Mei Terumi: Uchiha Kou is a Bastard!!

The atmosphere in the office was somewhat delicate.

Uchiha Kou sat behind the desk with his fingers interlaced on the surface, his gentle face currently filled with solemnity.

"...You mean to say that even before you reported the matter of the Uzumaki Clan ruins to me yesterday, you had already commissioned a task to that underground mercenary group called the Akatsuki, is that right?"

Uchiha Kou suppressed the speechlessness in his heart and put on a stern face, like a superior interrogating a subordinate.

"Well... to be precise, the task was commissioned a long time ago; I only received confirmation that it had been accepted last night."

Mei Terumi said in a low, guilty voice.

Her voice was several degrees lower than usual, and those emerald eyes dared not look at the Uchiha Kou before her:

"Actually, after I finished talking with you last night, I was prepared to cancel it. But it was already too late, and the Akatsuki's rules forbid canceling once a task is accepted, so..."

"So you think you're in the right, then?!"

"No."

Mei Terumi lowered her head honestly. The tips of her ears turned slightly red, and for once, a trace of embarrassment appeared on her cold, beautiful face.

Uchiha Kou looked speechlessly at Mei Terumi, who was honestly hanging her head in admission of her mistake, and sighed helplessly:

"A superior taking on private work, only for the employer to turn out to be her own subordinate? What kind of situation is this..."

He rubbed his temples, then sat up straight again, his expression shifting from helplessness to seriousness:

"Setting other things aside for a moment, I have two important questions to ask you."

Mei Terumi carefully raised her head, a flicker of nervousness flashing through those emerald eyes.

She looked at Uchiha Kou, and confirming that he didn't seem overly angry, she nodded slightly, signaling for him to continue.

"First..."

Uchiha Kou held up a finger, a cold light flashing through his black eyes.

The cold light was faint and vanished in an instant, yet it made Mei Terumi's heart skip a beat:

"How did you know about the Akatsuki, and why would you entrust such an important task to them?"

He paused, his voice taking on a note of caution:

"As far as I know, they are a group that is not only extremely mysterious but also quite dangerous. Getting in touch with them is no simple matter."

Listening to Uchiha Kou's questions, the nervousness in Mei Terumi's emerald eyes gradually faded, replaced by the calm and sharpness of a Mist Village ninja.

She switched into work mode instantly, the weak and guilty demeanor from a moment ago vanishing entirely.

She straightened her back and responded earnestly:

"The Akatsuki is very famous in the underground black market; even the gray areas of the Land of Water have rumors about them. Naturally, the Mist Village's intelligence department has information on them."

Her voice was steady, her pace neither fast nor slow:

"Many years ago, when I was serving in the intelligence department, I had actually already taken note of their information."

Uchiha Kou raised an eyebrow slightly.

"And the reason I wanted to entrust this commission to them is because of one of the members of the Akatsuki."

Mei Terumi paused, a complex emotion flashing through her emerald eyes:

"Uchiha Kou."

Uchiha Kou's brow twitched slightly.

Mentioning me?

He muttered in his heart, but his expression remained unchanged:

"Elaborate."

A flicker of wariness crossed Mei Terumi's eyes—a deep wariness, as if she were recalling something unpleasant:

"Toward the end of the Third Ninja World War, I once led a small squad to have a brief encounter with him on the border of the Land of Fire."

"That Uchiha Kou, huh..."

Uchiha Kou feigned rubbing his chin, his face showing the surprise of someone who had "heard of him," his tone carrying a hint of admiration:

"Uchiha Kou, I've heard of him. During the middle of the war, he and that Kakashi were known as the Black and White Blades of Konoha, and later on, he was singled out and called the Black Lightning!"

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, his smile tinged with a bit of pride and narcissism:

"He must have been quite an excellent ninja!"

He waited silently in his heart for Mei Terumi's praise, however—

"He was not."

Mei Terumi retorted instantly, her voice filled with undisguised disdain:

"That guy is absolute scum!"

"Your mother."

The smile on Kou's face stiffened.

Mei Terumi's fair, delicate face flushed slightly with anger, as if she had recalled something that made her grit her teeth.

Driven by her emotions, her voice picked up speed:

"He wasn't serious at all during the battle, commenting on a woman's figure and appearance, smirking with that crooked mouth of his, thinking he looked cool while acting like a flirt... Is a guy like that really a ninja from Konoha?"

"And he's supposed to be from the Uchiha clan, which is rumored to be serious and disciplined?"

"It's just unbelievable!!"

Hey, hey, that was just psychological warfare, don't generalize, okay?!

Kou retorted wildly in his heart, though his expression remained gentle and attentive.

Besides, wasn't that so-called conflict just a performance for others to see?

The ceasefire agreement between Konoha and the Mist Village was about to be signed, and didn't everyone know we weren't actually going to fight?

I just trash-talked you a bit to make the effect more realistic, why are you still so worked up...

As he thought about it, he suddenly felt a bit guilty.

Well, thinking back now, he had basically used Mei Terumi as the center point, trash-talking her from every angle—her figure, family background, strength, comrades, and the Mist Village—in a full 360-degree sweep.

Although he felt it was fine at the time, his level of profanity in the Ninja World was, perhaps, indeed...

Hmm, it was a bit too over the top, wasn't it?

Thinking of this, Kou couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.

Now that he thought about it, perhaps he had been so harsh back then because he was subconsciously venting his own emotions.

Recalling thirteen-year-old Mei Terumi staring at him with a face red from fury, yet forced to hold back because of orders from above, Kou felt a wave of guilt.

It's a good thing she was able to hold back... Mei Terumi, you are the true ninja.

Seeing that Mei Terumi was still venting with no intention of stopping, Kou gave a soft cough.

"Ahem."

Mei Terumi reacted instantly, her endless stream of words coming to an abrupt halt.

Her mouth hung slightly open, her expression shifting from anger to embarrassment, and a trace of unnatural redness appeared on her cold, beautiful face.

"Sorry..."

Kou waved his hand and said casually:

"Don't worry about it."

His expression returned to that gentle look, but the light in his eyes became a few degrees more serious than before:

"Since you have such a big problem with that Uchiha Kou, why entrust the mission to the Akatsuki organization?"

"After all, based on what you just said, even if Uchiha Kou has the Kekkei Genkai of the Sharingan and might be helpful in exploring the Uzumaki Ruins, he isn't exactly a reliable person, is he?"

Mei Terumi was silent for a moment.

After a while, she slowly shook her head.

"No."

Her voice was soft, yet exceptionally firm:

"Although my impression of that guy is indeed very poor, that is mostly due to our opposing positions."

She raised her head, her emerald eyes flashing with a serious light:

"After returning to the village, I investigated intelligence regarding Uchiha Kou."

"There is one thing that really bothers me."

She paused, her voice carrying a hint of complex emotion:

"In order to prevent intelligence leaks and exposure of their tracks, the remains of most ninjas who die on the battlefield are usually burned or buried."

"Not to mention the bodies, the families of the deceased often cannot even find their personal effects."

"And most ninjas don't care about this."

"After all, on the battlefield, even the comrades by your side are existences that can be abandoned when necessary."

Mei Terumi's gaze became distant, as if piercing through time to see scenes that few people remembered:

"But Uchiha Kou was different. After the war ended, he requested to switch battlefields and went to great lengths to retrieve the belongings and even the remains of the comrades he was familiar with, returning them to their families."

Her voice dropped:

"Although in the eyes of the vast majority of ninjas, this is a meaningless act."

"But... I don't think so."

"A person capable of doing such a thing might not be a 'good person,' but he certainly has a bottom line."

Her tone became even more resolute:

"Although he is a rogue ninja now, based on the few missions I have managed to uncover since his defection, he has completed every single one perfectly, and... without harming a single innocent civilian."

"While this is my subjective judgment, I believe that Uchiha Kou can indeed serve as an asset for this important mission."

The office fell silent.

Kou listened to Mei Terumi's words, feeling a long silence settle within his heart.

His gaze fell upon Mei Terumi's face, upon those features that were slightly flushed from speaking so much.

He truly had not expected that Mei Terumi had been secretly investigating him for so many years.

And that, relying on fragmented information, she had actually managed to discern something of his true nature.

Truly terrifying, this woman.

No wonder she never managed to get married in the original timeline; who would dare to marry her?

He muttered silently in his heart, with a hint of mockery.

Just then, Mei Terumi suddenly shivered.

Her body trembled slightly, and a flash of confusion crossed those emerald-green eyes:

"Is someone speaking ill of me?"

Kou laughed it off:

"You're overthinking it. Who would speak ill of you?"

He waved his hand, his expression immediately turning serious.

The playfulness and laughter in his black eyes—all those disguises—were temporarily withdrawn, leaving only the composure and prudence of a leader.

"What you say does have some merit."

He nodded, responding in agreement:

"I also know a thing or two about the Akatsuki.

The organization is currently short on funds, constantly taking on high-risk, high-reward commissions while trying to build a reputation in the underground market.

Vicious acts like harming the client generally do not occur."

Well, at least they don't anymore... probably.

He added silently in his heart.

Recalling Scorpion and Kakuzu, who had been reprimanded by Pain not long ago, he couldn't help but light a mental candle for them.

Those two guys—one almost killed his employer because he thought the mission pay was too low, and the other killed his employer because he thought they were too noisy.

Pain's expression at the time, tsk tsk...

But on the surface, Kou maintained that serious and earnest expression. He continued to Mei Terumi:

"Then, for the second question."

His gaze became even sharper:

"The funds you provided for this mission, if I'm not mistaken, must have come from your own pocket."

"After all, such a large sum of money has never disappeared from the Mist Village's expenditures."

Under Kou's earnest gaze, Mei Terumi was silent for a moment.

Her lips pressed together slightly, and after a moment of hesitation, she nodded gently.

In the office, silence returned once more.