Chapter 44: Shikamaru Discovers a Problem

"But!"

Kakashi's eyes turned serious again as he glanced at the three of them. "You did something very poorly—extremely poorly."

Hearing this, Naruto and the others lifted their heads. The atmosphere instantly became silent.

"As a ninja, none of you paid attention to the mission's objective just now. This is absolutely unacceptable for a ninja."

The three of them unconsciously turned their gaze to Tazuna.

Their expressions dimmed with disappointment.

Kakashi's words were true. None of them had paid any attention to Tazuna during the earlier battle.

"This is something you must always remember. As a ninja, you must prioritize the safety of your mission's target at all times."

After saying this, Kakashi furrowed his brow and looked toward Tazuna. "Mr. Tazuna, isn't it time you told us what's really going on?"

"W-what? What do you mean?"

Tazuna's pupils trembled as he tried to feign confusion.

"A C-rank mission shouldn't involve encountering enemy ninjas. You've been hiding something from us!"

Kakashi's gaze grew sharp with anger.

He had every reason to be angry. Missions are assigned based on a team's strength. If a weaker team had taken this mission, the consequences could have been disastrous.

Realizing that he couldn't hide it any longer, Tazuna burst into tears and began explaining everything.

After listening to his explanation, Kakashi turned to Naruto and the others. "We're returning to Konoha."

"Huh?"

Naruto was stunned. "Return to Konoha?"

He couldn't process what was happening. They'd been having such a heartfelt conversation that nearly made him cry—only for Kakashi to suddenly say they were leaving?

Tazuna dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face. "Please, I beg you, help us! If you don't, we won't survive!"

But Kakashi remained unmoved, starting to walk away.

Seeing this, Tazuna collapsed onto the ground. "Fine, just leave me to die. Leave my grandson, who's only a few years old, to die as well."

Naruto clenched his fists. "Kakashi-sensei, I want to continue the mission."

Kakashi glanced at him and sighed before turning to Tazuna. "Make sure to re-register the mission when we return to Konoha."

"Thank you! Thank you, dear ninja! And thank you, young man!"

"Hahaha~"

Naruto scratched the back of his head with a smile. "It's nothing, old man. Get up already."

As expected, they boarded a boat and sailed toward the Land of Waves.

The only difference from the original story was the presence of four Pokémon on the boat, happily munching on energy cubes.

...

Konoha - Pokémon Home

Ryo watched as the last customer left.

He turned back to his cabin, sat on the sofa, and muttered to himself, "Too many people... It's been non-stop all morning—explaining this and that. I didn't even have time to train."

After Asuma's team had left, two more unexpected ninja visitors arrived.

Once again, he had to introduce the concept of Pokémon.

Later, two members of Asuma's team returned with newly caught Pokémon, and he had to provide a detailed explanation once again.

Because of all these explanations, he hadn't had a single moment of rest all morning.

"Looks like I need to hire someone. If I keep this up, I won't even have time to train."

He shook his head and silently made a decision.

Making money was important, of course—many of his goals required funding. But training was even more crucial.

If making money took up all his training time, it would be a serious loss.

"Boss, we're back!"

At that moment, voices came from the back door as Asuma's team entered.

Seeing the smiles on their faces, Ryo chuckled. "Looks like you had a fruitful trip and found Pokémon you like."

"Hahaha~"

Asuma laughed. "Yes, thanks to your good wishes, we all found the Pokémon we wanted."

Ryo shook his head. "It's not because of me—it's about the bond between you and your Pokémon."

"Boss, where did these Pokémon come from?"

Ino asked curiously, her eyes sparkling.

For a moment, Ryo didn't know how to respond. "Why? Is there a problem?"

Ino shook her head. "No, it's just that all the Pokémon we found were different species. I was curious."

Even though she had lived for so long, she had never seen such creatures anywhere else. It was impossible not to be curious.

Ryo shook his head again. "I can't tell you that. But what I can say is that these Pokémon only exist here. You won't find them anywhere else in this world."

"Tch! Brag all you want. If you won't tell me, fine." Ino rolled her eyes, clearly disappointed.

Ryo's mouth twitched in response.

"Haha, sorry about that, boss. Ino didn't mean it," Asuma said, casting Ino a stern glance before turning back with an apologetic smile.

Ryo waved it off. "No problem."

"Um... boss, I have a question about Pokémon," Shikamaru suddenly spoke up, stepping forward.

Ryo: "What's the problem?"

Shikamaru: "Boss, it's about the attributes and abilities shown on the Pokémon illustrated guide."

Ever since he first saw the information on those pages, Shikamaru had been shocked and curious.

Hearing Shikamaru's question, Asuma and the other two also perked up, their expressions becoming serious.

It wasn't just Shikamaru who was curious—even they found it strange.

They somewhat understood a few of the attributes, such as those resembling chakra types used by ninja.

However, many other attributes left them utterly baffled.

Attributes like Poison and Ice made sense to them.

But things like Fairy and Flying? Those felt completely foreign and incomprehensible.

As for abilities, they hadn't seen two Pokémon with the same ability yet in the forest behind the shop.

Ryo scratched his head, unsure how to explain. "The concept of attributes is easier to understand. You can think of them like ninja chakra types—different kinds of chakra produce different types of skills, and they have natural counters, just like your chakra system. Some attributes may seem confusing to you, but the idea is similar."

The group nodded, slowly digesting the information. Shikamaru followed up with another question, "Then what about Flying-type and Fairy-type? What kind of attributes are those? How do they counter each other?"

Ryo: "It's hard to explain in detail. Just think of these attributes as unique forms of energy. As for how they counter each other, take a look at this."

He opened a drawer nearby and pulled out a hand-drawn chart.

After glancing at it, Ryo handed it over to Shikamaru and the others.

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