On Rasa's rooftop, Rinjin watched the withered old man and his two guards hurry away, his eyes gleaming with amusement.
A clan...
A branch family...
How interesting!
Sure enough, any organization or society, once it completes its initial formation, inevitably develops different social strata driven by the greed buried deep in human genes.
This trip to Sunagakure was getting more and more fascinating~
With that thought, Rinjin grinned, formed a single-handed seal, and vanished.
The next morning—
Rinjin, dressed in the clothes of the Sunagakure ninja he'd replaced, pushed open his door and stepped onto the street.
As an experienced undercover agent, Rinjin had his own unique insights into intelligence gathering.
For unimportant local gossip, you could check out taverns and izakayas.
People who went drinking didn't just brag—they talked about things everyone found interesting.
But for more secretive intel, you had to visit more secretive places.
With this in mind, Rinjin chuckled and let his instincts guide him to a particularly quiet alley entrance.
Peering inside, he saw the alley was littered with trash, and all the doors facing the street were tightly shut.
Looking more carefully, various large and small, rather interesting signs occupied every conspicuous spot.
"Hmm? Sandthorn Love Street?
Sandthorn?! The sacred desert fruit? Sour, sweet, and a bit astringent?
This street's name is pretty clever! Nice, nice—gotta come scope out the rooms tonight!"
He sneakily left a Flying Thunder God formula behind.
Rinjin left the potentially entertaining alley with complete composure.
He found a random breakfast shop and ordered a bowl of desert-style breakfast—some kind of skin dumpling. Just as he was about to leave, someone tapped his shoulder.
"Laki, you're back too?"
Hearing someone call his assumed identity's name, Rinjin immediately turned around.
Holy sh—! Beautiful girl, who are you???
Taking a closer look—
Light sandy-blonde hair, a bandage around her forehead, a chubby, adorable face, and big sparkling eyes.
The girl had her hands behind her back, eyes full of mischief.
Honestly, this girl was really cute! Just... her voice was a bit rough.
But seriously, who was she?
Since he didn't have the Yamanaka clan's assistance, Rinjin had no idea about this Laki guy's social network.
But he wasn't a rookie either—years of undercover work had honed his lying skills to perfection.
His masked face showed no reaction, but confusion flashed quickly in his eyes. Rinjin scratched his head naturally and asked back:
"Hello, are you calling me?"
Hearing this, doubt immediately flickered in the girl's eyes, but she subconsciously nodded.
Seeing this, Rinjin's mind raced. He instantly deployed his years of acting experience, letting confusion and feigned guilt flash in his eyes while raising his cheek muscles.
"Sorry, I got injured in the previous war and forgot a lot of things.
Um... I'm really sorry."
As he spoke, Rinjin showed traces of regret on his face, gently tapping his head.
Hearing this, the girl immediately stepped forward, moving close to Rinjin and looking up at him with concern.
"Then... Laki, what do you remember?"
"I..." Rinjin hesitated for a long while before shaking his head with a bitter smile.
"I don't know. Some guy wearing a headscarf told me I was from Sunagakure and brought me here.
If he hadn't told me, I wouldn't even know where home was.
By the way, who are you?"
Hearing this, the girl quickly replied:
"Laki, I'm Yashamaru! We sat together for six years at the Ninja Academy!"
Rinjin froze slightly.
Yashamaru???
That name sounded so familiar—where had he heard it before!
No time to think deeply, Rinjin quickly put on a confused expression, muttering:
"Yashamaru? Yashamaru? Classmate? Ninja Academy?
Uh... sorry, I really can't remember."
Rinjin didn't continue by saying he might remember something—instead, he firmly maintained that he couldn't recall anything.
If this person was truly his classmate, he might not get exposed.
But if this was someone sent by Sunagakure's higher-ups to test him, admitting to remembering anything would be extremely foolish.
Not only that, the other party might even use this to set a trap.
As a qualified undercover agent and sleeper, restraining the instinct to pick up conversational cues was the most basic skill.
Seeing Rinjin still acting like he couldn't remember anything, Yashamaru spoke again:
"Laki, if you don't remember anything, why are you wandering the streets? Did you forget where home is?"
Rinjin shook his head:
"No, I thought I'd walk around the village. Maybe if I see something familiar, I'll recover some memories."
Hearing this, Yashamaru paused slightly, then his eyes immediately lit up as he grabbed Rinjin's hand.
"Great idea! I'll help you too.
Come on! I'll take you to meet someone—maybe you'll remember something!"
Without giving him a choice, Yashamaru dragged Rinjin toward the village center.
After jogging along, they arrived at a massive square building.
Then, the pretty girl Yashamaru shouted up at a second-floor window:
"Sister, come down and help me!"
From far away, a soft, gentle voice responded—apparently agreeing.
Soon, the square building's door opened.
A woman who looked almost as cute as Yashamaru but more mature and alluring stepped out.
"Yashamaru, what's the matter?" the woman's voice rang out again.
This time, Rinjin heard clearly—very gentle, with a fragile quality that made you want to protect her.
Instead of answering his sister's question, Yashamaru looked at Rinjin expectantly:
"Laki, did you remember anything?"
I remembered!
Goosebumps immediately crawled up Rinjin's arms!
I remembered... you're actually a damn man!
Son of a b—~
So you're Gaara's uncle after all~
Damn! I thought you were a cute girl with a unique voice!
Give me back my little expectations!
Ignoring the cat's increasingly smug grin, Rinjin forcibly suppressed the urge to punch Yashamaru and shook his head bit by bit.
"Sorry... I still can't remember anything."
Hearing this, Yashamaru's face immediately flashed with doubt and distress, muttering to himself:
"That shouldn't be right.
I remember you always had a crush on my sister. Why can't seeing your beloved awaken your memories?
Are you just shallow?"
His voice wasn't loud—normal people definitely couldn't hear it. But Rinjin wasn't normal, so he heard it.
Instantly, Rinjin subconsciously imagined a ridiculous soap opera plot.
Heh~
Shikaku Nara is my disciple!
Shikamaru Nara is my disciple's son!
If I got together with your sister Karura, then Temari would be my daughter.
If my daughter married my disciple's son, wouldn't I become in-laws with my own student?
Geneva Convention~
Forcing myself to drop a generation? What about my dignity?!
Brother-in-law! This absolutely won't do!
While Rinjin and Yashamaru both fell into contemplation, Karura looked puzzled at the two classmates and spoke again:
"Yashamaru, if you have something to say, hurry up! I have things to do later!"
"What things?" Yashamaru asked reflexively.
Hearing this, Karura's eyes dimmed slightly. She glanced at Rinjin beside them, walked to Yashamaru's side, and whispered:
"The clan arranged for me to meet with Lord Rasa."
"What?!" Yashamaru immediately shrieked, then loudly questioned:
"How can the clan do such a thing!!
Didn't they agree to find Big Brother Rinjin?
Are they just giving up?!
What about Uncle Suiken's branch family?!"
You could tell the kid was extremely agitated.
On the side, Rinjin almost couldn't hold back and nearly performed a full facial expression breakdown on the spot.
What the hell?
Find Big Brother Rinjin?
Find who the f***?
Or is there someone else in Sunagakure with the same name as me?
For a moment, Rinjin even forgot about what these two were saying about "clans" and "branch families."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
The story isn't over...
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