Roughly half an hour later.
Buzz—!
The golden gate once again appeared above the Uchiha Clan Grounds in the shinobi world.
The door swung open, and a familiar aura spilled forth. But this time, it wasn't just Ryota stepping out.
He was the first to emerge, followed by several more figures one after another.
"So this is… the world of shinobi?"
Finn swept his gaze across the surroundings, frowning slightly as he rolled his right thumb joint.
"Feels like my thumb's starting to ache already…"
"Indeed… there's a dangerous aura lingering everywhere."
Riveria's voice sounded from behind him. Her eyes gleamed differently than usual—still the calm of a magus, but mixed with the curiosity of a veteran facing an unknown realm.
"The flow of magic here is completely unlike Orario. It's… lighter, almost."
She raised her head, staring straight into the distance.
Gareth only gave a low grunt, saying nothing more, but his eyes were sharp with vigilance.
The Loki Familia's Big Three—present in full.
And it didn't stop there.
Two tall, lithe figures stepped through the golden glow, the Hiryute sisters, one on each side. Finally came the werewolf, Bete.
That made six.
Adding the two who had already been here—Lefiya and Ais—
Eight in total. Perfectly matching the new upper limit of the golden gate's authority.
Behind Ryota, Loki Familia's elites watched this strange land in silence or with subdued excitement.
"Ryota."
Finn strode forward quickly, tilting his head up at Ryota's taller frame.
"Are you sure everything's fine with the Dungeon?"
Ever since that final battle, Orario had seemed to settle into long-lost peace. But in truth, the Dungeon had been stirring more frequently.
The moment the Black Dragon fell, the deeper floors began resonating strangely, like a mourning wail… or a waking beast.
Every tremor brought with it swarms of mutated monsters, even ones that should have stayed within their floor starting to climb upward.
Loki Familia had been practically stationed inside the Dungeon ever since, never letting their guard down.
After all—
In all of Orario, no, in the entire world of DanMachi, the strongest fighting force was Loki Familia.
That was why Finn couldn't help but worry. Even though he trusted Ryota, leaving Orario defenseless was unthinkable.
But Ryota only gave a faint smile. He shook his head.
"Relax."
"I've already checked on the Dungeon."
"Nothing big will happen anytime soon. At least… not for the next few days."
Finn blinked, raising a brow.
"You've checked? When did you sneak into the Dungeon? I didn't hear a thing about you returning to Orario."
"Didn't Loki just say you'd barely gotten back half an hour ago?"
The barrage of questions clearly revealed his suspicion.
But Ryota just chuckled.
"Did you forget?"
"I've got more trump cards than you can count."
In truth, Ryota had already accounted for Finn's concerns.
When he used the golden gate to return to the DanMachi world, he'd stationed two crucial assets inside the Dungeon:
—The Third Kazekage Puppet and the Karasu Puppet.
The former, with its Iron Sand Manipulation, was a walking fortress of suppression and annihilation, able to wipe out hordes on its own.
The latter was a battle puppet reforged personally by Ryota, carrying both strength and intelligence on par with an LV.6 adventurer.
Containing the Dungeon's short-term surges?
Child's play.
Finn stared at him in silence, his eyes locked on Ryota's ever-present smile.
After a few seconds, the prum scratched at his head.
"It's only been, what, a month since we last parted?"
"And here I almost forgot—you really are a monster."
The doubt in his gaze melted away, replaced by rare ease.
"In that case, we can relax."
"Let's enjoy this little… what was it again…"
His mind drew a blank.
"…what did you call it?"
Riveria, ever unhurried, supplied calmly:
"The shinobi world."
"This realm is called the shinobi world."
Finn froze, then chuckled.
"Right, right. The shinobi world."
He turned back to Ryota.
"Ryota, what's the purpose of bringing us here?"
"This place… sure seems interesting. But the fact you had us all come means it's no simple matter."
"Something tricky enough that even you can't handle alone?"
His tone wasn't distrustful—just the cautious instinct of a commander.
"It's not that I can't handle it."
"It's just that some things require your help, Captain Finn."
Ryota was about to explain further when the sound of footsteps came from behind.
Everyone turned slightly. From deep within the Uchiha Clan Grounds, two familiar figures hurried forward.
Ais and Lefiya.
The golden-haired swordswoman was as calm as ever, though her clear eyes glimmered faintly with barely restrained joy.
Lefiya, on the other hand, couldn't contain herself at all.
"Lady Riveria!!"
She nearly sprinted forward, her face shining with unrestrained delight.
"And… and Finn, Lady Tiona… uwaah! You really came!"
As for Bete?
Yeah… he was ignored.
Lefiya's cheeks flushed bright, and she nearly flung herself into Riveria's arms, only holding back at the very last moment out of sheer restraint.
"It's so good to see you…"
Her voice trembled, choked with the emotion of reunion in a foreign world.
Ryota reached out and gently ruffled her hair.
"You've done well, Lefiya."
"Uuuh… Ryota…"
Her entire face turned crimson, like a ripe apple. Even the tips of her ears burned as she ducked her head down quickly.
The sight made Tiona burst into laughter, slapping her thigh.
"Ha! Still blushing just like before, huh? You're as shy as ever, little elf!"
Ryota turned his gaze to Ais.
"Has Fugaku contacted you yet?"
Ais nodded.
"In the southern part of the village… there's a…"
She paused, struggling to put it into words. Her lashes trembled faintly.
Lefiya quickly filled in for her.
"It was a walking shark!"
She gestured wildly, speaking a little too fast.
"And it carried a huge sword on its back."
"And another one—a man with long blond hair, looking like a lunatic. He was tossing these white stones."
"They exploded! We saw a whole house blown to pieces!"
Her voice sped up more and more, still tight with lingering nerves.
"But after they saw me and Lady Ais, they left right away."
Ais nodded.
"Their aura… was chaotic. But very strong."
Ryota's eyes narrowed.
"A giant shark… exploding stones…"
Two distinct faces rose in his mind immediately.
Two notorious lunatics in combat.
Originally, Kisame partnered with Itachi, while Deidara was paired with Tobi—Obito.
But with both Itachi and Obito erased by Ryota, these two had lost their teammates.
Logically, their temperaments should've had them causing chaos long ago.
And yet Ais and Lefiya said they merely glanced and left?
"Nagato, huh…"
Ryota narrowed his eyes.
"So he's still keeping the team structure intact."
"He's trying to preserve Akatsuki's old formation, organizing fighters into pairs."
"But…"
He muttered in thought.
"For Kisame and Deidara—two guys who'd normally start fighting the instant they appear—to hold back like that?"
"That's what's suspicious."
"Were they afraid?"
"No. Doesn't fit. They don't fear death—especially not a maniac like Deidara."
"Then that means… someone gave them orders."
"But what exactly…?"
Ryota couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong.
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