It wasn't a physical presence—but a gaze.
Someone was watching him, peering through walls and darkness in a way he couldn't comprehend.
Rin sat up and opened his eyes.
The room was empty. The windows were shut, the curtains drawn.
And yet—that sense of being observed lingered, faintly amused.
Rin didn't move. He closed his eyes again, feigning sleep, while pushing his perception to its limit.
[Yin Release Perception: 1-meter radius]
Nothing.
No chakra fluctuations. No signs of life.
But the gaze didn't disappear.
Five minutes passed.
Then, just like that, the sensation faded.
Rin opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling.
It seemed that Konohagakure wasn't the only one keeping an eye on him.
There were other watchers—hidden in deeper shadows.
And whoever it was… they were powerful. Powerful enough to completely conceal their chakra and observe from afar without being detected.
Who?
Rin didn't know.
But one thing was certain—his "role-playing game" was drawing more and more attention.
That was both good and bad.
Good, because attention meant his "performance" had value.
Bad, because some spectators didn't watch just for entertainment.
Some watched to kill.
Rin rolled over and closed his eyes.
Whatever.
When had Uchiha Madara ever feared an audience?
Outside, the moon slowly disappeared behind drifting clouds.
Konoha's night looked peaceful.
---
The next morning, Rin found an unsigned note in his mailbox.
Only one sentence was written on it:
You are very special.
Rin held the note for a long time.
The paper was ordinary. The ink was ordinary.
Yet the chill clinging to it refused to fade.
When he looked up, he caught sight of a figure across the street wearing a bamboo hat, already turning to leave. The figure's silhouette was long and slender—unnaturally so.
Rin folded the note and slipped it into the innermost layer of his ninja tool pouch.
Whoever it was, choosing this method of contact meant they weren't ready to act yet.
Fine.
He would wait.
He still had a mission today.
---
In front of the Hokage Building, Team 7 had already gathered.
Naruto Uzumaki arrived three minutes late—as usual—and immediately got a sharp knock on the head from the handle of Kakashi Hatake's kunai.
Sasuke Uchiha leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, expression unchanged—but Rin noticed the dark circles under them. He clearly hadn't slept well.
Sakura Haruno stood nearby, adjusting the straps of her ninja pouch.
"What's today's mission?" Rin asked.
Kakashi pulled a scroll from his vest. "Riverbed cleanup. The lower reaches of the Naka River have accumulated a lot of trash recently."
Naruto let out a dramatic wail. "Another boring mission?!"
"Complaining won't help," Kakashi said, tossing the scroll to Rin. "Let's move. Finish before noon, and I'll treat you all to ramen."
"Really?!" Naruto's eyes lit up.
"My treat," Kakashi added calmly. "If you finish within an hour."
Motivated by the promise, they set off.
Rin walked at the back, quietly observing his surroundings.
The streets were lively as ever. An old woman sold dango at a corner stall. The owner of the ninja tool shop wiped his storefront window. A group of genin practiced shuriken nearby—one of them, Tenten, waved when she noticed Rin.
Everything looked normal.
But Rin could feel it—the number of eyes watching from the shadows had increased.
Not the cold, mocking gaze from last night.
This was routine surveillance.
From rooftops. From alley mouths. From behind second-story curtains.
At least three squads.
Six pairs of eyes.
It seemed his chakra blade during yesterday's weeding—and his reaction to the snake—had unsettled certain people.
Fine, Rin thought. The tighter the watch, the more value they place on me.
And value is the first step toward fear.
---
The lower Naka River was filthy.
Not household garbage, but driftwood, tangled water weeds, and broken fishing nets washed down from upstream. The water was murky, carrying a faint, unpleasant stench.
Kakashi pointed ahead. "From here to that bridge—one hundred meters. Split it four ways. Twenty-five meters each. Tools are over there."
Rakes and net bags lay piled on the bank.
Naruto rolled up his pant legs, ready to jump in, but Sakura yanked him back. "Wait! We should check for dangers first!"
"What danger?" Naruto scoffed.
"Leeches. Poisonous insects," Rin added calmly. "Or snakes."
Naruto immediately turned pale and obediently backed off.
Sasuke had already picked up a rake and started working, clearing weeds and debris with clean, efficient movements.
Rin stepped into the water as well. It barely reached his knees, but the thick silt made walking difficult.
He mimicked Sasuke's motions—but his focus wasn't on the trash.
He was sensing.
The Naka River was the birthplace of the Uchiha Clan and a vital waterway for Konoha.
If anything had been left behind…
After a few steps downstream, he felt it—a faint chakra fluctuation.
Not alive.
An object.
Weak, unstable, like a candle flickering in the wind.
Rin moved closer without drawing attention. Near the river's center, he crouched and felt around in the mud.
There.
Long and solid.
He pulled it free and rinsed it clean.
A scroll.
The leather casing had rotted away, but the seal remained intact. On it was a single faded character, written in chakra ink:
Seal.
"What did you find?" Sasuke asked from the bank.
"Just trash," Rin replied, slipping the scroll into his vest. "Probably something someone upstream threw away."
Sasuke nodded and returned to work.
Rin later tucked the scroll deeper into his ninja tool pouch.
The chakra residue was unusual. This wasn't something an ordinary shinobi carried—and the sealing formula felt familiar.
He searched his system's knowledge base.
That's it.
A sealing method used by the Uchiha Clan to preserve important documents… or eyes.
Rin's heart skipped.
A Sharingan?
No.
The chakra was wrong—too heavy, too dormant.
More like…
Written records.
Before the clan's destruction, Uchiha elders sometimes sealed texts for future generations—secret techniques, forbidden history.
If this was one of those…
He'd just uncovered something priceless.
But not now, he decided. Too many eyes.
---
An hour later, the riverbank was lined with neatly stacked piles of debris.
Kakashi checked the time. "One hour and seven minutes. Over the limit. Ramen's canceled."
"Ehhhh?!" Naruto collapsed in despair.
"However," Kakashi continued, "you all did well. Especially Rin—your section was the cleanest."
Rin said nothing.
"As a reward," Kakashi went on, "you have the afternoon free. Report back tomorrow morning."
Naruto instantly revived. Sakura left to meet Ino. Sasuke headed straight for the training grounds.
Rin remained until they were gone.
Then he turned and walked in the opposite direction.
He needed somewhere quiet.
Somewhere he could finally see what that scroll contained.