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

Sticky blood soaked the stone platform as the cultists' slaughter drew to an end.

Only a few trembling children remained standing on the platform, yellowish liquid dripping down their pant legs. Despite their terror, they still couldn't move an inch.

A mysterious force held them in place.

It was only in that moment between life and death that Rinjin's desperate survival instinct had allowed him to move slightly.

Rinjin's lone head lay sideways on the ground, eyes fixed unblinkingly on these pitiful children.

Am I dying? Ah, how tragic!

Various thoughts floated through his remaining head.

They say death is returning to a warm embrace, death is the source of all peace.

Hurry up, end my suffering!

Take me to the beautiful fields of spider lilies!

Take me to the vast banks of the River of Forgetfulness!

Let me taste the soup of Lady Meng!

Huh? Was Lady Meng an old granny or a beauty? Why do I remember from those manga I read that she was a tsundere blonde loli?

No, no, Lady Meng shouldn't be a blonde loli, she should be a gentle big-sister type with... assets...

Suddenly, Rinjin froze, his lone head's mouth twitching awkwardly.

"Why... why am I not dead yet? Where are my promised spider lily fields? Where's my River of Forgetfulness? Where's my beautiful Lady Meng? Damn it, I was mentally prepared to kick the bucket!"

Looking at his headless body before him, Rinjin felt embarrassed.

So, even with head and body separated, he still couldn't die?

Moreover, he could mysteriously still sense his headless body. Apart from some spatial disorientation, he maintained complete control over it.

If he wanted, he could make his headless body stand up, grab his head, and sprint five hundred meters.

Pursing his lips, Rinjin came to his senses as a name suddenly popped into his mind - Hidan.

That guy supposedly believed in some Jashin cult. Damn, could this be the same cult?

Rinjin strongly suspected that the mysterious Jashin cult Hidan had joined was the same one he was facing now.

On the platform, the killing had stopped, and the only remaining child had fainted from fear.

Yet even unconscious, the child remained standing, unable to move.

Below the platform, a cold voice rang out.

"Take away the 'Blessed One.' Chop up the rest and fill the blood pool for next time."

"Yes, Lord Isamu!"

On the platform, Rinjin couldn't lie still any longer.

Chopped up?

I can survive without a head, but how am I supposed to live as minced meat?

Watching Isamu Inoue pick up the child and head toward the passage, Rinjin couldn't wait anymore!

Damn it, better captured than dead! Better alive than dead!

He had planned to play dead and leave this cursed place, hoping to escape his fate, but who knew this "Divine Messenger" would be so ruthless!

Throwing caution to the wind, Rinjin shouted desperately.

"Wait!"

His voice echoed, bringing the entire cave to silence.

Rinjin controlled his headless body, stumbling up like a drunk, awkwardly picking up his own head. With an embarrassed smile, he weakly said:

"Um... hey, brother, mind if I tag along?"

The cultists were dumbfounded. Though they were cold-blooded killers, this sight sent chills down their spines.

Seeing these fierce characters shrinking back at the sight of him, Rinjin sheepishly hid his head behind his back and shuffled forward, stumbling after Isamu's footsteps.

.....

Time flew by, and half a year passed.

Underground, in a sealed room filled with scrolls, Isamu sat cross-legged with a massive scroll before him.

March 24:

Experiment: Effects of dismemberment on immortal body;

Method: Blade cutting;

Conclusion: Body tissue separation causes no substantial damage to subject. After reattachment, subject moves normally. When finely minced, tissues slowly regenerate and reform, process very slow.

Notes: 1) Subject cannot be killed by conventional cutting; 2) No signs of tissue enhancement; 3) Subject retains pain sensation, cursed continuously during experiment.

March 26:

Experiment: Effects of burning on immortal body;

Method: Fire Release;

Conclusion: Immortal body shows no fire resistance compared to normal test subjects. Tissue temporarily loses vitality at high temperatures; however, even when completely carbonized, tissues regain vitality and reform. Cannot be killed.

Note: Subject's body shows strong self-restoration tendency, any part can regenerate with sufficient nutrition.

April 18:

Experiment: Effects of freezing on immortal body;

Method: Ice Release Kekkei Genkai;

Conclusion: Target tissue behaves normally under freezing, no special properties; self-restores after thawing.

Note: Subject appears extremely cold-sensitive, cursed especially vigorously! Recommend using Ice Release ninja for sealing.

June 1 - October 1:

Experiment: Effects of starvation and desiccation on immortal body;

Method: Wind Release;

Conclusion: Desiccation completely ineffective on immortal body, but starvation causes gradual withering death, estimated one year required.

October 2:

Experiment: Utilization value of immortal body tissue;

Method: Transplantation to other test subjects;

Conclusion: Experiment failed, all 231 test subjects died. Target tissue highly corrosive, no method found to prevent target tissue from killing test subjects.

Note: Immortality appears to be not Lord Jashin's blessing, but a curse.

October 10:

Experiment: Effects of lightning on immortal body.

Method: Lightning Release;

Conclusion: Lightning Release not only causes no damage but greatly stimulates target tissue regeneration, causing extreme hunger in subject.

Note: Recommend avoiding Lightning Release.

Final Conclusion: Immortal body cannot be killed through sealing, fire, lightning, or low temperature. Can only be eliminated through slow starvation. Subject shows no other special properties, chakra cannot be extracted.

Final Recommendation: Starve to death!

After confirming he had reached the scroll's end, Isamu frowned deeply, slowly raising his scarred face.

"What about the only surviving 'Blessed One'?"

As soon as he spoke, an elderly man in a white lab coat emerged from the darkness, standing respectfully before Isamu. "Lord Divine Messenger, as usual, the Blessed One's brainwashing is complete. Named Haruto, once we obtain the Fire Daimyo's blood, we can activate the Curse Technique: Death Controlling Possessed Blood - a life for a life!"

"Excellent!" Isamu nodded, his expression unchanged.

"Take good care of the 'Blessed One'... No! Take good care of Haruto. He will be our most lethal 'bishop'!"

The man in the white coat knew this Divine Messenger was very fond of chess and understood Haruto's importance to him. He silently resolved to take extra good care of Haruto.

"What about the immortal one?" the white-coated elder asked curiously.

"..."

Isamu froze, his briefly relaxed brow furrowing again.

He knew Rinjin's existence had become a burden to the organization. Taking advantage of his immortality, he demanded a large bowl of food pills every meal, and if not fed, he would desperately claw at the walls, stealing food from other cells. In less than a year, he had tunneled through an entire row of cells.

After a long while, Isamu shot an annoyed glance at his tactless subordinate and exhaled sharply.

"Has he been brainwashed?"

Hearing this, the white-coated elder's face turned bitter as he replied hesitantly, "We tried, but the results were... strange."

"Oh?" Isamu raised an eyebrow.

"Well... the immortal one seems to believe he's become Lord Jashin's earthly incarnation, and he keeps hitting and cursing people!"

The elder seemed ready to continue his complaints, but Isamu cut him off with a wave.

"Enough, leave it be. Use the immortal one as a test subject for jutsu power from now on!"

"And are the preparations ready for the sacrifice in three days?"

At this, the elder's face grew serious. "Everything is prepared!"

With that, he closed the scroll and hurriedly turned to leave.

Watching Isamu depart and thinking again of that immortal monster, the white-coated elder sighed helplessly, turning to leave while muttering.

"Ah~ I say we should just starve him to death. He takes advantage of his immortality to eat endlessly - does he think food pills grow on trees? He's eaten up half my research budget!"

As the facility's administrator, the white-coated elder knew Rinjin's appetite well.

To put it bluntly, all the test subjects in the entire facility only consumed one or two hundred food pills a day.

But Rinjin? He ate three meals a day, each meal a large bowl. His daily consumption matched that of all other test subjects combined!

Moreover, Rinjin liked to visit other cells, turning what was once a quiet, peaceful dungeon into something resembling a bustling marketplace.

Most critically, from various surveillance results, he was a complete and utter religious fanatic. Many cult members in the facility had already expressed dissatisfaction with Rinjin's imprisonment.

Simply put, this guy had not only become friendly with the guards but had become a massive burden on the entire organization.

Thinking of this, the white-coated elder's eye twitched uncontrollably, feeling utterly exhausted.

"Damn it, after this sacrifice, we're sealing that monster away!"

...

In the cell, our protagonist Rinjin lounged casually by the iron bars, chatting and joking with the guard outside.

"Jin, haven't seen you for months - been on field duty?"

Hearing this, the guard outside the cage smiled bitterly and shook his head. "It's all because of you, you bottomless pit. I heard half the brothers in the facility have been sent out to earn money!"

Hearing Jin call him a big eater, Rinjin rolled his eyes without hiding his disdain, giving the guard a sideways look.

"Let me tell you something, Jin, you're just too small-minded.

How can an organization win people's hearts if it can't even provide basic food? Hm?

Take our Jashin cult - if you can't even feed me, Jashin's incarnation, how can you expect people to respect you!"

"Give it a rest! It's clearly a curse. Lord Jashin must have found you too chatty!" the guard immediately retorted.

Rinjin had claimed to be Jashin's incarnation countless times. At first, the guards, seeing him insult their faith, had all tried to teach this prisoner a lesson.

After trying countless methods of torture, the exhausted guards reached a desperate conclusion - this guy couldn't be killed. As a result, a small faction of fanatics began to believe Rinjin's words.

In their not-so-bright minds, only Lord Jashin's incarnation could possess such power!

And Jin, the guard Rinjin was talking to, was among those whose faith wasn't quite so steadfast.

"Clang! Clang!" Lazily tapping the cage, Jin prepared to end the chat and continue his rounds.

"Wait." Rinjin reached through the cage bars, grabbing Jin's sleeve with a squinting smile.

"Jin, let's chat a bit more!

Why is everyone back this time? I even saw Captain Kawatare yesterday - isn't he usually out earning funds?"

Jin pulled his sleeve free, striking Rinjin's gripping hand with his staff, saying irritably, "Don't know, don't ask me."

With that, he walked into the dark passage without looking back.

"Tch, stingy!"

Rinjin pulled back his arm, now sporting a red welt, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly. In his palm, he tightly gripped a yellow-orange key, inwardly smirking.

Just moments ago, Rinjin had snatched this key from the guard's waist. He didn't know which cell it belonged to, but that didn't matter.

Jin, whom Rinjin had been talking to, had recently returned from outside and taken charge of guarding this row of cells, and the string of keys on his waist was for this entire row.

Whether or not this key was for his cell didn't matter.

He had already tunneled through the earthen walls of this row of cells under the pretext of stealing food. At first, the guards tried to repair the holes between cells, but every time they filled them in, Rinjin would dig through again within two days. The guards grew tired of it, and since no trouble had come of it, they simply gave up repairing the holes in the walls.

Initially, many reclusive prisoners strongly disliked Rinjin's cell-visiting habits.

But after an adult prisoner who bullied Rinjin had his throat bitten through one night, no prisoner dared bully this seemingly seven-year-old monster who couldn't be killed.

After all, while the monster didn't need sleep, they did.

This resulted in Rinjin freely visiting any cell in this row;

With just one key, he could try each cell until he found the matching door.

In the corner, Rinjin gritted his teeth, his small face contorting as he forcibly tore open his abdomen and placed the brass key inside.

Then, enduring the discomfort of having a foreign object in his body, he held the wound closed.

Soon enough, the wound healed, and Rinjin slowly raised his head, strange white light gleaming in his black eyes.

"Freedom!"

[End of Chapter 2]