Under Kakashi's guidance, Rorin gradually grasped the essentials of Chidori. After several attempts, he successfully learned it.
This shocked Kakashi. Back when he taught this technique to Sasuke, it had taken nearly a full day. And Rorin? Not even half a day.
Kakashi began to take Rorin more and more seriously, even feeling the urge to teach him the Rasengan as well—though he ultimately suppressed that thought.
He knew that trying to learn too much at once would backfire. It was better for Rorin to fully develop Chidori first.
Rorin, of course, had no idea that Kakashi had briefly considered teaching him the Rasengan. At that moment, a blind spot suddenly occurred to him, and he immediately contacted the system.
"System, didn't you say that once you restock, you'll have everything available?"
[Uh… what are you getting at, host?]
"I'm saying, if you can just restock and I'll have everything, then why do I need to risk my life fighting Ao? Wouldn't it be better for me to just lie low in the Hidden Leaf Village for a year, wait for you to come back, and then swap in the Byakugan? Wouldn't that be way better?"
[Well… theoretically, that's not wrong. But unfortunately, because the Naruto world is extremely popular among transmigrators, high-demand items like the Sharingan, Rinnegan, Byakugan, Tenseigan, and Sage Body are all sold out.]
"So you're saying you'll restock everything, but actually you won't? That's basically scamming your customers."
Rorin couldn't help breaking into a cold sweat as he complained.
[Don't worry, host. As a qualified system, I'll carefully select the most suitable products for you. And you should know—just because something isn't popular doesn't mean it's bad. It might just not suit other transmigrators.]
"Fine… so basically, things like the Byakugan and Sharingan—I'll have to dig them out myself, right?"
[Yeah, you could put it that way.]
The Byakugan—he could get that from Ao. But the Sharingan?
Rorin slowly raised his head, his gaze burning as he looked at Kakashi, who was currently teaching him ninjutsu nearby… then quickly shook his head. How could he even think something like that?
Huh?!
Kakashi suddenly felt Rorin's gaze earlier—it was as if he were looking at a treasured possession. A strange unease rose in his heart.
Could it be…
Kakashi immediately pulled out one of his books and turned away, saying casually,
"Alright, Rorin, you can practice on your own from here."
The moment he finished speaking, Kakashi vanished with Body Flicker, muttering to himself,
"I'm not Zabuza."
Rorin didn't think much of Kakashi's sudden departure. Although he was extremely tempted by Kamui's power, he couldn't bring himself to kill his own teacher. Kakashi had taught him ninjutsu—Rorin already regarded him as a mentor in his heart.
Might Guy, who had been standing nearby, stepped forward to say goodbye after Kakashi left. He still had a class of students to take care of and couldn't neglect them.
Rorin didn't mind. No matter what you learn, the teacher can only show you the way—the rest depends on you. Besides, he enjoyed the peace of training alone.
Over the next month, Rorin trained his physical body while developing Chidori and the Eight Gates. After half a month of intense effort, he had already mastered opening the Third Gate, the Gate of Life.
But this still fell short of his expectations. In his view, if he wanted to seize Ao's Byakugan with absolute certainty, he would need at least the power of the Seventh Gate, the Gate of Wonder. Cautious by nature, he wouldn't allow even the slightest margin for error. Until he reached that level, he had to keep pushing forward.
Just as he intended to continue training, Rorin received a summons from Tsunade. He headed to the Hokage's office, pushed the door open, and saw several people already waiting inside.
"Oh, you're here. Let me introduce you—this is Nara Shikamaru, a chunin like you," Tsunade said.
Rorin smiled and nodded at Nara Shikamaru. This was already their third meeting.
"Nice to meet you."
Nara Shikamaru nodded back. He had heard Tsunade would assign another chunin to assist him—he hadn't expected it to be Rorin.
After a brief exchange of greetings, Tsunade got straight to the point.
"Rorin, I called you here because there's a mission that needs your help."
Rorin felt a bit awkward hearing that. Since recovering and joining the Hidden Leaf Village, it had been over half a month—and he hadn't taken a single mission. Mainly because… he didn't really need money.
Tsunade probably wanted him to contribute to the village. Fair enough—he'd hear it out.
"What kind of mission is it, Tsunade-sama?"
"It's an A-rank mission. However, Team 10's leader, Asuma Sarutobi, is currently away on personal matters, so we'd like you to assist Team 10 in completing it."
Tsunade was very confident in Rorin's strength. With combat ability on the level of a jonin, his participation would greatly increase the mission's success rate. At the same time, she genuinely wanted him to start taking on missions—other higher-ups had already begun to complain about him idling in the village.
An A-rank mission? That was within acceptable range.
"I understand, Tsunade-sama."
"Mm. Shikamaru will brief you on the mission details."
Soon after, Rorin and Nara Shikamaru left the Hokage's office together. Rorin extended his hand with a smile.
"Looking forward to working with you, Shikamaru."
Accepting the goodwill, Nara Shikamaru shook his hand without hesitation.
"Same here, Rorin."
"So, can you tell me about the mission?"
Nara Shikamaru nodded but didn't say much. Instead, he tossed Rorin a scroll.
"The details are inside. That's it for now—I need to go prepare. We leave the day after tomorrow."
With that, Nara Shikamaru turned and left.
Rorin stared at his back, slightly stunned. Seriously? Even explaining it was too much trouble?
He then opened the scroll and began reading. After finishing, he couldn't help but feel puzzled—the scroll mentioned a place he wasn't familiar with: a country called the Land of Mountain Streams.
But he quickly shrugged it off. This was a real world, after all—there were bound to be many places he didn't know.
Time passed quietly, and soon it was the day of departure.
Rorin leaned casually against the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village, waiting for Team 10 to assemble.
Before long, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Chōza arrived together.
"Hey! Sorry to keep you waiting," Nara Shikamaru greeted.
Yamanaka Ino carefully looked Rorin over—handsome face, tall and well-built. Her impression of him improved immediately. She had heard that their temporary teammate would be someone around their age and had been quite curious.
Well… he was pretty good-looking.
After brief introductions, the four of them set off together.
The journey to the Land of Mountain Streams had officially begun.