If they had confirmed their relationship this quickly, Torifu would have been the one truly panicking. The way things were now proved that Anka was a decent and serious person with a similar personality to Amado's. Being so compatible, their relationship would likely only get better as they slowly progressed.
After leaving the Tower, Torifu didn't know what to do. Akihara wasn't home, and neither were Minato and the others. His wife had also gone on a distant mission.
The vast Kumotsuru Clan's Hidden Land was left with only Torifu and a few birds. It was truly desolate. Torifu felt like he had returned to the period of his childhood when he lived alone. The sudden change was quite unsettling.
"Maybe I should just go to the Rain Province and find them. It's so boring being at home by myself."
But this idea was quickly dismissed by Torifu. "Forget it. If Akihara were left in the village alone, the child would definitely cry and fuss." He decided he would wait until he was needed before going. He needed to sort out the village's affairs first.
The first mission on the system panel was nearing completion. He estimated the ninjas would finish clearing out the remaining areas in another day or two. Then he would see what the second mission was. Torifu guessed it would require him to kill Blaze or Hanzō, as those two were essentially relics from the last Chaos Event. Eliminating them this time was entirely reasonable. Torifu wasn't overly concerned about the two of them. His focus remained on what the reward would be. It had been a long time since he had received a good item. He was very much looking forward to this reward, hoping it would be something interesting or useful. He prayed it wouldn't be anything like the last one—a broken door that had been sitting unused in his ring for five years was truly irritating.
He had been fine until he remembered it. Ever since he came across the broken door in his ring during the New Year, the more Torifu thought about it, the more annoyed he became. Whenever he thought of it, he couldn't help but take it out to look at it.
It looked like an ordinary door with nothing special about it. Both the frame and the door panel appeared somewhat corroded. It was made entirely of wood and seemed quite old, with a deep brownish color. There appeared to be some kind of pattern drawn on the panel, possibly some form of writing, but Torifu could no longer decipher it. It had been in this state—including the blurred pattern—since the moment he obtained it, and it had never changed. Torifu had repeatedly tried to decipher it recently, hoping to find a method of use. Unfortunately, all attempts had failed.
It was just like an ordinary door panel, serving no purpose. Yet, when Torifu struck it with ninjutsu or slashed it with a sword, it never sustained any marks or damage.
"Did I just get myself a strange kind of shield?" He had already tried attacking it with fifty percent of his full strength, yet the door panel remained completely unharmed. This was enough to prove that the door panel could withstand Kage-level attacks.
Torifu squinted his eyes and grumbled, "I'll study you for a little longer. If I still can't find a way to use you, I'll start using you as a shield."
This blatant threat did not cause the door panel to suddenly display any new abilities. It still looked just as ordinary and, frankly, antiquated.
Losing interest, Torifu put the door away in his ring—out of sight, out of mind. Even that brief moment of 'interrogation' had made Torifu thoroughly disgruntled. That cursed door panel had cost him great effort, with hundreds of Konoha ninjas even sacrificing their lives for it. Yet, it turned out to be completely useless! Who could smile after it had been gathering dust for five years?
Feeling agitated, Torifu decided to soak up the sun and rest for a while to relax. The sun was shining brightly in Konoha right now, while the Rain Province was experiencing continuous overcast and rain.
Naori had set off for her assigned mission area. The mission zones had been reasonably allocated after much discussion, and her teammates were not far away. If she encountered anything she couldn't handle, they could quickly offer mutual support. Naori was currently contemplating one thing: how many enemies were in her area? One might not be enough of a fight, two would be just right, but three might be too many to defeat.
While lost in thought, she quietly crossed the safe zone and entered the periphery of the Rain Province, the deep areas guarded by Kage-level enemies outside the Central City.
Naori's Sharingan remained active, the blood-red eyes with their three-leaf tomoe looking particularly imposing beneath the cloudy sky. Naori reached out to feel the rain, but the rain was completely absorbed by the Cloud Orb. She gave a faint smile and slowly walked into the forest. Under the gaze of the Sharingan, nothing could hide. Naori could clearly see exactly how many enemies were within her range of sight.
"It seems very quiet here. I'll walk deeper."
With a sweep of her eyes, Naori confirmed that there were no enemies nearby, only a few ruined camps. They must have been cleared out in the last two days.
As Naori ventured deeper, the forest became sparse. The relatively flat ground gradually gave way to waterlogged areas. However, this was nothing to a ninja. Naori moved smoothly across the water's surface.
Suddenly, Naori stopped and closed her eyes.
Just then, a steel whip darted through the trees like a slithering snake! The tip of the steel whip bore a sharp spike. A direct hit would immediately create a large, bloody hole! And its target appeared to be the stationary Naori. Just as the steel whip rapidly passed tree after tree and was about to pierce her from behind, a dazzling flash of red erupted from Naori's body! Red flames fiercely ignited beneath her feet, and a massive skeletal figure appeared behind Naori.
The steel whip slammed heavily into the skeleton behind Naori, but instead of causing any damage, it merely bounced off. Immediately after, the giant skeletal claw grabbed the steel whip and yanked hard!
The attacker, who had been hiding in the shadows, was instantly pulled out, tumbling clumsily onto the water's surface and splashing mud all over his face.
"Damn it! How are the Uchiha Clan's people so strong!" The man had thought that his Kage-level strength might allow him to contend with the Uchiha Clan's ninja, or perhaps even kill her. Unfortunately, after only a single exchange, he realized he was nowhere near the Uchiha ninja's opponent. He couldn't even break through the Susanoo.
"Are you the Kage-level ninja responsible for this area?" Naori sized him up. She then sounded slightly disappointed. "Your strength is pretty ordinary. To rely on a sneak attack to win, even as a Kage-level ninja, is truly pathetic."