Arriving in the Land of Whirlpools

The light in the room was soft and warm, casting the two of them's shadows on the wall, where they swayed slightly.

Kou sat at the table with one hand propping up his chin. His black eyes seemed to regard Mei Terumi across from him nonchalantly, though he was somewhat surprised.

After all, he'd expected that once they entered the Land of Whirlpools, the girl would break the mission information into fragments and selectively share it with him.

That was how things were supposed to work between a "contractor and a hired hand."

You kept the initiative while preventing the other party from getting any ideas they shouldn't.

Have I gone from being a tool to a temporary "companion"...?

Kou murmured to himself, puzzled.

Did I do something to make her like me more? ...How would I know?

Maybe their conversation outside the restaurant earlier that day had helped?

Maybe Jiraiya's appearance had given her some kind of "sense of crisis"?

Maybe she'd just suddenly decided that, at a time like this, honesty mattered more than scheming?

Whatever. No matter the reason, since she was willing to trust him, he wasn't stupid enough to shut the door in her face.

"You just zoned out."

Mei Terumi's voice came from across the table. Her green eyes fixed on him, tinged with suspicion.

"Impossible."

Kou snapped back to his senses. His face took on a righteous expression.

He straightened his back and folded his hands on the table, brow furrowed. His tone was as serious as if he were giving a work report.

"I was just thinking about something extremely important."

Doesn't look like anything important to me.

Mei Terumi watched him and thought silently.

She didn't want to press him, but to get the conversation back on track as soon as possible, she replied with some exasperation:

"What?"

Kou drew a deep breath. A look of resolve flashed through his black eyes as he asked solemnly:

"After we get to the island tomorrow—what are we eating?"

..."Caw, caw, caw." (A crow cawed.)

Mei Terumi's mouth twitched slightly. Without a moment's hesitation, she answered:

"Soldier pills."

"Huh?! Are you serious? Even my cat brother won't eat that stuff!"

Kou's voice rose several notches. His handsome face was openly full of disdain.

"...Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"

Mei Terumi furrowed her brow, a hint of impatience flashing in her green eyes.

"Don't tell me you've never eaten soldier pills on the battlefield."

"This isn't a battlefield!"

Kou raised his voice further, protesting indignantly:

"Why treat ourselves so badly? If we can't even eat well, what's the point of doing a mission?!"

"Tch. Are all Konoha shinobi this precious? You can't even handle a little hardship..."

Mei Terumi shook her head and looked at the indignant Kou with disdain.

"You're going out of your way to suffer!"

Kou ignored her disdain completely and retorted with righteous indignation:

"If you can't even eat properly, how are you supposed to carry out a mission?

If you can't even get that right, no wonder Mist Village hasn't made much progress."

"You!!!"

The moment Kou mentioned "Mist Village," Mei Terumi's composed expression crumbled.

Her brows drew together, and the Will of Fire blazed in her green eyes.

Mei Terumi looked at Kou's smug expression. Thinking of the serious business she had to discuss that evening, she forced down her anger.

Her voice turned cold.

"Let's put this trivial matter aside for now. I came here to discuss something important with you."

As she spoke, she pulled a map from behind her.

It was a neatly folded sheet of paper. She spread it out on the table and smoothed its edges with both hands.

Kou pretended not to know what it was and asked curiously:

"What's that?"

"A map."

Mei Terumi was concise. She tapped the map with her finger and said seriously:

"A map of one of the Land of Whirlpools ruins we're going to explore."

Kou furrowed his brow and leaned closer, feigning surprise.

"This map looks way too new. It's obviously printed."

Kou looked at Mei Terumi with feigned suspicion, his tone full of doubt.

"You're not trying to fool me, are you?"

"..."

Mei Terumi looked at him as if he were an idiot and replied matter-of-factly:

"Of course it's a copy. Why would I take the original out of Mist Village?"

Kou glanced out of the corner of his eye at the coat hanging on the rack.

The "original" was right there in the tool pouch on the inside of the coat.

He looked at Mei Terumi, feeling a little guilty.

"Uh...you're right."

Mei Terumi gave him a puzzled look, confusion flashing through her green eyes.

But she didn't dwell on it. She simply shook her head and turned her attention back to the map.

"According to my investigation, the ruins and objects shown on this map are all very ancient.

"Originally, I thought they might date back to the Warring States Period. But after studying them over the past couple of days, I've discovered that their history may even...go back to before the Warring States Period."

"...What?"

Listening to Mei Terumi, Kou's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

An era before the Warring States Period—that had to be at least a thousand years ago, right?

He'd expected the ruins to be old, but he hadn't imagined they were this old.

Wait. The Uzumaki Clan preserved its historical artifacts this well?!

Kou couldn't help murmuring to himself.

As one of the few Uchiha who enjoyed studying history, Kou knew quite a bit about the Uchiha Clan's past.

As far as he knew, the earliest records of the Uchiha Clan's own history only went back to the beginning of the Warring States Period.

The family records were completely blank when it came to the Uchiha Clan's origins and the history of the Era of Ninshu. They knew even less than he did.

He could only guess that there had been a massive break in the history of the Ninja World, and that not a single piece of information about that era had survived.

After all, the Senju Clan next door, which had already become part of Konoha, didn't know much more about the Ninja World's past either, did they?

Back then, he'd sighed over it a little, but hadn't given it much thought.

After all, the present and the future were clearly more important than a past that couldn't be changed.

But now...it seemed that might not be the case.

Mei Terumi watched Kou grow serious. A trace of satisfaction entered her green eyes.

Her voice grew heavier as she said solemnly:

"Mist Village sent more than one elite squad to investigate these ruins, but every attempt failed. Not a single person came back."

She tapped the red circle marking a spot on the map.

"What does that mean? You should understand."

Kou didn't answer. He simply stared in silence at the red circle beneath Mei Terumi's fingertip.

"Once we reach the Land of Whirlpools, we have to stay together at all times. We can't let our guard down for even a moment.

"If possible, we should be ready to fight from the moment we set foot on the island, prepared for whatever dangers might arise."

Mei Terumi's voice echoed through the quiet room.

"You don't have any objections, do you?"

Kou looked at the map, his expression serious as he nodded.

Of course he remembered. Mei Terumi had said the same thing to him when he was posing as "Sora."

Not a single member of those elite Mist Village squads had returned... That was proof enough that there was definitely something wrong with the ruins.

Something from before the Warring States Period, perhaps even from the Era of Ninshu, still poses a huge threat a thousand years later...

Kou couldn't help feeling curious about this thing in the Ninja World, something he'd never known about.

A history never recorded, forgotten by the Ninja World...

He murmured to himself, a thoughtful look flashing through his black eyes.

What exactly is hidden in these ruins?

Time passed little by little.

The moonlight outside the window moved from east to west, and its reflection shifted across the sea.

The ship continued onward, its bow breaking through the waves with a steady rush.

Ahead, the faint outline of land slowly emerged from the horizon.

The sun rose above the sea, golden light spilling across the water.

A medium-sized ship slowly sailed toward that land forgotten by the Ninja World.

They had...arrived.