The apartment soon became a busy place. Tsunade saw that Naori had quite a bit of work tonight, so she helped out as well. Torifu helped as an assistant on the side, while the children started playing games in the living room. They had all been somewhat on edge today, so relaxing for a bit was certainly understandable.
"By the way, speaking of which, don't we have no missions again tomorrow?"
"Huh?" Konan sounded confused.
Yahiko explained, "Aren't the Kage of the other two countries going out to fight tomorrow? The Land of Rain territory under the Land of Fire's jurisdiction is pretty much clean now. All that's left is the territory belonging to those two countries."
Hearing this, Konan also understood.
"It seems so. We have to wait until they've finished killing their enemies before we can go help."
This meant they could rest for another day tomorrow.
Today, the Kage-level ninja from Konoha had just cleaned up the battlefield, and then the ninja from the central city had poured out, sweeping the entire Land of Rain territory of the Land of Fire clean. The ninja from all three countries acted together, so the speed was extremely fast, like a plague of locusts, leaving nothing untouched.
Jiraiya heard the children discussing the matter and said, "It's probably just as Yahiko said. We can take a day off."
"In fact, we really should rest. We've done almost double the work of other squads!"
Jiraiya was clearly fed up with all the running. Since a break was available, he definitely didn't want to go out. However, he still had to follow the organization's arrangements, so he occasionally glanced at Torifu, who was helping as an assistant.
Jiraiya was certain Torifu had heard him but hadn't offered any opinion, which meant he was tacitly agreeing with what was said. Jiraiya was delighted in his heart.
Minato and Konan were actually indifferent to resting; they would be fine even if they had to continue running missions. But since there was time to rest, that was naturally better.
So, after a discussion with the whole team, they decided to take a day off tomorrow. Even if the Kage from the other two villages moved quickly and killed their enemies in just one morning, their squad would not be going out.
Having a holiday made one happy, and after confirming the break for tomorrow, Jiraiya was noticeably more cheerful. A cheerful smile remained on his face the entire time.
After about ten minutes, the first dish was tossed into the pan. Immediately after, Tsunade began working on the second dish. All the preparatory work had been finished by Torifu, so Naori and Tsunade only had to place things into the pot.
Before long, the aroma of food filled the entire apartment.
"Ah, I have to say, Sister-in-Law's cooking is truly excellent. Just smelling it makes my mouth water," Jiraiya said with a grin, looking rather pathetic. He was still young, only in his twenties. When he smiled, he looked very sunny and had the unique handsomeness of a young man.
However, the two women present already had their husbands, so no matter how handsome his smile was, no one would pay him any mind.
"If it smells good, then eat more later. You often travel outside and rarely get to eat food from the village. You should eat your fill this time so you don't get homesick again."
"Will do!" Jiraiya happily agreed.
Time passed slowly, and the flavor of the dishes stewing in the pot grew richer and mellower.
Naori opened the lid, and a wave of fragrant steam rushed out: "Mmm, it's ready. We can eat as soon as the sauce for the sweet and sour fish is done."
Naori then looked at Tsunade: "How about it, Tsunade? Is the fish fried?"
Tsunade gave a thumbs-up: "It's ready, Sister Naori. I'm just waiting for you."
Hearing this, Naori quickly mixed the various seasonings, cooked them briefly in the pot, and poured the sauce over the fried fish.
With that, all the dishes for tonight's feast were complete.
The children helped carry the dishes to the dining table. Then, Torifu began with a few words of blessing, and everyone started to eat.
There were ten dishes in total, all satisfying in color, aroma, and taste. Since everyone had helped out a little, the food tasted especially delicious. After all, when you have a share of the credit, you naturally have to eat a little more.
The entire apartment was filled with warmth and harmony, and laughter echoed throughout.
But where there was joy, there was sorrow. Compared to the lively atmosphere in the central city, the original Torifu in Konoha was quite miserable.
Since Akihara had been sent to the Uchiha Clan for temporary care, and Amado and Anka were out eating together, the entire Kumotsuru Clan compound was empty save for him and a few birds.
Meanwhile, he could sense the memories transmitted by his clone—memories so warm and wonderful. Torifu grew more agitated the more he thought about it. He had sent the clone to carry out a mission, so how had it ended up living a happy life instead?
Though they were both him, Torifu was now genuinely jealous.
With a snap of his fingers from his location, the Torifu clone currently eating dinner in the Land of Rain apartment suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke. The bowl and chopsticks he was holding clattered to the floor, making a clear sound.
[T/N: I don't know why his Chakra Clone can eat. Slice of life genre logic :/]
For a moment, everyone was confused about what had happened.
"What's wrong? Did Big Brother's clone run out of chakra? That can't be right; he's usually so careful about its use."
Naori wasn't sure about this either, but soon, a warm sensation spread across Naori's arm, and then a small space-time vortex appeared on her arm.
At this point, Naori understood. It turned out Torifu wanted to come over and eat himself.
A golden leaf silhouette flashed and disappeared, and then Torifu appeared before everyone.
"Hello, everyone. I just got a bit hungry, so I came to join you for dinner."
"B-B-Big Brother? How did you just come here from Konoha in an instant?"
Torifu spread his hands: "It's just one of my jutsu, a space-time type. I can't explain the specifics, but I'm here."
Naori looked at Torifu and smiled without speaking. She then got up to give him a new set of bowls and chopsticks, and also served him some rice.
"Hurry and eat, there are many dishes you love."
Torifu took the bowl and smiled at Naori: "I know."
The awkward atmosphere quickly dissipated. Everyone was just a little surprised by the sudden disappearance of the clone and the arrival of the original. Once the reason was explained, things returned to normal.
"I learned everything that happened today through the clone. You all did great. If you want, you can return immediately tomorrow," Torifu said while eating.
But Minato wasn't very willing to leave yet; he hadn't mastered his Sage Mode. Even if they were to leave, he felt he needed to master Sage Mode first.
Jiraiya understood what Minato was thinking. He knew the young man had been working very hard to practice Sage Mode these past few days.
So he spoke up, "Let's wait a few days. We'd like to see the scenery of the Land of Rain."