Chapter 142: The Task of the Workers

"Ryo, answer me—did it really connect?"

Cynthia pressed further, her tone carrying an edge of urgency.

Ryo turned to her and nodded.

"Yes, it connected—but only in the sense that it located the Pokémon world. However, it couldn't break through the dimensional barrier to form a passage between the two worlds."

Cynthia understood what he meant, but her eyes still gleamed with excitement. She glanced at Hoopa and shook her head in amazement.

"To think Hoopa could do something like this… We humans have truly underestimated the power of Pokémon."

Before learning about this, she had always regarded Hoopa as a powerful Pokémon, but not to this extent.

Now, she found it almost unbelievable.

"Alright, that's enough for now. Let's head back."

Ryo shook his head lightly, signaling their departure.

As for Shukaku, he had no intention of getting involved.

He wasn't worried about Naruto and the others either. After all, there was no way anything too serious would happen to them.

With that, Ryo led Cynthia and the Pokémon back to the Pokémon House.

Meanwhile, on Naruto's side…

Just like in the original storyline, at a critical moment, Naruto summoned Gamabunta.

After a fierce battle, Naruto unleashed his legendary Talk-no-Jutsu, snapping Gaara out of his hatred.

It was as if Naruto had purged his darkness, causing a massive shift in Gaara's mentality.

The change was so drastic that even Temari and Kankuro could hardly believe this was the same Gaara.

Finally, Kakashi arrived and brought the situation to a complete resolution.

At the Pokémon House, in the backyard…

Four members of the Akatsuki sat cross-legged, exchanging silent glances.

"These Pokémon are really something else… I have no idea where the boss even found them."

Deidara twirled a Poké Ball between his fingers, muttering in admiration.

He had personally experienced the process of capturing a Pokémon—and it had been eye-opening.

Sasori nodded.

"Yeah. No wonder the Leader was so eager to send us here."

Hearing this, Kisame couldn't help but agree.

If even ordinary people could tame such powerful creatures, it would be a huge problem for their plans.

There was no time to waste.

"But I doubt the Leader even understands the boss's strength," Deidara grumbled, gritting his teeth.

The mere thought annoyed him.

They had been sent blindly on this mission, only to end up as prisoners.

Sasori, however, was unbothered.

"Enough about that. Even though we're prisoners, at least we got Pokémon."

His gaze shifted toward the Poké Ball in his hand.

For people like them, joining Akatsuki had been a means to an end.

Loyalty to the organization?

That was never part of the deal.

So this situation… wasn't all that bad.

Deidara thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

Kisame, on the other hand, furrowed his brow slightly—but his expression quickly returned to normal.

"Itachi, don't you have anything to say? Now that you're back in Konoha, doesn't it feel nostalgic?"

Deidara turned toward Itachi, curious about his reaction.

Itachi simply glanced at him and looked away, refusing to answer.

But deep down—he was happy.

After all, he was a spy for Konoha within Akatsuki.

Now that Konoha was growing stronger, how could he not be pleased?

"Yo! Looks like you've all caught your Pokémon."

At that moment, the back door of the wooden house swung open, and Ryo stepped outside, eyeing them casually.

The system prompt had already notified him about the four treasure chests he had received, confirming their captures.

The Akatsuki members turned toward Ryo and nodded.

"Since you've all got your Pokémon… It's time to start working."

Ryo's calm tone carried an unmistakable authority.

"…Work?"

The four froze, unable to process what they had just heard.

"Yeah. Work."

Ryo gave them a strange look.

"What? Did you guys seriously think you wouldn't have to do anything?"

The Akatsuki members twitched, momentarily at a loss for words.

Ryo wasn't interested in explaining further. Instead, he immediately assigned them a task.

"The mountain behind us—you're going to fence it off. After that, reconstruct the environment."

Truth be told, Ryo had been planning to remodel the back mountain for a while now.

However, he had never had the time—or the right people—to do it.

Now that he had workers…

There was no reason to wait.

Besides, the back mountain's ecosystem was currently too limited.

Many Pokémon were living in environments unsuited for them.

For example, Water-type Pokémon had no proper water sources to live near.

There were only a few small bodies of water, which were far from enough to accommodate them.

And it wasn't just the Water-types—many other Pokémon were struggling as well.

Although Pokémon could adapt, Ryo still felt guilty.

It was his fault that they had ended up in this world, and yet, they couldn't even live comfortably.

Before, he had no money and no time—so he had put it off.

But now, he had both.

So, of course, he was going to fix it.

The Akatsuki members sat in stunned silence.

Their mouths twitched uncontrollably.

They had one thought racing through their minds.

—Are we seriously doing manual labor right now?!

They were S-rank ninjas.

They were elite warriors.

They were the most feared criminals in the ninja world.

And now…

They were being told to build fences?!

And now, Ryo expected them to remodel the back mountain?

"You don't look too happy about this."

Ryo raised an eyebrow, glancing at the four of them.

The Akatsuki members remained silent, not knowing how to respond.

Deidara turned to Sasori, curiosity in his eyes.

So? What do you think?

Sasori frowned.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Sasori, if you're okay with it, then I'm okay with it too," Deidara said with a smirk.

Sasori nearly lost his patience on the spot.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"You're just pushing me under the bus, aren't you?"

He coughed awkwardly as Ryo's sharp gaze landed on him.

"Well… even if I agree, we still need to hear from Kisame and Itachi," Sasori said, trying to shift the burden.

Kisame and Itachi exchanged glances.

"If you agree, then we agree," they said in unison.

Sasori froze.

What kind of nonsense was this?

Since when did these two start acting so cooperative?

Aren't they supposed to be the quiet, cold, and mysterious types?

At this rate, their entire persona was about to collapse!

Ryo narrowed his eyes at Sasori.

"…You're not backing out, are you?"

Sasori forced a smile and quickly shook his head.

"No, no. Of course not. Why wouldn't I agree?"

Like hell I want to do this!

If I weren't afraid of getting beaten up, there's no way I'd be doing something so humiliating!

Ryo nodded in satisfaction and tossed a hand-drawn blueprint at him.

"Just follow the design."

And with that, he turned around and walked away, leaving the dumbfounded four standing there.

The Akatsuki members gritted their teeth.

He had the whole thing planned from the start!

Then why even bother asking us?!

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