Master, do what you believe is right!

As the sound of knocking faded, a brief silence fell over the cave.

Karin stood before Kokoro, the initial glimmer of light in her bright eyes, ignited by Kokoro's words, gradually faded.

Kou watched her quietly, without urging her or asking any questions.

He simply stood there quietly, looking at Karin with his calm gaze, patiently waiting for her response.

It doesn't matter.

Karin looked up into Koko's eyes and responded softly without hesitation.

Hearing the girl's words, he was slightly taken aback.

I am very content with my life now.

Karin looked directly into Kokoro's eyes with complete composure, clasped her hands in front of her, and spoke in a steady, clear voice:

"I've had a very happy three years with you, Master."

"In these three years, Master, you came back to see me almost every day, and I never felt lonely."

The girl's words were so natural, without a trace of falsehood.

"Although I sometimes have the thought of going out with Master to see the world, like that shop you mentioned that sells really delicious three-colored dumplings, and that port with a view of the entire sea..."

Karin's voice paused briefly here, then she continued calmly:

But I know very well that the outside world... is very dangerous.

"Master, you have always done your best to protect me, ever since the day I met you when I was four years old."

She stared at Kou's dazed gaze; those clear eyes reflected only Kou's roguish yet now somewhat dazed handsome face.

So, I don't care.

"Master, you just need to do what you want to do according to your own ideas!"

Karin looked at Kokoro and said seriously:

"For me... wherever my master is, that's home!"

She reached out and grasped the hand that was hanging by her side.

The hand was large, with distinct knuckles, and its long, slender fingers were covered with scars of all sizes.

Karin gently took that hand in hers, looked up at him, and whispered:

"As long as Master is by my side, I'll go anywhere."

"... Yeah."

Kou listened quietly to the girl's heartfelt words, and something flickered slightly in the depths of his dark eyes.

He was silent for a moment, then gently turned the hand that Karin was holding over and grasped her slightly cool fingertips in return.

Kō had already roughly guessed what Karin was thinking.

After all, this child looks so much like me.

They were all souls steeped in repression and pain, and they had all struggled to find a space to breathe in the cracks of this Ninja World.

For a child who grew up in a state of constant displacement and anxiety, this cave, though not exactly free, is a safe haven and the closest thing to "home" that allows her to feel happiness.

And this haven that he built for Karin with his own hands, in a sense, is precisely what he has always longed for deep down, but has never been able to truly possess.

Whether you're free or not... isn't really that important.

The important thing is to feel at ease.

It's a place where I can let down all my pretenses and defenses, a place where I can catch my breath after being repeatedly battered and broken by this cruel world.

But Kou knew better than anyone that he could not immerse himself in this beautiful, but inevitably short-lived, safe haven.

The wind and waves outside were too strong, and this fragile cave was simply unable to withstand the towering waves.

Faced with the tide that would one day sweep in, the once weak and powerless self had no choice but to temporarily build this small home, hiding Karin inside, and also hiding his heart, which was already overwhelmed.

But now... everything is different!

Now I have the Mangekyō Sharingan, a clear plan for the future, and the strength to withstand the raging waves.

I now have the ability to move forward, and I must move forward!

Leaving Akatsuki, parting ways with Obito, and even leaving Mist Village at the right time... these are all things that are destined to happen in the future.

Faced with a future now fraught with countless uncertainties, we must prepare in advance.

Leaving this warm yet fragile haven is never a question of "whether or not," but rather a question of "when."

He, Uchiha Kuro, was destined to find... no, to create a place that truly belonged to him!

How to get the girl in front of him to accept the fact that she had to leave this place has always been one of the biggest concerns in Kou's mind.

"But now it seems I underestimated this child..."

He bowed his head, looking at Karin's youthful yet determined face, and a complex emotion welled up in his heart that he couldn't quite describe—a mix of relief and bitterness.

Unlike herself, who was emotionally fragile and unable to accept the darkness of the Ninja World, Karin had struggled through the darkness of the Ninja World since childhood.

She... is much stronger than she imagined.

Karin.

Looking at the girl before him, he lowered his voice to its lowest tone, as if he were speaking a secret that belonged only to the two of them:

"I understand your thoughts completely."

"To be honest, I can't guarantee what the future will be like, where we'll go, or what we'll face..."

But there is one thing I can assure you.

He bent down, looked directly into Karin's eyes, and said in a firm, deep voice:

"Whether now or in the future, as your mentor, as your family... I will always be by your side."

Karin listened to Koko's heartfelt words, a thin layer of tears gradually gathered in her clear eyes.

She didn't cry out loud, but just sniffed hard, raised the back of her hand and rubbed it back and forth on her eyes a couple of times, then wiped away the tear stains that hadn't quite dried on her face.

Karin then tilted her head back and gave Koko a bright smile with a slightly nasal tone:

"It's getting late, and I'm a little hungry... Let's hurry and cook, Master!"

Looking at her radiant smile, I couldn't help but curl my own lips into a smile.

He reached out and gently took Karin's small hand, still wet with tears, in his grasp, and walked towards the kitchen...

As usual, they finished cooking in the cramped kitchen, laughing and joking.

After dinner, Koko explained the basic theories of Sealing Jutsu and Chakra control skills in Medical Ninjutsu to Karin, checked on her recent training progress, and then stayed by her bedside until the red-haired girl finally succumbed to sleepiness and fell into a deep sleep, hugging the corner of the blanket...

Karin's room

Kou carefully placed Karin's hand, which was resting outside the blanket, back under the covers before gently closing the door.

Instead of returning to his bedroom, he turned his gaze toward the secret chamber in the distance.

The smile that had been lingering at the corner of his mouth gradually faded away.

He walked straight ahead until he stopped in front of the heavy stone door of the secret chamber.

Knock skillfully broke the Sealing Jutsu on the door to the secret chamber and then opened the door.

What came into view was an overwhelming amount of paper.

The desk was piled high with scrolls, and after the bookshelves were crammed to their limit, the excess scrolls began to spill onto the floor. The pile of papers in the corner had reached waist height.

Each sheet of paper was densely covered with writing.

Some are neat formula derivations, some are hastily jotted-down notes of inspiration, and some have an entire page with only a single diagram of the technique's structure, next to which are marked dozens of different modification schemes.

These are all analysis and research materials about the Mangekyou Sharingan eye technique, "Tokoyo".