Chapter 134:
"Naruto, who are those two?"
Tendō Pain looked at the man with the jar and Boruto, who were following behind Naruto.
"That's Uncle Sasuke's Rinnegan," Boruto said, hiding behind the Jar Merchant. Even he could sense the tension in the air.
"Oh, them? They're here to join us," Naruto said casually.
"Join us?" Tendō Pain eyed Naruto. "Can they be trusted?"
Naruto nodded. Thanks to the Nine-Tails' ability to sense good and evil, he was the most suitable person to recruit members into the Akatsuki.
"The kid's fine, but that jar guy is a bit of a handful."
As Naruto spoke, he recalled their earlier scuffle.
Although he hadn't gone all out, the Jar Merchant still managed to hold his own even while protecting a child. That was no easy feat.
"Is that so? Good timing—we'll need more people for the next phase. Naruto, you'll form a squad with these two."
"Got it," Naruto agreed.
As they followed the Six Paths of Pain and Naruto to the Akatsuki base in Amegakure, Boruto tugged lightly at the Jar Merchant's sleeve and whispered, "Jar merchant, what's going on here? That Jiraiya guy... he's supposed to be Dad's teacher, right? Then why is Dad—"
"Boruto, the world of adults is complicated. There's no clear line between justice and evil. Someone who seems righteous to you might do something terrible. And someone you think is evil might actually do something good. What you need to do is observe carefully, and make your own judgment."
At the tallest building in Amegakure—
"Hey, Jar Merchant, look at me! Kinda cool, right?" Boruto said, now dressed in the Akatsuki cloak.
"Remember this, Boruto. No matter what, never take that cloak off."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Don't ask. It's metaphysics."
The Jar Merchant had also changed into the Akatsuki cloak.
"Looks like you're both suited up," said Naruto, also clad in the Akatsuki cloak, as he walked over. "This is your first mission: investigate the Hidden Leaf Village."
Outside the Leaf Village—
"Aren't you coming with us?" Boruto looked up at Naruto.
Even though he knew this was his dad, there was a strange unfamiliarity about him.
Naruto shook his head. "Konoha should already be aware I've joined the Akatsuki thanks to Jiraiya's intel. But they don't know about you two yet. So, this mission has to be done by you alone. I'll be waiting outside the village to back you up if needed."
Inside the Leaf Village—
"So this is Konoha from Dad's generation?" Boruto looked around with curiosity. "The Hokage Rock doesn't have Dad or Uncle Kakashi's faces yet."
"Hey, Boruto, don't wander off."
The Jar Merchant followed behind him.
"Ah! Ichiraku Ramen! I wonder if Uncle Teuchi is there?"
"Boruto," the Jar Merchant grabbed him, "Pay attention to the atmosphere around us."
"Huh? The atmosphere?" Boruto glanced around. "Yeah… it does feel a little gloomy."
Meanwhile, Sakura was walking with Sasuke, accompanying Hinata, who had her head down and hadn't said a word.
Ever since receiving Jiraiya's intel, Hinata had remained in this state.
Even though Sakura wanted to comfort her, she didn't know what to say. After all, Naruto really had joined the Akatsuki—and had even gone against Jiraiya.
"By the way, a new shop just opened in the village. Let's check it out," Sakura said, taking Hinata's hand.
"Mm." Hinata responded reflexively, then suddenly froze. "That's Naruto!"
"Huh?" Sakura followed her gaze. "From the back, I guess it kind of looks like Naruto… but that kid's too young."
"Naruto!" Hinata suddenly broke free from Sakura's grasp and hugged Boruto from behind.
Since Naruto had left with Jiraiya at an age close to Boruto's, Hinata's mistake was understandable.
"Huh? What's going on?" Boruto blurted, startled by the sudden hug.
"Who are you two?" Sasuke and Sakura quickly approached. Sasuke's right hand instinctively rested on his sword's hilt, ready to strike at any moment.
Hearing the voices behind them, the Jar Merchant and Boruto turned around.
"Uncle Sasuke, Aunt Sakura… and Mom?!"
"I'm Edogawa Jar, a detective. This is my nephew Edogawa Boruto, and also my assistant," the Jar Merchant introduced.
"A detective? What's that?" Sakura asked, glancing at Hinata, who was still clinging tightly to Boruto, and the boy who looked completely overwhelmed.
From his reaction, she thought, he probably isn't a ninja.
"We accept compensation from clients to investigate things. For example, if someone's family member is killed, we investigate the culprit in exchange for a fee," the Jar Merchant explained. "But we don't take on ninja-related cases."
Sasuke frowned, scrutinizing the two in front of him.
The ninja world was unstable, and Jiraiya's death had made Konoha even more wary of outsiders.
"You don't seem all that trusting of me… I guess there's no helping it," the Jar Merchant said helplessly. Sasuke's wariness deepened as his hand slowly drew his blade.
Suddenly, the Jar Merchant pointed at Sakura and rapidly said, "Since earlier, you've been staying close to this person, and your eyes have glanced toward him multiple times. So, you're secretly in love with him, right?!"
"W-What?!" Sakura stammered, flustered. She looked from the Jar Merchant to Sasuke in surprise.
"And you!" The Jar Merchant then pointed at Hinata. "When you hugged Boruto just now, you thought he was Naruto. From your reaction, Naruto must be someone very important to you—and someone who's been away for a long time. Otherwise, you wouldn't have mistaken someone else for him and reacted so strongly!"
The Jar Merchant turned toward Sasuke. "And you—never mind."
Seeing the look in Sasuke's eyes and his half-drawn blade, he wisely lowered his hand.
"You two are still pretty suspicious," Sasuke said, eyeing the Jar Merchant and Boruto warily. But he didn't take any drastic action. Having been under the guardianship of Konoha's higher-ups for a while, he understood the importance of political nuance.
If they attacked outsiders without proof, it could lead to distrust from other outsiders—especially merchants. That would negatively impact Konoha's economy and reputation.
"Due to recent unrest, if you want to stay in the village, you'll have to be under surveillance for a while. Any objections?" Sasuke asked.
"Of course not," the Jar Merchant agreed readily.