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

As night fell, the drizzle showed no signs of stopping. Rinjin supported the drunk Mizuguma as they walked through the streets of Amegakure.

"Sensei, how did you move so fast?" Rinjin asked casually while effortlessly supporting Mizuguma's shoulder.

"Fast?" Mizuguma slurred, "What's fast?"

"Not what's fast - you were too fast. I counted: ten minutes total, and you dealt with two women, averaging five minutes each! And during those ten minutes, you even managed to get yourself completely drunk."

Hearing this, the stumbling Mizuguma began to squirm, swaying unsteadily with a defiant look on his face.

"Nonsense! I'm not drunk, and... and my relationship with Miya and Yukiko is purely... purely friendship! They're artists, not... not that kind of women!"

"Sure, whatever." Rinjin tightened his grip to steady Mizuguma's steps. "Artists, right. Do you think I'm stupid? By the way, I don't know how much you spent at Kikiko's, but your money pouch is at least 10,000 ryo lighter, with only about 20,000 ryo left."

As he spoke, Rinjin tucked Mizuguma's dog-shaped money pouch into his ninja pouch.

"It's fine." Mizuguma waved his hand dismissively, a happy smile spreading across his flushed face. "Miya... my little Miya, it's her birthday today. The extra money was her birthday gift."

Hearing Mizuguma's jumbled words, Rinjin was left speechless. At this point, he couldn't tell if the man was truly drunk or not. If he was drunk, he somehow still remembered clearly giving money to the geisha. If he wasn't drunk, giving birthday gifts to geisha wasn't something a sane person would typically do.

After escorting Mizuguma home, Rinjin took out the key, opened the door, and dropped the now barely conscious Mizuguma onto the couch. Placing the key on the coffee table, Rinjin rolled his stiff shoulders and looked at Mizuguma sleeping soundly on the couch. With a self-deprecating smile, he prepared to leave.

Just then, Mizuguma suddenly propped himself up, swaying as he sat up.

"Hei... Hei-kun, let's... let's keep drinking!"

"Drink your head off, just lie down and sleep!" Rinjin retorted irritably.

But Mizuguma suddenly reached out and grabbed Rinjin's sleeve, speaking with a thick tongue.

"Hei-kun, don't... don't hate Lord Hanzō. He... he became so cold for the sake of the village. For peace.

I'm... I'm an orphan like you, a war orphan. But... I'm not as talented as you. You're much more capable than me.

I can sense that you've been hiding your abilities, your chakra... uh... reserves are huge. You think you've hidden it well, but I know."

Hearing this, Rinjin's muscles suddenly tensed, a flash of sharpness crossing his eyes.

But Mizuguma, with his eyes closed and drunk, didn't notice Rinjin's change and continued speaking intermittently.

"Don't... don't worry, I'll never tell anyone. Though I don't know why you won't tell... Lord Hanzō, I trust you have your reasons.

Hei-kun, do you... do you have a dream?"

Rinjin sighed, the sharpness in his eyes gradually fading as he shook his head.

"No."

"Hehe~ I do!" Mizuguma smiled proudly, as if winning over Rinjin in having a dream was some great honor.

"I was born at the end of the Warring States period, when the entire ninja world was in chaos. Back then, even seven or eight-year-old children had to go to the battlefield to fight for their lives."

As he spoke, Mizuguma's voice grew increasingly somber.

"My parents were killed during that time. Later... later, Lord Hanzō saved me and brought me back to the village.

I remember when I was younger than you, after Konohagakure, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure were established. Even with the existence of the so-called God of Shinobi, the ninja world remained in chaos. The conflicts between small villages never ceased.

Later, I went to the battlefield and witnessed the deaths of comrades, friends, and teachers with my own eyes. I hate war, which mercilessly took their lives."

Looking at the man crying like a child before him, Rinjin pressed his hand against his forehead and sighed silently. For the first time since his transmigration, he felt he was living in a very real world.

Mizuguma continued his monologue.

"Since then, I've been wondering why we're alive, what gives us the right to live.

Later, I set a goal, a dream."

As he spoke, Mizuguma's tone became increasingly firm.

"I'm a person without talent, unable to change the world, but! I will do everything in my power to protect the village;

To protect children like you, and when I die, pass on the belief of protecting the village to the next generation.

Hei-kun, can you accept such a belief?"

Looking at Mizuguma's eyes that had opened at some point, Rinjin fell silent.

After what seemed like an eternity, under Mizuguma's hopeful gaze, Rinjin slowly but firmly shook his head.

"Sorry, Mizuguma-sensei, I... I've only been in the village... for a dozen days." Rinjin stumbled over his words unusually, not wanting to deceive Mizuguma, after all, Mizuguma was the only person he acknowledged in this village.

Hearing Rinjin's words, Mizuguma laughed awkwardly and muttered to himself.

"Hei-kun, I'm... I'm too hasty.

Never mind, don't worry about it!

Oh right, you can come to my house with any training questions, after all, who else would be your teacher!"

With that, he gave Rinjin a big smile.

Rinjin nodded slowly and left Mizuguma's house with an expressionless face under Mizuguma's complex gaze, closing the door behind him.

Leaning against the doorframe, Rinjin looked into the distance.

The persistent drizzle had finally stopped, and in the night sky, the bright moon rarely peeked out its head, casting moonlight over this dark land.

Rinjin looked at the moon and sighed again.

Freedom and bonds, though destined twins, were traveling in opposite directions on different paths.

Meanwhile, in the village center, Hanzō of the Salamander sat expressionlessly in his office, listening to his subordinates' intelligence reports.

Just looking at how his bodyguards trembled in fear, it was clear that Hanzō's mood was extremely poor.

Indeed, his mood was terrible, and after a day of accumulation, his anger had reached its limit.

First, in the morning, a jōnin from the intelligence department reported that the intelligence department had been attacked, and numerous confidential scrolls had vanished;

Important ones included the village's water-style secret technique scrolls, defense layout plans, and intelligence correspondence with spies deployed in various villages.

Less important ones included the yet-to-be-decoded intelligence scroll obtained from Isamu Inoue.

In the afternoon, spies monitoring the exchange house reported that large amounts of intelligence about Amegakure's spies had appeared at the exchange house, bought by representatives from various major hidden villages.

Just moments ago, more devastating news arrived - all undercover agents in the Five Great Nations had lost contact without exception, even those who had never been activated were eliminated.

In comparison, his disappointing apprentice Kōhei Iwai hardly mattered anymore.

Actually, early this morning, when Hanzō received news of the intelligence department being attacked, he immediately activated sleeper agents to recall spies from various villages. However, message transmission takes time, and his speed ultimately couldn't match that of the mysterious perpetrators and the Five Great Nations.

Just thinking about how they had searched for an entire day without finding any trace of these attackers made Hanzō's breathing increasingly rapid.

"Search! Keep searching, find all the foreign spies in our village!"

At this moment, Hanzō only regretted not having Konoha's Yamanaka clan. Otherwise, he would have subjected everyone in his village to a truth-or-dare session.

Kanda carefully approached Hanzō's side and spoke softly.

"Lord Hanzō, could it be that Kōhei kid? There haven't been many newcomers to the village lately, he's the only suspicious one!"

Hearing this, Hanzō suddenly turned his head, his fierce gaze making Kanda repeatedly step back. He swore he had never seen Lord Hanzō so angry before.

"Put away your petty cleverness! Do you take me for a fool? That kid has been under 24-hour surveillance by my people, I even know when he defecates! How much he defecates!"

Seeing this, Kanda shrank his neck like a beaten wife.

"Then... then our most pressing matter now is rebuilding our spy network, Lord Hanzō.

Right now, with that person from Konoha having just passed away, the Five Great Nations are particularly active. We can't be without eyes!"

Hearing these words, Hanzō finally nodded slightly and said in a deep voice: "Tell me your thoughts."

Seeing Hanzō listening to his advice, Kanda immediately rejoiced inwardly, thinking proudly that Lord Hanzō still loved him more, as only he could help Lord Hanzō minimize losses at such times.

Kanda's eyes rolled quickly as an idea came to mind.

"My Lord, since our sleeper agents have all been eliminated, sending adults now would definitely be met with suspicion from the Five Great Nations;

If that's the case, why don't we train a group of orphans and send them to infiltrate the Five Great Nations?

They won't be detected by the Five Great Nations, and we can build our forces from scratch; those who do well might even infiltrate the upper echelons of the Five Great Nations.

Take Konoha for example, they're quite caring towards foreign orphans!

It's truly killing three birds with one stone!"

It had to be said that Kanda's head was truly full of schemes and plots.

The Five Great Nations might be wary of incoming adults, but they would never guard against the numerous war orphans. After all, monitoring the large influx of orphans would consume too much manpower and resources.

"Hmm, good! But how do we ensure their loyalty!" Hanzō hit the weak point in Kanda's scheme.

Hearing this, Kanda smiled sinisterly and leaned close to Hanzō's ear, speaking softly.

"My Lord, doesn't our village have a secret technique? The *Cursed Seal: Brain Inserting Technique*."

"Hmm?" Hearing this, Hanzō's eyes suddenly sharpened as he glared sideways at Kanda beside him.

Kanda was terrified by Hanzō's gaze, but he forced himself to continue.

"Lord Hanzō, this is no time for mercy. For the peace and tranquility of our village, these children's sacrifices are worthwhile. Besides, if they're careful in their infiltration, their survival chances are high!

My Lord, think of those in the village who trust and rely on us!

And those who have passed, they gave their lives to the village, we must protect their children!"

By this point, Kanda was almost shouting himself hoarse. It was clear that he truly believed in what he was saying.

As if seeing through Kanda's heart, Hanzō slowly turned his head to look at the scrolls on the table, which recorded the orphans of those eliminated agents.

After what seemed like an eternity, Hanzō let out a long breath, his special mask making a hissing sound as his expression became utterly resolute.

"Go, bring the forbidden technique scrolls from the vault!"

"Yes!" A bodyguard took the key from Hanzō and walked towards the safe on the other side of the room.

After a series of complex operations, a bundle of palm-sized scrolls appeared on Hanzō's desk.

"Since it was your plan, you handle it!"

With that, Hanzō quickly pushed the scrolls towards Kanda, as if holding them for one more second would wound his hands.

"Also, root out all foreign spies in the village! Three days, in three days, I want to see a clean village!"

"Yes!" Kanda accepted the scrolls, standing straight with an barely concealed smile of satisfaction on his face.

"Oh, Lord Hanzō, I'd like to borrow someone from you."

"Who?"

"Kōhei Iwai."