Kou: Wow! It's really you!!

Mist Harbor, on the border of the Land of Water.

This port, situated at the edge of the Land of Water, is shrouded in sea mist year-round, yet that does nothing to dampen its prosperity.

The docks are packed with fishing boats and merchant vessels of all sizes; masts stand like a forest, and sails loom in and out of the fog.

Fishermen shout as they haul crates of fresh catch onto the piers, while vendors set up stalls along the wet cobblestone streets, the air thick with the briny scent of the sea breeze.

It is a place teeming with the unique clamor and vitality of a harbor.

As a vital transportation hub between the Land of Water and the mainland, the economic status of Mist Harbor is of great significance.

It is one of the few economically prosperous areas in the Land of Water, and a place where all sorts of people mingle.

In such a location, a woman dressed in a low-key manner should not have attracted any attention.

But as Mei Terumi stood there, people always felt something was off—not because her disguise was poor, but because the innate aura she carried could never be fully concealed.

She wore a dark gray cloak, the hood pulled low to obscure most of her face.

Her long, reddish-brown hair was pinned up and tucked into the hood, with only a few stray strands visible at her temples.

Mei Terumi wore no makeup, yet her skin remained luminous and fair.

She kept her head down, hands tucked into her cloak pockets, shrinking into the shadow of a dock pillar like a wary cat.

She glanced at the watch on her wrist, the hands ticking forward second by second.

Ten fifty-eight, fifty-nine.

Mei Terumi's brow furrowed tighter.

The face hidden in the shadow of her hood was now so sullen it could drip water.

That guy... is he really a ninja?

She grumbled indignantly in her heart, her tone filled with undisguised skepticism:

Does he have no concept of time? This is an incredibly important mission!

Was it truly the right choice to entrust such a vital task to that guy?

Could that bastard who had critiqued her appearance on the battlefield and thought himself so handsome really be trusted?

For the first time in her life, Mei Terumi felt a deep sense of doubt regarding a decision she had made.

Fifty-eight seconds, fifty-nine seconds...

She suppressed the irritation in her heart, her emerald eyes locked onto the watch face.

Sixty seconds.

"Waiting for someone? Beautiful."

A flamboyant yet magnetic voice suddenly sounded right beside her ear.

The voice was very close, carrying a careless, roguish tone, as if he were hitting on her or perhaps teasing her.

"Waaah!!"

Mei Terumi was startled by the sudden voice and let out an involuntary cry.

Her body stiffened violently, and her emerald eyes instantly contracted to the size of pinpricks.

Driven by ninja instinct, her hands whipped out of her pockets, fingers moving to form seals, chakra surging wildly within her!

"Calm down, beautiful, you need to calm down!!"

The magnetic voice sounded again, carrying a hint of appeasement.

A slender hand reached out before her, palm down, making a "take it easy" gesture:

"This is a crowded area, you know. Given your low-key attire, I assume you don't want to cause a scene?"

The voice paused, a playful lilt entering his tone:

"If I'm not mistaken, you are the client for my mission, right?

Just for the sake of our mission, let's stay calm, shall we?"

Mei Terumi's movements froze, and she stared in disbelief at the man who had suddenly appeared.

Are you kidding?! My reaction was intense, but that's clearly the fault of you, the guy who hid his presence and then popped up to scare me! And you're the one telling me to calm down?!

She roared silently in her heart, an nameless fire rising from the depths of her soul, burning her cheeks hot.

But relying on her years of ninja training, she forced that anger down, leaving only eyes as cold as ice.

This man's stealth ability...

She looked at the man with the frivolous smile, a flash of gravity crossing her emerald eyes:

To be able to hide himself so completely that even I, from the Mist Village, couldn't sense him at all—it's terrifying...

He is strong. This guy is incredibly strong!!

She had briefly crossed paths with him on the battlefield and knew he was powerful.

But back then, she could at least react the moment he made his move.

Yet now, he stood before her, within arm's reach, and she had not sensed him in the slightest...

Mei Terumi felt a sense of gravity in her heart, but on the surface, she maintained her usual calm demeanor.

She raised her head, scrutinizing this "old acquaintance" she hadn't seen in years.

At this look, her face instantly darkened.

This man—Uchiha Kou.

He now wore his black hair long, tied into a small ponytail at the back of his head, with a few stray strands falling across his forehead, accentuating a handsome face that carried a hint of unruliness and roguishness.

His features were refined, his jawline sharp, his nose bridge high, and his lips curled slightly into an ostentatious, roguish smirk.

No matter how one looked at him, he was a handsome youth, the most eye-catching guy in any crowd.

But what truly made Mei Terumi's vision go dark was his current attire.

He wore a white shirt with the collar wide open, revealing his well-defined collarbones and a patch of his robust chest.

Over it, he wore an open, dark-colored coat made of high-quality fabric, yet he wore it so loosely it looked as if it had been thrown on at random.

On his lower half, he wore shorts that reached just to his knees, exposing his sturdy calves.

On his feet, he wore a pair of pink flip-flops—the kind with patterns on them.

Mei Terumi's eyelid twitched uncontrollably.

This didn't look like he was here to carry out a mission at all; it looked like he was here for a vacation!

What kind of ninja wears flip-flops while executing an S-rank mission?! (Jiraiya: Hey, hey, hey!!)

She took a deep breath, swallowing the blood she had nearly spat out in frustration.

She glared at the Uchiha Kou before her, suppressing her rage and lowering her voice until it was audible only to the two of them:

"Are you not going to explain this conspicuous outfit of yours, or the reason you arrived so late?"

Her voice trembled, fueled by her anger:

"I have been waiting here for an hour already!!"

Kou looked at the flushed Mei Terumi, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses filled with amusement.

The corners of his mouth curled up, and he fought hard to keep from laughing out loud.

He then struck a contemplative pose, furrowing his brows and rubbing his chin as if he were seriously pondering some great life mystery:

"My apologies."

"I simply lost my way on the path of life."

"...You got lost?"

"Mmhmm!"

Kou nodded righteously.

"Who do you think you're fooling?!"

Mei Terumi's voice rose sharply before she quickly lowered it again.

She pointed at the ketchup residue on the corner of Kou's mouth, her cold, beautiful face filled with undisguised fury:

"You clearly just finished stuffing your face and playing around here before showing up right at the deadline!!"

"Hey, hey, beauty, isn't that going a bit too far?"

Kou spread his hands with an innocent expression, though his eyes behind the sunglasses were brimming with mirth:

"How can you slander an innocent man out of thin air? This on the corner of my mouth is actually blood—"

"Hiccup~~"

A loud, satisfied burp escaped his throat uncontrollably.

The air froze in that instant.

Mei Terumi stared at him, expressionless.

Kou rubbed his stomach, looking awkward.

He cleared his throat, then straightened his back and spoke with a stern face:

"Ahem, beauty, I think you're overstepping your bounds a bit."

"At the end of the day, we are merely a client and a contractor meeting for the first time. Although I arrived right at the deadline, I did arrive at the agreed-upon time, and you have no standing to criticize me. Please have some sense of boundaries and refrain from involving yourself in matters unrelated to the mission."

Mei Terumi's eyes widened; she opened her mouth, closed it, and opened it again.

On that cold, beautiful face, her expression shifted from anger to shock, and then to utter disbelief.

"You... I!!"

She no longer knew how to describe her current state of mind.

"How can a person be this shameless? Is this guy even human anymore?!!"

"No, wait..."

Her eyes narrowed abruptly:

"That guy just said... 'nice to meet you'?"

Mei Terumi stared at Uchiha Kou before her with an expressionless face, her emerald eyes devoid of any warmth:

"You... don't recognize me?"

Kou feigned a look of confusion, his handsome face filled with innocence:

"Of course I recognize you, didn't I just say it? You're a beauty."

As he spoke, he scanned Mei Terumi's tall figure with a measuring gaze.

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly as he said with a tone of certainty:

"Tall and curvy! Yeah! You're my type.

And you really are quite pretty, a true beauty."

Though the words were highly offensive, his tone was incredibly sincere, as if he were sighing in genuine admiration.

Veins bulged on Mei Terumi's forehead.

She could no longer suppress the anger in her voice, glaring at the Kou before her and growling through gritted teeth:

"I am Mei Terumi!! Don't you dare tell me you've forgotten that name!!"

"Huh?! You? Mei Terumi? I don't believe it."

Mei Terumi was stunned.

He immediately denied it, his voice filled with undisguised skepticism:

"That Mei Terumi might have a decent face, but she's a short potato, flat as a board!!"

Kou said righteously:

"With the kind of nutrition that dump of a Mist Village provides, you're telling me she could grow up to look like you?

Impossible, absolutely impossible!!"

Mei Terumi lowered her head.

Her body trembled uncontrollably with rage, her emerald eyes mostly obscured by her bangs.

Her hands were clenched so tightly that her nails dug deep into her palms.

"Ah..."

Her voice was very soft:

"You... you really are just the same as you were back then."

Mei Terumi snapped her head up, her emerald eyes burning with raging fury:

"How dare you insult the Mist Village..."

"...Huh?"

Kou thought to himself that things were looking bad:

"Crap, I think I overdid it..."

"I'm going to kill you!!"

Mei Terumi's voice was low, but the killing intent was undisguised.

Her fingers had already begun forming seals, chakra surging wildly within her, her cold and beautiful face set with resolve.

Looking at Mei Terumi's completely flushed face, Kou had a vision of the young girl she once was in the forests on the border of Konoha, glaring at him with a reddened face.

The same anger, the same gnashing of teeth, the same... urge he felt to tease her.

"Wow! It really is you!!"

Kou's voice rose sharply, his tone filled with the surprise of a "long-awaited reunion."

Mei Terumi's movements froze.

Her fingers remained in the seal-forming posture, but the hot blood had already drained away, and she found she could no longer muster that surge of chakra.

Watching this man who changed his expression faster than flipping a book, the corner of her mouth twitched violently.

Under Kou's "shocked" words, this "touching" reunion came to an end...