The atmosphere in the office was somewhat strange.
Kou sat behind the desk, fingers interlaced on its surface. His usually gentle face was now utterly serious.
"...So you mean that before you reported the Uzumaki Clan ruins to me yesterday, you had already commissioned that underground mercenary group called Akatsuki to handle the mission, is that right?"
Kou fought back his exasperation and put on a stern expression, like a leader interrogating a subordinate.
"Well... to be precise, I commissioned them a while ago. I only got their confirmation that they'd accepted the mission last night."
Mei Terumi spoke in a small, guilty voice.
Her voice was several notes lower than usual, and she didn't dare meet Kou's gaze.
"Actually, after I finished talking with you last night, Sora, I was going to cancel it.
But it was already too late, and Akatsuki's rules don't allow you to cancel a mission once they've accepted it, so..."
"And you think that's a good excuse?!"
"No."
Mei Terumi obediently lowered her head. The tips of her ears turned faintly red, and a rare hint of embarrassment appeared on her cool, striking face.
Kou stared speechlessly at Mei Terumi, who was sitting there with her head bowed, admitting fault, and let out a helpless sigh.
"My superior takes a side job, and it turns out the client is one of his subordinates? What kind of mess is this..."
He rubbed his temples, then straightened up. His expression shifted from exasperation to seriousness.
"Let's put the rest aside for now. I have two important questions for you."
Mei Terumi cautiously lifted her head. A hint of nervousness flashed in her green eyes.
She looked at Sora and saw that he didn't seem too angry. Only then did she give a small nod, inviting him to continue.
"First..."
Kou raised one finger, a cold glint flashing in his dark eyes.
The glint was faint and fleeting, but it made Mei Terumi's heart beat a little faster.
"How did you learn about Akatsuki, and why did you entrust such an important mission to them?"
He paused, his voice turning more cautious.
"As far as I know, they're a group of extremely mysterious and rather dangerous people.
Getting in touch with them isn't easy."
As Mei Terumi listened to Kou's questions, the nervousness in her green eyes gradually faded, replaced by the calm and perceptiveness of a Kirigakure Ninja.
She immediately switched into work mode, and her earlier timid, guilty demeanor vanished.
Sitting up straight, she answered seriously.
"Akatsuki is very well known in the underground black market. Even rumors about them reach the gray areas of the Land of Water, so naturally Kirigakure's intelligence division has information on them."
Her voice was steady, her pace unhurried.
"Many years ago, when I worked in the intelligence division, I'd already come across information about them."
Kou raised an eyebrow slightly.
"The reason I wanted to give them this mission was one of their members."
Mei Terumi paused, a complicated emotion flashing in her green eyes.
"Uchiha Kou."
Kou's brow twitched.
She mentioned me?
His expression didn't change at all.
"Go on."
A trace of wariness appeared in Mei Terumi's eyes. It ran deep, as if she'd recalled something unpleasant.
"Near the end of the Third Ninja World War, I led a small squad that had a brief encounter with him at the border of the Land of Fire."
"That Uchiha Kou..."
Kou pretended to rub his chin. His face took on a look of surprise, as though he'd heard of him, and his tone carried a note of admiration.
"Uchiha Kou? I've heard of him. In the middle of the war, he was known alongside Kakashi Hatake as one of Konoha's Black-and-White Twin Blades. Later, he was given the title 'Black Lightning'!"
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, his smile brimming with pride and self-satisfaction.
"He must be quite an impressive shinobi!"
He waited in silence for Mei Terumi to praise him. Instead—
"Not at all."
Mei Terumi immediately contradicted him, her voice filled with undisguised disdain.
"That guy's a scumbag!"
"Damn."
The smile froze on Kou's face.
Mei Terumi's fair cheeks flushed with anger, as though she'd remembered something that made her grind her teeth.
As her emotions took over, she began to speak faster.
"He wasn't serious at all during the fight. He made comments about a woman's figure and looks, then smirked and shamelessly tried to act charming like he thought he was handsome... And someone like that was a Konoha shinobi?
A shinobi from the Uchiha Clan, who were supposedly known for being so serious and stern?"
"It's unbelievable!!"
"Hey, that was just psychological warfare! You can't judge someone based on one thing!"
Kou ranted furiously inside, but kept his face gentle and attentive.
"Besides, wasn't that whole so-called conflict just staged for everyone else?
The armistice between Konoha and Kirigakure was almost signed. Everyone knew we weren't going to fight.
I just ran my mouth at you a little to make it convincing. Why are you still so mad..."
As he thought about it, he started to feel a little guilty.
Well, now that he thought about it, back then he'd pretty much targeted Mei Terumi herself and gone after her from every angle, taking jabs at her figure, family, strength, comrades, and Kirigakure.
He'd thought it wasn't so bad, but his talent for cursing in his own world had apparently, maybe, actually...
Yeah, it had been a little over the top.
At the thought, Kou began to sweat.
Looking back, perhaps he'd been so vicious because he'd subconsciously wanted to vent his frustration.
He remembered thirteen-year-old Mei Terumi, red-faced and glaring at him, forced by her superiors' orders to hold back instead of attacking. Kou couldn't help feeling guilty.
Thank goodness she managed to hold back... Mei Terumi, you're the real shinobi.
Mei Terumi was still going at it, showing no signs of stopping, so Kou gave a quiet cough.
"Ahem."
Mei Terumi immediately realized what she was doing, and her flood of words came to an abrupt halt.
Her lips parted slightly. Her expression shifted from anger to awkwardness, and an unnatural blush appeared on her cool, striking face.
"Sorry..."
Kou waved a hand and replied casually.
"Don't worry about it."
His expression returned to its usual gentle look, but his eyes were more serious than before.
"Since you have such a bad opinion of Uchiha Kou, why entrust the mission to Akatsuki?
After all, based on what you just said, even if Uchiha Kou has the Sharingan Kekkei Genkai and might be useful in exploring the Uzumaki ruins, he isn't exactly reliable, is he?"
Mei Terumi fell silent for a moment.
After a while, she slowly shook her head.
"No."
Her voice was soft, but unusually firm.
"Though I really do have a poor impression of that guy, that's mostly because of our opposing positions."
She lifted her head, a serious light shining in her green eyes.
"After I returned to the village, I investigated Uchiha Kou.
There's something that's been on my mind."
She paused, a complicated emotion entering her voice.
"Most shinobi killed on the battlefield are cremated or buried so that information won't leak and their whereabouts won't be exposed.
Their relatives often can't even find their belongings, let alone their remains.
And most shinobi don't care about that.
After all, on the battlefield, even a comrade at your side can be someone you have to abandon when necessary."
Mei Terumi's gaze grew distant, as though she were looking through time at scenes few people remembered.
"But Uchiha Kou was different. After the war ended, he requested a transfer to another battlefield. He went to great lengths to recover the belongings and even the remains of comrades he knew, then returned them to their families."
Her voice lowered.
"Most shinobi would consider that pointless.
But... I don't."
"Someone who would do something like that may not be a good person, but he must have certain principles."
Her tone grew more resolute.
"Though he's now a rogue shinobi, based on the few missions I was able to find information about after he defected,
he completed every one of them perfectly, and... not a single innocent civilian was caught up in them."
"Though this is just my personal judgment, I believe Uchiha Kou can indeed be an asset in this important mission."
The office fell quiet.
Mei Terumi's words left Kou silent for a long time.
His gaze rested on her face, on the cheeks that had taken on a slight blush after she'd spoken so much.
He hadn't expected Mei Terumi to have secretly investigated him for all these years.
And with only scattered bits of information, she'd actually managed to figure out something about him.
*This woman is terrifying.
No wonder she never got married in the original timeline. Who'd dare marry her?*
He silently teased her in his mind.
Just then, Mei Terumi suddenly shivered.
Her body trembled slightly, and a hint of confusion flashed in her green eyes.
"Is someone talking about me behind my back?"
Kou laughed it off.
"You're imagining things. Who would talk about you behind your back?"
He waved a hand, then his expression turned serious.
The carefree amusement and the other masks in his dark eyes receded, leaving only a leader's steadiness and caution.
"You do make some good points."
He nodded in agreement.
"I know a little about Akatsuki, too.
The organization is short on money right now. They've been taking high-risk, high-paying missions and trying to build a reputation in the underground market.
They generally wouldn't do something as vile as harming a client."
"Well, at least they won't now... probably."
He silently added that to himself.
Remembering Scorpion and Kakuzu, who'd recently been reprimanded by Pain, he couldn't help lighting a candle for them in his mind.
One of those two had nearly killed a client because he thought the mission pay was too low. The other had killed a client because he thought the client was too noisy.
Pain's expression back then—tsk, tsk...
But outwardly, Kou kept his serious expression. He continued speaking to Mei Terumi.
"Now for the second question."
His gaze sharpened.
"If I'm not mistaken, you paid for the mission with your own money."
"After all, the expenses in Mist Village haven't been missing that much money."
Under Kou's serious gaze, Mei Terumi fell silent for a moment.
Her lips pressed together. After a moment's hesitation, she nodded slightly.
The office fell silent once more.
Before you continue