The awkward atmosphere soon dissipated. Everyone was only a little surprised that the clone had suddenly vanished and the original had suddenly appeared.
Once the reason had been explained, things quickly returned to normal.
"I heard about everything you did today through my clone. You did very well. If you want, you can head back tomorrow."
Torifu talked as he ate.
But Minato wasn't quite ready to leave. After all, he still hadn't learned Senjutsu.
If they were going to leave, they should at least wait until he'd learned it.
Jiraiya understood what Minato wanted. He knew the little guy had been working very hard at practicing Senjutsu these past few days.
So he said, "Let's stay a few more days. We'd like to see more of Rain Province."
Torifu naturally had no objections. With Jiraiya there to look after them, nothing should go wrong.
The kids had probably gotten a little tired of spending so much time in Konoha over the New Year.
Getting out for a change of scenery was perfect. Besides, Rain Province wasn't especially dangerous at the moment.
The second mission still hadn't unlocked in Torifu's mission panel. There was no rush to send them back; they could decide what to do once it unlocked.
It wasn't as if Rain Province would erupt into chaos the instant the mission unlocked, right? Things would take time to develop.
As long as they stayed alert and watched for activity throughout Rain Province, there was no need to worry about any hidden dangers.
Anbu Ninja from Konoha had already spread out across Rain Province, gathering information, checking suspicious locations, and searching for the base of the local leader behind the scenes.
The Lotus Organization's members had been managing Rain Province for a long time, so they were surely more