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

Extra chapters are here! Thank you all for your support!

————————————————————————————————

 The day after Tsuchinu returned to the village.

Just as he was preparing to take a well-deserved break, seven or eight masked Anbu members appeared at his door, handing him an enormous backpack.

"Tsuchinu, this is your mission."

Seeing this, Tsuchinu's face turned blank. He had thought he'd escaped this ordeal, but apparently, he wasn't so lucky after all.

With no choice, he donned his mask, threw on his coat, and slung the backpack over his shoulders before stepping out of his house.

The seven or eight Anbu members followed him closely, not leaving his side for even a moment.

"What's going on, everyone?" Tsuchinu asked, puzzled.

The group of Anbu all shook their heads in unison. "Nothing. We're just curious to see which poor kid is so unlucky… Ahem! We mean, impressive!"

Last night, the eight of them had stayed up all night flipping through the books in the backpack. Whether or not they contained hidden intelligence, they couldn't say for sure.

They had barely managed to solve the first-grade problems. But starting from the second grade, strange terms like triangles, quadrilaterals, and isosceles trapezoids began to appear, leaving them utterly baffled!

Especially the symbols—things like x, y, z, and sentences like, "The ratio of the opposite side to the hypotenuse of any acute angle ∠a is called the sine of ∠a, written as sin(a)."

These concepts completely floored them.

They concluded that this stuff was harder than ninjutsu.

Normally, second-grade material wouldn't be this difficult. But this was Rinjin's attempt to recreate knowledge from his fragmented memories. It was incomplete and full of leaps in logic.

Whatever he could remember, he wrote down. If he couldn't, he'd throw in some physics and chemistry for good measure, creating a chaotic mishmash.

Rolling his eyes at his colleagues, Tsuchinu said nothing more. He carried the backpack to the Senju clan's old residence and knocked on the door.

After a moment, an elderly woman opened it.

"Hello, may I ask who you're looking for?"

"Sokata Rie."

The old woman nodded at his response and went back inside.

Soon, a chubby little girl in a kimono, holding a small pinwheel in one hand, came bouncing out. In her other hand, she was pulling along Tsunade.

"Tsunade-nee, hurry up! It must be Big Brother who's back!" Rie excitedly tugged Tsunade along in a little sprint.

The door opened again, and Rie poked her head out.

"Huh? Where's Big Brother?" Her eyes scanned the group, but none of them were her brother. The little girl's face immediately puffed up in disappointment.

Tsuchinu stepped forward, setting down the enormous backpack that was nearly as tall as he was.

"Little Rie, this is—"

Before he could finish, Rie interrupted him in excitement.

"Don't! Don't say anything! Is Big Brother hiding in here?"

She tiptoed up to the massive backpack, her eyes sparkling, and gently grabbed the edge, carefully undoing the buckle.

"Ta-da! Found you!"

"!!!"

But when she saw what was inside, the little girl recoiled in shock and pushed the backpack away.

The backpack toppled over, spilling its contents—countless copies of *Little Scroll Tyrant* and *Happy Holidays*—all over the ground in a cheerful cascade.

Looking at the scattered books, the smile on Rie's face froze, as if she had turned into a soulless doll.

Tsuchinu rolled his eyes in exasperation, utterly speechless.

Standing nearby, Tsunade slapped a hand over her pale forehead.

This… This really is just like him!

...

Another month passed, making it two months since Rinjin had been hospitalized.

His visible injuries had more or less healed.

With the help of a group of flustered but adorable nurses, Rinjin finally had his bandages removed.

Sure enough, his skin was still as dark as ever, without a hint of fading.

Keeping a straight face, Rinjin swiftly put on his clothes.

The lovely nurses blushed deeply, their watery eyes filled with an indescribable anticipation.

After all, they were used to seeing small elephants, but it wasn't every day they got to see a big one.

Fully dressed, Rinjin bounced on his feet twice, feeling invigorated as he clenched his fists.

He couldn't smile. He was playing the role of a reformed protector, and protectors weren't supposed to grin foolishly—except, of course, for Deadpool.

After thanking the doctors and nurses, Rinjin stepped out of the hospital room.

Outside, a bored-looking Ayawai, dressed in a tight-fitting uniform and pencil skirt, was waiting.

When Rinjin walked out, their eyes met, and Rinjin froze.

His gaze involuntarily drifted downwards, landing on the woman's chest. He was genuinely stunned.

Oh my god—what are those? Tailed Beast Bombs?!

That was Rinjin's first thought.

Why are there two Tailed Beast Bombs?!

That was Rinjin's second thought.

Sensing Rinjin's gaze, Ayawai immediately raised her clipboard to cover her chest.

Jealousy~

Rinjin suddenly felt that not being human wasn't so bad after all.

"Ahem…" Ayawai cleared her throat lightly, her stern gaze fixed on Rinjin.

Rinjin, mindful of his role, half-lowered his eyelids in a drowsy expression. Pointing at Ayawai's clipboard—her clipboard, not her chest—he said, "My apologies. Recently, everything round I see looks like a Tailed Beast Bomb. Could you please stand a little farther away?"

Ayawai's face instantly darkened. Her expression of disgust flashed briefly before she unconsciously took two steps back.

"Raimei, you've already wasted four minutes and thirty-eight seconds… thirty-nine seconds! Now, follow me to the Raikage's office. I'll explain the details on the way."

"The Raikage's… office!" A glint of light flashed deep in Rinjin's eyes.

Muttering to himself, Rinjin took a step forward, following Ayawai's lead.

The two walked side by side, quickly leaving Kumogakure's ninja hospital.

"First, let me introduce myself. My name is Ayawai, and I'm the Raikage's secretary."

Rinjin gave a half-hearted grunt of acknowledgment, casting her a sidelong glance.

Right now, all he wanted to do was leave a comment: I, Sokata Rinjin, am officially jealous of the Raikage!

Unaware of Rinjin's thoughts, Ayawai continued, "First thing: when you meet the Raikage, show respect."

"Got it, got it," Rinjin nodded.

"Second thing: your squad has been disbanded. Your former captain and another teammate have been reassigned to other squads."

Hearing this, Rinjin nodded again, like a mechanical nodding machine.

This wasn't surprising. A four-man squad losing one member and having another injured wouldn't just stop doing missions. That would be impossible—this wasn't the protagonist's team!

Walking beside him, Ayawai sneaked a glance at Rinjin.

She had previously inquired about Raimei's personality from his teammates, and because of this, she found the current Raimei very strange.

This guy seemed completely different after his hospital stay.

Before, he had been extremely arrogant. Now, he seemed perpetually half-asleep.

Something wasn't right. Something was very wrong.

With this in mind, Ayawai decided to test Raimei.

"Raimei, your squad's disbanded. Aren't you upset?" she asked casually.

"Hm? Did they die?" Rinjin turned his head, his expression flat as he looked at the baby-faced woman with the giant Tailed Beast Bombs.

"No, no, they're still alive," Ayawai quickly shook her head.

"Oh~" Rinjin picked his nose nonchalantly and said in a muffled voice, "If they're alive, what's there to be upset about? It's not like Ōfu, who's already dead."

After speaking, Rinjin tilted his head back, gazing at the thunderous sky. His demeanor suddenly became somber as he muttered, "People… They don't have time to grieve in this life. The living don't need grief, and the dead don't know grief."

Hearing this, Ayawai fell silent. She had compiled the casualty list for the recent battle herself, so how could she not know who Ōfu was?

After a long pause, Ayawai spoke again. "I'm sorry. Were you two close?"

"Not really."

"It's just that he saved my life, so I feel like I owe him something. That's why I've decided to carry on the dreams he couldn't fulfill."

As he spoke, Rinjin let out a self-deprecating laugh. In his mind's eye, a face full of urgency slowly appeared.

Mizuguma… What was your dream?

Ayawai stopped in her tracks. She could feel it—the heavy sorrow this man carried.

"Heh, how ironic. Saying there's no time for grief, yet hiding such deep pain inside… What a man who says one thing but feels another."

Watching Rinjin's retreating figure, Ayawai murmured softly to herself.