Listening to Itachi Uchiha, Rorin waved his hand.
"Enough, I was set up by Tsunade-sama."
Itachi didn't dwell on it and instead brought up Sasuke Uchiha's earlier idea.
"Rorin, Sasuke wants to make a move against Uchiha Madara. What do you think?"
Rorin rubbed his chin for a moment.
"I see… so that's why you wanted to learn about Pain from me."
Itachi nodded slowly. On top of that, he also wanted to hear Rorin's opinion.
"Going after Uchiha Madara is fine. We're planning to make him our target as well," Rorin replied calmly.
Itachi frowned slightly. "We?"
"Yeah. Another friend of mine—we share the same goal. Oh, and he knows you too," Rorin said with a faint smile.
He knows me too? That piqued Itachi's curiosity.
"Can you introduce us?" Itachi asked, looking at Rorin.
Rorin glanced up at the sky. "Tomorrow. It's getting late now, and it might not be convenient for him tonight. Heh."
Itachi didn't press. Tomorrow it was—just means shaking off Sasuke one more time.
"Alright then. What time tomorrow?" he asked.
"Around noon. I'll come find you. Just come up with a reason to ditch Sasuke—some things are better if he doesn't know yet."
Itachi nodded. That aligned with his thoughts.
"Then I'll head back first. Haven't had dinner yet. See you!" Rorin waved and used Flying Thunder God to return to the Hidden Leaf Village.
Itachi looked up at the sky, feeling a hint of anticipation for tomorrow. He had heard Rorin mention this friend many times—now he would finally meet him.
Back in the Hidden Leaf Village, Rorin went to Ichiraku Ramen for dinner as usual.
After eating his fill, he stood up to leave. As he lifted the curtain—
He saw Naruto Uzumaki walking slowly toward him, head lowered.
"Hey! Naruto, what's got you so deep in thought?" Rorin called out.
Naruto startled and looked up, then squinted into a smile.
"Rorin, just thinking about something. You just finished eating?"
Rorin nodded.
"Yeah, just finished." He was about to leave after saying goodbye, but as he passed Naruto—
"Rorin, can we talk?" Naruto asked.
Rorin turned around. "Sure."
The two walked to a bench in the park and sat down.
After a brief silence, Naruto spoke slowly.
"Rorin, you said today that I still need to get stronger. I've been thinking about it all day, but I still don't know how."
Rorin leaned back slightly. "Naruto, no need to rush. Take it step by step."
"As for getting stronger, I once heard from a friend about a way to help jinchūriki grow stronger. It might help you."
Naruto looked up in surprise. "Really?"
Rorin nodded. "A jinchūriki can control a certain level of the tailed beast's chakra depending on their own strength—you know that, right?"
"That's what we call tailed beast transformation. But that method is just borrowing power, treating the tailed beast as a source."
Hearing this, Naruto recalled his own experiences with tailed beast transformations.
"Is there another way to use that power?"
Rorin nodded. "Yes. Only by understanding and acknowledging each other can you fully control the tailed beast's chakra. That's called a perfect jinchūriki."
Mutual understanding and acknowledgment…
Naruto slowly placed his right hand on his stomach, closed his eyes, and fell into deep thought.
Seeing this, Rorin quietly stood up and left, giving Naruto space.
As for how Naruto would communicate with the Nine-Tails—that was up to him.
...
The next day, at noon.
Rorin first went to Nagato and informed him that Itachi Uchiha would be visiting today.
Then Rorin used Flying Thunder God again, appearing beside Itachi. He first left a bone marked with the Flying Thunder God seal nearby, then placed his hand on Itachi's shoulder.
In a flash, the two vanished and reappeared in front of the paper-style tree trunk.
Rorin walked forward, peeled back the paper bark, and stepped inside.
Itachi followed suit.
When he saw Konan and Nagato inside, both wearing Akatsuki cloaks, he paused, then looked at Rorin.
He hadn't expected Rorin's "friend" to be members of the Akatsuki—one of them being Konan, the Angel.
Then Itachi noticed Nagato's Rinnegan and fell into thought.
Standing between them, Rorin introduced them. "Itachi, these two are Nagato and Konan. You should know Konan, but probably not Nagato."
"Nagato, Konan—Itachi, you should all know each other," he added.
Nagato smiled slightly. "Itachi, I didn't expect we'd meet under these circumstances."
Itachi returned the smile, then glanced at Rorin, who now seemed increasingly mysterious to him.
Since they were all essentially acquainted, the three quickly grew comfortable.
During their conversation, Itachi learned about Rorin and Nagato's ideas regarding peace.
He decided to join in, and the four of them gathered to begin planning.
An hour later, they had mostly finalized the plan.
"Itachi, the next step is up to you and your brother. Guide Uchiha Madara in the direction we want, or it'll disrupt everything," Nagato said.
Itachi nodded. "Understood. But we should leave some backup plans, in case something unexpected happens."
"Let's proceed with the plan for now. If anything changes, we'll adjust accordingly," Rorin said.
The others nodded.
Itachi stood up. "It's getting late. I should go back, or Sasuke might grow suspicious."
Rorin nodded. "I'll send you back. From now on, if anything comes up, have Nagato contact you using the Magic Lantern Body Technique—it'll be more convenient."
Nagato nodded in agreement.
Rorin placed his hand on Itachi's shoulder and sent him back to where he came from. The two said their goodbyes.
----------------
Fanfic is finished on Patreon (156 chapters in total.)
Patreon(.)com/Jixo (for only $4.50, read this entire fanfic)