Chapter 163: Ch.163 Akatsuki’s Objective!
Shinji sorted through the entire process in his mind, then instructed Neji, "When we escaped from the moon, we encountered a battle between the Hidden Cloud and the Akatsuki. Some of them saw you with me, so you need to think about how to explain yourself when you return."
Neji, unaware of this situation, appeared surprised, "What? The Hidden Cloud and Akatsuki fought? Where? In the Land of the Moon?"
Shinji nodded slightly and recounted the events.
In this action, those who saw Shinji and Neji together included the elder of the Otsutsuki branch, Kakuzu, and Hidan—the so-called "immortal" duo—severely injured Hidden Cloud shinobi, Shi, and, finally, Deidara.
The elder of the Otsutsuki branch, as a member who misinterpreted the will of Hamura Otsutsuki, naturally harbored hostility toward all shinobi on Earth, so there was no concern about him collaborating with the Five Great Shinobi Nations. At most, he might contact the Hyuga clan to probe for information. However, since Neji had also infiltrated the Otsutsuki branch's castle, it was uncertain whether the Otsutsuki on the moon would still trust the Hyuga clan.
Meanwhile, Deidara still believed Shinji to be an "inner" member of Akatsuki, so the chance of him leaking information was low.
Thus, the ones who could potentially disclose information were limited to Kakuzu, Hidan, and Shi from the Hidden Cloud—assuming they were still alive.
Neji reached a similar conclusion and said, "Master, once I return to the village, I plan to report voluntarily."
Shinji glanced at Neji, waiting for more.
"Since those defectors from your organization and the Hidden Cloud shinobi saw me with you, continuing to hide it is pointless," Neji paused, as if organizing his thoughts, then continued, "So, I want to voluntarily report the encounter with you to the village."
Shinji asked, "How do you plan to report it?"