LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Farewell
Rinjin's gaze swept over Kozuka's stiff corpse as he silently stood up and left the formation beneath his feet.
He took off his straw raincoat and removed the cloak underneath.
Silently, Rinjin walked to the naked woman, using the cloak to wrap her body.
"I'm sorry! Our village produced such a scoundrel."
The woman weakly turned her head, looking at Rinjin's young face, and shook her head with difficulty.
"It's not... your fault, child."
Rinjin turned his head away, not speaking. At this moment, he was a bit afraid of the woman's gaze.
He stretched out his arms, lifting the barely breathing woman, and walked to the man tied to the chair. He carefully placed the woman down and untied the ropes binding the man.
The man's body was already cold, his joints stiff and unyielding, still maintaining a sitting position.
Rinjin sighed, using brute force to straighten the man's body, laying him flat beside the woman.
After doing all this, Rinjin no longer looked at the couple lying side by side on the ground. He slowly stood up, walked to Kozuka's corpse, and carried his body out of the house.
Let's give this woman some time to say goodbye.
After all, her life was also coming to an end.
Inside the house, the woman slowly turned her face, looking at her husband, at his eyes that couldn't close even in death; tears flowed like small streams along her temples.
The woman's swollen hand, haltingly and resolutely, reached for her husband's hand, finally grasping it tightly, never to let go again.
Outside the door, Rinjin was expressionlessly dealing with the aftermath.
He wanted everyone to know that this atrocity was committed by people from Amegakure.
He dragged out the bodies of villagers from each room, some violated, some tortured to death, arranging them neatly in the open space in the center of the village.
He then bent Kozuka's knees, making the main culprit kneel towards the villagers' bodies.
Afterwards, he did the same with the remaining four bodies, making them kneel in a neat row.
Tearing off their shirts, Rinjin took out a large senbon.
Using the senbon as a pen and Kozuka's back as paper, Rinjin wrote with a solemn expression and intense focus.
"Kozuka, Amegakure jonin, subordinate of Hanzō of the Salamander.
Secretly executing Hanzō's undercover plan, assisting Aron in infiltrating Kirigakure.
Led three subordinates in torturing and killing 103 villagers in the Land of Hot Water, actions brutal and against heavenly principles."
The moment Rinjin wrote these words, his tongue suddenly became unbearably hot, the curse mark on it activating!
In an instant, countless black threads burst from his tongue, densely shooting through his head, leaving it riddled with holes.
After piercing through Rinjin's head, the black threads, undiminished in power, shot out in all directions, disappearing into the vast night.
After an unknown amount of time, Rinjin, who had been gritting his teeth without making a sound, slowly raised his head with a twisted expression, revealing a face horrifyingly riddled with holes.
Wiping away the brain matter oozing from his nostrils, Rinjin looked at Kozuka's back, grinding his teeth.
"Damn it, that hurt like hell! So this is what it feels like to have your brain scrambled. I'll remember this, Hanzō of the Salamander! Kanda!"
But even so, Rinjin still tremblingly picked up the fallen senbon, struggling to move to Aron's back.
"Aron, Amegakure undercover agent, 12 years old.
In the undercover plan, to infiltrate Kirigakure in the Land of Water under the guise of a war orphan.
Participated in massacres, violations, and burning of villagers and villages."
Then, Rinjin wrote the mastermind behind the entire plan and the specific number of people involved on the backs of the remaining three.
He wanted the entire ninja world to know what kind of people Hanzō of the Salamander and Kanda from Amegakure were!
Even if this plan greatly increased the possibility of his exposure, even if writing down the information triggered the curse mark, causing him unbearable pain, he was willing to do it.
If he didn't do this, his conscience wouldn't be at peace.
He was, after all, a transmigrator, with his own bottom line and conscience, unable to turn a blind eye to such inhumane acts.
After finishing all this, Rinjin stood up and, following the ninja knowledge taught by Mizuguma, calmly erased all traces of his presence. Finally, he returned to the house that tormented his heart.
From inside, faint sobbing could be heard, filled with bewilderment and confusion.
Rinjin paused, then pushed open the door.
With a creaking sound, the crying suddenly stopped. Inside, a child with a face smeared with soot suddenly turned his head, his large eyes filled with tears, writing fear and vigilance.
"You... don't come any closer!" The child held a kunai he had picked up from somewhere, awkwardly holding it in front of him, baring his teeth like an injured animal, trying hard to show his laughable ferocity.
"Rie, don't... don't be rude... to our benefactor!" The woman lying on the ground raised her hand with effort, pressing down on the child's arm.
Rinjin paid no attention to the still very nervous child, striding to the woman's side and quickly crouching down.
In the faint firelight from outside the door, Rinjin's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of a needle point.
Normally, this woman should have been dead long ago, but! She had actually held on until now.
If Rinjin's immortality was entirely due to his special constitution, then this woman's survival until now was purely through sheer willpower pushed to the extreme.
Seeing this, Rinjin fell silent.
"Benefactor, what... is your name?" The woman's hoarse voice sounded, pulling Rinjin's scattered attention back.
"Rinjin, my name is Rinjin."
Hearing this, a soft smile slowly appeared on the woman's stiff face.
"Rinjin, do you... have a surname?"
Instinctively, the image of a person appeared in Rinjin's mind — Mizuguma.
It was their first meeting;
Mizuguma, with a serious face, pointed at the Amegakure forehead protector on his head, his mature face showing a hint of solemnity.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Mizuguma Sokuhou, Amegakure Special Jonin. You can call me sensei, or just Mizuguma."
Thinking of this, Rinjin instinctively blurted out.
"Sokuhou! My surname is Sokuhou, Sokuhou Rinjin, nice to meet you!"
The woman nodded imperceptibly, holding the hand of the child beside her, her gaze full of reluctance and love.
"Rie, my child, from now on, your name is Sokuhou Rie."
Saying this, she somewhat forcefully placed Rie's hand in Rinjin's.
"Rinjin, my daughter Rie, please take care of her."
As she spoke, the light in her eyes gradually dimmed, giving Rinjin no chance for regret or hesitation.
...
On a small hill outside the village, warm afternoon sunlight fell, and a gentle breeze swept across the green grass.
In front of a small grave, two figures, one large and one small, stood.
"Go on, say goodbye to your father and mother!" Rinjin gently pushed Rie's shoulder.
Rie nodded, placing a bouquet of red and white wildflowers gently in front of the tombstone, tears constantly welling up in her reddened eyes.
After a long silence, Rinjin stepped forward, gently patting Rie's little head. "Let's go."
Little Rie nodded understandingly, stretching out her chubby little hand to hold Rinjin's, looking back every few steps as they walked towards the distance.