As for Tsunade, after Torifu and Naori finished discussing, he immediately called her. Upon hearing the current situation in the Rain Province, Tsunade accepted the mission without a second thought. As Konoha's strongest medical ninja, and having a contract with the Great Slug Sage of Shikkotsu Forest, she felt she could resolve the predicament in the Rain Province by herself. But just to be safe, she planned to bring half of Konoha's medical ninjas with her. Torifu naturally approved this.
However, Dan grew anxious when he heard Tsunade was leaving soon. He asked when he could go to the Rain Province as well. Life without Tsunade was unbearable for him. But the only word he received in reply was "Wait."
The current situation had not yet escalated to the point where all Kage-level ninjas needed to go. There were still many miscellaneous matters in the village that required the Anbu to handle. As the Anbu Commander, Dan naturally could not leave. While the situation in the Rain Province was important, the village could not be neglected. It would be disastrous if their home front caught fire.
"Naori, you should leave tomorrow morning. You don't need to prepare anything; I will arrange everything for you once you reach the Central City."
Naori nodded when she heard this. "Okay, I'll follow your lead. Have the others been notified?"
"Of course, you can rest assured about that."
In addition to Naori and Tsunade, half of Konoha's Hospital medical ninjas were to head to the Rain Province. Furthermore, the clan heads of the Aburame, Hyuga, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Inuzuka clans would also be accompanying them. These Kage-level ninjas should be enough to shore up the front line.
Naori returned to her room and packed some food and water into her ring for the journey. She then explained to Akihara that she would be leaving on a long mission and might not be back for a month. Although the little guy was reluctant to part with his mother, he pretended to be strong. "Okay, Mama. Don't worry, Papa and I will wait for you to come home!" Seeing how well-behaved Akihara was, Naori felt a mix of emotions. The saying, "a child ties down the mother," was certainly true.
However, Naori would not give up her entire life just because she had a child. She and Torifu would take turns looking after Akihara. By the time Torifu needed to enter the battlefield, Naori should have already returned home. For the final decisive battle, Torifu planned to go alone, not involving anyone else. The time for that was not yet right, as the situation was still unclear, so Torifu would not make any moves for the time being.
Since she had to get up early for the journey tomorrow, Naori went to bed early.
The next morning, as the sky was just starting to brighten, the couple woke up and began to wash and dress.
"How long has it been since I've been this serious about an assignment?" Naori was in very good spirits. Although she had previously led newly graduated ninjas on many missions, those were mostly "baby mode" in difficulty and couldn't compare to the missions she had executed before. Thus, Naori was very focused on this assignment and was looking forward to recapturing that old feeling.
"It's been so many years in the blink of an eye; the child is already three," Torifu joked. The days when he, Naori, and Hiruzen would go on missions together felt like they were only a few days ago. Now, they all had their own lives and children. Although their affection hadn't changed, they rarely got to gather, chat, or go on missions together.
Naori kissed Torifu's cheek. "I'm leaving. Take good care of Akihara at home."
Torifu nodded. "Don't worry, you don't even have to say that."
Naori walked into the yard and instantly vanished with a few Body Flicker movements. When she reappeared, she was already on the central street. Tsunade and a host of medical ninjas were already waiting there. The other clan heads arrived shortly after.
"Naori-sama, shall we depart now?" the Nara Clan head stepped forward to ask. In this team, Naori was the captain; although she wasn't old, her rank was the highest among the group.
Naori smiled slightly, without putting on any airs. "That's right, we'll set off now. The sooner we reach the Rain Province, the fewer ninjas will have to suffer."
Once everyone had arrived, they wasted no time, immediately leaving Konoha's main gate and sprinting toward the Rain Province.
The day passed quickly. Due to the appearance of Kage-level ninjas in the rogue camps, most of the ninjas in the Central City did not execute missions today. Instead, they stayed in the city to await a solution from the administrators.
Last night, Torifu had already contacted the Tsuchikage and the Kazekage. Both Kage had dispatched a portion of their Kage-level ninjas to the Central City. They also sent some medical ninjas to resolve the shortage of medical resources in the Rain Province. In truth, medical resources were not particularly abundant in those two villages either. They lacked highly talented medical ninjas and were unable to cultivate medical ninjas on a large scale. The fact that they were able to pull this batch of ninjas out was already very commendable. Torifu naturally understood and was aware of the situation in those two villages, which was why he had called upon Tsunade. He figured they would be arriving soon.
Sure enough, just as Torifu's clone was leisurely playing with his phone, a number called in.
"Hello, Torifu, we've reached the Central City. Where should we go to find you?"
Since the memories of the clone and the original body were linked, there was no essential difference between him and his Konoha counterpart.
"Come to the office building. I'm in the office."
Naori on the other end of the line acknowledged him, then hung up the phone.
"Let's go, we're entering the city."
The guarding ninja noticed Naori and the others looked unfamiliar, so he stopped them and asked a few questions. "Excuse me, are you all ninjas from Konoha? I don't believe I've seen you before."
Naori smiled gently at the guard. "That's right. I am Uchiha Naori. This is Senju Tsunade-hime, and these are the clan heads of several great clans from Konoha."
This luxurious lineup immediately made the Sunagakure guard dizzy. He had stopped some major figures! Uchiha Naori... wasn't that the Hokage's wife? That meant the person standing before him was...
"My apologies, Naori-sama, I meant no offense! Please, hurry inside!"
Seeing his terrified reaction, Naori waved her hand at him. "There's no need to panic. We're here to support the Central City, so it's normal that you haven't seen us. You were just doing your duty, so please keep it up."
Following that, the group entered the Central City. Thanks to the Cloud Orb that Torifu provided, none of them had gotten wet on the journey, and their clothes were still relatively clean. The moment they entered the city, the Konoha ninjas immediately cheered!
"It's Naori-sama! That's Naori-sama!"