Farewell

Rinto's gaze swept over Ono Buta's stiff corpse. He silently rose to his feet and stepped away from the formation beneath him.

He removed his straw raincoat, then took off the cloak underneath.

Without a word, Rinto walked over to the naked woman and wrapped her body in the cloak.

"I'm sorry! Scum like this came from our village."

The woman weakly turned her head. Looking at Rinto's young face, she shook her head with difficulty.

"It's not... your fault, child."

Rinto turned his head aside and said nothing. At that moment, he was somewhat afraid of the woman's gaze.

He reached out and lifted the barely breathing woman into his arms. He carried her over to the man tied to the chair, carefully set her down, then untied the ropes around the man.

The man's body had already gone cold. Every joint was incredibly stiff, and he remained locked in a sitting posture.

Rinto sighed, then used brute force to straighten the man's body and lay him flat beside the woman.

After finishing all that, Rinto no longer looked at the man and woman lying side by side on the floor. He slowly rose, walked over to Ono Buta's corpse, and carried it out of the house.

He would give the woman some time to say goodbye.

After all, her life had already reached its end.

Inside the house, the woman slowly turned her face toward her husband, toward the eyes that had remained open even in death. Tears flowed continuously from the corners of her eyes, trickling down her temples like a stream.

Her swollen, reddened hand moved in fits and starts, slowly yet resolutely reaching for her husband's hand. At last, she clasped it tightly and never let go again.

Outside, Rinto dealt with the aftermath expressionlessly.

He wanted everyone to know that this tragedy had been committed by people from Amegakure.

He dragged the corpses of villagers who had either been violated or tortured to death from room after room, arranging them neatly in the open space at the center of the village.

Then he bent Ono Buta's knees, making the chief culprit kneel toward the villagers' bodies.

Afterward, he did the same to the remaining four corpses, lining them up neatly on their knees.

Ripping off their upper garments, Rinto took out a large senbon.

Using the senbon as a pen and Ono Buta's back as paper, Rinto wrote with a solemn expression and complete focus.

"Ono Buta, Jonin of Amegakure, subordinate of Salamander Shinda.

Secretly carried out Hanzo of the Salamander's undercover agent plan, helping Arong infiltrate Kirigakure.

Led three subordinates in the brutal slaughter of one hundred and three villagers in the Land of Hot Water, actions that outraged heaven and earth."

The instant Rinto wrote those words, his tongue suddenly became scorching hot. The Cursed Seal on it had activated!

In the blink of an eye, countless black threads burst from his tongue, densely packed as they shot straight through his head, riddling it with holes.

After piercing through Rinto's head, the black threads did not lose any strength. They shot outward in every direction once more, vanishing into the vast night.

After an unknown amount of time, Rinto—who had clenched his teeth and made not a single sound—slowly raised his head with a twisted expression, revealing a horrifyingly grotesque face riddled with holes.

He reached up and wiped away the brain matter spilling from his nostrils, glaring at Ono Buta's back through gritted teeth.

"Fuck, that hurt like hell! So this is what it feels like when your brains get scrambled. I'll remember this, Hanzo of the Salamander! Salamander Shinda!"

Yet even so, Rinto tremblingly picked up the fallen senbon and struggled over to Arong's back.

"Arong, Dark Child of Amegakure, twelve years old.

Under the undercover agent plan, he was to infiltrate Kirigakure in the Land of Water as a War Orphan.

Participated in the slaughter, violation, and burning of villagers and their village."

Afterward, Rinto wrote the chief culprits of the entire plan and the exact numbers involved onto the backs of the remaining three men.

He wanted the entire Shinobi World to know exactly what kind of people Hanzo of the Salamander and Salamander Shinda of Amegakure were!

Even if this plan greatly increased the possibility of exposing himself, even if writing down the intelligence activated the Cursed Seal and brought him unbearable pain, he would not hesitate.

If he did not do this, his conscience would never be at peace.

He was, after all, still a transmigrator with his own bottom line and conscience. He could not turn a blind eye to such inhuman acts.

Once he was done, Rinto stood up and calmly erased every trace of his presence according to the shinobi knowledge Mizuguma had taught him. Finally, he returned to the house that had left his heart in torment.

Faint sobbing drifted from inside the house, the crying filled with helplessness and confusion.

Rinto paused, then pushed open the door.

With a soft creak, the crying abruptly stopped. Inside, a child whose face was smeared with soot whirled around. Her large, tear-filled eyes were full of fear and vigilance.

"D-Don't come any closer!" The child gripped a kunai she had picked up from somewhere with both hands, holding it awkwardly in front of herself. Like an injured little beast, she bared her teeth, trying her best to look fiercely intimidating.

"Rie, don't... don't be rude to our benefactor!" Lying on the floor, the woman laboriously raised a hand and pressed it against the child's arm.

Rinto paid no attention to the still extremely tense child. He strode over to the woman and quickly crouched down.

By the faint firelight outside the door, Rinto's pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints.

Normally, this woman should have died long ago, yet she had somehow endured until now.

If Rinto's immortality came entirely from his special physique, then this woman had held on until now through sheer, unparalleled willpower.

Seeing this, Rinto fell silent as well.

"Benefactor, what... is your name?" The woman's hoarse voice sounded, pulling Rinto's wandering thoughts back.

"Rinto. My name is Rinto."

At that, a gentle, faint smile slowly appeared on the woman's stiff face.

"Rinto-kun, do you have a surname?"

Instinctively, a figure appeared in Rinto's mind—Mizuguma.

It was the first time they had met.

With a serious expression, Mizuguma had nodded toward the Amegakure forehead protector on his head, faint solemnity on his mature face.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Sakuta Mizuguma, a Special Jonin of Amegakure. You can call me Teacher, or you can call me Mizuguma."

Thinking of that, Rinto instinctively blurted out.

"Sakuta! My surname is Sakuta—Sakuta Rinto. Please take care of me!"

The woman nodded almost imperceptibly. Taking the child's hand beside her, she looked at her with eyes filled with reluctance and love.

"Rie, my child, from now on, your name will be Sakuta Rie."

As she spoke, she pulled Rie's hand and somewhat forcefully placed it in Rinto's hand.

"Rinto-kun, my daughter Rie is at your disposal."

As she spoke, the light in her eyes gradually faded, leaving Rinto no chance to refuse or hesitate.

On a small hill outside the village, the warm afternoon sunlight poured down as a breeze brushed through the grass.

Before a small grave mound stood two figures, one large and one small.

"Go on. Say goodbye to your father and mother," Rinto said, gently pushing Rie's shoulder.

Rie nodded and carefully placed a bouquet of red and white wildflowers before the gravestone. Tears kept welling up in her reddened eyes.

After a long silence, Rinto stepped forward and gently stroked Rie's little head. "Let's go."

Little Rie nodded obediently. She stretched out her chubby little hand and took Rinto's, looking back every few steps as they walked into the distance.