True and False

Kou and Mei Terumi continued their conversation.

From the current state of Mist to the trivialities of their daily lives, they chatted with complete ease.

The topics were light and fragmented, like dust motes dancing in the afternoon sun—insignificant, yet they warmed the entire room.

Time slipped away, bit by bit.

The light of the setting sun eventually filtered through the window, spilling into the room.

The glow was orange-red and warm, bathing the room in a gentle hue.

The mist outside thinned in the sunset, as if melting away under that warmth.

Realizing it was getting late, Mei Terumi stood up and smoothed her clothes.

"I should head back; there are still some documents to process."

Kou opened the door, waving goodbye with a smile as he faced the mist at the threshold.

His figure stood in the doorway, casting a long shadow in the sunset that stretched into the mist, hazy and indistinct like a faded painting.

Mei Terumi had only taken a few steps before she suddenly stopped.

She turned around to look at the figure waving at her.

The sunset light fell upon her face, gilding her silhouette in a warm, golden glow.

Her lips parted, and in her emerald eyes, a flicker of cautious light appeared, as if she were afraid of being rejected.

"We..."

She paused, a hint of nervousness creeping into her voice that she herself had not noticed.

"We can be considered friends, right?"

At this moment, she lacked her usual cold elegance and seriousness.

She didn't look like a powerful ninja, but rather like an ordinary girl of her age.

The sunset light shone through the mist onto her beautiful hair and fair skin, and her cheeks were flushed with a rosy hue, making it impossible to tell if it was just the glow of the evening clouds.

Kou looked at the beautiful girl before him, momentarily dazed.

Memories from years ago surfaced in his mind.

Under the sunset of Konoha, a girl with short hair stood before him and Obito, smiling brilliantly against the setting sun.

Her hair was caught by the wind, fluttering in the air like a flag...

"...Kou?"

Mei Terumi's voice pulled him back to reality. Kou's consciousness snapped back, a flash of gloom crossing his eyes.

The gloom was faint, vanishing in an instant.

He looked at Mei Terumi ahead and said with a smile:

"What are you saying? We've known each other for four years now."

His voice carried a smile, just as it always did.

"That's true..."

Mei Terumi turned to look at the sunset, lost in thought.

Before she knew it, four years had passed since they first met when she was eighteen.

Back then, she never would have imagined that she would come to place such trust in this suspicious guy who hailed from the Mist Anbu.

She looked at Kou; his smile remained exactly the same as it had been when they first met four years ago...

She hesitated for a moment, then whispered:

"Kou."

"Hm?"

She looked deeply at Kou, saying with profound meaning:

"When we achieve victory, the next Mizukage of Mist—"

"I hope that person is you."

Kou was silent for a moment.

"...Who can say for sure what the future holds?"

His voice was very soft, so light it sounded like he was talking to himself.

"Indeed."

Mei Terumi smiled, a smile devoid of disappointment, filled only with a clear, bright clarity.

"But for now, at least we are able to talk about the future, aren't we?"

She paused, her voice tinged with emotion.

"This is something I never even dared to imagine... all of this is thanks to you."

Her gaze landed on Kou's face, filled with both gratitude and admiration:

"If there is one person who can change the Mist Village, who can change this cruel Ninja World...

I believe that person must be you."

After she finished speaking, she waved her hand with great flair and walked away with a light, easy stride.

Her silhouette grew distant in the afterglow of the setting sun, swallowed bit by bit by the mist until she finally vanished at the end of the street.

Kou stood frozen in place, seemingly digesting the words she had just spoken.

His gaze remained fixed on the empty street, and it was only after her figure had completely disappeared from his sight that he slowly regained his senses.

"Heh, what has gotten into me? To be completely stunned by a few words."

He mocked himself in his heart, his smile laced with bitterness.

He turned around and, with heavy steps, closed the door.

The door clicked shut behind him, sealing out the sunset and the mist.

The room felt dim, much like his current mood.

Kou leaned against the door, his body sinking slightly, like a string that had been pulled too tight and finally gone slack.

His eyes rested on the ceiling, on the unlit lamp hanging there.

His voice was hoarse, carrying an indescribable weariness:

"A guy who can't even save himself, talking about saving others?"

"Just staying alive is good enough..."

Whether these words were meant for the departing Mei Terumi or for himself, Kou did not know.

He simply stood there, leaning against the door like a tree bent by the wind, yet still refusing to fall.

Kou shook his head in annoyance:

"...It was just a performance, so why am I here sighing over it?"

His voice grew a little louder, as if trying to convince himself:

"Could it be that I'm actually getting old? Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Excluding my mental age, I'm only 22, I'm still young!!"

He grumbled to himself, seemingly trying to suppress the emotions that had just welled up within him.

While comforting himself, he pulled the map from his robes.

The last ray of the setting sun shone through the window onto the yellowed paper, illuminating the dense markings and faded ink. The lines were winding and crooked, like some ancient, lost script, whispering something to him.

A flash of deep red light flickered in his eyes.

Three black Tomo slowly rotated within his irises, deep and chilling.

He examined the map before him carefully; every mark, every line, and every detail was taken in by those eyes.

"The ruins of the Uzumaki Clan, is it..."

He murmured, his voice tinged with a hint of anticipation:

"I hope you don't disappoint me."

"But before that..."

He carefully rolled up the map and tucked it back into his robes:

"I should go and retrieve it first—the legacy of Prisoner Madara."

The moment the words left his lips, his figure vanished from where he stood.

There were no afterimages, no sound of wind, and no fluctuations of chakra.

He simply disappeared into thin air, as if he had never existed at all.

Only the window, which had been closed but now stood open, silently testified to what had just occurred.

The mist from outside surged in, carrying a cool, damp chill.

The sun had completely sunk below the horizon, and the sky turned a deep, purplish-gray.

In the distance, a few lamps flickered to life, casting warm halos of light into the mist.

The window remained open, with no one there to close it.