Hearing Kakuzu's reply, Deidara nodded happily. Although he really wanted to head to the Land of Wind immediately to capture Gaara, his explosive clay still needed preparation. Besides, with one hand missing, his combat power would indeed be reduced. On top of that, he had to stay wary of Rorin's appearance. So this time, Deidara decided to prepare thoroughly before setting out. Art cannot tolerate flaws!
After a while, Kakuzu's projection disappeared. Deidara then looked at Sasori and said,
"Sasori-senpai, let's go!"
Sasori shook his head. "You go ahead. I'll stay here and wait for you."
Deidara tapped his chin, then said casually,
"Alright then, I'll go by myself. It shouldn't take more than a few days."
With that, Deidara summoned a flying bird and soared into the sky. Below, Sasori watched his departing figure, his voice low.
"Just a child after all… hmph, naive."
Thinking about Kakuzu's earlier reaction, Sasori guessed that the outfit was probably sewn by Kakuzu himself. Yet Deidara had just bragged recklessly right in front of its owner. It was obvious that Deidara's trip to the Land of Lightning wouldn't be peaceful.
Sasori shook his head and slowly returned to the cave.
...
The next day, Hidden Leaf Village, inside Rorin's home.
Rorin's original body was doing push-ups to train, while twenty-four Shadow Clones beside him were monitoring the audio Deidara recorded yesterday.
Poof!
One Shadow Clone suddenly disappeared, and a stream of information flooded into Rorin's mind. A slight smile curled at the corner of his lips.
"I didn't expect news this quickly. What a coincidence."
Rorin slowly stood up and wiped the sweat off with a towel. The information he cared about was that Deidara was currently flying toward the Land of Lightning to meet up with Kakuzu.
His target, by coincidence, was the Immortal Duo—more precisely, Hidan, the one with an immortal body.
From his earlier communication with the system, Rorin learned that the activation condition for All-Killing Ash Bones required Six Paths–level power. After receiving this information, he thought it over and quickly came up with an idea—the Eighth Gate, the Gate of Death, of the Eight Gates.
Once the Gate of Death is opened, the state of the Eight Gates grants power dozens of times greater than the Five Kage. The stronger the user's base ability, the stronger the boost from the Eight Gates.
This was the fastest shortcut Rorin could think of to activate All-Killing Ash Bones. Because of this, he had been placing even greater emphasis on training his body lately. After all, the Eight Gates placed extremely high demands on the body.
At the same time, Rorin didn't want to possess only a fleeting moment of brilliance—he wanted to stably control this power. And Hidan's immortal body lingered in his mind, impossible to shake off.
Rorin believed that as long as he could strip Hidan's immortality using the Deprivation Device and optimize it further, he would be able to avoid death even after opening the Gate of Death. That way, he could safely use All-Killing Ash Bones.
Originally, he had also considered Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear as part of a backup plan. But after recalling Kakuzu's appearance, he ultimately gave up on the idea—it was just too damaging to one's looks. Although the Deprivation Device had a chance to optimize it, Rorin didn't want to waste one of his three precious chances on that. Thus, his target was narrowed down to Hidan alone.
After organizing the information on Deidara, the main issue now was the lack of knowledge about the Immortal Duo's exact location. The latest update was that Deidara had already set off toward the Land of Lightning. Rorin calculated silently—traveling from the Land of Wind to the Land of Lightning would take at least one to two days at the fastest.
That meant he still had about one day left to prepare.
Having figured this out, Rorin left home to gather the necessary supplies.
...
Walking along the road, Rorin ran into Nara Shikamaru. The latter was busy handling matters related to the Chunin Exams. Since Rorin had gone to the Hidden Sand Village to help, the exams hadn't been canceled and were proceeding as usual. From what Rorin had learned, Gaara would also be coming to the Hidden Leaf Village this time.
"Looks like he's recovered well," Rorin said with a smile.
"Yeah. By the way, you're not busy lately, right? Come help me organize the Chunin Exams. What a drag," Nara Shikamaru said, propping his head up with one hand and tilting it.
Rorin waved his hand. "Unlucky timing—I suddenly have something urgent to deal with. I need to leave the village for a bit."
"Tch, if you don't want to help, just say so. Why make excuses?" Nara Shikamaru said disdainfully.
Rorin chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.
"It's true. I was actually thinking of asking you for help, but seeing how busy you are… forget it."
Hearing this, Nara Shikamaru froze for a second, then asked seriously, "What is it? Is it serious?"
Rorin shook his head and patted Nara Shikamaru's shoulder.
"It's nothing major. Don't worry about it. I'll think of another way."
Nara Shikamaru fell silent for a moment, then looked at Rorin sincerely.
"How about I go talk to Tsunade-sama and get someone to cover for me? I can come help you."
Rorin felt a warmth in his heart. Seeing someone who usually hated trouble like Nara Shikamaru say something like this, he thought to himself—at least you've got some conscience. Keeping you from picking up a smoking habit doesn't seem like a bad idea after all.
He waved his hand and refused. "It's fine. You focus on your work. I've got other ways."
Originally, he had planned to bring Nara Shikamaru along and have him use the Shadow Bind Technique to restrain Hidan, which would greatly increase the chances of success. But seeing how busy Nara Shikamaru had been lately, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Moreover, this mission carried some risk—if Nara Shikamaru got caught in danger, that would be bad.
Nara Shikamaru didn't insist further and simply said, "Then be careful."
Rorin nodded. At that moment, Naruto Uzumaki walked over from the opposite direction.
"Hey! Naruto!" Rorin called out.
Naruto Uzumaki jogged up and leaned in close.
"Hey, Rorin, are you here to sign up for the Chunin Exams too? Are you still a genin like me?"
Rorin touched his nose without speaking. Beside him, Nara Shikamaru said flatly,
"No. Rorin and I are both jonin."
"Huh?! You're a jonin too?!" Naruto Uzumaki was stunned.
When they first met, Rorin had said he was also a ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village, so Naruto had subconsciously assumed he was a genin. He never expected Rorin to be a jonin.
"Yeah, that's right. Naruto, are you entering the Chunin Exams?"
Naruto Uzumaki narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"Yeah! Pretty much everyone around me is already a chunin now, and several people I know are even jonin. Plus, Gaara's already the Kazekage while I'm still a genin—it doesn't sound right, does it? Besides, my goal is to become Hokage. How could I stop at genin?"
Seeing Naruto Uzumaki so full of determination, Rorin smiled and encouraged him,
"You'll definitely make it, Naruto. Keep it up!"