Chapter 173: Not Behaving Yourself, Huh?

"Looks like everything's fine."

Just then, a voice rang out.

Everyone turned toward the source.

At some point, Ryo had quietly appeared beside them.

"Big Brother Ryo, you're here?"

Naruto greeted him happily.

Ryo gave a small nod to Naruto, then looked toward Tsunade. "You look... pretty beat up."

Tsunade rolled her eyes and didn't respond, though she was clearly surprised inside.

She had thought Ryo wasn't all that strong, maybe just someone with a unique summoning beast at most.

But now? This was far from someone weak.

"Boss, don't tell me you've been watching the whole thing from the sidelines?"

Jiraiya gave him a somewhat resentful glance.

Ryo shook his head. "Of course not. I just got here. You rushed off so fast I spent forever trying to catch up."

Like hell he'd admit it. Not that Jiraiya didn't know—but hey, knowing is one thing, admitting is another. He wasn't about to own up to it.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes but didn't press further.

Tsunade, on the other hand, looked puzzled. "You guys know each other?"

Shizune also turned curiously toward the group.

Naruto nodded and answered cheerfully, "Of course, Granny Tsunade! We know Big Brother Ryo—he's from Konoha too!"

"Don't say that, Naruto!"

Jiraiya quickly tugged at him, casting a subtle glance toward Tsunade, trying to warn him.

Naruto turned to look at Tsunade and saw her brows twitch, a cruel smile spreading across her lips. "Naruto, what did you just call me?"

"Gra-...Granny Tsunade?"

Thump—

As soon as the words left his mouth, her fist smashed down on Naruto's head, and a giant lump popped up instantly.

"Aaah—!"

Naruto yelled in pain, clutching his head. "Granny Tsunade, why'd you hit me?!"

Thump—

She threw another punch before he could even finish.

Jiraiya and Ryo both silently turned their heads, pretending they saw nothing.

"By the way, did you just say Ryo's from Konoha?"

After letting out a long breath, Tsunade looked at Jiraiya.

He nodded. "Yeah, Ryo's one of us."

Hearing this, a glint of mischief sparked in Tsunade's eyes as she mumbled, "Then maybe I don't need to repay my debt. I've agreed to become Hokage, and Ryo's from Konoha. Surely the Hokage doesn't need to pay back debts, right?"

Everyone who heard her muttering had the same reaction—their mouths twitched.

They all thought she was going to say something profound. But really? That's your first thought after agreeing to become Hokage?

Even Ryo was speechless. He truly had no words.

Ahem ahem—

Ryo cleared his throat and looked at Tsunade. "Tsunade, a debt's still a debt. You need to pay it back."

"Do I really have to?"

Ryo nodded. "You do."

Tsunade turned toward Jiraiya. "Hey Jiraiya, does the Hokage get paid well?"

Everyone twitched again.

No one even knew how to answer her anymore.

After chatting for a while longer, Jiraiya and the others bid Ryo farewell and began heading back to Konoha.

After all, the village had no acting leader at the moment. A day or two was fine, but a longer absence could lead to chaos.

Ryo said his goodbyes too, then expanded his spiritual sense to locate Orochimaru.

…

Deep in a forest far from Tanzaku Town, Orochimaru sat while Kabuto tended to his injuries.

"It seems there's no hope of getting Tsunade to treat me," Orochimaru muttered.

Whoosh—

At that moment, Ryo appeared, flanked by two Pokémon.

Orochimaru looked at him. "Boss, you're here."

Ryo nodded. "Yeah."

"Boss, may I ask—why did you want to meet with my subordinates?"

Ryo furrowed his brow slightly. "Didn't I already say? I want them to bond with Pokémon."

Orochimaru heard this and nodded, asking no further questions.

But inside, he still didn't quite buy the explanation.

Ryo could tell, but didn't bother explaining more.

"Well then, let's get going."

With that, they set off together.

For the next two days, Ryo traveled alongside Orochimaru.

He didn't use teleportation this time.

After all, teleportation required sensing the destination's chakra or energy signature.

And with Orochimaru being so secretive, there was no way he'd reveal such things to Ryo.

"We're here."

Orochimaru finally came to a halt.

Ryo looked ahead and saw a group already waiting.

Scanning the surroundings, Ryo couldn't help but think—Orochimaru was still very much himself.

The place was nothing but a forest, albeit a particularly dense one.

But he wasn't surprised. Knowing Orochimaru's personality, there was no way he'd bring someone directly to his base.

A forest meeting spot was far more in character.

"Ryo, let's go. Those are my subordinates over there."

Orochimaru turned back and gave Ryo a faint smile.

Ryo nodded slightly without overthinking it and followed him forward.

After all, the location didn't matter to him. He wasn't here to find Orochimaru's base anyway.

His goal was simply to let these key story characters bond with Pokémon and collect the reward chests.

"Lord Orochimaru!"

The group waiting in the forest ahead immediately bowed in greeting when they saw Orochimaru arrive.

Orochimaru waved his hand. "I called you here because this man is looking for you."

With that, he glanced at Ryo.

Ryo looked over Orochimaru's subordinates, and a faint frown formed on his face.

There were about twenty to thirty people present, but he only recognized five.

And these five were characters from the arc where Sasuke defects.

The rest? Basically all nameless nobodies.

Ryo's eyes narrowed as he turned back toward Orochimaru.

So that's how it is. Orochimaru wasn't playing fair—many familiar characters from the plot were deliberately left out.

Orochimaru noticed Ryo's gaze and chuckled. "Ryo, these are all of my subordinates."

Ryo gave a nod, then pointed at the five he recognized. "You five, come with me."

He only needed the story-relevant characters to bond with Pokémon. As for the extras? Forget it.

There were already plenty of people partnered with Pokémon—it didn't need to be a big production.

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