He demonstrated this to Naori. Torifū simply beckoned with his hand, and clouds from all directions converged towards him, forming a small vortex in his palm. The cloud mass continuously spun within the vortex, becoming increasingly solid. After about ten minutes, the cloud transformed into a transparent white sphere.
"That's amazing! What is it?"
Torifū explained to Naori: "This is a Cloud Stone, created by generating a vortex with chakra, allowing clouds to enter it and finally merge into a high-density form."
"When thrown, the Cloud Stone will explode, or I can detonate it manually." With that, he tossed the Cloud Stone in his hand. Naori had thought a stone of that size could only produce a small tremor at best. To her surprise, it blasted apart a large section of the nearby clouds, as if a part of the sky had suddenly been erased.
"Wow, wow, wow! That ninjutsu's power is incredible! Is it a B-rank ninjutsu?"
Torifū scratched the back of his head. He had intentionally controlled the density of the cloud intake, yet it still possessed such power. If an ordinary person were caught in that explosion, they would likely be attending their own funeral on the spot.
"Ahem, it's actually an S-rank ninjutsu. I just controlled the amount of chakra used, which is why it appeared so small." Naori nodded and didn't ask further. After all, an S-rank ninjutsu was a ninja's trump card, something that would never be revealed to outsiders. This was an unspoken understanding among ninjas; even among friends, they wouldn't pry into each other's private techniques.
Time passed quickly; in the blink of an eye, several hours had gone by. The two people and two cranes had been flying for so long; they were certainly tired, and it was time to eat. Torifū signaled the two cranes to descend. Their speed was perfectly controlled; aside from some minor shaking, Torifū and Naori felt no discomfort and absolutely no sensation of freefall.
Leaving the clouds, Torifū could finally see the ground below. Before, shrouded by the clouds, they hadn't even known where they were.
"It looks like we've flown quite far. We'll definitely reach the Land of Lightning by tomorrow afternoon or evening." Torifū analyzed the environment on the ground. By his calculations, they had only covered about a quarter of the journey. However, they hadn't expended any stamina along the way. Soon, after the two cranes had recovered, they could resume their journey.
Since Aokumo and Ryūfū had worked so hard all morning, they absolutely deserved a reward. Torifū grabbed a handful of their usual favorite treats, and also bought some small fish and shrimp to give them some meat. After all, they would still be relying on them for transportation for the next two days, so they definitely needed to be well cared for.
"Torifū, shouldn't we prepare to eat too?" Torifū looked up at the sky, estimated the time, and then took out some of the food they had bought yesterday to share with Naori. The taste wasn't particularly good, but Torifū quite liked it, as it was very filling.
After the two simply enjoyed their lunch, Aokumo and Ryūfū also finished eating. After repeatedly asking and confirming that they weren't tired, the two once again rode on Aokumo and Ryūfū and set off for the Land of Lightning.
"Oh, right, Torifū, did we forget to bring a picture? What if we identify the wrong person?" Naori asked doubtfully.
Torifū shook his head and said, "I remember what he looks like, and don't we also have a code word?"
"Oh, right, I was getting a bit muddled."
Torifū smiled and said nothing.
Setting off again, with just a single flap of their wings, they soared into the clouds. However, the airflow in the sky was quite strong; a slight misstep could send them plummeting. Naori trembled in fear, clinging tightly to Ryūfū until the air currents stabilized, then slowly relaxed her grip.
"Phew, that scared me! I thought we were going to be blown off course."
Hearing Naori's words, Torifū smiled: "You're worrying too much. Aokumo and Ryūfū's strength is quite impressive; this little wind won't trouble them at all." Naori nodded after hearing this. She now had a clearer understanding of the two cranes' capabilities. At the same time, she was also getting used to the feeling of high-altitude flight.
This mission was made much easier because of the two cranes; it would have been quite exhausting to travel to the Land of Lightning on foot. Furthermore, flying allowed them to avoid unnecessary conflicts and unforeseen dangers on the road, which would otherwise increase their travel time. Just like their previous trip to the Land of Wind, where encountering so many rogue ninja and fighting them took up considerable time.
By the afternoon of the next day, the two finally landed smoothly, not far from the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning. It was just a few steps away. Torifū chose not to have Aokumo and Ryūfū continue with them and instead dispelled the Summoning Jutsu, sending them home to rest.
The two looked at each other. "Let's go."
Then, they strode forward, crossing the border between the two countries. They were now truly in the Land of Lightning. Both wore ordinary, common clothing that wasn't conspicuous, to avoid drawing too much attention. If they had worn their usual outfits to the Land of Lightning, they would certainly have been exposed in minutes.
However, Torifū still had one difficulty: his hair was white, which was equally problematic. The current Raikage had fought him before, so if he were reported, he would essentially be nationally wanted. Looking across the ninja world, there were hardly any white-haired people other than the elderly. So, Torifū had to find a way to make it less noticeable; otherwise, flaunting white hair would be difficult. If people looked closely and realized he was an outsider, it would be a problem.
Torifū and Naori came up with a few ideas, but none were particularly reliable. Naori even ran off to pick black flowers when she saw them, intending to bring them back to dye Torifū's hair. While Naori was away, Torifū quietly opened the system store and browsed, looking for anything that could temporarily dye hair. After looking around, it seemed only a one-time black hair dye would be useful. It wasn't very expensive, so Torifū immediately clicked to redeem it and began applying it to his hair.
When Naori returned with a large bouquet of black flowers, she saw that Torifū's hair had already turned black. Although it looked a bit messy, it would be fine once he changed his outfit.
"Torifū, how did you do that? It's so black!"
Torifū found an excuse, claiming it was a family heirloom he had just found, and that explanation satisfied Naori.
"Oh, what a pity, I picked so many flowers, and they're completely useless now."
Torifū smiled, looking at the handful of black flowers in Naori's hand. With a wave of his hand, he collected them. "You can keep them. We can dry them when we get back. Black flowers aren't common."