Naruto：Immortality and the Eight Inner Gates[Double agent]

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

A series of soft sounds echoed.

In the light of lanterns held by ninja outside the alley, Rinjin watched as seven or eight shinobi vanished into shadows like afterimages.

It seemed these Amegakure ninja were quite professional, knowing to stay vigilant against potential enemies lurking in the darkness.

The leader of the group, wearing a loose raincoat and a specialized breathing mask, had an imposing, muscular build. With his keen eyesight, Rinjin noticed a distinctive black birthmark on the man's face, stretching from his forehead to his cheekbone, covering nearly half of his face.

Looking at that uniquely ugly face, Rinjin instinctively shrank his neck and brushed his hand across his chest.

The massive wound on his chest and abdomen had healed, with the skin tightly adhering to his ribcage, making him appear severely malnourished and skeletal. However, as long as his stomach wasn't cut open, no one could tell that there were no organs beneath that layer of skin.

Seeing this, Rinjin let out a sigh of relief - finally, the ghastly wound had healed.

The secret of his immortality should be safe now.

With this thought, Rinjin placed one hand against the wall, struggling to stand up.

Suddenly, a sharp katana appeared from nowhere, pressing against his throat.

"Don't move!"

Rinjin froze for a moment, immediately stopping his attempt to stand. He slowly raised both hands.

"Alright! I won't move. Hey brother, please keep that blade steady, don't cut me - I'm afraid of pain!"

Though spoken softly, the exchange immediately caught the attention of the leader.

Holding up a rain-sheltering lantern, the ugly-faced man strode forward. Standing before Rinjin, his stern eyes fixed on Rinjin's face, examining him up and down.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

Rinjin smiled innocently and replied, "Sir, my name is Kōhei Iwai. I'm an orphan."

Rinjin had no intention of revealing his true name to these Amegakure ninja, as he couldn't be certain whether there were any scrolls containing information about him on Isamu Inoue's body.

Sure enough, one of the ninja searching Isamu Inoue's body found a seal array with strange markings under his arm.

The experienced ninja immediately dipped his thumb in Isamu Inoue's blood and smeared it on the seal array.

"Poof~" With a puff of white smoke, a huge scroll appeared in the ninja's hands.

While keeping an eye on this ninja's movements through his peripheral vision, Rinjin multitasked by answering the ugly-faced man's questions.

"As for why I'm here, it's simple. I was captured by the Jashin Cult earlier, but yesterday I found a chance to escape. I thought I'd be safe if I could make it to the powerful Hidden Rain Village, but I didn't expect the Jashin Cult members would chase me here."

He pointed at Isamu Inoue's corpse nearby.

"You killed him?" the ugly-faced man asked again.

Rinjin nodded - there was no point in lying about this. The battle traces in the alley were too obvious, and any experienced ninja could analyze the general course of the fight.

"How did you kill him?"

"Well..." Rinjin hesitated briefly before answering, "Sir, I used the *Substitution Jutsu*, traps, paper bombs, and a bit of strategy."

Hearing this, the ugly-faced man's lips twitched almost imperceptibly, his gaze sweeping over both Rinjin and Isamu Inoue's corpse with undisguised contempt.

It seemed he looked down on Rinjin's simple tricks and even more so on Isamu Inoue for being killed by a child.

At this moment, the ninja who had finished his inspection quickly walked to the ugly-faced man's side, covered his mouth, and whispered in his ear.

"Lord Kanda, we've confirmed the deceased's identity. He's Isamu Inoue, a Jashin Cult priest with a bounty of 20 million ryō. The scroll on his body can't be opened right now."

The man called Kanda glanced contemptuously at Isamu Inoue's corpse on the ground and asked in a low voice:

"How did he die?"

"The victim's legs were first blown off by paper bombs, then his chest and abdomen were blasted open by paper bombs at very close range.

As for who killed him, it should be this kid in front of you. The hole in the ground appears to be from the *Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique*, and its depth matches the child's height.

There's also a wooden log in the hole, likely from a *Substitution Jutsu* performed the moment he was hit by the Earth Release technique - the timing was extremely precise."

After hearing the ninja's report, Kanda looked at Rinjin with some surprise, his eyes flickering with calculation.

"By the way, what was the bounty on that dead waste again?"

"20 million ryō!" the ninja replied quietly.

Hearing this, Kanda's lips curled into a slight smile as a plan formed in his mind.

"Go ahead and take this kid into custody. Since the body is unrecognizable now, throw it in the river to feed the fish."

After speaking, he gave a silent wink to the ninja beside him.

Having followed Kanda for many years, the ninja immediately understood his meaning and nodded perfunctorily before leaving.

Though his hands were tied behind his back, Rinjin remained calm.

Although he hadn't heard their conversation, he could read the expression in the ugly-faced man's eyes clearly enough.

This guy's eyes kept brightening and darkening - he was definitely plotting something, and whatever was brewing in his mind couldn't be good.

However, Rinjin didn't care. Everything about Isamu Inoue meant less to him than a set of training weights.

Besides, he was an adult soul in a seven-year-old body, and the biggest difference between adults and children was that, having been beaten down by society, he knew when to bow his head under someone else's roof.

Most importantly, he looked like a child no matter what, with no apparent value while consuming precious food resources.

Still, this guy had just stolen his 20 million ryō bounty, and that was a grudge worth remembering. Once he mastered the *Eight Gates*, this guy would be the first one he'd kick to death.

Secretly memorizing Kanda's distinctively ugly face, Rinjin outwardly maintained the appearance of a weak, helpless, and pitiful child as he was escorted away from the alley by the Rain ninja.

...

In the dark, damp cell, Rinjin had enjoyed a good night's sleep.

Now, dim daylight filtered through the fist-sized window - it was already bright outside.

Rinjin sat cross-legged against the cell wall, whistling while scribbling on the wall with a kunai.

It was his second day since leaving the Jashin Cult, and he was in a good mood.

Although he had just gained freedom only to be captured and imprisoned by the Rain ninja, he believed these kind people would release him soon, (#^.^#)

That's what Rinjin wrote, and that's what he thought.

His cell not only had a fist-sized window with decent lighting, but the ninja who imprisoned him had only roughly searched his ninja pouch, not even confiscating the kunai inside.

Adding everything up, it showed that Amegakure didn't take him seriously, or rather, even though he had killed Isamu Inoue, they didn't respect his abilities.

This attitude was quite telling.

However, Rinjin could guess the reason.

Amegakure's two generations of village leaders - one was Hanzō of the Salamander, known as a demigod in the ninja world, whose strength needed no explanation, simply powerful; the other was Pain, who was even more overwhelmingly strong, having single-handedly destroyed Konoha's entire real estate industry.

No wonder they didn't care about a small fry like him. With such powerful village leaders, who would care about a seven-year-old kid!

They were keeping him locked up now simply because they wanted to collect the bounty without his involvement.

Once they got the bounty, they would naturally release a small child like him.

As for Isamu Inoue's 20 million ryō bounty, Rinjin showed no concern. After all, once he became strong enough, the first person he'd kick to death would be that ugly-faced man who stole his kill.

Rinjin's guess wasn't far off. After finishing a strange-tasting prison meal, the ugly-faced man's lackey came by.

He opened the cell door expressionlessly.

"Kid, come with me."

"Oh, and don't touch anything you're not supposed to."

With that, he led the confused Rinjin out of the cell.

They wound through many twisting corridors.

Just as Rinjin was getting dizzy from all the turns in this strange building, they finally reached their destination.

"Knock knock knock." The iron door marked with the Hidden Rain symbol was struck.

"Enter!" A young but steady voice came from inside. The lackey pushed open the door, leading the somewhat bewildered Rinjin into the room.

Inside, a massive desk stood prominently in the center, covered with neatly arranged documents. Behind the desk sat a tall, imposing young man wearing a specialized mask with tubes extending from each side, and a Hidden Rain headband.

Most striking were the young man's eyes - what extraordinary eyes they were! There was no white, just pure black filling the entire socket, giving the man an incredibly intimidating presence.

At his side, the ugly-faced man from last night stood back, his face full of reluctance and his eyes carrying hidden threats when looking at Rinjin.

Behind them, a huge map hung on the wall, covered with various arrows.

After just one glance, Rinjin instinctively lowered his head.

Though he was a military novice, he knew better than to stare at what was clearly a battle strategy map.

Seeing Rinjin quickly lower his head, pretending he hadn't seen anything, a hint of appreciation flickered in the depths of the seated man's pitch-black eyes.

"Sit."

The powerful voice rang out, and Rinjin, head still lowered, quickly pulled out the chair in front of the desk and sat down.

Seeing this, the man nodded and picked up a scroll.

"Kōhei Iwai?"

"That's me." Rinjin nodded.

"Then I'll call you Hei-kun!"

The man cleared his throat softly and continued speaking.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Hanzō of the Salamander, leader of Amegakure.

I've heard about your situation from Kanda.

You were a child imprisoned by the Jashin Cult, who escaped during one of their sacrificial ceremonies and came to my village.

Later, you were pursued by Isamu Inoue, a Jashin priest, and you fought and killed him efficiently.

By the way, did you know the person you killed was Isamu Inoue, a Jashin priest?"

Hearing this, Rinjin nodded.

There was no point lying in front of someone of this caliber. Besides, it would be illogical for a long-imprisoned child not to recognize one of the Jashin Cult's leaders.

Rinjin firmly believed that one lie requires ten more lies to cover it up.

A truly skilled liar either lets the truth pass by unnoticed or hides one lie among countless truths, making it indistinguishable.

Seeing Rinjin nod, Hanzō's expression visibly softened.

He disliked liars - or rather, all those in positions of power despised liars.

"Can you tell me how you escaped, and how you killed Isamu Inoue?"

Rinjin inwardly sighed, thinking 'Do I have a choice? What a pointless question.'

However, with an adult soul inside his body, he showed no trace of impatience and responded obediently.

"It happened like this - I was captured and taken to the Jashin Cult base about half a year ago. I was locked in a cell with other children, spending every day there, day after day.

Those cultists would bring us food daily, teach us chakra cultivation techniques, and occasionally take us for brainwashing sessions."

"Oh? Brainwashing? How did they do that?" Hanzō asked curiously.

"Well... they wouldn't let us sleep, constantly feeding us Jashin doctrine, telling us how great the Jashin Cult was."

"How did you avoid being brainwashed?" Hanzō inquired further.

Rinjin shook his head, "I didn't. I'm still a Jashin cultist, but compared to the Jashin Cult, I just prefer living freely."

After saying this, Rinjin put on an embarrassed expression.

"Well, they only gave us food pills every day, which were barely edible, just like eating dirt;

The water wasn't good either - many kids my age couldn't even urinate properly.

The toilet conditions were terrible too, with splinters in the toilet paper that would scratch our bottoms every time.

Also, we couldn't bathe there, and everyone had lice in their clothes that kept us up at night with their biting.

What I found most unbearable was that the guards made us do chores, like cleaning and such. It's completely unreasonable - what decent person does cleaning?

And there were too many people in the cell, no privacy at all. If anyone had an upset stomach, everyone had to smell it."

Seeing Rinjin rambling on, even the usually calm and composed Hanzō became restless, his expression turning strange as he raised his hand to stop Rinjin's chatter.

"Hei-kun, get to the point."

"Oh, well, basically, I could accept believing in Jashin, but poor food and doing chores? That's where I draw the line."

Hearing this, all three men in the room were speechless.

They finally understood - this kid was just inherently lazy and gluttonous to the bone.

Lifting his head slightly, catching their dumbfounded expressions in his peripheral vision, Rinjin secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Though everything he had rambled about was true, he hadn't actually been imprisoned with other children;

As for chakra cultivation techniques, only he and Haruto had been qualified to learn them.

His purpose in speaking this way was to deflect attention from his special immortality, and instead draw Hanzō's attention to other special abilities he had fabricated.

Actually, this 'lazy and gluttonous' trait wasn't entirely fabricated.

Can you really call it laziness when it comes to modern people? It should be... should be that lazy people drive technological advancement.

After a long moment of silence.

"Ahem..." Hanzō cleared his throat, forcibly suppressing his urge to make sarcastic comments.

"Well... Hei-kun, did you know Isamu Inoue had a bounty of 20 million ryō?"

Rinjin nodded again: "I occasionally heard the guards mention it. That's also why I came to your village through the back streets. I thought with more people around, the priest would at least be more restrained in his actions."

Hanzō nodded in agreement, thinking that although this child was somewhat lazy and gluttonous, his wisdom was undeniable.

Although children in the Warring States period generally matured early, with examples of seven or eight-year-olds going to war, most children weren't half as clever as this boy, let alone as cunning.

With this in mind, Hanzō no longer hesitated. He closed the scroll on his desk and slowly stood up.

"Hei-kun, since you know about Isamu Inoue's bounty, I'll give you two choices."

Hearing this, Rinjin knew the crucial moment had arrived and immediately sat up straight.

"First, I've already sent someone to collect Isamu Inoue's bounty. Since you killed him, you can take the bounty, but the repair costs for that alley will be deducted from it."

As soon as these words were spoken, Rinjin felt a knife-like gaze scanning him up and down.

Without looking, he knew it must be Kanda, whom he had already decided to kick to death someday.

At the same time, Rinjin also understood why the lackey ninja had earlier said "don't take what's not yours."

"As for the second choice!" Hanzō's voice rang out again.

"You join the village, become my disciple..."

Before Hanzō could finish, Kanda interrupted loudly, disregarding etiquette.

"Lord Hanzō, even if he killed Isamu Inoue, he's not qualified to be your disciple!"

What he really wanted to say was: Lord Hanzō, if you're choosing a disciple, shouldn't it be someone outstanding, loyal, and hardworking like me?

As soon as Kanda finished speaking, Hanzō sharply raised his right hand in a silencing gesture, his gaze firmly fixed on Rinjin.

"Become my disciple, and you won't have to worry about harassment from the Jashin Cult in the future. As for the bounty..."

Rinjin quickly shook his head, interrupting him.

Being interrupted twice, Hanzō's expression clearly showed displeasure and he was about to lose his temper, but Rinjin's next words dissipated his anger.

"Lord Hanzō, what bounty? What bounty do I have? I'd even be willing to pay to join the warm family of Amegakure."

Seeing this, Hanzō nodded with satisfaction, not commenting on the offer to pay.

Meanwhile, Rinjin also breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully this guy didn't take it seriously - I'm willing to do other things, but paying money? Sorry, how about becoming a rogue ninja instead?