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

"What do you want with Kōhei Iwai?"

Hearing this, Kanda gave a sycophantic smile.

"Lord Hanzō, I've noticed this child is exceptionally clever and quick-witted. He'd be perfect for infiltration work. If we assign him to gather intelligence in Iwagakure, which poses the greatest threat to us, he could establish an information network quickly."

In reality, Kanda's true intention was to send Rinjin far away so no one could compete with him for Hanzō's favor. Getting rid of Rinjin would serve multiple purposes.

If Rinjin succeeded in his mission, he'd be kept away doing that work, as long as he stayed out of Lord Hanzō's sight. If he was exposed and captured, the Stone ninja would eliminate this annoying brat for them. Even if he managed to escape back to Amegakure after being exposed, he would fall from Lord Hanzō's grace for failing the mission.

At that moment, Hanzō of the Salamander, already overwhelmed with troubles, didn't notice Kanda's ulterior motives. After brief consideration, he realized Rinjin would indeed make a good spy, and since the boy showed little talent for combat, this would be a way for him to serve the village.

With this in mind, Hanzō nodded slightly and ordered, "Summon both Kōhei Iwai and Mizuguma!"

...

After a while, Mizuguma and Rinjin, who had just parted ways not long ago, gathered in Hanzō's office, staring at each other awkwardly.

By now, Mizuguma showed no signs of intoxication. He stood expressionless, staring at his feet, having reverted to his usual serious demeanor.

Rinjin marveled at Mizuguma's transformation, finding it hard to believe that this was the same person who had been carrying on about his sister's birthday at the "Amei Free Information Center" not long ago.

Perhaps uncomfortable under Rinjin's intense gaze, Mizuguma slowly raised his head and flashed an awkward smile that looked worse than crying. His eyes seemed to say: This is Lord Hanzō's office, stop staring at me! Keep it up, and I'll break out in hives!

Understanding Mizuguma's meaning, Rinjin blinked in acknowledgment and stopped his scrutiny.

Hanzō sat behind his large desk, watching these two jesters exchange glances, feeling utterly speechless.

There was a time when Mizuguma had been such a serious and sensible person, but after less than two weeks with Rinjin, he was already making faces in front of him.

This thought only strengthened Hanzō's resolve to send this troublemaker far away!

"Ahem..." At the slight cough, both Rinjin and Mizuguma stood ramrod straight.

"Here's the situation. The village has decided to send a group of clever and adaptable children to serve as undercover agents in the Five Great Nations. Kōhei Iwai, as my disciple, this dangerous mission falls to you naturally.

Let's have you handle Iwagakure in the Land of Earth, which poses the greatest threat to us."

Hanzō of the Salamander waved his hand, deciding Rinjin's destination.

Huh?

Rinjin was stunned.

They want me to be a spy? A traitor? A turncoat?!

And in that godforsaken place in the Land of Earth?

Rinjin instinctively wanted to refuse, but seeing the murderous glint in Hanzō's eyes, he swallowed his words.

"Um... Lord Hanzō." Rinjin shrunk his neck and tentatively spoke up. Seeing that Hanzō didn't stop him, he gathered his courage to continue.

"I completely accept the organization's arrangement, but... but could I make one small request?"

"Speak!"

"Um... could it be Konohagakure instead? I... I rather... um... hate Konoha!"

He had initially wanted to say he liked Konoha, but then realized that as a spy for Amegakure, he couldn't express fondness for Konoha.

Beside him, Mizuguma suddenly looked up as if remembering something and wanted to speak, but was immediately silenced by Kanda's threatening glare from behind Hanzō.

"Granted!" Hanzō made his decision.

At these words, both Rinjin and Kanda were delighted, though for different reasons.

Rinjin was happy that he could finally go on an official mission to the legendary Konoha;

While Kanda thought of the Yamanaka clan in Konoha.

For spies, nothing was more dangerous than the Yamanaka clan - not Wood Release, Sharingan, or Byakugan. This clan handled Konoha's counter-espionage operations.

Simply put, every member of the Yamanaka clan was a natural counter-spy alliance member, which meant that being a spy in Konoha was much more difficult than in other villages, especially trying to infiltrate the upper ranks.

However, this was good news for Kanda. If not for fear of arousing Lord Hanzō's suspicions, he would have arranged to send Rinjin to the most dangerous place, Konoha, long ago.

"Kōhei Iwai, good luck. The village will remember your contribution!"

With that, Hanzō waved his hand dismissively.

Seeing this, Rinjin nodded and turned to leave.

After dealing with Rinjin, Hanzō turned his attention to Mizuguma.

"Mizuguma!"

"Yes, Lord Hanzō!"

"I have a task for you. For the next week, you'll be responsible for training twelve children, including Kōhei Iwai, in spy infiltration techniques."

"Yes!" Mizuguma nodded seriously, standing at attention.

Seeing Mizuguma still maintaining his reliable demeanor, Hanzō nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand, signaling Mizuguma to leave.

However, Mizuguma remained rooted to the spot.

"What is it? Is there something else?" Seeing Mizuguma hadn't left, Hanzō's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly as he asked.

Mizuguma looked at Hanzō with a complex expression, appearing to struggle with what to say.

"Lord Hanzō, you once said we should protect the village, protect the children in the village..." He stopped mid-sentence and changed course.

"My lord, I believe children lack the ability to carry out such missions. Not only are they immature in their thinking and easily turned, but the most important quality for an undercover agent is exceptional psychological resilience - something most adults can't handle, let alone immature children!"

After speaking, his expression quickly changed from righteous indignation to timidity.

This wasn't surprising - he was a child saved by Hanzō of the Salamander and instinctively feared his benefactor.

The fact that he could speak up under such immense pressure today was truly a testament to his firm beliefs and extraordinary performance.

Hanzō stared at this child he had pulled from among the dead, surprised that the once-timid boy had become so bold.

Then again, in the blink of an eye, that little kid had grown so much!

For a moment, Hanzō actually lost himself in thought.

However, he was after all the leader of a village and a Kage-level ninja. He quickly regained his composure, all softness vanishing from his face as he returned to his expressionless state.

"Take a look at this."

He tossed out a bundle of scrolls.

At his words, Mizuguma stepped forward, picked up the scrolls, and quickly scanned through them.

As he read, the anger on his face became increasingly apparent.

"Damn these attackers, how dare they brazenly infiltrate our intelligence department and so arrogantly sell our village's information! We should catch these bastards, tie them to rocks, and drown them in the lake!"

Watching Mizuguma's furious reaction from the corner of his eye, Hanzō nodded in satisfaction.

"If you were in charge, and all our undercover agents were sacrificed, what would you do?"

"Uh..." Faced with Hanzō's question, Mizuguma fell silent immediately, his expression becoming incredibly complex.

"My lord, I... I don't know."

At this non-answer, disappointment flashed briefly in Hanzō's eyes as he retrieved the scrolls and waved his hand.

Mizuguma understood and turned to leave with hesitant steps.

Meanwhile, Rinjin was led by Kanda to a dark chamber.

The chamber wasn't large, but it resembled the laboratory in the Jashin Cult's underground base.

A stone platform the size of a single bed stood surrounded by hurrying researchers coming and going.

Around the platform hung chains covered in dark red rust.

It seemed these people had conducted many inhumane experiments in secret.

After all, these chains were likely used to restrain people, not animals.

On the platform, a boy lay with his eyes tightly closed, his mouth forcibly opened, while two ninja-dressed figures worked on his tongue.

"Do you know what that is?" Kanda's mocking voice came from behind.

Rinjin shook his head innocently.

Seeing Rinjin's foolish appearance, Kanda's lips curled into a cruel smile as he put his arm around Rinjin's shoulder and led him to the platform.

"This is a cursed seal, and one of the most powerful in our village!"

Rinjin remained silent, instead watching the two operators' movements with interest. He wasn't in a hurry; after all, he knew Kanda's purpose in showing him this was to frighten him and satisfy his strange pleasure.

To be honest, Rinjin had always known that this Kanda harbored hostility towards him.

As for why, Rinjin couldn't figure out the reason, but it didn't matter - he had already mentally sentenced this guy to death. Once he became powerful enough, Kanda would be the first one he'd kick to death!

Seeing that Rinjin showed neither fear nor anxiety, but rather looked like a curious baby, Kanda felt like he was punching air.

"Hmph, you little brat, enjoy yourself while you can. When it's your turn, you'll be crying!"

He then pointed at the strange raindrop symbol on the boy's tongue and explained viciously.

"This is called the *Cursed Seal: Brain Inserting Technique*! Its purpose is to keep little brats like you from talking!

Once your mind comes under control, or if you reveal any information about Amegakure, the curse seal will activate.

And then!"

At this point, Kanda paused, then suddenly spread his palm, making an explosive gesture.

"Bang!"

"The curse seal will instantly scramble your brain, turning it into mush!"

Secretly, Rinjin rolled his eyes, then clutched his chest, forcing an expression of fear onto his face.

"Damn brat, it scrambles your brain, not your heart."

"Huh?" Rinjin froze, immediately releasing his grip on his chest and clutching his head instead.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm just used to clutching my chest."

Looking at Rinjin's perfunctory expression, Kanda felt this child was absolutely detestable!

Soon, the boy on the platform was carried away, and the two operators were about to hold Rinjin down to work on him.

At this moment, Rinjin quickly raised his hand to stop their actions, then turned to look at Kanda.

"Lord Kanda, may I make a small request?"

Hearing this, Kanda remembered Rinjin's request in Lord Hanzō's office and readily agreed.

"Get me a bucket of water and a cup of water."

Hearing this strange request, the operators looked uncertainly at Kanda. Kanda also wanted to figure out what trick Rinjin was playing, so he gave the operators a look, telling them to comply.

Soon, a bucket and a cup of water were brought, and Rinjin pointed at the water in the wooden bucket and directed, "You two, yes, you two, go wash your hands."

As soon as he finished speaking, Kanda and the two operators looked at each other, their faces instantly turning black as the bottom of a pot.

But since the water had already been brought, what else could they do? They had to wash!

After washing their hands, an operator pulled out a thick needle and was about to give Rinjin anesthetic.

"No!" Rinjin immediately jumped up, quickly refusing.

No joke, with his constitution, not even strong poison could knock him out, let alone anesthetic. Wouldn't that expose him?

"No, no anesthetic. I'm volunteering to serve the village - how can it be called volunteering if I'm under anesthetic!"

As he spoke, he snatched the anesthetic from the operator and promptly jabbed it into the leg of Kanda, who was watching from the side.

"You little..."

Before Kanda could finish his sentence, his eyes rolled back and he passed out.

Looking at Kanda collapsed on the ground, Rinjin covered his mouth in mock horror and muttered, "This stuff is really strong!"

Soon, without Kanda's interference, the curse seal was planted.

Rinjin's first reaction after sticking out his tongue for so long wasn't to examine his tongue, but to grab the cup of water nearby, gargle thoroughly, and then casually spit the mouthwash onto the unconscious Kanda.

Looking at the two operators whose faces had turned black as charcoal, Rinjin sheepishly scratched his head.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm not saying you guys are dirty.

I'm saying everyone here is dirty!"