Chapter 152: Clearing Up the Misunderstanding

"What's there to disagree about? Isn't this a good thing?"

Kankuro frowned, genuinely puzzled.

Watching this unfold, Ryo felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

Something about this situation felt eerily familiar.

Right—the last time this happened in Konoha, Might Guy had reacted the exact same way.

In fact, Kankuro's words were almost identical to what Might Guy had said back then.

Shaking his head, Ryo cut into the conversation.

"Alright, let's not dwell on this for now."

"It's going to take time before Pokémon can be introduced here in Sunagakure."

"You all still have time to figure out how to handle this situation."

"Of course…" Ryo's tone became lighter.

"If you can't resolve it, then there's nothing I can do about letting civilians bond with Pokémon either."

Temari and Gaara nodded in agreement.

That was fair logic.

Ryo continued, "Then again, once your shinobi see Konoha's civilians bonding with Pokémon, they might just accept it outright. Who knows?"

"Either way, let's not overthink it for now."

The group nodded in agreement, putting the matter aside.

Temari then turned to Ryo with a grin.

"Boss, since you're already here… could some of our villagers bond with Pokémon?"

Ryo nodded instantly.

"Of course."

After all, that was exactly why he came here—to have important characters bond with Pokémon and earn treasure chests in return.

"Then…"

Temari's eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Boss, what if I bring some customers over? Would that work?"

Ryo nodded again.

"Sure. Bring them over."

This girl was amazing.

He hadn't even figured out how to get things started, and here she was already finding customers for him.

What a great person!

A truly good-hearted soul.

Click—

At that moment, the door swung open.

Baki walked in.

Seeing him, everyone tensed up.

Baki had gone off to investigate the situation.

Now that he was back—

They couldn't help but feel nervous.

Even though they trusted Ryo, what if the truth really pointed at him?

Baki walked in, ignoring the others.

He made his way straight to Ryo, his expression somewhat awkward.

"Boss, I apologize."

"We wrongly accused you."

Ryo simply waved a hand dismissively.

"It's fine."

"I was the only suspect at the time, so I get it."

Hearing this, Baki's respect for Ryo deepened.

He had braced himself for anger, resentment—even insults.

Instead, Ryo had brushed it off so easily.

"Phew—"

Temari let out a sigh of relief.

"Glad that's cleared up."

Now, she could finally relax.

But her curiosity got the best of her, and she turned to Baki.

"Baki-sensei… what exactly happened?"

Kankuro and Gaara also turned their attention to him, intrigued.

After all, this had been a malicious attempt to divide shinobi and civilians.

They wanted to know—

Who was behind it?

Even Ryo looked over with interest.

Who had almost made him take the fall for something he didn't do?

Baki, seeing their expressions, looked a little embarrassed.

"Sigh—"

He let out a long breath.

"Honestly? There was no real conspiracy."

"It was just… a misunderstanding created by civilians jumping to conclusions."

Silence.

For a moment, nobody knew what to say.

Baki himself looked awkward.

The shinobi had been on edge for nothing—all because some civilians panicked and spread rumors.

And worst of all—

They had almost made an enemy out of the Pokémon House's boss over baseless speculation.

It was frustrating.

On one hand, Baki felt embarrassed.

On the other, he was furious.

"These idiots!" he thought.

Spreading wild rumors was bad enough.

But did they have to spread them so convincingly that even the shinobi bought into the paranoia?!

"Uhh—"

The others exchanged glances.

Now they just felt awkward.

They had accused Ryo so seriously… only for the whole thing to be complete nonsense.

Ryo, on the other hand, wasn't particularly bothered.

Sure, it was annoying, but it wasn't like it was the first time people misunderstood him.

"It's fine," he said casually.

"Nothing we can do about it now."

"Anyway, I need to take care of some business. But Boss, please—"

Baki turned to Hoopa, his expression exasperated.

"Keep a close eye on that Pokémon."

Ryo winced.

Right.

Hoopa was technically responsible for this whole mess.

"I know, I know," he muttered.

"Sorry for the trouble."

Then he glanced at Hoopa.

The little troublemaker was happily chatting with Diancie, completely unbothered.

Ryo felt defeated.

How could Hoopa cause so much chaos and still act so carefree afterward?

"By the way, Baki-sensei—"

Just as Baki was about to leave, Temari spoke up again.

"Boss said we can bond with Pokémon. You should gather some people."

Baki froze mid-step.

Slowly, he turned around, staring at Ryo in disbelief.

"Boss… is that true?"

In his mind, Pokémon were a Konoha-exclusive thing.

Sure, Temari and the others had Pokémon—

But that was just them.

He never thought that more people in Sunagakure could have Pokémon too.

Now, hearing Temari's words—

He was genuinely stunned.

Ryo, seeing Baki's almost desperate expression, felt a little uneasy.

But he still nodded.

"Yeah, it's true."

"I'll bring you all to bond with Pokémon soon."

Baki visibly trembled.

"Thank you—thank you, Boss!"

"Not in a few days. Tomorrow! I'll bring people tomorrow!"

With that, he rushed off excitedly.

If someone didn't know better, they'd think his wife just gave birth or something.

After Baki left, the room fell quiet.

Aside from Temari's occasional questions, the only other sound was—

Hoopa and Diancie playing together.

Kankuro, on the other hand, had followed Baki out, heading off to repair his puppets.

After all, his puppets had been through multiple battles and were pretty banged up.

Gaara, however, remained behind, sitting quietly.

Maybe Naruto's "talk no jutsu" had worked too well, because he had become a surprisingly quiet guy.

He simply sat there, listening to Ryo and Temari talk, occasionally glancing at Hoopa and Diancie.

Meanwhile, Ryo—

He stared at Hoopa's childish antics, feeling incredibly confused.

How?

How could something so immature possess such terrifying power?

A power strong enough to fight Legendary Pokémon head-on…

It was honestly baffling.

But after thinking about it for a while—

Ryo just gave up trying to understand.

Instead, he turned back to Temari.

And the conversation continued.

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