Retiring After Success

As Rinto desperately hurried back to his room, seven Anbu in the guard room of the Anbu dungeon were discussing something with solemn expressions.

"Captain Baku, why did you suddenly summon us?" one Anbu asked.

The Anbu codenamed Baku stood before his six subordinates, holding a sharp short blade.

"The situation is this. Earlier, Earth Dog said that kid in Cell 233 gave him a scare.

"At the time, I didn't think much of it. Just now, I took Earth Dog there again.

"After opening the window, we found No. 233 lying on his bed asleep. I wanted to wake him up and ask about the situation.

"But I suddenly discovered that No. 233 wouldn't wake up no matter how we called him. More than that, he showed absolutely no reaction.

"Now, I'm going to inspect that cell. You'll follow standard procedure."

After saying that, he pointed at three of the six men, including Earth Dog.

"You three, come inspect the cell with me. You remaining three, take turns patrolling. There must be two people in the guard room at all times! At the first sign of trouble, immediately seal off the entire dungeon!"

Baku's extremely stern voice echoed through the room.

"Yes!"

The six Anbu nodded in unison.

Baku drew back his hand and gripped the short blade in a reverse hold, his gaze falling on the three people before him.

"Now for the deployment!"

As he spoke, Baku looked toward the pitch-black corridor outside the guard room. After pondering for a moment, he continued,

"When we reach Cell 233, Earth Dog and I will enter and investigate No. 233's condition. You two will guard either end of the passage and beware of No. 233 launching a surprise attack or riot!"

"Remember, this is a special situation! Any disturbance, no matter how small, must be extinguished immediately!"

After speaking, he covertly glanced at Earth Dog.

"Earth Dog, you monitored No. 233 for a long time. Tell us what you know about him."

At that, Earth Dog frowned tightly beneath his mask.

At that moment, he was no longer the unserious LSP from before, but a Konoha Anbu ninja.

"Very strong. I followed Lord Sarutobi on missions involving No. 3 through No. 234.

"Rinto—No. 233—is extremely strong in close combat, far beyond an ordinary Jonin. This strength isn't because his taijutsu is particularly refined, but because his absolute strength and speed are terrifying. He can smash an adult man's head to pieces in an instant."

Hearing this, Baku's brows furrowed sharply beneath his mask. He asked in a low voice, "Anything else?"

"Yes!" Earth Dog nodded. "That kid's battlefield adaptability is extremely strong, and his split-second judgment is even more terrifying!"

Baku's brow furrowed even deeper.

As an experienced Anbu, he understood one truth very well.

In a cramped place like a cell, the identities of Anbu and prisoner, hunter and prey, could switch at any moment.

Especially when facing a prisoner who excelled at close combat, they would be at a severe disadvantage.

What gave him the biggest headache was that Rinto simply could not be awakened. This was not serious enough to warrant killing him through the cell door.

All they could do now was open the door and investigate.

"Damn it, how could a monster like this be locked in such a low-level cell?" Baku could not help grumbling.

Hearing that, Earth Dog, who knew quite a few secrets because of Rinto, pursed his lips and said nothing.

Even if Baku was his superior, there were secrets he absolutely could not reveal without Lord Hokage's approval.

As time ticked away second by second.

Baku abruptly stood up, his eyes shining as he stared into the darkness of the corridor. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Move out! We have to figure out what's going on!"

Though his caution had bought Rinto quite a bit of time, there was nothing wrong with it.

There had once been cases of prisoners faking death and using the opportunity to attack Anbu.

Moreover, the people they dealt with were all heinous criminals. They could not afford to be careless.

Shortly after the four set out, Rinto, with Nurarihyon no Jutsu active, quietly slipped into the guard room.

After sweeping his gaze around, Rinto's heart tightened.

Something's wrong! The numbers are off!

With that thought, Rinto immediately quickened his pace and rushed toward his room.

Hurrying as fast as he could, Rinto finally reached his cell door just before the four men opened it.

At that moment, the four Anbu were crouched together, whispering as they plotted something.

"Earth Dog, I'll go in first. You watch the entrance and hold the cell door securely."

"And you two, watch both ends of the passage. If you hear anything strange, don't act. Immediately send a signal to the guard room!"

Once he had assigned their tasks, the four stood up. Baku took a long string of keys from the pocket of the vest on his chest.

Having heard the Anbu's entire plan, Rinto made a snap decision and closely followed Baku as he found the key and prepared to open the door.

He planned to slip inside while Baku entered.

"Click~"

As the key in the lock turned lightly, the door opened.

Baku held his ninja short blade and formed a hand seal with one hand, his eyes piercing the darkness as he stared fixedly at Rinto lying on the bed like a corpse.

When Earth Dog heard that click, he suddenly fell into a daze. Not long ago, he seemed to have heard that sound before.

A bad suspicion slowly surfaced in his heart.

Meanwhile, Rinto quietly followed in Baku's footsteps.

After entering the cell, the anxiety Rinto had felt during his frantic journey finally eased.

Picking up his pace slightly, he passed the extremely tense Baku, walked to the bed, slowly crouched down, and crawled underneath it.

Now that the Transformation Jutsu being exposed was inevitable, he could only downplay the entire incident as a child's prank as much as possible.

After all, Tobirama Senju was about to die at the hands of Kinkaku and Ginkaku.

Though it was a little lonely, there was no longer anyone in this village who could guess his true objective.

With that thought, Rinto gradually relaxed. He put on the appearance of someone sleeping soundly and lay down beneath the bed.

Inside the cell, Baku finally crept close to Rinto.

The lantern shifted, and its light slowly fell over Rinto's face. Baku finally got a clear look at the Rinto on the bed.

The next second, his bladder tightened, and a wave of urgency shot straight up.

Rinto lay there with his eyes wide open, staring at him sideways and unblinkingly, like a rigid puppet.

He did not have the strange smile Earth Dog had described, but—

But that guy's eyeballs had just moved!

Mother of—scared the hell out of me!

As cold sweat streamed down Baku's face.

A head suddenly emerged from beneath the bed. It was—another Rinto.

This Rinto was not as creepy as the one on the bed. His face held the confusion of someone who had just woken up, and his eyes squinted against the lantern's glare.

"Hey, mister, why are you in my room? The toilet is over there. Carry it out and empty it yourself," a childish voice rang out.

The next second, the Rinto on the bed exploded with a bang, turning into a spotless white pillow.

The sound was not loud, but it made all four Anbu jump.

Seeing Rinto's baffled expression, Baku, who had just been scared half to death, immediately turned dark-faced.

Wave after wave of inexplicable fury surged from the depths of his heart.

At that moment, he did not care about Rinto's overwhelming close-combat abilities or terrifying battlefield adaptability.

He only wanted to drag Rinto out from under the bed and beat him senseless.

And so he did.

With a dark face, Baku grabbed Rinto by the collar and dragged him out from beneath the bed. Without hesitation, he punched him.

"Damn it, scaring me by playing ghost!

"Not sleeping in the middle of the night!

"Ordering me to empty your toilet!

"You bastard, you fucking scared me half to death!"

As he roared, Baku's voice actually carried a faint sobbing tone.

"Don't blame me for beating you. This is standard procedure after a guard inspects a room."

Rinto dodged left and right with a strange expression, but his clothes were caught in the man's grip, so he still took several solid punches.

"This punch is for Earth Dog. You scared him so badly he pissed himself!"

At the door, Earth Dog's face turned bright red beneath his mask, and the Kunai in his hand creaked under his grip.

"This punch is for me. For messing with me in the middle of the night!"

Even while dangling in the air, Rinto refused to yield. He bared his teeth and flailed his limbs as he fought Baku.

"You cowardly bastard, put me down! I'll fight you one-on-one!"

"Damn it, hurry up! Put me down! You're going to rip my pajamas!"

Hearing that, Earth Dog shuddered and hurried forward to stop the adult and child.

He understood Rinto very well. Or rather, he understood Rinto better than anyone in Konoha.

This guy was generous toward his sister, but toward outsiders, he was stingy to the extreme—especially about clothes.

Uchiha Ryota had paid a million Ryo over a pair of shoes.

Four ninjas from Amegakure had lost their lives because they tore this guy's sleeve. They had been more wronged than Dou E.

Having witnessed Rinto's methods, Earth Dog immediately stepped in front of Baku. Carefully holding Rinto by the shoulders, he placed him on the bed, then cautiously smoothed the wrinkles from his clothes before letting go.

Pulling Baku aside, Earth Dog leaned close to his ear and muttered,

"It's fine if you hurt him, but don't tear his clothes."

"Why?" Baku asked with a frown.

Earth Dog gave an awkward smile. "Um, have you heard this saying?

"'If I don't swindle you until you can't even keep your pants up today, I'll never get four dishes on my table for the rest of my life!'"

Baku's expression beneath his mask immediately became strange.

"This is the kid who swindled the Uchiha clan out of a million Ryo?"

Earth Dog nodded heavily.

Seeing that, Baku did not say another word. He swiftly dragged Earth Dog out of the cell.

Bang! The door slammed shut, and all four of them immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's go. There's no problem. It was just a prank by one obnoxious kid," Baku called for the others to leave, then complained to Earth Dog, "Why didn't you tell me No. 233 was that rotten little bastard?"

Earth Dog scratched his head and gave an embarrassed laugh. "Captain, I thought you knew~"

Inside the cell, listening to the receding footsteps, Rinto's bruised and swollen face suddenly split into a grin.

"Hahahahaha!"

Though he had been beaten up, he was not angry at all.

After all, compared to something this minor, what he had gained tonight was simply too great.

Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu, Flying Thunder God Technique.

Though he had not obtained the Eight Inner Gates Formation he had dreamed of, Flying Thunder God was still a different kind of compensation!