Torifū chuckled, then with a wave of his hand, he collected the handful of black flowers in Naori's grasp. "You can keep them. We can dry them when we get back. Black flowers aren't common."
Naori's face lit up with a smile. "You're right, the Land of Fire really doesn't have these black flowers."
"Since your hair problem is solved, let's hurry and go."
Seeing Naori's boundless energy, Torifū said, "Remember, we're here on a mission, not a vacation. And wait, I need to change my clothes; these are already dirty."
With that, Torifū darted behind a bush to change, while Naori looked around. They had just crossed the border between the two countries. Other than the black flowers, which weren't seen in the Land of Fire, everything else looked the same.
"Are you done yet?!"
"Alright, alright."
Torifū emerged from behind the bush, dressed in a very ordinary outfit. These were given to them by Tobirama, said to be the style of clothing worn by the people of the Land of Lightning. Naori hadn't gotten used to Torifū's black hair yet, so she found it quite novel. "This is actually the first time I've seen you with black hair."
Torifū ran a hand through a lock of his hair. He, too, wasn't quite used to it after having white hair for so long, but it would only last for about ten days or half a month. He could get rid of it after the mission.
"Let's go. It's best to reach a village before dark to stay the night, otherwise, we'll have to camp."
Naori quickly pulled Torifū along after hearing this; she definitely didn't want to camp outdoors. Although Torifū had brought a tent, it was of such poor quality that it would almost fall apart with a strong gust of wind.
Their running speed, while not as fast as the cranes, was still quite quick. The two looked at the map and ran towards the nearest village, estimating they could arrive before dark. As they ventured deeper into the Land of Lightning, the surrounding terrain became increasingly rugged, with various mountains and streams. This added a lot of difficulty for them.
"I feel like we might really have to spend a night outdoors." Torifū had miscalculated slightly. If they had maintained a normal pace, they would certainly have reached a village before dark. However, they had overlooked the terrain of the Land of Lightning, with its various rugged rocks and mountains, which significantly slowed their progress. At this rate, let alone before dark, even reaching a village by late night would be a struggle.
There was no choice but to use ninjutsu.
"I'll use ninjutsu. That way, we can ignore the terrain. You'll need to hold on to me tightly."
Naori nodded upon hearing this. "Okay, don't push yourself too hard. If it's really not possible, camping is fine too."
Torifū smiled: "It's no big deal. You're very light; it won't be a burden." Naori felt relieved when Torifū said this.
Torifū went behind Naori, and just like when he carried Jiraiya, he secured Naori with Crystal Tendrils. Then, large amounts of clouds billowed from his sleeves, and the two flew into the sky. With the cover of the clouds, it wouldn't be easy to spot Torifū and Naori.
"We should have flown from the beginning; it would have saved us a lot of time."
Torifū gave an embarrassed smile when he heard this. "I wanted to be cautious. We weren't sure about the border defenses of the Land of Lightning."
Naori, reluctantly convinced by this reason, focused on looking at the scenery below. She barely made any movements to avoid burdening Torifū. From mid-air, looking down at the Land of Lightning was truly a beautiful sight. Towering peaks and babbling streams, very different from the scenery of the Land of Fire. Such beautiful scenery, accompanied by the sunset, had a different charm.
Thankfully, the two finally reached the first village before dark. Upon entering the village, they found very few people. There were only a handful of houses. Seeing outsiders, the village head came out to inquire.
"How did you two children get here? Did you get lost from your family?"
Naori immediately put on a pitiful expression: "Grandpa, my brother and I are going to the capital city to find our father and mother. They haven't been home for days."
The village head was stumped for a moment, unsure what to do. "Well, children, do you want some food or some money? If I can help, I certainly will."
Torifū shook his head at this. "Thank you for your kindness. We just want to stay in the village for a night, if that's possible." The village head had thought it was something serious, but it was just for one night. So, he gladly agreed. Coincidentally, his son wasn't home; he had gone to find the village beauty in the neighboring village. The empty room could accommodate the two children.
Torifū and Naori thanked him and followed the village head into the village. From his words, it was clear that while the village head was cautious, he was a good person. There weren't many houses in the village; it was a very small village. They didn't walk far before arriving at the village head's house. He pointed: "You two can stay in that room. My son won't be back for a while."
Torifū and Naori thanked him, then walked to the room, pushed open the door, and went inside. Although no one had lived there, it was spotless and very neat.
After all that bustling, it was completely dark. The village head came to give some instructions, then returned to his own room to sleep. Torifū locked the door and froze it from the inside with Ice Release, making it impossible to open from the outside. Only then did the two truly relax.
Naori slept on the bed, while Torifū slept on a crystal platform he made using Crystal Release. With a blanket on it, it was no different from a bed.
"Torifū, where are we heading tomorrow? Straight to the capital city?"
Torifū turned over on the crystal bed: "The most populated place in the Land of Lightning is the capital city. To complete the mission, the first stop will definitely be the capital city."
"If you want to look around, we can do that after the mission is over." Torifū made a lot of sense, and Naori was just asking out of boredom. After Torifū and Naori chatted for a while longer, they stopped talking and fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, the two were woken by the village head. However, the village head pulled at the door for a long time, but it wouldn't open. Just as he thought it was broken, Torifū melted the ice from the inside. The two thought he was seeing them off, but they didn't expect the village head to have prepared food for them to eat together.
"Grandpa, we won't eat now. We plan to set off for the capital city immediately." But the two naturally couldn't win against an old man. After being forced to eat two steamed buns, they finally left the small village.
"That old grandpa must have been afraid we'd go hungry, that's why he made us eat so many steamed buns."