Rorin slowly put away the scroll and handed it back, replying,
"Alright, Tsunade-sama, I'm willing to participate!"
A smile spread across Tsunade's face as she was about to speak, but Rorin raised his hand.
"But, um… please wait a moment."
Hearing this, Naruto Uzumaki immediately grew anxious.
"There's no time to lose—we have to set out right away!"
Rorin gave an awkward smile and waved his hand.
"I need to go back and take a shower first. I'm covered in sweat—it's uncomfortable."
Naruto froze, then slumped in disbelief. Of all reasons, it had to be this? He even considered persuading Rorin to hurry up—after all, for something like a shower, Kakashi-sensei could just use a Water Release jutsu. Wouldn't that be faster?
On the side, Chiyo frowned and couldn't help but speak.
"Tsunade, although this matter concerns our Hidden Sand Village, and it's already improper for us to trouble you… if you're unwilling to help, just say so. There's no need to brush us off like this."
Her gaze swept over Team 7 and Rorin. One jonin leading three kids? Was this a sightseeing trip? And now they even had to go back and take a shower before departing. Moreover, seeing Kakashi's white hair and gaze—so reminiscent of the White Fang of the Hidden Leaf Village—only made her feel even more displeased.
As soon as she finished speaking, an awkward silence fell over the room.
Tsunade explained, "The Hidden Leaf Village has sent elites. We're not taking this lightly."
"Hmph!" Chiyo snorted and said no more.
Tsunade turned to Rorin. "Rorin, this matter is indeed urgent. You should depart as soon as possible."
Rorin waved his hand casually. "No rush, no rush. I'll be quick. Just wait a bit."
With that, he used Flying Thunder God and returned home in an instant. Tsunade blinked in surprise—right, how did she forget that this brat could use Flying Thunder God?
She then turned to Shizune, her eyes practically asking why she hadn't reminded her earlier.
Shizune could only smile awkwardly.
Meanwhile, Naruto looked around in confusion.
"Huh? Where did Rorin go?"
Tsunade calmly explained, "I forgot he could use Flying Thunder God. In that case, there's no need to rush."
Gaara remained silent, waiting quietly. He was well aware of Rorin's Flying Thunder God.
Chiyo's pupils shrank. She hadn't expected that the young man she thought was only good-looking would actually know Flying Thunder God. She had only met him once before and knew very little about him.
Naruto still looked confused, while Kakashi was reminded of his own teacher, Minato Namikaze.
After returning home, Rorin took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and came back to the Hokage's office. The entire process took only about ten minutes.
Rorin appeared out of nowhere and looked at Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama, I left in a hurry earlier and forgot to mention—I think we should add a sensory ninja to the team."
Tsunade nodded. "I've already sent someone to notify Neji Hyūga. He should be arriving soon."
Before long, Neji Hyūga arrived at the office. Naturally, there was another round of explanations. Tsunade had only thought of the need for a sensory ninja after Rorin went home, so the topic had to be revisited.
After some discussion, everyone finally finished preparing. Rorin stepped forward and said,
"Since I can only take two people at a time, please wait a moment."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Rorin first walked up to Kakashi and Gaara, placing a hand on each of their shoulders.
Whoosh!
The three disappeared instantly. After a while, Rorin reappeared and, in sequence, transported Naruto Uzumaki and Neji Hyūga, then Sakura Haruno and Chiyo, and finally Baki—bringing them all to the westernmost edge of the Land of Fire, not far from the border of the Land of Grass, about half a day's journey away.
At last, Rorin and Baki reappeared before the group. Naruto curiously walked up to Rorin and asked,
"Rorin, this still seems to be within the Land of Fire. Why didn't you just take us directly to the Land of Grass? Wouldn't that save more time?"
Rorin's mouth twitched slightly as he grumbled inwardly: Do you think chakra is free? Making multiple trips like this already consumes quite a bit.
But then he reconsidered—maybe for Naruto, chakra really was basically unlimited.
He smiled and explained, "Because I've never been to the Land of Grass, so I don't have any Flying Thunder God markers there. This is the closest I can get."
Naruto nodded. "I see." He didn't ask further.
Rorin then took out a map and pointed to a location on the western border of the Land of Fire.
"We're currently here."
Everyone nodded. This had already cut nearly two days off their travel time—pretty good.
Putting the map away, the group continued on their journey. Rorin knew that this meeting between Sasori and the spy wouldn't be simple. It definitely wouldn't go as the scroll described, with Sasori trading with Orochimaru. After all, Kabuto had already broken free from Sasori's control—there was bound to be a fierce battle.
...
Land of Grass, Tenchi Bridge.
After a long march, the group finally arrived at their destination ahead of time. They began making preparations. According to the scroll, there were still three days before Sasori and Kabuto were scheduled to meet, so they had plenty of time.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, Sasori and Deidara were leisurely flying through the sky.
As night fell, the two descended from the air.
While eating dinner, Deidara chatted with Sasori.
"Sasori-senpai, at our speed, we should reach the destination by tomorrow."
Sasori nodded slightly and said nothing more.
After eating their fill, the two fell asleep soundly, confident they would be the first to arrive.
The next day, after tidying up, they took off again.
After half a day of travel, they finally arrived near Tenchi Bridge. As they and their bird appeared, Rorin's group—hiding in a forest about 500 meters east of the bridge—noticed them. Neji Hyūga immediately activated his Byakugan.
Deidara then began planting numerous clay bombs on both sides of the bridge. Once he felt there were enough, he grinned, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said to Sasori,
"Sasori-senpai, that should be enough. Let's leave."
Sasori nodded slightly, and the two retreated into the forest to the west.
All of this was clearly seen through Neji Hyūga's eyes.
He turned back to the group. "They've planted a lot of white clay on both sides of the bridge."
Gaara spoke cautiously, "Those are explosives."
Rorin's lips curled into a faint smile. As expected, it wasn't that simple. Of course, they weren't any different—beneath the suspension bridge, they had also placed nearly a thousand Explosive Tags. Fair is fair.