"Are you going back to Konoha?" In the empty underground base, Amai suddenly spoke.
Rinjin narrowed his eyes at her, saying nothing as he looked into her beautiful light green eyes.
He knew his lie had worked.
He had shared his experiences—everything that had happened since he left Amegakure. Not a single false word, except for one crucial omission: he never mentioned Mizukuma's death.
By leaving that out, Amai was left with two possible interpretations.
If she didn't know Mizukuma had died, she'd think Rinjin was still loyal to Amegakure, only working with Konoha out of necessity. But if he had told her about Mizukuma's death, she'd be convinced he had already switched sides and now served Konoha wholeheartedly.
Simply put, one version painted him as a drifter, the other as someone with deep, dangerous intent.
That was the brilliance of it—no lies spoken, but everything was a lie.
Thinking of this, Rinjin gave a wry smile and shook his head.
Mizukuma, even in death, you're still helping me!
After a long silence, Rinjin slowly opened his eyes and looked at Amai.
"Do you think I'll return to Konoha?" he asked in return.
Amai nodded.
"You left Amegakure for Mizukuma, even took on a deep cover mission in Konoha because of him. So, naturally, you'd go back for him too."
Hearing that, Rinjin felt a slight flicker of satisfaction.
Was his question really about going back to Konoha? Not at all.
He was testing what Amai thought of him.
His goal all along had been to establish himself as someone who valued his bonds deeply—though, to be fair, that's who he truly was.
After all, people tend to project labels onto others, often ignoring who they really are underneath.
But now, in Amai's words, she had already taken it as a given that Rinjin was someone who cherished his bonds.
That meant he had succeeded.
Seeing Rinjin remain silent, Amai smiled softly, thinking she had guessed right. She slowly pulled up her loose pajamas, covering her bare shoulder.
"So what about that blonde girl of yours? What now? Are you planning to let Konoha keep you leashed like this forever?"
Leashed?
Now that's a word I like.
Fits you perfectly.
Still a bit too young, though.
With that thought, Rinjin didn't bother hiding what he was thinking.
"Konoha—it's both built and broken by bonds. Once Rie spends enough time living with Tsunade, she'll naturally become part of Konoha."
Amai gave Rinjin a strange look, her thoughts spinning.
This guy... he must've been analyzing people's minds since he was in the womb!
Suddenly, she let out a mocking laugh.
"And here I thought you were someone who valued loyalty. Turns out you were already planning to ditch your little sister and run off on your own!"
Despite her words, the glances she kept sneaking at Rinjin betrayed her. She clearly wanted to hear his response.
Or rather, she was trying to provoke him, hoping to steer the conversation in her favor.
Too bad Rinjin had seen through her the moment she tried.
He didn't bother explaining. Instead, he shot her a mocking look of his own.
"Aren't you the same, Miss Amai?
You talk big about doing things for the village, but if that were true, you should've reported your suspicions about me to the Third Raikage right away—
Not snuck over with a few ANBU to test me in secret."
"That's bullshit!" Amai snapped like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on.
"I—I couldn't be sure who you were! And besides, you're the village's hero!"
"Heh~" Rinjin chuckled, his pitch-black eyes locking onto Amai's slightly dodging gaze.
"You were afraid that hot-headed Third Raikage would just kill me on the spot. That the shinobi I saved would resent it—and in the end, it would affect your uncle's standing.
The Eight-Tails' jinchūriki is the Raikage's cousin.
And you? You're his niece.
If I'm not wrong, the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki is close to his limit, right? So who's going to inherit it next?
That kid named Fukai? Or your uncle—the Raikage's younger cousin?"
Amai's face turned crimson, then she clenched her teeth and stared at Rinjin with defiance.
"So what? My aunt runs the logistics division too! What of it!"
Damn!
You're one hell of a stubborn mule!
Even Madara wasn't this unreasonable!
Rinjin was completely speechless. This woman was just...
"Heh, whatever. I've got nothing more to say."
But Amai wasn't about to let it go. She slammed her hands on the table, leaned forward, and got right in Rinjin's face, cleavage and all, not caring in the slightest. Her expression was full of defiance.
"Tell me, what's wrong with my family?"
Seeing her act cocky again, Reiji's face darkened. He quietly began taking off his shoes.
Amai's face instantly turned beet red.
"You—you can't win an argument, so you just bully me! Ahahaha! Reiji, I—I was wrong! Don't tickle my feet!"
Watching her roll around on the floor clutching her feet, laughing with tears streaming down her face, Reiji finally let go.
"Had enough?"
Still gasping, Amai quickly sat up, one arm hastily covering her exposed chest. She nodded repeatedly, eyes brimming with tears.
She was genuinely scared of this guy.
Completely lacking in martial ethics!
"Alright, back to what we were talking about. I don't actually have any strong opinions about your family. In fact, I can understand you pretty well."
"Okay, thanks!" Amai replied with a peachy smile and a perfunctory nod, though inwardly she sneered.
What a load of nonsense. Even within her own clan, people who understood her were rare.
Even her uncle, the Third Raikage, only tacitly accepted her—he didn't really get her.
After all, he once tried to seal the Eight-Tails into this guy's body, wanted to make him the next "B".
Just look at how happy he was when he first saw him.
Reiji gave a small laugh, ignoring her dismissive attitude, and continued.
"I've seen three kinds of people.
First: those who put their clan in the village and treat the village as their bloodline.
Second: those who put their clan in the village and use the village to protect that bloodline.
Third: those who only care about themselves. To them, everything is something to be borrowed or exploited. I don't have anything against that kind of person, but as a friend, they're the dullest.
You fall into the second category—deeply loyal, but not quite broad-minded enough."
When she heard him say she loved deeply, Amai couldn't help feeling pleased.
Wow, didn't expect this guy to actually see through me. Not bad.
But then came the next line, and she rolled her eyes hard.
Puffing out her ample chest, Amai glared at Reiji defiantly.
"You brat, I'm super broad-minded, okay?!"
Reiji casually picked his nose, snorting to himself.
Sure—but compared to the Tsunade of the future, you're still a bit lacking.
As she watched Reiji spacing out while picking his nose, a bold thought suddenly popped into Amai's mind.
What if—what if she could tie this guy down to Kumogakure? That would be amazing!
Worst case, she'd have her Raikage uncle go beat up Amegakure and drag back that phony, self-righteous old perv Mizukuma.
(Note: Amai doesn't know Mizukuma is dead. Not because Amegakure kept it a secret, but because a big-shot village like Kumogakure wouldn't bother tracking the fate of a special Jōnin from some minor village.)
At that thought, a gleam flashed in Amai's eyes. She shifted closer on her knees, slowly edging toward Reiji.
"Hey little brother, what kind of intel did Konoha send you to our village to gather?"
"Everything about Second Hokage Tobirama Senju—from the talks to the ambush, whether there was a plot behind it, and intel on Kinkaku and Ginkaku."
As Reiji spoke, Amai's tension suddenly eased. She instinctively patted her chest—causing quite a ripple.
Thank goodness. It was serious intel, sure, but nothing that would endanger her uncle's position.
As the Raikage's secretary, she had clearance for some top-level secrets, including information about Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
But hearing about the full details of Tobirama Senju's ambush made her feel indignant.
Konoha's really something! Their Second Hokage was ambushed and killed too, and here they are acting like they're the only ones who got wronged!
Reiji, unaware that Amai had just gone through all that in her head in a split second, continued talking:
"There's one more thing—the reason Princess Tsunade of Konoha was kidnapped."
Tsunade? Princess?
Amai's lips curled slightly. For some reason, that left a bitter taste in her mouth.
...
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