As soon as Kakuzu finished speaking, everyone's gaze shifted to Deidara. He froze slightly, then the image of Rorin surfaced in his mind.
"Are you sure? Honestly, I don't think he's that strong," Deidara said doubtfully. The last time they fought, Rorin's attack hadn't seriously injured him—instead, by sheer coincidence, it had sent him out of the Hidden Sand Village.
Kakuzu nodded and said quietly,
"You mentioned before that he can appear instantly. I think it's the Flying Thunder God Technique developed by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama."
Flying Thunder God Technique? Uchiha Itachi, who had been silently attending the meeting, suddenly thought of the ninja known as the Yellow Flash. His interest in Rorin gradually grew, and he found himself wanting to meet him.
Pain's projection asked calmly,
"Even if he knows the Flying Thunder God Technique, he couldn't have just appeared and taken Hidan without resistance, right? Did you not fight back?"
Kakuzu shook his head slightly and voiced his speculation again.
"Judging from his fighting style, I have a guess about his identity. He's likely from the Kaguya clan. One of his techniques is the Kaguya clan's Kekkei Genkai—Shikotsumyaku."
Pain fell into thought. Rorin's sudden appearance and abduction of one of their members had disrupted their plans, but their mission still had to proceed steadily. Considering Kakuzu was currently alone…
"Kakuzu, don't worry about Hidan for now. Since the enemy has targeted us, he'll show up again. But we need to speed up the capture of the Two-Tails Jinchūriki. I'll send your new partner to meet you shortly," Pain ordered.
Kakuzu nodded expressionlessly and said nothing more.
Deidara, meanwhile, sank into thought. Based on Kakuzu's analysis, Rorin should have been strong enough to seriously injure him that night. So why hadn't he taken any real damage? Could it be that Rorin deliberately let him go?
Deidara slowly shook his head, forcing himself to stop overthinking. Right now, completing his team's mission was what mattered most.
With their own thoughts weighing on them, everyone left the meeting. Afterward, Pain glanced at the masked man leaning against the wall.
"You understand the situation. It seems you'll need to work with Kakuzu on the next mission."
Tossing a kunai in his hand, Uchiha Obito's eyes flashed with interest. The Flying Thunder God Technique, huh? His left hand unconsciously moved toward his back.
"Got it."
Uchiha Obito's body twisted into a vortex and vanished.
...
At the same time, in the Land of Fire, inside a cave where Rorin had been resting during his travels—
Rorin dropped the Hidan he had been carrying onto the ground. As for why he hadn't attacked Kakuzu before leaving, it was mainly because dealing with Kakuzu would have required considerable effort. His main goal was to seize Hidan's immortality, so there was no need to get entangled in a fight. If Hidan had woken up during a battle with Kakuzu, it would have only made things more troublesome.
Rorin skillfully summoned the Deprivation Device, aimed its intake at the unconscious Hidan, and calmly pressed the activation button.
As always, a powerful suction force emerged. A stream of black energy slowly flowed out of Hidan's body and was drawn into the device.
About five minutes later, the device stopped working. Seeing the optimization button light up, Rorin smiled faintly.
Next came the familiar process—optimization, upload, download, and installation.
After about half an hour, Rorin finally obtained immortality. Suppressing the excitement bubbling inside him, he turned his gaze back to the unconscious Hidan.
Having lost his immortality, Hidan no longer had the ability to protect himself. Still, his Curse technique was troublesome—better to deal with it now.
Bone spikes protruded from Rorin's hand as he thrust them toward Hidan's heart.
Puchi!
Hidan passed away peacefully. Looking at the corpse, Rorin decided to dispose of it completely to prevent Orochimaru or Kabuto—the "dream maker"—from using Edo Tensei on him in the future.
After all, in Edo Tensei form, Hidan would, in a sense, regain immortality and could use that cursed technique to disgust people again.
After dealing with Hidan's body, Rorin used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return to the Hidden Leaf Village.
Back in his room, he glanced at the relatively clean space and nodded in satisfaction before beginning physical training. His next goal was to further strengthen his body—to lay the foundation for opening the Gate of Death.
...
Two days later, Gaara led a group of Sand ninja to the Hidden Leaf Village. Accompanying them were the Hidden Sand Village genin participating in the Chunin Exams.
Inside the Hokage's office—
Tsunade carefully read the scroll Gaara had handed her. Her brows furrowed deeply. After setting it down, she looked at him and said, "It seems the situation is quite serious."
Gaara nodded. "Hokage, let's discuss how to handle this."
"I suggest our two villages form a powerful joint team and head to the location in the scroll to crush the conspiracy of Sasori and Orochimaru."
Gaara nodded slightly. "For this operation, the Hidden Sand Village will send me, Baki, and Chiyo."
Tsunade paused. "You're going personally as Kazekage?"
Gaara nodded seriously. Beside him, Baki spoke up to dissuade him.
"Kazekage-sama, you don't need to participate. Your safety is extremely important."
Gaara waved his hand and said firmly,
"I have reasons I must go. There's no need to persuade me further."
Hearing this, Baki fell silent. Kankuro looked at Gaara with concern.
Tsunade sank into thought, considering who to send for this mission.
At that moment, the door was pushed open and Uzumaki Naruto rushed in. Everyone turned to look at him.
"Naruto," Gaara said calmly.
"Yo, Gaara! Long time no see. I heard you became Kazekage—congrats!" Naruto said with a grin.
Gaara nodded lightly.
Naruto then turned to Tsunade. "Granny Tsunade, why did you call me here?"
Tsunade glanced at Gaara before speaking.
"Naruto, we've received some information about Orochimaru."
Naruto froze for a moment, then shouted excitedly, "Really?!"
Gaara and Tsunade then explained the entire situation to him.
Naruto clenched his fists, shouting inwardly: Sasuke, this time I'll definitely bring you back.
He lifted his head and looked at Tsunade with determination.
"Granny Tsunade, I'm joining this mission!"
Tsunade crossed her arms. "Oh? Then what about the Chunin Exams?"
Naruto hesitated slightly. Joining the mission meant missing the exams—but this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The exams could wait until next year.
With unwavering resolve, he answered, "I'm joining this mission!"