The water here is very deep, you can't grasp it!

"You don't need to say anything more; I will not agree to you going to that ruin."

Kou sat upright in his chair, his back straight as a board, his gentle face filled with stern, righteous gravity.

"Why?!"

Mei Terumi spoke with a hint of agitation, leaning forward slightly, her emerald eyes brimming with undisguised urgency.

For the first time, that cold, beautiful face revealed an expression bordering on pleading:

"We finally found a chance to break the deadlock! As long as we find the lost sealing techniques of the Uzumaki Clan in that ruin, we can shatter the current standoff with Yagura!

Only by completely toppling those pedantic fools who still support the Bloody Mist policy can the reforms of the Mist Village be fully implemented, and only then will the Mist have a bright future..."

Her voice grew higher and more frantic, as if she were trying to convince Kou, or perhaps herself.

"But that is only if everything goes according to the most ideal scenario."

Kou responded calmly. His voice was not loud, yet it acted like a wall, steadily blocking Mei Terumi's surging words.

He looked at her, his gentle eyes holding a composure that saw through all delusions:

"Have you ever considered what would happen to the status of our reformist faction if you were to disappear, just like the Mist ANBU who went to investigate before you?"

Hearing Kou's words, the retort on Mei Terumi's lips died instantly.

The urgent expression on her cold, beautiful face gradually solidified, replaced by a complex emotion that was hard to define.

She wanted to argue, but the words circled in her throat, unable to find their way out.

Watching Mei Terumi's reaction, which was exactly as he had anticipated, Kou smiled slightly in his heart.

His face remained stern, and he refuted her with a steady, measured tone:

"Do you really think that the reason we can stand toe-to-toe with Yagura and his lot is because we have the support of the majority of the Mist?"

Kou's gaze locked onto Mei Terumi's face:

"If you said that out loud, I doubt even you would believe it."

Mei Terumi's breath hitched.

Watching the momentum drain from Mei Terumi, Kou continued his "bluff."

His tone was unhurried, every word sounding as if it had been meticulously calculated:

"The reason we have been able to force through reforms in the Mist despite the obstruction of Yagura and his conservative faction is not solely because we have the support of most of our comrades, including Elder Genji.

The most important reason is that we have you and me—the only two Kage-level powerhouses in the Mist besides Yagura—holding the line."

Kou tapped his finger lightly on the table; the sound was soft, yet it felt like he was cementing an unshakable fact:

"It is precisely because of the deterrent you and I provide that Yagura, as both the Fourth Mizukage and the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, has not launched a purge against the reformists.

That is why we have been able to stand against him for these four years, even gaining the upper hand and successfully pushing through partial reforms."

He paused, his tone becoming even more earnest:

"Setting aside whether this map is real or fake, or whether those lost Uzumaki sealing techniques are actually in that ruin.

Even if they were, the risk of letting you go in alone is too great.

If something happens to you, all our efforts will go down the drain. We cannot afford that price."

Everything above was a mix of truth and lies.

From the perspective of Mei Terumi and the others, this reasoning was indeed correct.

But in reality, the current standoff in the Mist was a situation Kou had intentionally orchestrated in league with Obito.

What Kou wanted was not a Mist Village poisoned by the Bloody Mist policy and rendered feeble, nor a Mist that had fully reformed and embarked on a path of revival.

He wanted a Mist that was gradually reforming for the better, one that could provide him with stable assistance, yet lacked the strength to threaten his life under the current balance of power.

Only when Kou could be certain that he possessed the strength to completely control the entire Mist Village would he consider pushing for total reform.

Ultimately, his own life and interests came first.

Wearing a mask and draped in a false identity, he... never truly belonged here.

Kou spoke with a blend of truth and falsehood, and upon finishing, looked at the Mei Terumi opposite him with a serious expression.

His gaze held an unquestionable firmness—that firmness was real; he truly did not want her to go to her death.

It was just that the reason was perhaps not what she imagined.

Mei Terumi fell into silence.

She lowered her head, her emerald eyes fixed on the tabletop, though she saw nothing.

Her hands hung limply at her sides, and her entire body seemed to have been drained of strength.

She knew that everything Kou said was reality.

How could she not understand the logic in his words?

It was just that the Mist had finally seen a glimmer of hope for the future, and the pressure from her clan and the uncertainty of the path ahead made her anxious.

In the end, she had made this decision—one she would never normally make lightly—and had come to the comrade she trusted most, aside from Elder Genji, hoping to receive his support.

But looking at it now, it was indeed true that he had been too impatient...

Kou saw the hesitation in Mei Terumi, and a trace of imperceptible satisfaction flashed through his gentle eyes.

He continued to persuade her, his tone becoming even softer, as if he were soothing a startled cat:

"I believe that if it were the usual you, you would have thought of all this immediately."

"You are just too tired and a bit too anxious."

His voice carried a few more notes of concern:

"Get some good rest over the next two days. I will send someone to temporarily take over your work."

Kou's gaze fell upon the map, his eyes becoming profound and meaningful.

His fingers gently brushed against the edge of the map:

"As for the matter of investigating the ruins of the Uzumaki Clan, let's leave it at that."

He looked up at Mei Terumi, his tone remaining gentle:

"The waters here are too deep; you cannot handle them."

As Kou spoke, he observed Mei Terumi's expression.

Seeing that she showed no change, he suppressed the secret joy in his heart and, with a very natural movement, carefully rolled up the map and put it away.

Just leave it to your big brother Kou to handle it, he added silently in his heart.

Kou tucked the map away naturally, his face still wearing that righteous expression.

He said to Mei Terumi, his tone as solemn as if he were making a vow:

"Let me keep this map for the time being. When the timing is right, we can discuss going to investigate the Uzumaki ruins again."

Looking into Kou's "sincere" eyes, Mei Terumi's once restless heart gradually calmed down.

Her breathing became steady, her shoulders were no longer tense, and the turbulent emotions in her emerald-green eyes slowly settled.

She nodded slowly; the movement was slight, yet it carried heartfelt trust.

Whenever she felt irritable or dejected, she could always find peace by Sora's side.

She didn't even understand why this was the case herself.

As a ninja of the Mist Village who had grown up in a cruel environment, she shouldn't have trusted anyone at all...

She looked at Kou before her, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly to reveal a faint smile.

"Thank you, Sora."

Kou was stunned for a moment as he looked at the beautiful woman with the radiant smile before him, but for only an instant, he immediately resumed that gentle, sincere smile that no one could find fault with:

"No need to be so polite. We are comrades, aren't we?"

"Comrades..."

Mei Terumi repeated the word in her heart, and a flush of red appeared on her fair cheeks before she knew it.

She looked at Sora before her and responded with a smile:

"Mm!"