Hearing Rorin's encouragement, Naruto Uzumaki smiled and replied,
"Yeah, I'll definitely work hard to keep up with everyone."
After that, Rorin didn't linger. He still needed to prepare food for the next few days—he would likely be tracking Deidara in the Land of Lightning, so he had to stock up in advance.
Meanwhile, the highly motivated Naruto Uzumaki also went to register. Since Sakura in Team 7 was already a chūnin and he didn't have any familiar teammates to form a squad with, he could only sign up for the solo exam.
After preparing the food, Rorin headed straight to the Hokage's office to request permission from Tsunade to leave the village for a few days.
"You're leaving again?" Tsunade asked, resting her chin on one hand.
Rorin nodded. "There are some things I need to take care of."
Tsunade waved her hand. "Go, go. You hardly take on missions in the village anyway."
Tsunade had always found Rorin troublesome. At first, he would accept some important missions, but ever since he learned Flying Thunder God, his enthusiasm dropped sharply and he rarely took missions anymore. Maybe that's what it means to be rich and do whatever you want—according to Tsunade's understanding, Rorin even had a business in the Land of Mountain Streams, and his annual income was nearly comparable to half of the Hidden Leaf Village's yearly revenue.
Although it was a pity to lose such a powerful ninja's labor, Tsunade also hesitated to assign him missions because his fees weren't cheap either. In the end, she simply let him do as he pleased.
After receiving Tsunade's approval, Rorin left the Hokage's office and, as usual, went to handle the departure registration.
Once everything was ready, Rorin returned home. Five of his Shadow Clones were still working there. After learning that Deidara had set off to meet Kakuzu, he began monitoring Deidara's movements in real time. However, the surveillance had its limitations—it could only rely on sound. Rorin couldn't help but rub his forehead. Since Deidara was traveling alone and didn't have the habit of talking to himself, it was still difficult to determine his exact location.
Rorin muttered gloomily, "If only there were something like video surveillance. What do you think, system?"
[Of course there is. I never said there wasn't, host.]
Rorin's face darkened. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
[You never asked before. I thought you didn't need it.]
Holding his head, Rorin didn't even want to argue anymore. He began sealing the food he had just bought into scrolls, but suddenly thought of something and snapped his head up.
"System, then you also have some kind of storage space, right?"
[That? Of course I do!]
The corner of Rorin's mouth twitched. So the system had been watching him foolishly seal items one by one into a different dimension using space-time ninjutsu, yet never bothered to tell him there was a more convenient way.
[Host, what kind of expression is that? You never asked. I thought you enjoyed using space-time ninjutsu yourself.]
Rorin took a deep breath and kept telling himself, I'm a cultured person. I won't get angry. I won't get angry. After all, it's my own system.
After calming down, Rorin asked the system how to use the storage space. In an instant, he stored nearly a month's worth of food into it.
"Oh right, system—be honest. How many other functions haven't you told me about?"
[Well… if you don't ask, I might not remember. Next time you think of something, just ask. With a hint, I'll definitely recall it.]
Rorin shook his head and didn't dwell on it further. He cleaned the house a bit—after all, he didn't know how many days he'd be gone this time, and he didn't want dust piling up again. He still remembered how the house had been filled with dust the last time he returned.
After cleaning, Rorin took a shower. Once everything was ready, he used Flying Thunder God and vanished from the room.
...
Meanwhile, in the Land of Wind, Sasori of the Red Sand was idly waiting for Deidara's return. Suddenly, he remembered that he was supposed to meet Kabuto in a few days.
"I have a bad feeling something unexpected will happen at this meeting. Better send a pawn to scout ahead."
After a brief moment of thought, Sasori considered the Hidden Sand Village. Carefully weighing the feasibility, he recalled that Orochimaru was the main culprit behind the death of the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa. If he leaked this information to the Hidden Sand, he could both make use of them and weaken their internal forces by drawing them out of the village.
With that, Sasori summoned Yura through mental communication.
About an hour later, Yura arrived at Sasori's cave and respectfully knelt on one knee.
"Lord Sasori."
Sasori's voice was low. "Return to the Hidden Sand Village. Leak this information to the higher-ups and incite them to act according to the instructions in the scroll."
"Yes!" Yura loyally picked up the scroll from the ground and slowly left the cave.
...
At the entrance of the Hidden Sand Village.
Disguising himself as heavily injured, Yura staggered toward the village gate.
"That—? It's Captain Yura!" a guard shouted.
Several ninjas hurried over, and Yura finally collapsed, unable to hold on any longer.
The patrol ninjas carried Yura back into the village. Upon hearing the news, Baki rushed to Yura's hospital room. Seeing him lying unconscious on the bed, Baki finally let out a sigh of relief. Two days ago, Yura had gone missing, and they had thought he had been killed that night. Thankfully, he was still alive.
Several medical ninjas were doing their best to treat him. To make things convincing, Yura had been ruthless with himself. By his own estimate, he would remain unconscious for about two days.
After a while, Gaara also arrived at Yura's room and asked softly, "How is Yura?"
"Lord Kazekage, Yura is no longer in danger. As for when he will wake up, that's uncertain," a medical ninja replied respectfully.
Gaara nodded slightly and instructed, "Yura is a survivor of that battle. He may have intelligence on the enemy. You must treat him carefully. Notify me immediately when he wakes up."
"Yes!" the medical ninjas responded.
After giving his instructions, Gaara left the room. He still had village matters to handle, and in a few days, he would be heading to the Hidden Leaf Village.
Originally, he didn't need to attend this Chūnin Exam in the Hidden Leaf Village. But after the attack the night before last, the village elders all advised him to go to the Hidden Leaf for a while and discuss future strategies with the Hokage.
Deep down, he understood. After that night, many in the village felt guilt and helplessness. They remembered how powerless they had been, forced to watch him fight alone without being able to help.
Going to the Hidden Leaf… would likely be safer for him. That was what they all believed.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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