Inside the Hokage's office in the Hidden Leaf Village.
Tsunade stood with one hand on her hip, gazing out the window, when a sudden noisy commotion snapped her out of her thoughts.
Bang!
"Tsunade-sama! They're back..." Shizune pushed the door open, her face full of joy.
Tsunade froze for a moment, then the corners of her lips curled upward as she closed her eyes.
The two of them left the office together, Tsunade in front, Shizune following closely behind.
On the street, Rorin walked slowly alongside Jiraiya, the two chatting casually about recent amusing events.
Tap, tap, tap!
Jiraiya, who had been smiling and talking with Rorin while glancing sideways, suddenly stopped. Following the sound of footsteps, he slowly turned his head and met her gaze.
Jiraiya squinted with a grin, scratching the back of his head with his right hand.
"Tsunade, looks like you lost again this time, haha!"
Tsunade was momentarily stunned, then smiled faintly. "You idiot!"
Meanwhile, Rorin rubbed his stomach, unsure why he suddenly felt oddly full.
Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya, her eyes catching the empty space where his left arm should be. Her brows furrowed.
"Jiraiya, your arm?"
Jiraiya turned his head to glance at his left side and replied calmly,
"Got careless. But at least I made it back alive."
Then he hooked his right arm around Rorin's shoulder and said to Tsunade,
"I've got this kid to thank. Otherwise, I might not have made it back."
Only then did Tsunade properly notice Rorin standing beside him. She asked in confusion, "Rorin?"
Rorin scratched his nose modestly. "Just happened to be there at the right time."
Jiraiya didn't elaborate further—some debts didn't need words. Then, recalling the matter of Pain, his expression turned serious.
"Tsunade, this trip to the Hidden Rain Village was very enlightening."
As soon as he finished speaking, Tsunade's expression grew serious as well. The group headed together toward the Hokage's office.
...
A quarter of an hour later, Nara Shikaku and Nara Shikamaru arrived together at the Hokage's office.
Shikamaru spotted Rorin inside, and the two exchanged a nod.
"Everyone's here. Jiraiya, I'll leave the rest to you," Tsunade said, nodding toward him.
Jiraiya stepped forward and began recounting everything he had seen and heard during his trip to the Hidden Rain Village—naturally omitting anything from his personal leisure time.
After a pause, he lowered his head and spoke of the most important discovery he had made.
"The six Pains... every one of them is a ninja I've met before. And most likely, they're all already dead."
"In other words, none of those six are the real Pain. The true body of the Akatsuki leader isn't among them."
"The real one is probably controlling the six through some unknown method."
As soon as he said this, the room fell silent. Everyone sank into deep thought.
"Six pairs of Rinnegan... that's a real headache," Nara Shikamaru muttered, rubbing his head.
"Mm. There's another important task for you as well," Jiraiya said quietly. He bit his finger and summoned a toad.
The toad spat out the corpse of the Animal Path Pain he had previously defeated.
Everyone was shocked. Tsunade's face turned grave. "This is Pain?"
Jiraiya nodded slightly. "The analysis of this body is up to you. Hopefully, you can figure out how the original controls them through it."
"Looks like time is running out. They still have five Pains left," Tsunade murmured, stroking her chin.
Jiraiya smiled faintly at Rorin, then shook his head and corrected her.
"No. Right now, they only have three left. Because I wasn't the only one who defeated one—this bone kid here took down two as well."
Hearing this, everyone's gaze shifted to Rorin. He smiled and nodded.
"Just happened to run into them, so I dealt with them along the way."
Everyone silently understood and didn't press further.
"So they have three left..." Tsunade said softly.
"No. Like I said before, those six Pains were created by someone behind the scenes using some method. It's very likely they can be recreated—it's only a matter of time," Jiraiya analyzed.
Rorin nodded slightly. That was why he had targeted the Naraka Path first—to buy a bit more time.
"No matter what, time is tight. We need to come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible," Tsunade said firmly.
The meeting ended. Rorin and the others tactfully left the Hokage's office, leaving Jiraiya and Tsunade alone.
After everyone left, the two stared at each other deeply for three seconds. In the end, Tsunade looked away, turning her head slightly, a faint blush on her cheeks.
"Um, Tsunade... before I left the village..." Jiraiya began slowly.
"Ahem!" Tsunade cleared her throat, cutting him off and changing the subject.
"Jiraiya, um… Naruto injured himself while testing a new jutsu earlier. Go check on him."
Jiraiya paused, then smiled faintly. Turning around, he raised his right hand and said softly, "Got it."
He opened the door—only to find Rorin and the others crouching outside.
"Ah, we forgot something and came back to get it, right, Dad?" Nara Shikamaru said, elbowing Nara Shikaku.
"Ah, right! We haven't taken the Pain corpse yet—we came back for it," Nara Shikaku quickly added.
The father and son entered the office, picked up the Animal Path's body, and slipped away awkwardly.
"And you two?" Jiraiya's mouth twitched slightly as he looked at Rorin and Shizune.
"Well, I forgot to give Tsunade-sama some documents earlier. We left in a hurry, so I missed it,"
Shizune said, holding a stack of files as she walked straight into the office. After placing them down, she quickly slipped away.
After everyone else had left, only Rorin remained. He smiled, blinking innocently.
"Um... you pervy old man, I came back to find you. I forgot about you earlier. Let's go see Naruto together!"
Rorin inwardly groaned. That was sloppy—he hadn't even prepared an excuse.
Jiraiya didn't say anything more. He simply dragged Rorin along as they left the Hokage's office.
Tsunade looked at the now-empty room, closed her eyes, and smiled faintly.
"Idiot."
...
As Jiraiya walked out of the Hokage building with Rorin, he paused and glanced back at it.
Then he turned away, lowered his head, and closed his eyes. A faint smile appeared on his lips as he murmured,
"Forget it... let things take their course."