The day after his stroll through the market, the Third Raikage returned.
Accompanying him was a pale-faced young man named Taku.
On his way to work, Rinjin politely stepped aside, allowing the Third Raikage to pass first.
Back in his dusty office, Rinjin weighed a scroll in his hand, deep in thought.
The Third Raikage's return likely meant that the Two-Tails had been sealed into a Jinchūriki. Of course, this was just a possibility.
After all, the Raikage had an entire council of advisors. It wouldn't be surprising if they used some tricks to lure out hidden spies.
Their schemes might work against ordinary manipulators, but against Rinjin? They were a bit lacking.
After all, the plan Rinjin had in mind was far from a simple conspiracy.
Sitting on the bench, Rinjin formed a hand seal.
"Heaven-Sent Technique!"
In an instant, the scroll on the desk was enveloped in a thick layer of lightning. The next second, it disappeared.
Soon, the office door swung open. Tsuchibun walked in, a large bump on his head, looking utterly exasperated.
"Rinjin, your... Heaven-Sent Technique is progressing well, but... your aim still needs work."
Hearing this, Rinjin gave an embarrassed chuckle.
There was no helping it—he had too many things to train recently.
The Five Elements Seal, the Five Elements Unseal, and the Heaven-Sent Technique were all on his list.
Even the Eight Gates had been pushed to the backburner.
"Tsuchibun-sama, does this count as mastering the technique? Can I take on missions now?" Rinjin asked.
Tsuchibun's eyes lit up at this, and he nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, yes, you're fully ready for fieldwork."
With that, Tsuchibun whirled around the cluttered desk like a whirlwind and quickly pulled out a stack of papers from his pocket.
"Here we go. One of our fieldwork locations is the Cold Mist Village near the Land of Water.
The people of Kirigakure tacitly allow us to set up outposts there.
The pros: low workload, safety, and... great company.
The cons: you might not return for two or three years.
Then there's the outpost in the Land of Snow. The cons: it's cold—all year round. There's some risk of exposure.
The pros: only thirty minutes of work per day. After that, you're off duty.
From what I've heard from colleagues, soaking in outdoor hot springs with the ladies there is quite delightful."
Rinjin silently noted this "delightful" detail but quickly interrupted Tsuchibun, feigning a righteous expression.
"Tsuchibun-sama, I'm not one to slack off. I want to dedicate all my energy to Kumogakure! Send me to the most dangerous place!"
"Good!" Tsuchibun nodded heavily, looking at Rinjin with approval.
This guy, Rinjin, despite being Miss Ayame's boyfriend, never acted arrogantly because of his connection to the Raikage.
"Such resolve! Truly a man of Kumogakure!"
"In that case, the Land of Taki and the Land of Rain are currently at war in the Land of Grass. That's the most dangerous spot. You'll go there!"
"Understood!" Rinjin nodded firmly, his expression filled with righteous indignation.
The office was instantly charged with a strong sense of hot-blooded determination.
Tsuchibun quickly wrote up an appointment letter for Rinjin.
Holding the letter, Rinjin, now dying of embarrassment, quickly left the office.
Damn it. After this mission, I'm never coming back to this wretched place in Kumogakure. My second-hand embarrassment is off the charts.
After a brief report at the Raikage's office, Rinjin returned home, brimming with confidence... and sent a shadow clone on the mission.
The clone, carrying the Flying Raijin Jutsu formula, set off.
As for Rinjin himself, he hid in his underground training space to begin his Eight Gates training.
Opening the scroll, Rinjin carefully read the training manual for the Eight Gates.
First of all, the Eight Gates was classified as a forbidden technique not just because of the fatal consequences of opening all eight gates.
More importantly, each gate opened exponentially increased the burden on the user's body.
This burden couldn't simply be ignored.
Most shinobi didn't place much emphasis on taijutsu, let alone spend the time and energy required to temper their bodies to such extremes.
The scroll made it clear that opening the Eight Gates wasn't particularly difficult.
But! Without an incredibly resilient body, the Eight Gates would leave countless hidden injuries, directly shortening a ninja's lifespan.
However, none of this was a problem for Rinjin.
He was immortal; hidden injuries would only make his body stronger.
Understanding the principles of the Eight Gates, Rinjin slowly stood up, clenched his fists, and felt the flow of chakra within him.
"First Gate: Gate of Opening, open!" he shouted.
...
Nothing happened.
Rinjin was instantly dumbfounded, his eyes wide with disbelief.
He could feel the first gate in his head, the Gate of Opening, completely ignoring him.
What the hell?
Wasn't it supposed to open just like that?
Refusing to believe it, Rinjin quickly picked up the scroll and read it word by word.
"No, this doesn't make sense! Sarutobi wouldn't lie to me. He has nothing to gain by doing so!
Then what's going on?"
Unwilling to give up, Rinjin put the scroll down, closed his eyes, and tried to channel chakra to break through the Gate of Opening.
Who knows how long passed;
Rinjin's face was flushed red, and he was straining so hard he felt like he might burst.
But the Gate of Opening still refused to budge.
"No, no, I must be doing it wrong! Could it be because of my immortality?"
Panting heavily, Rinjin stared at the scroll on the ground, his expression twisted in frustration. Suddenly, a bold idea flashed through his mind.
He reached into his ninja tool pouch and pulled out a long senbon.
Using the scroll's meridian diagram as a guide, Rinjin positioned the senbon over his head.
He was planning to "physically open the gate."
In simple terms, he intended to use the senbon to poke at the Gate of Opening's pressure point, forcing it to yield to his chakra.
Finding the spot, he drove the senbon down with force.
"Clink~" A light sound echoed as the senbon snapped. Rinjin's face instantly darkened.
Damn it! My skull is too hard!
After a moment of contemplation, the stubborn Rinjin reached into his ninja pouch again and pulled out a handful of black iron sand, muttering to himself:
"I don't believe this!"
With that, he shoved the iron sand into his mouth and quickly formed hand seals.
In an instant, the iron sand entered his body, passed through his resilient esophagus, and merged into his bloodstream.
Soon, under Rinjin's control;
The fine particles of iron sand traveled through his bloodstream, reaching his brain and the Gate of Opening's pressure point.
They stirred.
Still no effect!
Could physical force really not work?
Clueless about medical ninjutsu, Rinjin rubbed his temples in frustration and collapsed to the ground, utterly defeated.
Suddenly, a beautiful face appeared in his mind.
"That's right! Tsunade!"
Rinjin suddenly remembered that Tsunade, the future greatest medical ninja in the shinobi world, could help him with this.
His reasoning wasn't wrong.
To put it simply, pressure points are like small holes in a wall. In their normal state, chakra flows through these holes.
For most people, opening the Eight Gates involves widening these holes until the entire wall is gone.
But for Rinjin, due to his immortality, the walls regenerated faster than his chakra could break through.
And his attempts at physical force?
They only clogged the holes with debris, blocking the chakra flow entirely.
So, he needed someone skilled in medical ninjutsu, someone who could precisely control chakra, to help him open the gates.
Or, he could learn medical ninjutsu himself.
Temporarily setting aside the Eight Gates, Rinjin adjusted his mindset and prepared for the next phase of his plan.
If there was anything more important than the Eight Gates right now, it was the Two-Tails.
The Two-Tails was crucial to his training in the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
And the progress of that training directly affected his physical strength;
Which, in turn, determined his combat power after opening the Eight Gates.
After all, the Eight Gates didn't simply grant power tens of times greater than the Five Kage.
The true power of the Eight Gates depended on the user's own abilities.
A body that was invulnerable and incredibly resilient, combined with the Eight Gates?
The thought alone reignited Rinjin's determination.
First, strengthen the body. A strong man is a true man!
At this moment, his shadow clone had already reached the Land of Taki and was leaving Flying Raijin markers along the way. It was time to bring everything to a close!
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