The BBQ restaurant's current prosperity relied on Torifū and Naori's fame, which attracted more customers. And the owner's warm attitude towards all his guests was what made the place so popular.
A waiter led Torifū and Naori to their exclusive private room. Even when the restaurant was packed, the owner wouldn't allow other guests into this particular room. Today, the number of customers wasn't too high; perhaps everyone had gone wild during the Nidaime Hokage's inauguration. That day, almost all restaurants were fully booked, and the owners made a fortune. Once the villagers' excitement gradually subsided, there would naturally be a quiet period.
Diners, seeing Torifū and Naori arrive, greeted them warmly. After all, they were village celebrities, and everyone wanted to be on good terms with them. Torifū didn't put on airs, smiling and responding to everyone. Once the two entered their private room, it quieted down, and the diners resumed their meals. People came to the BBQ restaurant for two main reasons: first, to perhaps catch a glimpse of Torifū alive, and second, because the food truly was delicious. Otherwise, Torifū wouldn't have become a regular.
The waiter quickly served all the meat and vegetables. Naori, with practiced ease, began placing slices of meat onto the grill. She chatted with Torifū while carefully watching the meat cook.
"Torifū, what kind of mission do you think we should take this time?"
Torifū leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head. "The objective, of course, should be within our capabilities, and preferably somewhere we haven't been before."
Naori nodded upon hearing Torifū say this. "Do you want to travel far, Torifū? If so, I'll need to prepare some things."
Torifū saw that some of the meat on the grill was ready, so he picked up a fresh pair of chopsticks and put some in Naori's bowl. "Things like that don't just happen. We might go there and find there are no missions at all."
Naori smiled, looking at the meat in her bowl. "In that case, Tobirama-sama won't be able to say anything, since all the missions will have been taken."
The two ate and chatted like this. The plates of meat were quickly emptied, but Torifū and Naori were only about 70% full. Perhaps their appetites had increased recently, as they were still in a growth phase. They asked the waiter for ten more plates of meat, and only then were they full. When paying the bill, the owner rounded it down: two thousand one hundred ryō.
After thanking him, Torifū and Naori set off for the Mission Guild. It wasn't anything urgent, so they decided to walk to aid digestion. It was currently dinnertime for the villagers, so the streets were much less crowded, which sped up their journey. After all, greeting villagers was always the most time-consuming part of traveling.
Upon reaching the Mission Hall, the two found that there weren't many shinobi. The entire hall seemed somewhat empty. They approached the mission assignment desk and were told that all missions requiring travel had already been taken. Only tasks like babysitting or cat-catching remained.
The two exchanged glances and then burst out laughing. They had only been joking about it earlier. They never expected the missions to actually be all taken. Now, they could only choose to head back home and rest. Although they verbally expressed regret about there being no missions, their hearts were secretly filled with joy. Who would want to run around when they could rest?
Just as the two were about to get up and leave, a shinobi suddenly approached, said something to the ninja responsible for distributing missions, and handed over a sealed letter. The two nodded to each other, and the shinobi left. The mission distribution ninja then turned to Torifū and Naori and said, "Please wait a moment, both of you."
Torifū and Naori were puzzled. Weren't there no missions? Why were they being asked to stay? They had a faint bad feeling.
"Ahem, well, you see, I just received a new mission. It was personally issued by Hokage-sama, specifically requesting that you two execute it." Torifū and Naori both showed expressions of "I knew it." They knew Tobirama wouldn't let them off that easily. If there were no missions, he'd just assign one specifically for them. That was very Tobirama.
"Alright, since Hokage-sama specifically requested us two, then tell us about it." The ninja handed the sealed letter on the desk to Torifū and Naori.
"This is Tobirama-sama's personal letter. I don't have the right to read it, so I don't know the mission's content. Please check it yourselves."
Torifū took the envelope and swiftly tore it open, while Naori grumbled beside him. "What's the big mystery? Tobirama-sama is really something. Couldn't he have just told us at the office?"
Torifū didn't pay attention to Naori's complaints. He unfolded the letter and began to read. After finishing her grumbling, Naori also leaned over, curious to see what the letter said.
The two carefully read the letter. The main point was for Torifū and Naori to undertake an intelligence-gathering mission in the Land of Lightning. Tobirama consistently felt that the Land of Lightning was an unstable factor, so he needed to gather as much information as possible on their movements.
For Torifū and Naori, this letter brought both good news and bad news. The good news was that they could take a long journey to a place they had never visited. The bad news was that it was very far.
"We have to go to the Land of Lightning! Why would Tobirama-sama assign us a mission like this?" This was indeed somewhat perplexing. Neither of them was skilled in intelligence gathering or a seasoned spy. Assigning this mission to them just didn't seem right.
"Should we go ask Tobirama-sama?" Torifū asked.
"Let's go!"
The two arrived at the Hokage's office. After knocking and entering, they saw Tobirama's expression and knew he had been waiting for them all along.
"Tobirama-sama, are you sure you want to give this mission to us? We're not intelligence-gathering shinobi."
Tobirama shook his head. "Your main task is to investigate the internal situation of the Land of Lightning, the people's reactions to war. You don't need to infiltrate the ninja village."
"I planted my informants in the Land of Lightning long ago, three years ago. You two are to find him and bring back the intelligence."
Upon hearing this, Torifū and Naori understood the main purpose of this mission. Since it was now clear, there was no need to refuse further. The two accepted this mission, which was marked as A-rank.
Tobirama then suddenly seemed to recall something. "Speaking of which, three years ago, I received news that Kumogakure had dispatched a spy to Konoha."
"I had planned to capture him and interrogate him for information, but I don't know who intercepted him halfway. What a pity."