Dawn gradually broke, and droplets of rainwater slid quietly from the leaves, falling onto Rorin's face. He slowly opened his eyes, breathing in the air of a new day.
"So it's morning already…" Rorin murmured as he looked at the distant sky.
Rorin slowly got up. He had taken the first half of the night watch yesterday, then switched shifts with Kakashi and found a random tree to sleep under.
Yawning, Rorin found Kakashi, and the two of them headed toward the Hidden Sand Village camp together.
After a night of treatment, many of the Hidden Sand Village ninja who had only suffered minor injuries had regained their ability to fight. Once the troops regrouped, there were now over fifty combat-ready sand ninja remaining.
Everyone stood on high alert. Rorin, Kakashi, and Might Guy focused intently, preparing for the upcoming battle.
Meanwhile, in the camp of the smaller allied nations, several leaders wore grim expressions, panic filling their hearts. That morning, they had not seen a single ninja from the Hidden Cloud Village or the Hidden Stone Village.
After receiving further reports from their subordinates, they were finally forced to accept reality—they had been abandoned.
"What do we do now? Without support from the Hidden Stone Village and Hidden Cloud Village, how are we supposed to fight this battle?" one leader muttered in despair.
The others shook their heads. Then one of them slowly suggested,
"How about we surrender?"
Once the idea was voiced, several other leaders quickly echoed, "Yes! Let's surrender!"
But the sinister-looking man beside them said calmly,
"Surrender? Easy for you to say. Even if you're willing, the Hidden Sand Village probably won't accept it."
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
"We fight to the death."
They all gave bitter smiles. It seemed they had no other choice. Still, each of them secretly prepared to flee if things went badly—even if it meant sacrificing their own men.
The battle was about to begin once more.
On the Hidden Sand Village's side, two Hyūga clan ninja scanned the battlefield with their Byakugan before speaking in confusion,
"We didn't find any enemies wearing Hidden Stone Village or Hidden Cloud Village headbands. What's going on?"
Rorin froze for a moment. Could it be… the Hidden Cloud Village and Hidden Stone Village had slipped away? Thinking about it, that was entirely possible.
He suddenly lost interest, and when Gaara learned of the situation, he was also momentarily stunned—he hadn't expected such an outcome.
But for them, this was good news. After all, they were confident in dealing with this ragtag group of enemy forces.
No matter the situation, the most important thing was to win this battle.
The battle soon began. With no elite-level fighters among the enemy, Rorin used Dance of the Camellia to cut through their ranks, sending them into complete disarray. Toward the end, he even tested and refined his new technique, Dance of the Brambles.
Kakashi and Might Guy also fought with ease. Kakashi even read while fighting, completely relaxed.
The battle lasted only half a day before ending in an overwhelming victory for the Hidden Sand Village and the Hidden Leaf Village.
The sinister leader of the enemy had been right—Gaara did not accept surrender. If they were spared this time, they might rise again in the future. The best solution was to eliminate them completely.
If not for the Hidden Leaf Village's involvement, the Hidden Sand Village might have fallen into danger. Gaara understood that the reason the Hidden Stone Village and Hidden Cloud Village had retreated was likely due to the arrival of Leaf reinforcements.
In the end, everyone prepared to return to the Hidden Sand Village together. Gaara invited them to visit as guests.
During a rest on the journey, Rorin found Gaara sitting alone and sat down beside him.
"I heard you're going to become Kazekage?" Rorin asked softly.
Gaara nodded, then asked in confusion, "Is there a problem?"
Rorin shook his head, resting his hands behind his head as he lay back.
"Nothing. Just a bit curious."
After a moment of silence, Rorin spoke again,
"You don't have to carry everything on your own. If you ever need help, you can contact me anytime. We're friends, after all… right?"
Gaara was slightly taken aback. In all these years, aside from Naruto, Rorin was the first person to offer him friendship.
Gaara smiled faintly and replied, "Yeah… friends."
After resting for a while, they returned to the Hidden Sand Village with the others.
At the village gates, wind and sand swirled.
Baki stood there, gazing into the distance. After a long wait, Gaara and the others finally appeared in his line of sight.
Joy spread across Baki's face as he stepped forward to welcome them.
Rorin and his group stayed in the Hidden Sand Village for only one night before setting off back to the Hidden Leaf Village. None of them had expected the journey to be this easy. They had originally thought the battle would last for some time, but unexpectedly, everything was over in less than two days. Rorin hadn't even changed into a second set of clothes before it was all done.
At the same time, Rorin began to feel a bit worried. Since this mission had been so easy, he wondered whether Tsunade would still allow him to learn the Flying Thunder God technique.
The return journey was as relaxing as ever. Six days later, Rorin and his group returned to the Hidden Leaf Village—twelve when they left, and still twelve when they came back.
Rorin and Kakashi headed together to the Hokage's office to report the mission.
As usual, they knocked, received permission, and entered.
Tsunade was handling paperwork. When she saw Rorin and Kakashi, she was briefly stunned and blurted out,
"You're back already?"
Rorin and Kakashi exchanged a glance. Kakashi respectfully said,
"Lady Hokage, the mission is complete." He then gave a detailed report of the rescue mission.
Tsunade felt a headache coming on. She had expected Rorin's trip to last at least a month, but hadn't imagined he'd return so quickly.
She cast a worried glance at Rorin, leaving him puzzled.
Rorin stepped forward and asked, "Lady Tsunade, you know I don't really care for monetary rewards. This was an S-rank mission, and I've also completed over a dozen B- and C-rank missions before. Can I exchange those rewards for the opportunity to learn a ninjutsu?"
Tsunade snapped out of her thoughts upon hearing his request, recalling that Rorin's rewards were indeed unusual. She asked,
"Then what technique do you want to learn this time?"
Rorin rubbed his hands together and smiled.
"Lady Tsunade, I want to learn the Flying Thunder God technique."
Both Tsunade and Kakashi were shocked. After all, the Flying Thunder God wasn't a technique one could simply learn on a whim. Even Kakashi felt Rorin might be overestimating himself.
Tsunade thought it over briefly. She was already worried that Danzo might target Rorin. If he could learn the Flying Thunder God technique, he would at least have a way to protect himself. As for whether he could actually master it—that was up to him.
So she agreed.
Rorin was overjoyed upon receiving her approval, while Kakashi was completely sidelined.
After finishing the report, Kakashi took his leave, while Rorin followed Tsunade to the location where the Scroll of Seals was kept.
Upon obtaining the training content for the Flying Thunder God technique, Rorin was ecstatic. After bidding Tsunade farewell, he eagerly rushed off to begin his research.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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