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

Though he had officially become Hanzō of the Salamander's disciple, Rinjin hadn't seen that shameless fellow once since their meeting in the office over a week ago.

Instead, a Special Jōnin named Mizuguma had taken charge of his training.

Speaking of Mizuguma-sensei, he was rather plain-looking and somewhat ugly, especially with his prominent nose and that conspicuously balding head.

During every lesson, Rinjin couldn't help but worry that the carefully combed sparse hair on his teacher's head would float away like dandelion seeds in the wind.

Once, Rinjin had asked him why he didn't just shave off those few remaining strands and go for a cool bald look. Mizuguma had responded in a melancholic tone: "This isn't just hair—it's a man's last stand of defiance!"

Later, Rinjin learned that this mature-looking man was merely eighteen years old, in the prime of his youth.

...

The room Hanzō had arranged for Rinjin was located in a high-rise building in the center of the village, right next to Hanzō's office building.

Rinjin's room was on the top floor.

While the top floor usually offered excellent lighting and ventilation, this was Amegakure, not Konohagakure. The constant rain meant they rarely saw the sun throughout the year, and the drainage system on the upper floors was several levels worse than the ground floor. This had led to some peculiar local customs.

Most people lived on the lower floors, while the upper levels were typically used to store coffins of the deceased.

The only silver lining was that outside Rinjin's room, there was a fierce-looking stone face statue with an extended tongue long enough for someone to sit on.

But Rinjin didn't dare try it. The thing was incredibly slippery when wet, and he feared one wrong move would turn him into a pancake on the ground below. If he were to mysteriously come back to life after that, it would be rather difficult to explain.

It had been a week since his first and only meeting with Hanzō. During this time, Rinjin had been learning the rules of the ninja world under Mizuguma's guidance.

Only after understanding these rules did Rinjin realize how utterly dishonorable his previous action had been—using the Great Fireball Technique to blast Isamu Inoue. No wonder the man had nearly exploded with rage.

As it turned out, such tactics were considered extremely underhanded in the ninja world. Any shinobi with a shred of dignity would never resort to such methods.

Moreover, using such tactics against an opponent was seen as a sign of extreme disrespect.

Thinking about this, Rinjin took a moment of silence for Isamu in his heart.

"Knock... knock... knock..." A rhythmic knocking at the door interrupted Rinjin's moment of silence.

Sighing, Rinjin mentally apologized to Isamu and promised to finish his moment of silence another time, then got up to open the door.

Outside stood Mizuguma, wearing a raincoat over his Jōnin uniform. He entered Rinjin's room and casually placed the breakfast he'd brought on the table.

"Eat up. After breakfast, we'll officially begin your chakra extraction training," he said, pulling out a chair and sitting at the table.

He produced a teapot from his pocket, and as if performing a magic trick, conjured a teacup, poured some hot tea, and placed it in front of Rinjin.

Watching Mizuguma's fluid movements, Rinjin's mouth twitched slightly.

There was no denying that this man was incredibly thoughtful—or "yasashii" as the locals would say. At just eighteen, he was already a Special Jōnin, a typical case of being capable but unlucky. If it weren't for his prematurely aged appearance and uncooperative hair, he probably would have been married with children by now.

Rinjin reached for the teacup Mizuguma offered, thanked him, and began devouring his breakfast with gusto.

Seeing Rinjin eating heartily, Mizuguma didn't stay idle and started chattering away.

"Now that a week has passed and you've grasped the basic ninja concepts, we'll start learning the chakra extraction technique today."

"But... I... already... know it," Rinjin mumbled with his mouth full.

Hearing this, Mizuguma rolled his eyes without hiding his disdain: "No, you don't. I know all about the Jashin Cult's methods—what they taught you was a castrated version!"

"Huh?" Rinjin swallowed his food in one gulp, his eyes wide with surprise.

He had never heard of there being a "castrated version" of this technique!

"Never mind what a castrated version is—just pretend you've never learned it before."

After saying this, Mizuguma walked to the bed and sat cross-legged.

Rinjin's bed was essentially a leaky waterbed; the room's dampness was severe. If it weren't for his immortality and immunity to illness, he would have been suffering from severe arthritis by now.

Feeling the moisture on the mattress, Mizuguma's brow furrowed slightly as he muttered under his breath.

"Lord Kanda has gone too far—how can anyone live in such conditions? No, I must speak to Lord Hanzō today about changing rooms."

Still muttering, he sat cross-legged on the bed despite the dampness, assuming the chakra extraction pose.

"Watch carefully, I'll demonstrate once."

With that, he slowly closed his eyes.

"The most important aspect of chakra extraction is concentration. Clear your mind completely, then control the combination of your spiritual and physical energies to produce chakra."

Having finished breakfast, Rinjin pulled up a chair beside the bed and watched intently.

Gradually, a blue chakra aura emerged from Mizuguma's body, adhering to his surface and flowing along fixed pathways.

No longer a ninja novice, Rinjin knew that this ability to manifest chakra externally was extremely taxing on both chakra and stamina.

After all, not everyone was like Prince Naruto, who could recklessly unleash power by borrowing the Nine-Tails' strength.

Seeing this, Rinjin focused completely, carefully memorizing the chakra flow patterns.

"Got it memorized?" After quite a while, Mizuguma, his forehead covered in sweat, asked in a deep voice.

Rinjin nodded quickly.

When he concentrated, his memory was quite remarkable, and he had already committed all the pathways to heart.

Seeing Rinjin's nod, Mizuguma released his hand seal, and the blue chakra surrounding his body instantly vanished. He let out a long breath, showing that this teaching method had taken quite a toll on his body.

"Now you try," Mizuguma said, standing up to make room.

Rinjin nodded again, sitting cross-legged on the bed and mimicking Mizuguma's hand position with the "Mi" seal. As he did so, memories about combining spiritual and physical energies surfaced in his mind.

First, mix spiritual and physical energies to form stamina, then transform that stamina into chakra through specific techniques.

There were two main challenges, and these challenges defined the differences between ninja.

The first was the process of converting stamina into chakra, also known as chakra production technique. During this process, some ninja could precisely convert every bit of stamina into chakra.

Others would waste some stamina during the conversion, with only a portion becoming chakra.

This was the difference between the proper chakra extraction technique and the "castrated version" Mizuguma had mentioned.

The second challenge involved converting chakra into jutsu.

Some ninja could precisely control their chakra usage, converting it into jutsu without any waste.

Others couldn't achieve this precision and inevitably wasted some chakra during the process.

These two challenges were known as conversion and utilization.

Rinjin sat cross-legged on the bed as techniques for chakra extraction surfaced in his mind. A warm current slowly generated within his body, flowing along strange pathways through his limbs.

He was slightly startled—this method was indeed much faster than what the Jashin cultists had taught him. Meanwhile, his cells began sending waves of fatigue throughout his body.

Rinjin knew this was due to the consumption of physical energy.

However, this wasn't a concern for him. His immortal body not only prevented death but also eliminated the possibility of dying from exhaustion.

Simply put, his body had unlimited physical energy.

Understanding his situation, Rinjin deliberately slowed his chakra extraction progress while maintaining the hand seals for show.

The reason was simple—when one is weak, it's better not to reveal any special abilities, especially when your master is Hanzō of the Salamander, the man known as a demigod in the ninja world.

In Rinjin's memory, while Hanzō was incredibly powerful, he wasn't particularly bright.

First, he had declared war against three nations—Fire, Earth, and Wind—during the Second Ninja War, depleting Amegakure's resources and suffering heavy losses.

Then he conspired with Danzō, killed Yahiko, and caused Nagato to turn to darkness.

Though he survived both times, what about his Rain ninja? They all perished.

Thinking about this, Rinjin drew in a sharp breath and complained internally.

"I'd better just lay low and be an advisor. The ninja world is too dangerous, especially working under Hanzō of the Salamander—it increases the danger factor by fifty percent."

"If only I had escaped to Konohagakure instead. It's peaceful there, with a nice environment where you can sunbathe. Unlike the Land of Rain, where it rains constantly—I feel like I'm going to develop shingles in my backside!"

...

Another week passed, making it over a month since Rinjin had arrived in Amegakure.

That day, Rinjin was sitting on his bed as usual, "struggling" with chakra extraction practice, while Mizuguma watched his every move with unwavering seriousness.

Suddenly, an unexpected knock broke the room's silence. Mizuguma frowned, his expression turning unpleasant as he rose to open the door.

"Lord Hanzō!" With an exclamation, Mizuguma respectfully opened the door wide and stepped aside.

Outside stood the imposing figure of Hanzō of the Salamander, wearing his mask and expressionless as ever. Three ninja wearing Rain headbands flanked him, including Kanda, whom Rinjin recognized.

Seeing this, Rinjin stood up, putting on an obedient facade as he stood beside the bed.

Hanzō's gaze swept briefly over Rinjin before he strode to the table and sat down, beckoning Mizuguma.

"It's been fifteen days. How is his training progressing?"

Hearing this, a bead of sweat slowly formed on Mizuguma's forehead as he stammered, "Well... Lord Hanzō, Young Taira has been practicing chakra extraction... um... very diligently, without a moment's slack."

He wanted to praise Rinjin more, but over this period, Rinjin's chakra hadn't shown any improvement—it had actually decreased. He couldn't figure out why, despite wracking his brains.

As a result, he could only watch Rinjin's training more intensely, like an anxious parent hoping for their child's success.

Little did he know that Rinjin, determined to hide his abilities, had not only experienced childhood battles of wit with his parents but had also accumulated vast experience in slacking off during his adult working life.

Simply put, Rinjin's slacking skills far surpassed Mizuguma's supervision abilities.

The result was that after fifteen days, Rinjin hadn't improved at all—he'd actually gotten worse!

Hearing Mizuguma's words, Hanzō nodded expressionlessly. In his view, training desperately during turbulent times was expected—nothing worth praising.

"What about his chakra levels?" Hanzō asked again.

"Uh..." Mizuguma froze, more sweat beading on his forehead.

"His chakra... extraction technique is very good, um... he can now extract chakra anytime, anywhere!"

Watching Mizuguma's stiff expression as he tried to change the subject, Rinjin felt amused and slightly touched.

He knew that if he didn't show any talent in terms of power, his current privileges would be revoked—the daily delivered meals, the centrally located room, and the personal tutoring from a Special Jōnin like Mizuguma would all be taken away.

Though cruel, he understood this was reality—people without much value weren't worth investing too much effort in. But this was exactly what Rinjin wanted: freedom.

Being valued, having expectations placed on you, bearing heavy burdens—weren't these all forms of losing freedom?

In this world, Rinjin hadn't yet found someone worth sacrificing his freedom for.

Seeing Mizuguma evading the question, Hanzō's brows furrowed slightly, and Rinjin felt the room's atmosphere rapidly cooling.

"I asked—has his chakra level increased or not?"

Seeing Hanzō's anger, Mizuguma wilted like frost-bitten eggplant and replied meekly:

"Lord Hanzō, there... there hasn't been much growth."

"But the time has been too short, and look at these conditions—they're not suitable for proper training..."

His voice grew increasingly faint as he spoke.

He shouldn't have said so much—after all, he was just a temporary basic instructor.

"Enough!"

Hanzō's cold voice cut off Mizuguma's words. If not for the fact that he was an exceptionally skilled teaching Special Jōnin, any other Chūnin speaking to him this way would have been dragged out and killed.

"Taira, channel your chakra into this."

He tossed a piece of paper onto the table, his face expressionless.

Watching Hanzō's expression, Kanda was already grinning with delight.

As the person who had followed Hanzō the longest, Kanda clearly understood his lord's expressions when angry.

Normally, Lord Hanzō maintained an expressionless, dignified appearance. When someone angered him, his eyebrows would furrow slightly, though his overall emotional display wasn't very obvious. However, when Lord Hanzō was extremely disappointed or angry, his expression would paradoxically return to being completely blank.

At such times, Lord Hanzō would instinctively emit an unapproachable aura that made people fearful.

Thinking of this, Kanda's heart filled with savage glee. Truth be told, he had disliked this slick brat from their first meeting, believing him to lack any ninja spirit.

In his view, ninja should be like Lord Hanzō—defeating opponents fair and square with overwhelming power.

Later, when Hanzō had made an exception to take Rinjin as his disciple, Kanda's jealousy had burned even hotter.

Seeing Rinjin being treated coldly now felt as refreshing to Kanda as eating ice-cold watermelon on a hot summer day.

Rinjin was unaware of Kanda's thoughts. He simply nodded quietly, maintaining his obedient facade as he walked to the table and picked up the chakra paper.

Then, under Mizuguma's hopeful gaze, Hanzō's cold stare, and Kanda's mocking eyes, he put on a show of struggling to channel his chakra into his palm.

At this moment, all eyes were fixed on the chakra paper.

The next second, Kanda couldn't suppress the grin spreading across his ugly face as wild joy overtook him.

The paper didn't get wet! Haha! Not the 'water' nature that Lord Hanzō valued most!

Not only that, the chakra paper showed no reaction at all—it didn't burn, split in half, wrinkle, or crumble!

Hahaha! This guy has the rare non-element type—what an absolute fool!

Everyone in the room showed different expressions upon seeing the unchanged paper.

The bodyguards all looked at Rinjin with contempt, their disdain obvious.

As for Hanzō, his pupils contracted. Though his face remained expressionless, the disappointment deep in his eyes betrayed his inner thoughts.

This fellow has nothing but minor cleverness—no real value!

With this thought, Hanzō abruptly stood up and walked toward the door without looking back. Behind him, Kanda and the bodyguards, harboring their ulterior motives, hurriedly followed.