In Naruto, the System Asks Me to Entrust Pokémon

"Ryo, the sun is about to set. Where's my ice cream?"

As the daylight gradually faded, Cynthia frowned and turned to Ryo, her voice filled with impatience.

Ryo, on the other hand, could only give a wry smile.

"Sis, we still have customers in the shop. We'll go once they leave. Can you stop repeating this every few minutes?"

He had lost count of how many times Cynthia had nagged him about this already.

"Ugh, how long is this customer going to take? What a waste of time."

Cough cough—

Just as Cynthia complained, a sudden cough came from the back door.

Danzo stepped inside, his face as cold as ever.

Ryo gave him a sidelong glance.

Cynthia, you really picked the worst timing, huh?

"Ryo, is this the customer you were waiting for?"

Cynthia immediately stiffened, realizing she had just badmouthed Danzo while he was right there.

She turned to Ryo with an awkward look, feeling a little embarrassed.

Danzo, however, didn't care for her discomfort. He simply glanced at her coldly before shifting his attention back to Ryo.

"Boss, if you don't know how to properly train your subordinates, I can teach you."

Cynthia's expression instantly darkened. Even she found that statement offensive.

Ryo's reaction was subtler, but he still responded with an equally cold tone.

"Oh? You mean like how you train your subordinates—to be mindless tools without free will?"

Danzo's face twitched slightly, but he quickly let out a sneer.

"And what's wrong with that? A subordinate should be like that."

"Heh—"

Ryo shook his head.

"That's something only an idiot would think. Tell me, if your people don't have their own thoughts, and you have to think everything for them, doesn't that just make you an idiot with a broken system?"

Danzo's men visibly tensed, their expressions turning dark with anger.

For a moment, it seemed like things might escalate—but Danzo held himself back.

He took a deep breath, suppressed his emotions, and changed the subject.

"Boss, we'll be leaving now."

Ryo simply smiled and gestured toward the door.

Danzo narrowed his eyes slightly, then turned and left with his men.

『You have entrusted a Pokémon to a key character. Reward: 1000 points and 1 Bronze Exclusive Treasure Chest.』

As soon as they were gone, a notification rang in Ryo's head.

Wait… three reward notifications?

He frowned.

That means there were three people in Danzo's group who were considered key characters?

"Ryo, are you sure it's okay to provoke him like that?"

Cynthia's voice pulled him from his thoughts. She looked at him with a bit of guilt, knowing full well that he had stepped in to defend her.

Ryo, however, simply rolled his eyes.

"Don't flatter yourself. I just don't like the guy. It had nothing to do with you."

Cynthia blinked in disbelief for a second before realizing he was just messing with her.

Her mood shifted in an instant.

"Hmph! You think you're funny? Now that the customers are gone, let's go get my ice cream!"

Ryo's mouth twitched.

Multiple personalities? Is that why she changes moods so fast?

But before he could reply, Cynthia suddenly asked again,

"Ryo, are you sure this won't cause problems later?"

Ryo shrugged.

"Why would it? Do I look like I'm scared of him? Besides, you're technically one of my people now. If he insults you in front of me, that's basically an insult to me too."

"Pfft— Who's your people?"

Cynthia's face turned slightly red as she shot him an annoyed glare.

Ryo grinned.

"What are you blushing for? I'm just saying, if people see you getting disrespected under my roof, they'll think I'm weak."

Cynthia's face quickly returned to normal, and her glare intensified.

For a brief moment, she had almost been touched by his words—only for him to ruin it immediately.

Is he blind? Or… does he actually like guys?!

The thought made her look at him suspiciously.

Ryo, fortunately, had no idea what she was thinking.

If he did, he'd definitely prove her wrong on the spot.

Meanwhile, Dragonite had returned to the shop.

Ryo turned serious.

"Dragonite, what Pokémon did they catch?"

"Roar~"

"Beedrill, Fearow, and Arbok? Just those three?"

Dragonite nodded.

Ryo's expression turned strange.

"…Three notifications, three Pokémon caught. So only three of them actually caught a Pokémon?"

Wait… does that mean only three of them were actually key characters?

The system didn't give rewards for normal people catching Pokémon.

For example, the butcher who sold exotic meats hadn't triggered any rewards.

The same had happened with random ninja customers.

Ryo rubbed his chin in thought.

So out of the seven people who went in, only three successfully caught Pokémon? And here I thought they had bought a ton of supplies. What a waste.

Of course, what Ryo hadn't expected was that the eerie and sinister aura surrounding Danzo and his men made most Pokémon uncomfortable. Because of this, very few Pokémon were willing to become their partners.

The ones that did end up being captured were those with more aggressive and unruly personalities—Pokémon that were naturally irritable.

Had there been more gentle and docile Pokémon available in the back mountains, Danzo's group likely wouldn't have been able to catch a single one.

Shaking his head, Ryo decided not to dwell on it any further. Instead, he turned his gaze back to Dragonite.

"They didn't force any Pokémon into submission, did they?"

"Roar~"

Dragonite nodded and even patted its chest confidently.

"Alright, I know you're strong. But Dragonite, do you remember their scents?"

"Roar~"

Dragonite nodded again, its eyes becoming serious.

Seeing this, Ryo then turned to Gardevoir.

"You remember too, right? The two of you need to stay alert. If anything happens to those Pokémon, go and check it out."

After all, it was Danzo they were dealing with—someone who had done more than his fair share of inhumane experiments.

As one of Konoha's two notorious corpse fanatics, Danzo had a habit of conducting questionable research.

That was why Ryo had instructed Dragonite and Gardevoir to memorize the scents of the three captured Pokémon. If any of them got injured or were in danger, they would be able to sense it.

This way, they could respond in time if something went wrong.

After all, these Pokémon had come from his place. He had a responsibility to protect them, at least to some extent.

If they encountered danger in battle, that was one thing—such risks were inevitable.

But if they were harmed because of their trainers, then that was unacceptable.

Hearing Ryo's words, both Dragonite and Gardevoir nodded seriously, their expressions filled with determination.

"Roar~"

"Don't worry, Ryo. I'll keep an eye on them."

>>>>>

follow my patreon.com/Yueru1 for more advance chapters and search the link