The morning sunlight spilled into the entrance of Rorin's cave. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and let out a yawn.
"Before I knew it, it's already morning," Rorin muttered to himself, then used Flying Thunder God to return to his shop in the Land of Mountain Streams.
Since his home in the Hidden Leaf Village was gone, he had no choice but to come here to wash up. Fortunately, to suit his preferences, he had previously arranged for a private bathroom to be built specifically for him in his shop in the Land of Mountain Streams.
All the toiletries were fully stocked—Rorin was slightly obsessive about cleanliness.
It was just dawn, the shop hadn't opened yet, and the employees hadn't arrived.
After freshening up, Rorin returned to the Hidden Leaf Village, walked around for a while, and finally selected a plot of land.
Since he was moving into a new home this time, he wanted to do it properly—he planned to build a grand residence of his own.
Rorin nodded slightly, then headed to the Hokage's office, intending to discuss his idea with Tsunade.
Knock, knock! Rorin lightly tapped on the door.
"Come in."
After receiving Tsunade's permission, Rorin pushed the door open and stepped inside. He found Jiraiya, Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto, and Nara Shikaku already standing in the office.
"Rorin, what brings you here?" Tsunade asked.
Rorin nodded slightly. "Tsunade-sama, my original house was unfortunately destroyed during yesterday's battle, so I wanted to bring up the idea of moving to a new residence."
Tsunade frowned slightly.
"You can handle that yourself, can't you? Oh, are you asking the village for some funds? That's fine."
After all, Rorin had been a major contributor in yesterday's battle. Since his house had been destroyed, compensation was only fair, and Tsunade wasn't stingy about it.
Hearing this, Rorin slowly shook his head.
"Tsunade-sama, money has never been an issue for me."
The room instantly fell into an awkward silence.
Tsunade's lips twitched slightly. While that was technically true, why did it make her feel like punching someone?
Everyone silently reassessed Rorin's wealth once again.
Uzumaki Naruto subconsciously touched his rather flat wallet and shook his head.
"Then what's your issue?" Tsunade asked with a smile.
"Well, I've actually already picked out a piece of land and want to build a new residence."
"I figured that building a residence in the village would require your approval."
Rorin looked at Tsunade sincerely, awaiting her response.
Tsunade lowered her head in thought for a moment, then looked up.
"Alright, no problem. As for the land deed, have Shizune take you to handle it later."
Although Rorin was alone and building such a residence might seem like a waste of money, Tsunade quickly realized that the funds weren't coming from the village anyway, so she agreed.
It could also be considered a reward for Rorin.
Rorin smiled slightly and was about to leave the Hokage's office when Tsunade called out to him.
"Rorin, since you're here, there's something I'd like your opinion on," Tsunade said.
"What is it?" Rorin looked at her in confusion. Tsunade glanced at Kakashi.
"I'll explain," Kakashi said, turning around slowly. "Rorin, after you left the village yesterday to pursue Pain, something unexpected happened in the village."
"Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke infiltrated the Hidden Leaf Village. When we went to investigate the location where they appeared, we discovered that they emerged from the Root organization's base."
Kakashi continued speaking.
"Based on the situation at the scene, Shimura Danzo was most likely killed by the two of them," Tsunade added.
Rorin's expression turned 'shocked.' "You're saying Shimura Danzo is dead?"
The room fell silent again. Finally, Tsunade spoke slowly.
"After this incident, the two village advisors believe that Uchiha Sasuke's level of danger has escalated to the point where he threatens the village's safety. They are requesting that I issue a mission to eliminate Uchiha Sasuke."
"How can that be? Sasuke would never do something like that! Tsunade-sama!" Uzumaki Naruto exclaimed emotionally.
"Calm down, Naruto," Jiraiya reminded him.
Naruto slowly lowered his gaze.
"If Sasuke really had malicious intentions toward the village, he would've acted yesterday. But he didn't do anything—he just left. So I believe in him. He wouldn't do something to harm the Hidden Leaf Village."
"But the fact remains that they killed one of the village's top officials," Nara Shikaku said calmly.
Naruto fell silent.
Rorin sneered inwardly. Those two advisors were probably afraid they'd end up like Shimura Danzo after seeing him die so suddenly.
After all, they were also involved in the Uchiha clan massacre back then, even if they justified it as being for the village's safety.
"What do you think about this, Rorin?" Tsunade asked.
Rorin stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"First of all, I didn't witness the situation myself, so I can't judge their actions.
But based on my last encounter with Uchiha Sasuke, he seemed determined to kill his older brother at the time.
So why would the two brothers appear together in the village? Could it be that Sasuke was putting on an act back then?
I find that suspicious. Perhaps there's more to this than meets the eye."
Everyone fell into silence again. Indeed, this was something they hadn't been able to figure out from the beginning.
"As for whether to issue the mission to eliminate Uchiha Sasuke, I think it can be issued," Rorin added.
"Even you think so, Rorin?" Naruto looked up and asked.
Rorin smiled and shook his head.
"Issuing the mission doesn't mean it has to be completed. Wasn't the mission to bring him back to the Hidden Leaf Village issued long ago and still unresolved?"
Tsunade smiled slightly and went along with it.
"In that case, how about I assign this mission to you?"
Ah, so this is where she was going with this. Rorin's lips twitched slightly. No wonder she asked for his opinion—but it wasn't a big deal.
"Then I want to take this mission too!" Uzumaki Naruto said immediately.
Since the mission had to be issued anyway, it was better for him to take it than someone else, Naruto thought.
Tsunade nodded slightly and made the arrangements.
Rorin didn't care about mission achievements in the first place, so handing this hot potato to him was perfect in Tsunade's eyes.
This way, she could satisfy the two advisors while also calming the concerns of the villagers. After all, Rorin's strength was widely recognized among the village's ninja.
"There's another matter we need to pay attention to," Tsunade said, changing the topic. "Although Pain was defeated this time, there's no guarantee they won't make a comeback."