Tobirama 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."
Upon hearing this, Torifū felt a sudden pang of guilt, but his outward composure was so perfect that no one noticed. Torifū himself hadn't expected Tobirama's memory to be so good; he thought he would have forgotten such a minor incident, but he still remembered it.
Naori, hearing this, sounded somewhat indignant: "Could it be that other spies learned of your plan and silenced him? How terrible!"
Tobirama nodded: "That's not impossible. I found signs of a struggle in the forest, but no blood or bodies. This person had good counter-intelligence skills."
Tobirama and Naori continued their verbal assault on the "spy" like this, back and forth. They didn't know that the "spy" was right beside them, smiling and joining in the condemnation. Torifū couldn't describe his current feelings. The sensation of condemning himself alongside his good friend and half-master was likely something few people could experience. Torifū was thoroughly enjoying this delightful feeling.
It wasn't until Tobirama and Naori ran out of things to say that the "spy" denunciation meeting finally concluded. Torifū finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Both of you, pay attention. The informant in Kumogakure is someone I've cultivated for a long time. If he is exposed, you must escort him back to Konoha Village." Tobirama said earnestly to Naori and Torifū.
"He has obtained much intelligence on Kumogakure for the village. It's safe to say that if war ever breaks out, Kumogakure would definitely not be our match."
Naori then asked, "What's his name? How do we identify him?"
Tobirama sighed and shook his head: "He has no name. He changes his name every time he goes to a new place; his original one was long since abandoned. This is the rendezvous code." Tobirama finished speaking and handed a small piece of paper to Torifū. He and Naori glanced at the contents, memorized it, and then burned the paper to ash.
"When do you plan to depart?"
Torifū looked at Naori, then said to Tobirama, "Tomorrow will be for preparing supplies and making some plans. We should be able to leave the day after tomorrow."
Naori also nodded: "Yes, Tobirama-sama, we can depart the day after tomorrow."
"Very good. Then I wish you both a smooth journey." He then said to Naori, "If you perform exceptionally well on this mission, I can promote you to Special Jōnin."
This delighted Naori, and she resolved to showcase her abilities greatly on this mission. Opportunities for exceptional promotion weren't always available.
And so, the two left the Hokage's office. Naori was still smiling even after they exited the Hokage building. However, this mission was quite difficult, so she still needed to inform her father and grandfather at home. If she just slipped away without a word and they found out, they might directly storm into Kumogakure.
"Torifū, remember to bring plenty of food! I know you have that amazing ninjutsu that can store things!" Seeing Naori only concerned about food and completely disregarding the mission's difficulty, Torifū sighed slightly. This team would fall apart without Torifū.
"Alright, I'll remember everything."
Naori smiled at his words: "Then I'm heading home. Be careful on your way!"
"You too."
After waving goodbye, the two returned to their respective clan compounds. Before even reaching his door, Torifū saw from a distance a large white chicken, sound asleep on his doorstep. Upon reaching the door, Snowflake seemed to be startled awake, looking around very alertly, but when she recognized Torifū, her ruffled feathers settled back to normal.
"How are you back so early today?" Torifū and Shiro said in unison.
"No mission today, that's why I'm back earlier. Where are Aokumo and Ryūfū?"
Snowflake pointed her wing towards the sky, but Torifū looked up and saw nothing. "I mean they're still playing outside. They'll come back when they're tired; no need to worry."
Snowflake's parenting style could now be described as completely hands-off. They'd run out in the morning and basically wouldn't return until evening. At first, she'd give them countless admonishments, but now Snowflake no longer wasted her breath. After all, no amount of lecturing compared to them falling and learning themselves.
After chatting with Snowflake for a bit, Torifū went back into the house and started preparing the essential supplies for the mission. This included things like tents and a small pot. The remaining food and water would have to wait until he went shopping tomorrow. As for kunai, explosive tags, shuriken, and other standard ninja tools, Torifū brought none. After all, the power of ninjutsu already surpassed these ordinary ninja tools; they were essentially useless.
After everything was packed, night fell in the blink of an eye. After washing up, Torifū could only lie bored on his bed, Browse the system store. After all, he currently had over 200,000 Peace Points with nowhere to spend them. Torifū's plan was to first find a suitable item, then wait for his rest period after the mission to exchange for it. But after searching for over an hour, he still hadn't found anything he liked.
Just as Torifū decided to give up, a unique item appeared in his vision. The name alone was enough to pique Torifū's curiosity.
[Complete Sage Art Package]
After Browse so many useless and flashy items, he finally stumbled upon something useful. Since it had this name, it must teach shinobi how to cultivate Sage Art. He clicked on the details and, sure enough, it was. Furthermore, from the description, it seemed to differ from the general Sage Mode. However, the exact differences weren't mentioned in the description.
The price was 150,000 Peace Points; truly exorbitant! Torifū felt his heart bleed at the sight of that number. The Peace Points he had painstakingly accumulated over two years would probably be completely drained this time. Was this damn system always eyeing his meager Peace Points? He'd save up a little, and then it would come for a harvest.
However, this method of cultivating Sage Mode was indeed worth the price. Why don't I go to the three Sacred Lands to train?
First, he'd have to find them. The time wasted just searching for a Sacred Land would cost who knows how much more than 150,000 Peace Points. And even if he reached a Sacred Land, whether he'd be killed or not was another matter entirely.
Jiraiya had a destined connection with Mount Myōboku, which allowed him to enter it through the Reverse Summoning Jutsu. And it was only because the Great Sage Toad had foreseen his future that he was allowed to stay and cultivate Sage Art.
[T/N: I am going to use Hokage-sama to refer to Tobirama in dialogues from now on. For some reason, the author has not been using Hokage title for him, i was waiting but he hasn't done so.]