Seeing Jūgo collapse, Rorin hurried forward to check on him. Fortunately, it was only exhaustion caused by his Curse Mark power being drained. Rorin let out a sigh of relief—thankfully, it wasn't anything serious.
After confirming Jūgo was fine, Rorin carried him to a bed he had made himself and laid him down. Then he carefully examined the Deprivation Device in his hand before communicating with the system.
'System, how do I transfer the ability inside the Deprivation Device into my body?'
[Replying to host: First, optimize the ability within the Deprivation Device. Look—next to the activation button there's an optimization button. Once optimization is complete, press the upload button to transfer the ability into the system. After that, simply click download and install in the interface.]
Listening to the explanation, Rorin's face twitched slightly. Why did this feel like downloading a patch?
Still, he didn't overthink it and followed the system's instructions. After pressing the optimization button, the Deprivation Device began to tremble slightly. About ten minutes later, the upload button lit up. Rorin pressed it, and after another five minutes, an interface popped up before him, displaying a small item representing Curse Mark power.
The download and installation process was quite fast. In about two minutes, Rorin felt a new kind of energy appear within his body—something different from chakra.
Rorin was overjoyed. This must be the natural energy absorbed through Curse Mark power. Unlike Jūgo's original Curse Mark, the one now within Rorin allowed him to consciously absorb natural energy. Naturally, this meant he wouldn't suffer from emotional instability caused by excessive absorption.
A moment later, Jūgo woke up. He rubbed his head, still looking a bit dazed, then glanced around. Spotting Rorin nearby, he forced himself to sit up despite his weakness.
Noticing the movement, Rorin turned around. Seeing that Jūgo had awakened, he stepped forward with concern.
"Jūgo, how are you? Feeling better now?"
After moving his body a little, Jūgo realized he could no longer use Curse Mark power. Then his face lit up with joy.
"It worked… it really worked!"
Rorin paused for a moment, then nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, it worked."
After celebrating for a while, Jūgo's eyes suddenly became moist. Tears welled up as he cried from overwhelming happiness. Even as he covered his eyes, tears still slipped through his fingers. After all these years, he was finally free from that suffering.
Rorin stood quietly nearby, not disturbing him, letting him vent his emotions. After a while, he stepped forward, patted Jūgo on the shoulder, and gently asked,
"Jūgo, what are you planning to do next?"
Realizing his loss of composure, Jūgo wiped away his tears and shook his head.
Rorin suggested, "If you're willing to trust me, you could go live in the Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire. I believe you'll find a new direction there."
Jūgo lowered his head and murmured, "Hidden Leaf Village…"
After a while, he shook his head again and smiled at Rorin.
"Forget it. Compared to being around people, I prefer being with animals. I want to find a quiet place and live the kind of life I've always wanted."
Rorin was momentarily stunned. It seemed Jūgo really did love small animals. He didn't force the issue and instead took out a bone from his clothes. On it was his personal Flying Thunder God mark—a skull symbol.
Handing the bone to Jūgo, he smiled and said,
"Jūgo, since you have your own path, I won't push you. This is my farewell gift. If you ever face danger you can't handle, just channel chakra into this bone. I'll arrive immediately."
Although Rorin had used the Deprivation Device to remove Jūgo's Curse Mark power, it hadn't affected his chakra. So Jūgo could still use it.
Jūgo didn't refuse. He accepted the bone, carefully storing it away, and returned the smile.
"Thank you. I'll treasure this."
Soon after, Jūgo left the cave alone. Only after his figure disappeared from sight did Rorin slowly turn back, already thinking about how to find his next target. Unlike Jūgo, whose location he had known from Kimimaro's memories, his next objective was completely unclear—just someone he had merely crossed paths with.
"Looks like I'll have to find a way to make contact with members of the Akatsuki first," Rorin said, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
With that, he left the cave and headed toward the Land of Wind.
...
Traveling steadily, he moved during the day and returned to caves at night, using the evenings to further study the power of the Curse Mark.
A week later, Rorin arrived at the Hidden Sand Village in the Land of Wind. The villagers were already somewhat familiar with him due to his previous mission—after all, he had spent some time in the Land of Wind before, even if it was more like sightseeing.
After being reported at the village gate by the Sand shinobi, Rorin was led to the Kazekage's office, where he met Gaara, who had already become Kazekage.
"Long time no see, Gaara," Rorin greeted, raising a hand.
Perhaps surprised by Rorin's sudden visit, Gaara paused for a moment before standing up and walking toward him.
"What brings you to the Hidden Sand Village this time? I don't recall us requesting a mission from the Hidden Leaf Village."
Rorin chuckled teasingly. "What, I can't come just to see how you're doing? I wanted to check if you'd become Kazekage yet. Hmm… looks like wearing those robes really does make you seem more composed."
Tilting his head, Gaara asked doubtfully, "That's it?"
Rorin waved his hand and took out another bone, handing it to Gaara. His expression turned serious.
"Of course not. This bone carries my Flying Thunder God mark. It's for you. If you ever encounter danger, channel chakra into it, and I'll come immediately."
Gaara looked at the bone marked with a skull but didn't reach out.
"That's not necessary. If something happens, we'll send a messenger hawk to the Hidden Leaf Village."
Rorin looked at him with a headache, speaking earnestly.
"By the time the hawk reaches the Hidden Leaf Village, it'll be too late. Just take it. Did you forget what I told you before? Don't shoulder everything alone. We're friends."
Gaara froze slightly. Friends…
After a moment, he stopped hesitating. A faint smile appeared on his lips as he accepted the bone and nodded.
"Yeah… friends."
Seeing Gaara accept it, Rorin said his goodbyes. He declined Gaara's invitation and left the Land of Wind.
Watching Rorin's figure gradually disappear into the distance, Gaara murmured to himself,
"Flying Thunder God, huh… You're getting stronger and stronger, my friend."