Naruto: With Favorabiltity System

Chapter 352: Tobi Arrives

Two and a half days later, on a train traveling directly from Amegakure to Konoha.

Pain, Konan, and Tobi sat by the window, the view outside a blur of towns and farmlands rushing by.

Ding-ding!

"This train will arrive at its final destination, Konoha South Station, in approximately 15 minutes. Please prepare to disembark in an orderly manner…"

"After arrival, please disembark in sequence and mind the gap between the train and platform to avoid tripping."

The announcement was delivered in a sweet and pleasant female voice.

Resting on the window seat with his eyes closed, Pain slowly opened them.

"We're almost there. Get ready to disembark."

"Tobi, you're a new member of the Akatsuki. When you meet the Hokage, remember to be respectful."

At the sound of Pain's voice, Tobi immediately jumped to his feet with enthusiasm. Standing upright, he saluted and assured:

"Don't worry, Leader! I promise—no, double promise—not to let you or Sister Konan down, yeah!"

Suddenly, Tobi turned bashful, rubbing the back of his head as if embarrassed.

"To be honest, I'm just a high school girl secretly admiring the Hokage. I don't even know what to say when we meet for the first time, hmm…"

Pain nodded slightly, deciding to ignore Tobi's antics.

Konan cast a sideways glance at Tobi, who was cheerfully waving his arms about, then covered her eyes with a sigh.

"Let's hope so…"

In a quieter tone, she muttered almost to herself, "I still don't know why Madara sent this guy, though."

Tobi's personality was far too goofy—completely at odds with Madara's stern demeanor.

Even dressed identically to Madara, it was nearly impossible to associate the silly man in front of her with the dark and brooding Uchiha.

The only connection was that Madara had personally delivered Tobi to temporarily replace Sasori as a provisional member of the Akatsuki.

Konan gazed out the window. Construction sites were bustling with activity, and further away, factories were churning out smoke into the sky.

Konoha was far livelier than it had been a year ago.

She recalled how, just last year, this area had been nothing more than an empty forest.

The train began to slow as it approached Konoha South Station.

As the name implied, Konoha South Station was located on the southern outskirts of the village.

It was some distance from Konoha's central area and required either a ride on Bus Route 1 or a trip on the underground metro to reach the Hokage's office.

Pain and Konan opted not to make a grand entrance despite their diplomatic status. Instead, they quietly followed the crowd, squeezing their way out of the train station.

Tobi, on the other hand, was a bundle of energy, chattering loudly the entire way and drawing stares from nearly everyone.

Even on the metro, Tobi couldn't stop talking. His nonstop commentary about Konoha's new developments was so disruptive that the local police had to remind him several times to be quiet and not disturb other passengers.

But it was no use.

Tobi alternated between brief moments of calm and bursts of excitement, timing his behavior perfectly to evade further scoldings.

Pain couldn't be bothered to reprimand him, and Konan, having long grown accustomed to Tobi's antics, chose to let it slide.

It wasn't until the metro announced its arrival at the Uchiha District that Tobi, sheepishly rubbing his stomach, said:

"Uh, Leader… my tummy's rumbling!"

He pointed enthusiastically at the platform ahead, shouting:

"Leader! I heard there's a super-duper tasty dango shop here! We've been sitting for so long—let's take a break, pretty please?"

Waving his arms dramatically and speaking in a faux-whiny tone, Tobi was the very embodiment of a social butterfly with no sense of shame.

Even the police officers who had been about to warn him again silently backed away, not wanting their IQs to be dragged down by prolonged exposure.

When the metro came to a stop, Tobi immediately bolted out.

Pain and Konan exchanged glances, and with a sigh, Konan said, "I'll go after him to keep an eye on him."

"No, let's go together," Pain replied. "I've been curious about Konoha's cuisine for a long time now."

"We didn't announce our arrival in advance, and Haneda doesn't know we traveled here by train. Let's take a break before meeting him."

Truthfully, Pain suspected Konan was just as fatigued as he was after days of travel.

Having been confined to a train for several days with only dry rations to eat, a brief outing to stretch their legs and enjoy some fresh food seemed like a good idea.

Ahead of them, Tobi led the way, while Pain and Konan strolled leisurely behind him, their pace resembling that of a couple out on a casual date.

Eventually, Tobi came to a halt, only to dash excitedly into a dango shop moments later.

Fortunately, the streets of Konoha were paved with stone or cement; otherwise, Pain and Konan might have had to endure a cloud of dust in Tobi's wake.

Inside the dango shop, a few customers were already seated, either eating or waiting for their orders.

When Tobi entered, two young men sporting Uchiha clan emblems on their backs froze momentarily.

A cheerful young woman holding several skewers of dango laughed and asked, "What's the matter, Shisui? Itachi?"

The girl was Anko Mitarashi, who would eventually develop a fondness for sweets later in life. Sitting with her were Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui.

Notably, another girl, Uchiha Izumi, was seated nearby. She was discreetly observing Itachi's every move.

"That guy seems… off," Itachi murmured.

"Yeah. I have a gut feeling he's dangerous," Shisui added.

Anko glanced curiously at the animated Tobi, who was waving a wad of cash and chattering incessantly. She couldn't understand what could possibly be dangerous about him.

To her, Tobi seemed more amusing than anything—a fellow lover of sweets.

As Anko bit into her dango, her gaze shifted toward the shop entrance, and her expression suddenly froze.

"P-P-Pain?! Pain?!"

Itachi and Shisui immediately turned toward the door, where the figures of Pain and Konan had just appeared.

Pain noticed Haneda's two trusted Anbu captains and nodded slightly, his expression softening into a faint smile.

At that moment, Tobi, holding his newly purchased dango, ran over and asked excitedly:

"Leader! Who are these two?"

"Hey~ Uchiha clan emblems, huh? Leader, do you know these red-eyed weirdos?"

"Red-eyed… weirdos?" Itachi and Shisui blinked, momentarily confused by the bizarre nickname.

Pain, however, immediately scolded, "Tobi! Apologize at once! That's not 'red-eye disease'—those are Sharingan!"

Tobi scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Ahaha, sorry! I saw the Sharingan in textbooks—they're all red and looked like red-eye disease!"

"Oh, wait, no—Sharingan! Leader said they're Sharingan!"

Itachi and Shisui scrutinized Tobi but couldn't sense anything unusual or dangerous about him.

After exchanging brief pleasantries with Pain and Konan on Haneda's behalf, they returned to their seats to finish their dango.

But Tobi wasn't done.

Holding an empty skewer, he walked over to Izumi, who was sitting quietly with her plate of dango.

Poking one of her dango with his skewer, he grinned and asked:

"You're so pretty! Are you this guy's girlfriend?"

Izumi's face turned a bright shade of red, and she seemed ready to burst into steam.

Tobi continued, his tone teasing: "Doesn't look like he likes you back, though. Hehe—secret crush? One-sided love? Wishful thinking?"

Izumi's face reddened even further. With a trembling finger, she pointed at her plate and gritted her teeth.

"Take the dango and get lost!"

…

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