Uchiha Kagami.
Rin remembered that name. Kagami was an ancestor of Uchiha Shisui—a Konoha elite jonin who had died in his twenties under mysterious circumstances.
"It looks like he sensed something back then and left himself a contingency here."
Rin picked up the ring and slipped it onto his left index finger. It fit perfectly.
He glanced at the note one last time, then burned it.
Something like this could never be kept.
By the time he emerged from the hidden room, night had already fallen. Rin returned home and remembered everything he had learned that day.
The secrets of the Uchiha.
Research on Hashirama cells.
And the ring Kagami had left behind.
Each of them was a double-edged sword. Used well, they could accelerate his growth. Used poorly, they would bring catastrophe.
That night, Rin lay on his bed and entered the system for training.
"Today's harvest was substantial. My synchronization rate should rise a bit."
Sure enough, once the training ended:
[Analysis of memory fragments from the scroll complete]
[Obtained: Knowledge related to Hashirama cell fusion; understanding of basic Sealing Techniques]
[Synchronization rate increased to 6.1%]
[Unlockable ability detected: Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu (B-rank)]
[Requirement: 6% synchronization — Conditions met]
[Unlock now?]
"Unlock."
A surge of heat erupted from his chest, rushing through his chakra pathways and spreading across his entire body. Information flooded his mind—the hand seals, chakra flow, and practical applications of Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu.
"A B-rank Fire Release… more powerful than the Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu, with a narrower but more concentrated attack range. Ideal for single-point breakthroughs."
"Not bad."
After exiting the system, Rin prepared to sleep. But the moment he closed his eyes, that familiar sensation returned.
Someone was watching him.
This time, it was even clearer.
It wasn't the mechanical monitoring of ANBU, nor the cold, distant gaze from the night before. This scrutiny carried a strange curiosity—like someone observing an experimental subject.
Rin remained still, pretending to be asleep while keeping his senses fully alert.
The gaze came from outside the window. It wasn't direct; it felt mediated through something—perhaps water, or a reflective surface.
He waited.
Waiting for the other side to make its move.
After about ten minutes, a soft sound came from the window. Not the sound of it opening, but of something pressing against the glass.
Then, through a narrow gap, a thin white object slowly slipped inside.
"A plant vine?"
No.
It was something far more unsettling—like a tentacle. Smooth, pale, without suction cups. It extended gradually toward Rin on the bed.
Its movements were slow and careful, almost completely silent.
Rin continued pretending to sleep.
The tentacle stopped about ten centimeters from his face. Then, a small slit opened at its tip, and from within emerged an even thinner, needle-like appendage.
"Trying to take a sample? Or inject poison?"
Just as the needle was about to touch his skin, Rin snapped his eyes open and grabbed the tentacle in a flash.
He yanked hard.
A faint, muffled groan came from outside the window.
The tentacle thrashed violently, but Rin's grip was firm. He rolled off the bed, rushed to the window, and flung it open.
There was no one outside.
Only the tentacle remained in his hand, its other end stretching into the darkness, leading somewhere unknown.
Rin pulled again.
Snap.
The tentacle broke. Thick mucus oozed from the rupture, releasing a nauseating stench.
He released it. The severed piece fell to the floor, twitched a few times, then melted away, seeping into the cracks between the floorboards.
Rin stared into the night beyond the window, his gaze icy.
So there weren't just spectators watching from the sidelines.
There were those who wanted to act.
And this method…
Disgusting.
He shut the window, locked it tightly, and sat back down on the bed, staring at the faint white residue on the floor.
Then he remembered.
In the original story, there was only one existence with traits like this.
"White Zetsu."
A creation of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. A pawn of Uchiha Madara.
So that was it.
The slender figure in the bamboo hat last night.
The note this morning.
And the tentacle just now.
They were all Zetsu.
Someone was observing him—and White Zetsu had been sent to test him.
Rin lay back down and closed his eyes.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"This show is getting more and more interesting."
---
He passed the night without sleep.
The next morning, Rin found a small segment of white rhizome placed at his doorstep. Its texture was identical to the broken end of last night's tentacle.
Beside it lay a black flower he had never seen before.
The petals were thick, almost leathery. The stamen was a deep purple, releasing a scent that was both sweet and bitter.
He didn't recognize the flower, but he could sense a faint trace of chakra lingering inside it—cold and viscous, originating from the same source as the tentacle.
Hidden within the stamen was a tiny note:
Your growth is worth anticipating. But be careful—someone has already set their sights on you.
"Interesting."
Rin tucked the flower into his ninja tool pouch and burned the note.
Then he left as usual, heading toward the Hokage Building as if nothing had happened.
Today, Team 7's mission was another D-rank: helping a vegetable vendor at the east end of the village organize his warehouse.
The vendor was an elderly man missing one arm. He had once been a ninja and lost his arm on the battlefield before retiring and opening a vegetable shop.
The warehouse was spacious, packed with crates of radishes, potatoes, and cabbages. Their task was to move the older stock to the front, store the new shipments in the back, and clean out the cobwebs in the corners.
Naruto wilted the moment he saw the workload.
Sasuke said nothing and immediately started moving crates. Sakura went to borrow a broom.
Rin stood at the warehouse entrance, unhurried.
He was observing.
The structure of the building.
The placement of the vents.
The angles of light.
And the eyes hidden in the shadows.
The ones monitoring them had changed today. It wasn't yesterday's ANBU teams, but someone far more concealed. Their chakra fluctuations were nearly nonexistent, yet their killing intent—faint as it was—couldn't be completely hidden.
Root.
Back when Rin was still at the Ninja Academy, Danzō hadn't been able to make a move.
Now that he had become a genin of Team 7, Danzō could no longer stay patient.
But with so many Sharingan in his possession, why was Danzō still interested in Rin's eyes?
Thinking this over, Rin joined the others and began moving vegetables. His pace was perfectly ordinary—neither fast nor slow, exactly how a normal genin should look.
Yet he could feel those gazes clinging to him constantly.
From the gaps between the roof beams.
From the dark corners of the warehouse.
From behind the iron mesh covering the vents.
They were watching him closely.
After half an hour, Naruto began complaining about his sore back. Sakura immediately "helped" him with a violent massage, making him howl in pain, while Sasuke continued working in silence.
The old vendor sat at the entrance basking in the sun and suddenly asked, "You kids are Team 7, right?"
"Yeah!" Naruto replied.
"The team led by that Kakashi kid?"
"You know Kakashi-sensei, old man?"
"I do." The old man grinned, revealing a mouth missing a tooth. "Back when his father, Sakumo Hatake, was still alive, I used to deliver vegetables to their house. Kakashi was only about this tall back then." He gestured to his waist.
Rin passed by carrying a crate of potatoes and asked casually, "Which battle did you lose your arm in?"
The old man rubbed his empty sleeve. "The Second Great Ninja War. Amegakure. One of Hanzō's subordinates did it."
"Hanzō…" Rin set the crate down. "The one known as the Salamander—the so-called 'Demi-God'?"
"You know him too?" The old man looked surprised. "Kids these days usually don't know those old stories."
"I've read about him," Rin said. "What happened to Hanzō later?"
"Probably dead," the old man said as he lit a cigarette. "Amegakure is still ruled in his name, but he hasn't shown himself in a long time."
Rin nodded and went back to work.
But his thoughts raced.
Hanzō had died at Nagato's hands. By now, Nagato should have taken full control of the Akatsuki and begun preparations for the Tailed Beast weapon plan.
Time was running out.
He needed to grow stronger—faster.
At noon, the old vendor treated them to lunch: simple rice balls and miso soup. They sat in the small courtyard behind the warehouse to eat. The old man brought over a bowl for himself and sat beside Rin.
"Kid, your name's Uchiha Rin, right?"
"Yes."
"An Uchiha…" The old man took a sip of soup. "Long ago, I knew an Uchiha named Uchiha Kagami. A remarkable young man. It's a shame he died so early."
Rin's chopsticks paused midair.