
"I suggest that before you depart, you go see the Great Toad Sage and have him take a look at the future for you."
Ryosuke nodded.
Oda Ieyasu continued, "Also, who do you plan to take with you?"