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

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Time passed swiftly.

Before anyone realized it, the news of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, falling in battle and Hiruzen Sarutobi succeeding him as the Third Hokage had spread throughout the village.

Outside, a torrential rain poured relentlessly.

Clad in black, Rinjin sat on the corridor, watching raindrops patter against the rock garden in the courtyard. Ripples spread across the small pond, while the water scoop tipped over rhythmically.

"The Senju Clan has officially withdrawn from the stage of history," he murmured to himself.

The two Senju Hokages who followed would only reappear as tools of war.

Thinking of this, Rinjin felt a sudden pang of melancholy.

He wasn't sure why—perhaps it was the sorrowful atmosphere of the village that affected him, or perhaps it was an indescribable admiration for Tobirama Senju, the man who had spared his life twice.

Rinjin was a transmigrator—one who knew the future, one who wasn't foolish and even had a bit of wit. 

And yet, even with such great advantages, Rinjin still felt like he was walking on thin ice, struggling to take every step when facing Tobirama Senju.

This was a feeling no one else had ever given him since his arrival in this world.

"A remarkable man," Rinjin said with a faint smile, shaking his head.

Rinjin had never met Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha, but he instinctively believed that neither of them could compare to Tobirama.

Madara Uchiha had dreams and hatred, but he was little more than a puppet controlled by Black Zetsu, unaware of his own manipulation.

Hashirama Senju, though immensely powerful and resolute, was overly simple-minded. Even Madara's scornful remark about his naivety wasn't entirely wrong.

But Tobirama Senju...

Most of the renowned institutions in Konoha were established by his hand.

The village's comprehensive strength was built upon the foundation he laid.

The twenty years of peace following the First Shinobi World War were secured by the strength he had forged for Konoha.

He had dreams, the patience to advance them, and the determination to act on them. These qualities alone made him extraordinary.

Thinking of this, Rinjin couldn't help but chuckle self-deprecatingly and mutter to himself, "Stop thinking about all this nonsense. It's time."

With that, he slowly stood up and pushed open the door to his room.

Inside, Rie was in the middle of changing clothes and immediately let out a scream.

"Brother! Why did you come in?! Get out, get out!"

Rinjin glanced at Aunt Anko, who was holding a black T-shirt, then at Rie, and scoffed.

"You little brat, did you forget? I was the one who helped you change yesterday. Now you're acting all high and mighty?"

Rie stubbornly retorted, "That was yesterday! Today I'm a grown-up girl! You can't look!"

Hearing this, Rinjin smacked his forehead, his face dark with exasperation.

"Damn it, I should've stopped you from hanging out with Maiko and the others. What kind of nonsense are they teaching you?

Don't forget, I'm your brother! People might even believe I'm your father!"

Rie quickly hid behind Anko and stuck out her tongue at Rinjin.

"Bleh~ My mom wouldn't even consider you!"

"You little brat!" Rinjin exploded with anger, rolling up his sleeves, ready to give her a dose of "fatherly love."

Aunt Anko, kneeling on the tatami mat, couldn't help but laugh through her tears.

Still, she thought to herself, Rinjin was indeed too mature for his age. Sometimes, it was easy to forget how young he actually was.

In the end, Rinjin left the room with a dark expression.

In the corridor, also dressed in black, were Ippongi Katō and Dan Katō.

Before long, Anko emerged with Rie.

The five of them opened their umbrellas and stepped onto the street, joining the black-clad crowd.

The Konoha Ninja Cemetery, where countless heroes of the village lay buried, now had a new tombstone erected next to that of Hashirama Senju.

By the time Rinjin and the others arrived, a large crowd had already gathered.

At the front stood Tobirama Senju's family, disciples, and subordinates, lined up in a solemn row.

Rinjin stood farther back, watching from a distance as people with expressions of grief or solemnity stepped forward to lay white flowers on the tombstone.

The rain continued to fall. After an indeterminate amount of time, the funeral ended, and darkness began to descend.

The mourners who had come of their own accord left silently, their footsteps blending into the sound of the rain.

Holding an umbrella, Rinjin set Rie down on the ground.

"Aunt Anko, could I trouble you to take Rie back? I just remembered I have something to do."

Hearing this, Anko, her face still tinged with sorrow, nodded slightly and took Rie's small hand.

After nodding to the Katō family and watching their retreating figures, Rinjin fell silent once more.

Night had fully fallen.

The ninja cemetery was now empty, save for a small figure standing in front of a tombstone.

Tsunade, dressed in a black T-shirt and skirt, stared blankly at Tobirama Senju's photo on the tombstone. Her young face was filled with numbness, and it was unclear whether the droplets on her chin were rain or tears.

Rinjin's gaze swept past Tsunade's back without a word.

His identity as an undercover agent destined him to stay away from Tsunade, the princess of Konohagakure.

Walking past her, Rinjin approached the tombstone and looked at Tobirama Senju's calm and handsome face etched into the stone.

Expressionless, Rinjin took a pure white flower from his pocket and placed it on the tombstone.

Then, he slowly bent down and sat cross-legged, facing the grave.

"Lord Tobirama, this time, I let you win. You should be satisfied now, right?

To be honest, at the time, I really had no idea what to do.

Feign ignorance? That felt like an insult to your intelligence.

Tell the truth? Then both of us might be lying here now.

That said, you really are something else—to corner me like that."

As he spoke, Rinjin's voice grew softer and softer. Finally, a faint smile appeared on his otherwise calm face as he murmured to himself:

"This time, you won. Consider it me owing you a life.

If you ever need my help, just send me a dream."

With that, he pushed himself up from the ground, turned, and prepared to leave.

At that moment, Tsunade caught sight of Rinjin's handsome face, and a flash of hatred ignited in her hollow eyes.

She stepped forward, grabbed him by the collar, and glared at him with fiery eyes, her voice breaking as she roared.

"You! You're the spy from Amegakure! Did you betray Second Grandpa and get him killed?!"

Her hoarse voice echoed through the empty cemetery.

Rinjin said nothing, his cold eyes casually scanning Tsunade.

This look instantly enraged her, and whatever little composure she had left shattered completely.

*Bang!* Tsunade threw a punch at Rinjin's face.

Unfortunately, her punches were weak and powerless at this age.

Rinjin's head tilted from the impact, his gaze falling to the ground. There was no hatred in his heart, only pity—for this girl and for himself.

Tsunade didn't stop. She clung to his collar, punching him over and over again.

Tears mixed with rain streamed down her face as she screamed, "Why?! Why do you people always think about war, about enemies, about destroying other people's families?! Why?!"

Her desperate cries gradually subsided. She released his collar and collapsed to the ground, covering her face as she sobbed uncontrollably.

Rinjin remained silent. He knew—he knew there were countless ANBU eyes watching him.

And yet, faced with the helpless girl kneeling before him, he couldn't even muster a single word of comfort.

With a self-deprecating chuckle, Rinjin wiped the blood from his nose and strode away.

He had figured it out—why Tobirama Senju had revealed his identity as a spy to Tsunade.

Perhaps, at that moment, Tobirama wasn't the Hokage. He was just a grandfather.

After all, his identity truly wasn't suited for getting close to Tsunade.

"Tobirama Senju, you really were a worrier," Rinjin muttered as he left the cemetery.

The rain continued to fall. Tsunade remained kneeling before Tobirama's grave, her hoarse voice unable to produce any more cries.

At that moment, the rain above her stopped.

Tsunade tilted her numb face upward and saw who had come.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood there, holding a black umbrella over her.

Tsunade's delicate brows furrowed once more.

"Why? Uncle Hiruzen, why did you let that despicable spy, Rinjin, stay in the village?!"

Hiruzen's resolute gaze rested on the photo of his teacher on the tombstone, and he sighed softly.

"Before Teacher Tobirama passed, he instructed me not to tell you about Rinjin."

As he spoke, his expression grew darker.

"I understand what Teacher meant. He didn't want you to have too much contact with Rinjin.

So, at the time, I asked Teacher, 'Why not start accepting him from our generation?'

Teacher was silent for a long time before patting my head, just like he used to when I was a child.

Later, Teacher told me to make my own decision."

Hiruzen's gentle gaze fell on Tsunade.

"Now, I'm giving you the choice. Do you want the village to accept Rinjin?"

Hearing this, Tsunade suddenly stood up, her head held high, her eyes blazing with anger as she shouted, "No! I will never accept someone who only destroys peace!"

Hiruzen's eyes dimmed, and he slowly nodded. "Very well. Then you don't need to know why the village kept Rinjin."

Tsunade froze.

She didn't understand the difference between keeping someone and accepting them. She didn't understand why she couldn't know the reason for keeping Rinjin.

Thinking of this, Tsunade stubbornly shook her head.

"Uncle Hiruzen, I—"

Hiruzen cut her off, looking up at the stormy sky with a distant expression.

"Rinjin, a spy from Amegakure and a direct disciple of Hanzō of the Salamander...

Sent to Konoha to carry out espionage, his mission was to steal Konoha's secrets.

He posed as one of the only two survivors of a massacred village in the Land of Hot Water, a war orphan.

He has a vile personality—deceitful, greedy to the extreme.

His strength is evaluated at jōnin level, with exceptional taijutsu and mastery of the *Magnet Release* kekkei genkai.

He is highly intelligent. When his cover was blown, he immediately chose to cooperate with the village, feeding false information to Hanzō and even influencing the man's actions."

Hiruzen paused, then added, "Is that enough?"

Tsunade, gritting her teeth, froze in place.

What does he mean, "enough"? How could that be enough?

I need to thoroughly understand this man and then drive him out of the village!

Grinding her teeth, Tsunade resolutely shook her head.

Seeing this, Hiruzen remained impassive and continued, his tone still distant.

"Rinjin, originally from the Jashin Cult, was subjected to all kinds of abuse as a child sacrifice.

He later found an opportunity to escape, infiltrated Amegakure, and killed the pursuing Jashin priest.

This caught the attention of Hanzō of the Salamander, who took him in as a disciple.

Later, due to his lack of talent, he was sidelined."

Hearing this completely different version of events, Tsunade looked at Hiruzen in disbelief.

But Hiruzen continued to gaze at the horizon.

"At that point, Rinjin met his mentor, Mizuguma, and took on his surname."

Tsunade's eyes widened in shock.

She understood the significance of taking on a surname.

It could only mean that Rinjin had deeply respected Mizuguma to the point of adopting his name.

Hiruzen showed no sign of stopping despite Tsunade's astonishment.

"This bond was eventually noticed by the ever-suspicious Hanzō. To protect Mizuguma, Rinjin accepted the mission to become a spy and was sent to Konoha.

Later, he was relocated to the Land of Hot Water, where he encountered Amegakure ninjas massacring a village. He intervened and killed his fellow ninjas.

It was during this time that he saved his sister, Rie.

Before her death, Rie's mother begged Rinjin to take care of her child. Rinjin agreed and gave Rie the surname Mizuguma."

By now, Tsunade was too stunned to speak.

She hadn't realized there was so much compromise and suffering behind all of this.

Rinjin—he was just a child himself!

Tsunade asked herself: Could she have done all this at his age?

Though she didn't want to admit it, her heart told her the truth:

No.

Not the genius Orochimaru, not the older prodigy Dan Katō, not even Ryōta Uchiha—none of them could have borne such a heavy past.

Thinking of this, Tsunade couldn't help but recall Rinjin's grinning face back in the ninja academy.

How could he smile through all of this?

Hiruzen's voice continued.

"Later, Rinjin disguised himself as an orphan and brought his sister, Rie, to Konoha.

Because we had extensive intelligence on Amegakure, we saw through his disguise the moment he entered the village."

"Then why didn't you kill him?" Tsunade asked anxiously.

Hiruzen sighed deeply.

"He said, 'Take care of my sister. Tell Hanzō I wasn't a traitor, just that my cover was blown.'"

Tsunade's body, trembling from the cold rain, froze in place.

This man—this man wouldn't even let go of his bonds and responsibilities, even in the face of death?!

Seeing Tsunade's dilated pupils, Hiruzen slowly placed the umbrella in her hand and shared his thoughts on Rinjin.

"Rinjin, caught in a chaotic world, so young yet already protecting his sister and his teacher in Amegakure...

Struggling amidst schemes and conspiracies to preserve his few precious bonds...

In the end, he's just a pitiful soul."

With that, Hiruzen clasped his hands behind his back and walked away.

In the dark night, under the fine rain, in the empty cemetery, Tsunade was left alone, lost in thought.