Chapter 223. Encounter on the Road

Chapter 223. Encounter on the Road

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"Is this really the Land of Rain?"

"Yes, it is. The weather's actually pretty nice today." Yuto nodded, lifting his head to look at the somewhat bright sky. Looks like it will be a good day~

Sunny and bright!

He turned his head and glanced at the girl next to him, who had more or less recovered. She was wearing a long dress similar to her original one—an orange top and a red skirt—that accentuated her graceful figure.

It was probably something Kana had specially prepared.

At the moment—

Hyuga Hanabi.

She was standing there, looking confused at her surroundings in the Land of Rain.

The changes in the Land of Rain were quite noticeable. Even Yuto had been a little surprised when he first saw them.

"Although it's not raining yet, this is definitely the Land of Rain."

However—

Even after he said that, the confusion in Hyuga Hanabi's eyes hadn't faded.

So—

Did Hanzo of the Salamander once have a good relationship with the Akatsuki?

And Pain of the Six Paths… hadn't ended up in a wheelchair yet.

And the Angel of the Land of Rain was still just an innocent little girl.

Could this really be the Infinite Tsukuyomi?

A world where everything is perfect and peaceful?

Then…

Who created this illusion for her, and how was she supposed to get out of it?

Hanabi still hadn't forgotten that cheerful Hanzo of the Salamander, wearing a gas mask, who had casually walked in earlier and invited Yuto to join him on some kind of "dungeon run."

There were rumors that Hanzo, as one of the senior figures of the ninja world, had a soft spot for talented young ninjas. But in his later years… there had been several incidents where he betrayed people's trust.

If that was true… according to Konoha's old intelligence, he should have already started taking steps to eliminate the Akatsuki by now.

Could it be that Amegakure and the Akatsuki were once on good terms but eventually turned against each other for some reason?

But what exactly was this "dungeon run"?

[It doesn't exist… or rather, it's information that Konoha didn't have!]

Her confusion deepened even more.

But for now, at least, she seemed safe.

Just as Hanabi was starting to relax and was about to ask more about this place, hoping to gather useful information—

Suddenly—

Her expression froze as she stared ahead, raising her hand to point at something. Then she turned toward Yuto and asked, "What… is that?"

"What?" Yuto was puzzled and followed the direction of her finger.

In that direction…

A little girl was hugging an orange-red chubby fox plushie with a happy look on her face. When she squeezed it, it let out a soft "ying~ ying~ ying~" sound.

Oh, that's what it was!

Yuto nodded in realization, then said as a matter of course, "That's one of the best-selling dolls in the ninja world—the Talking Nine-Tails. Kids love it! What? You want one?"

"…"

No, I already have one at home. It's limited edition too. But… it definitely didn't make that sound.

The problem was—

That was after the Fourth Ninja World War!

After the Seventh Hokage had influenced the Tailed Beasts to join forces and fight alongside the villages against their enemies, showing everyone that Tailed Beasts weren't actually scary!

But now—

What the hell is going on here?

"That's a Tailed Beast! And it's the Nine-Tails!"

"I know." Yuto gave her a puzzled look, as if he didn't understand why she was so nervous. "He just has a bad gambling habit. When he loses, he uses chakra to threaten others. He also likes to save face and brag all the time. Haven't you seen [Dark Child]? This is just official merchandise from that."

"…"

What the heck is that?

Nine-Tails is gambling?!

Hanabi's mouth twitched. But after a brief moment of thought, she calmed herself and said with a straight face, "Sorry, I… forgot."

Now she was even more convinced—this had to be some kind of Infinite Tsukuyomi world.

Which meant—there was no need to worry about her actions affecting this world.

But still—

How was she supposed to get out of here?

She sighed inwardly.

[It seems like I'm still missing some information.]

Maybe she should check out that so-called [Dark Child]…

And—

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I'll need to visit Konoha too."

After saying that—

Thinking about this strange world, her curiosity was piqued.

After all, this world seemed… quite interesting.

"Yuto Milk Tea? That name…"

"That's actually one of my businesses. The Yuto BBQ next door is mine too."

"I didn't realize you were so rich!"

"It's just a little money!" Yuto smiled modestly, noticing that Hanabi seemed hesitant. He immediately understood that the system's ability to draw in customers was at play.

But—

She probably wanted to try it but felt too embarrassed to ask.

Too bad—

White Zetsu wasn't around.

Ever since that explosion last time, White Zetsu had vanished without a trace. Yuto had no idea where he'd gone.

Otherwise, he could have sold a few more cups.

He walked inside and casually bought two cups. Even though it was his own store, this wasn't inside Konoha, so he still had to pay for his drinks. After all, if they allowed "face-based" discounts… if someone could just transform into him, wouldn't they be able to eat and dine for free every day?

Next—

As promised… he took her for a walk around the area.

Originally, it was supposed to be Konan or Kana who would take her out. But as the third-in-command of the Akatsuki, Konan was pretty busy, and Kana… still had unfinished experiments to complete.

On the contrary, the leader of the Land of Rain… was hopelessly addicted to the internet all day long!

He's fallen!

Soon enough—

After a brief stroll, Hyuga Hanabi sipped her milk tea, clearly still wanting more. "It's really good!"

Along the way, she had seen many Akatsuki members—ones she had only known about from Konoha's intelligence reports.

But the original Akatsuki members… all died later!

Thinking about that, she sighed inwardly. And then, as if something suddenly came to mind, she lifted her head and stared at Yuto with a serious expression.

Suddenly—

Before Yuto could even react—

Hanabi instantly dropped her milk tea, pulled Yuto behind her with a sharp expression, and said seriously, "Enemy attack! Quick! Retreat!"

As soon as she finished speaking—

"???"

What's going on?!

Before Yuto could even process the situation, Hanabi swiftly pulled out several kunai and—

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

With a sharp cutting sound, the kunai shot toward the target ahead.

Then, her voice turned cold. "Masked man… Uchiha Obito—"

Before she could finish her sentence—

"Ow! Damn it! I'm wearing a mask! Who the hell threw those kunai?!"

An angry shout—

Immediately caught Yuto's attention—

…

A little earlier.

After completing a mission in the Land of Snow, Obito, Kakashi, and Rin had reported back through [Nin-Nin] from a town connected to the internet. Afterwards, they were assigned another mission in the Land of Rain.

That so-called A-rank mission had been ridiculously easy.

It was just about dealing with a rogue Jonin who had hired mercenaries to start a rebellion. Since the target was the younger brother of the daimyo of the Land of Snow, it was technically an internal conflict. The daimyo was powerless to stop it and had to turn to Konoha for help.

As for the so-called chakra armor… it was pretty average, and its defensive ability wasn't even as good as the mesh underpants produced in the Land of Rain…

When they entered the Land of Rain—

For various reasons… since the place was known for its mesh underpants, Obito figured it would be better to put on his carefully prepared spiral mask.

According to the intel Minato-sensei uploaded to [Nin-Nin], Jiraiya-sama was supposedly in the Land of Rain. Their goal was to find Jiraiya-sama's whereabouts and… inform him that Minato-sensei was going to be a father.

After all, Jiraiya-sama was Minato-sensei's teacher—it was only proper to let him know. This was basically a personal errand from Minato-sensei.

It was on their way anyway.

So they were tasked with gathering intelligence. Even if they couldn't find Jiraiya, it wasn't a big deal.

But then—

Just as they split up and were about to gather information separately—

Kunai suddenly came flying at him out of nowhere while he was walking down the street. How could he not be pissed?!

"Which bastard did that?!" Uchiha Obito turned around furiously and scanned his surroundings.

Suddenly—

His eye twitched sharply as he spotted a black-haired young man in front of him. His gaze froze for a moment before he suddenly shouted in anger and frustration, "Damn it! Why are you here again, you bastard?!"

Memories of past encounters flooded his mind.

Every time he was on a mission, he would somehow run into this bastard.

The more he thought about it, the more pissed off he got!

The more he thought about it, the more wronged he felt!

"And you even threw kunai at me?!"

"…"

I didn't expect you to be here!

Yuto looked at the angry Obito, his mouth twitching. Then, he quickly stepped aside and expressionlessly pointed to the still-alert Hyuga Hanabi next to him.

"It wasn't me. She's the one who threw them."

Hyuga Hanabi: "???"

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