Uchiha Kou

On the river outside the Mist Village, a small boat drifted slowly along the winding waterway, heading deep into the mountains, far from the hustle and bustle.

The boat swayed gently with the waves, its bow cutting through the thin mist, creating soft splashing sounds.

The person poling the boat wore a black cloak with red clouds and an orange spiral mask, revealing only his right eye, which held a calm and profound gaze.

Behind him stood a black-haired youth in an ANBU uniform, with bloodstains of a darker hue on his clothes.

Uchiha Itachi.

This youth, who had just severed his bloodline and destroyed the family that raised him, showed no trace of joy or sorrow on his face.

His Mangekyo Sharingan, capable of striking fear into countless hearts, now merely gazed indifferently at the withered reeds flashing by on either bank.

It was as if the bloodshed and flames he had left forever in Konoha had never happened.

The masked man poling the boat spoke, his voice muffled by the mask, carrying a hidden depth of calm:

"In the organization, everyone calls me 'Tobi'. I'm not an official member, at best just an apprentice in Akatsuki with no great abilities."

He paused, tilting his head slightly, and swept his exposed eye over the youth behind him:

"So, watch your attitude towards me."

Itachi's gaze shifted from the reeds to the back of the man calling himself "Tobi."

His tone was as placid as water:

"Why hide your true identity?"

The poling motion didn't stop. The masked man seemed to have anticipated the question, answering with unhurried ease:

"Because it would be troublesome if people knew 'Uchiha Madara' was still alive."

"The leader of Akatsuki, whom I'm taking you to meet next."

Tobi continued:

"He's one of the few who knows my true identity."

"One of the few?"

Itachi keenly caught the implication in that word, his voice still calm but carrying a faint, probing edge:

"You mean... there are others in the organization who know your true identity?"

Beneath the mask, Obito's brow furrowed slightly.

This guy is really sharp...

He didn't seem bothered by Itachi's probing, even deliberately casting the answer lightly:

"Ah, you know that person too.

Come to think of it, they should be from the same village... no, now they should be considered one of the few 'clansmen'."

"Clansmen?!"

An alarm instantly blared in Itachi's mind.

A Uchiha clansman?

In this Akatsuki organization, far from Konoha, besides this guy masquerading as "Madara," were there other Uchiha who had survived?!

There are still some heads left to take...

"Yo! Are we talking about me, Old Madara?"

A mature and lively voice rang out without warning from behind and to the side of Itachi, so close it felt as if the person were standing right behind his shoulder.

"!!!"

Itachi's pupils contracted sharply!

When did...

His back tensed instantly, chakra almost instinctively surging, his right hand subconsciously reaching for the hilt of his sword!

Ever since his dear friend Shisui died, after he awakened those Mangekyo Sharingan capable of overlooking all beings, no one had ever been able to approach him so silently!

No matter how skilled the stealth technique, it couldn't escape the perception of his eyes.

Yet this person, at this moment, had appeared out of thin air!

This person... is strong.

He quickly moved sideways, creating an angle for both defense and counterattack. His three-tomoe Sharingan had already manifested, his crimson eyes filled with sharp vigilance, locked onto the direction of the voice.

A figure was now sitting on a diagonally extending wooden pole at the stern of the boat, casually swinging his legs.

He was a tall and upright youth, his black hair casually tied into a small braid at the back of his head, with a few stray strands falling onto his forehead, accentuating a handsome face with a hint of wildness and roguish charm.

He wore the same black cloak with red clouds as "Madara," but on him, it looked like the casual wear of some dissolute samurai, loose-fitting yet possessing a unique style.

He held a reed, broken from who-knows-where, in his mouth, bobbing up and down with the movement of his swinging legs. Two long swords were crossed on his back.

The wrappings on the sword hilts were worn smooth and shiny, clearly indicating frequent use.

If not for being in this place, based solely on his appearance, anyone would likely mistake him for some young noble traveling the world.

But Itachi knew better than anyone—just how dangerous this man truly was.

"Relax, Itachi."

Madara's voice came from ahead, carrying a hint of blasé indifference.

He did not even turn his head, continuing to stare forward as he spoke calmly to the roguishly handsome man:

"Your ability to suppress your presence is becoming increasingly refined, Kou.

...Should I say, as expected of the 'former' number one genius of the Uchiha?"

"Meh... just so-so, I suppose."

The young man called Kou grinned, leaping lightly from the wooden pole and landing steadily on the deck without splashing a single drop of water from the lake.

He chewed on a blade of grass, his speech slightly slurred, yet the innate sense of laziness and approachability in his tone felt completely out of place in this murderous atmosphere.

"After all, that's about all there is to learn over in the Mist Village. I had nothing better to do over there, so I just practiced a bit.

Oh, and by the way..."

He extended a finger, shaking it with exaggerated seriousness to interrupt Obito, who was about to continue speaking:

"Let me correct you, Madara-san, I am not some 'former' number one genius of the Uchiha."

He took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and solemnly declared in a tone as dramatic as a stage play:

"I am the 'former-former' number one genius!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately switched to a desolate and lonely expression, looking up at the sky and sighing deeply, like an old man abandoned by the times:

"Sigh—! Ever since Shisui and Uchiha Chu, those true geniuses, burst onto the scene, no one has paid any attention to me, the previous version of the king.

They say ninjas are like fine wine, getting better with age, so why doesn't that hold true for me..."

He turned his head gloomily, sweeping his eyes—which were filled with the "vicissitudes of life"—across Itachi, then Obito, before finally sighing toward the heavens in grief:

"Sigh, whatever! No matter how you look at it, it's all this ninja world's fault!!"

Behind his mask, Obito's mouth twitched violently.

He had long since grown accustomed to this guy's daily bouts of insanity.

However... that last remark, "it's all this ninja world's fault," actually resonated with him for once.

He stopped paying attention to the drama queen immersed in his own self-pity and turned to look at Itachi.

At this moment, Itachi was maintaining a high state of alert, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan already ignited, his right hand resting on the hilt of his blade, his muscles coiled and ready to explode at any moment.

In those eyes, besides wariness, there was a complex, indescribable emotion mixed in.

Obito's voice returned to its previous steady tone, carrying a hint of reassurance:

"Calm down, Itachi.

Kou is also a member of the Akatsuki; by seniority, he should be considered your senior."

He paused, his tone laced with a subtle, lingering sarcasm:

"Besides... as far as I know, when he was still in the village, your relationship should have been quite good, right?

Since you are both members of the Akatsuki now, you should get along peacefully, just like... back in Konoha."

He enunciated the word "peacefully" with profound, hidden meaning.

Before the words had even faded, Uchiha Kou had already lunged in front of Itachi, his movement so fast that Itachi nearly drew his blade.

However, what greeted him was not an attack, but a smile so bright it was almost excessive, followed by a rapid-fire string of greetings:

"Oh! Isn't this Uchiha Rong? It's been such a long time, you've grown so big!"

Kou's eyes curved into crescents as he looked Itachi up and down, his expression one of immense gratification, as if he were looking at a promising junior of his own.

His gaze fell on the long blade dripping with fresh blood behind Itachi, and his eyes lit up:

"Oh my! Why is there so much blood on your blade tip? Did you go slaughter a pig?"

He slapped his thigh dramatically, his voice filled with pleasant surprise:

"Oh my, oh my, you're too kind! It's not even the New Year yet and you're already bringing gifts! You really are as sensible a good kid as ever!"

"No wonder back when I was still in the Uchiha, all the aunts and uncles around me would praise you every time they saw you!

You've always been well-liked in our clan; Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san must be very proud of you!"

As he spoke, he enthusiastically reached out to take the blood-stained blade, muttering:

"Speaking of which, where's the pork? How come I don't see it? There's plenty of blood on the blade, but where's the meat? Where is it?"

Obito silently turned his head away, refusing to watch this scene any longer.

Even through the mask, one could feel his utter speechlessness.

Itachi's expression, meanwhile, was extremely complex.

He quietly watched this man before him, whose words and actions were so eccentric, as if he would never grow up.

Uchiha Kou.

The "number one genius" whom the entire Uchiha clan had placed high hopes on, before Shisui and he had even made a name for themselves.

During the Third Shinobi World War, he was known as Konoha's "Black and White Twin Blades" alongside Kakashi of the same generation.

...He was also "Brother Kou" whom Shisui and he had once genuinely admired.

However, this former Konoha hero, the pride of the Uchiha clan, and a key figure bridging the village and the clan...

Two years after the Nine-Tails' attack, amidst the tense atmosphere of the village's growing wariness towards the Uchiha, chose to defect without a sound.

His defection was like a poisoned dagger, brutally stabbing into an already fragile relationship of trust.

The village became even more suspicious of the Uchiha, and the Uchiha grew even more resentful of the village's suspicion.

Uchiha Kou, the man once held in such high regard, became one of the key instigators leading the Uchiha clan towards the coup and ultimately, destruction.

Thinking of this, a trace of uncontrollable disgust flashed in Itachi's eyes.

But years of ninja training allowed him to quickly suppress this emotion, returning to a surface calm.

He didn't answer any of Kou's questions, nor did he respond to any of his words. He simply turned away coldly, building a wall with his silence.

Kou's performance came to an abrupt halt.

He spread his hands exaggeratedly and sighed with regret:

"So boring. I thought you'd have become a bit more humorous after not seeing each other for a few years."

"For example, if I asked you when you're marrying that little girlfriend of yours named Izumi, you should have replied:

'It's still too early!'"

"Then I'd ask: Won't Brother Fugaku and Sister Mikoto be pressuring you?"

"You should have seriously replied to me, 'If they dare pressure me, I'll dare massacre the clan!! Hahahaha!!!'"

He laughed so hard he couldn't stand up straight, leaning on the ship's railing, gasping for breath as he pointed at Obito and Itachi:

"Huh? Why aren't you guys laughing? Isn't it funny? This joke is hilarious! Haha... ha..."

(A certain loli with white hair in the Pure Land sent a huge rocket)

"..."

The laughter gradually dissipated in the cold air, leaving only the gentle lapping of waves.

Itachi's brow furrowed slightly.

The Three Tomoe Sharingan, which had just been retracted, changed once more.

The black tomoe connected into a complex pattern, transforming into Mangekyo Sharingan.

His gaze was as cold as frost, locking directly onto the man still grinning before him.

"Kou."

His voice was not loud, but it carried a clear warning, each word seeming to condense with chilling cold:

"For the sake of our past relationship, I'll let you off this once.

If you dare offend me again next time... even as fellow members of Akatsuki, I will kill you."

"Gua--!!!"

Uchiha Kou let out an extremely exaggerated scream, leaping backward like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

He waved his hands wildly, his face filled with "terror," and shouted in a strange tone:

"Murderer is here!! Korosanaide!! (Don't kill me--!!)"

Then, in the next instant, his figure vanished without warning.

As if he had never existed.

Itachi's gaze sharpened slightly.

"That was... Body Flicker Technique."

"So fast."

So fast that even his Mangekyo Sharingan, capable of perceiving everything, could only catch a glimpse of an extremely blurry afterimage.

That speed had even surpassed Shisui's most prized Body Flicker Technique during his lifetime.

"Uchiha Kou... indeed, he is a formidable enemy that must be guarded against at all times."

"Hmph."

Obito's voice came from ahead, with a hint of weary disdain:

"That guy is still so flippant, like a brat. It's unbearable to watch."

He paused, his tone becoming a bit more serious. The visible eye cast a warning towards Itachi that brooked no argument:

"Just a heads-up, don't even think about making a move on him.

He is very strong."

"...I know."

Itachi's reply remained as brief as ever.

Of course he knew.

His purpose in joining the Akatsuki was to gather intelligence for Konoha, to monitor and, as much as possible, restrain the man who called himself Uchiha Madara.

For the sake of this goal, he could never act on personal desire and jeopardize the entire plan.

This was the basic discipline of a ninja.

"However..."

His gaze drifted toward the direction where Kou had vanished. What exactly was hidden beneath that man's frantic performance just now?

"Uchiha Kou, what is it that you truly seek by joining the Akatsuki?"

Carrying this unanswerable question, Itachi followed silently behind Obito, continuing deeper into the Akatsuki base.

The water remained calm, the mist remained thin, and the man who had just departed felt like nothing more than an absurd interlude in this journey.

Yet, atop a distant mountain peak, a figure stood in silence.

Uchiha Kou.

He stood upon a protruding rock, looking down at the small boat drifting further and further away in the waterway below.

At this moment, the ostentation and recklessness had vanished from his face. Those eyes, usually filled with a roguish air, were now as deep as an abyss, reflecting the black speck that was gradually shrinking in the distance.

He let out a long sigh, as if shedding a burden of a thousand pounds.

His tense shoulders relaxed slightly, and the cynical curve that always hung at the corners of his mouth disappeared.

He gazed toward the direction where the boat had vanished, murmuring in a voice so soft it seemed it might be scattered by the wind:

"It seems... the Night of the Massacre has indeed been avoided."

His gaze was distant, as if piercing through time and space, seeing the Uchiha compound collapsing amidst the flames of Konoha, seeing those lives passing away, and seeing everything he had once tried his hardest to change, yet ultimately lacked the power to alter.

A mountain breeze blew, brushing the stray hair across his forehead.

He instinctively pulled his Black Cloak with Red Clouds tighter around himself, unsure if it was because the wind on the peak was too cold, or because of the ice in his heart that refused to melt.

He remained silent for a long time, finally whispering to himself once more:

"But the days ahead..."

He offered a faint, bitter smile, one filled with exhaustion and helplessness:

"I suppose they're going to be a headache."

As his voice faded, his figure vanished into the mist of the mountain peak, as if he had never been there at all.

Only the sound of the wind remained.

(New Naruto book, it might be a slow burn, I hope everyone will keep reading. Thank you all!!)