Kuro's Hesitation

The office Mizukage Aide in Mist Village and water.

As always, the fog outside the window enveloped every corner of the village, blurring the distant, scattered building outlines into a gray expanse of varying shades.

The sea breeze squeezed in through the half-open window, carrying the unique dampness of the island.

Kou sat upright behind his desk, his hands clasped on the surface, a perfectly measured sigh gracing his gentle face, which had been enhanced by the Transformation Technique.

Only after Mei Terumi finished reporting the entire course of the mission in the Land of Whirlpools did Koko slowly nod and begin to speak:

"I see... I didn't expect it to go so smoothly."

Mei Terumi nodded and said seriously:

"This mission was also thanks to that Uchiha Kuro from Akatsuki."

"If I hadn't hired him, it would have been almost impossible for me to achieve my goal on my own."

She paused slightly, her gaze falling on the scroll on the table, and murmured with a touch of melancholy:

"But then again, there were so many scrolls in that ruin, and although we don't know how many of them are useful, that guy didn't take a single one... What a strange guy."

Uncharacteristically, Kou did not respond to Mei Terumi's question, but instead looked meaningfully at the scroll that Mei Terumi had brought back.

Mei Terumi looked at Kokoro's profile and suddenly realized that his silence at this moment was different from usual.

She subconsciously lowered her voice and called out cautiously:

"Null?"

When he came to his senses, the momentary daze lingered on his face for only a very short time before being perfectly covered by a gentle smile that carried an apologetic tone.

He raised his hand to rub the corner of his eye, and said, feigning exhaustion:

Sorry, I was a little distracted.

Mei Terumi's heart slowly dissipated.

Looking at Kong's "tired" appearance, she said somewhat apologetically:

"You must be exhausted these past few days. After all, while I was away, all the Reformist Faction tasks fell on your shoulders..."

"No, actually, it was Kisame and Rakuto who did most of it. My Shadow Clone was just responsible for interrogating them."

He silently corrected himself in his heart, but on the surface he remained completely still.

He adjusted his posture slightly, making himself appear more like someone exhausted from official duties, then waved his hand, his voice gentle yet firm:

"It's alright. You're carrying out such a dangerous mission for Mist Village. Compared to you, my little bit of hardship is nothing."

At this point, Kou raised his head at just the right moment, his tone carrying an undeniable solemnity:

"Let's not talk about apologies anymore. After all... we're comrades."

"Companion..."

Mei Terumi silently repeated those two words in her mind.

Looking into Kong's gentle eyes and his consistently flawless, sincere expression, a genuine feeling welled up inside her.

But what followed was a surge of complex emotions.

Mei Terumi thought back to the ruins in the Land of Whirlpools, how she should have fulfilled her responsibility to persuade Uchiha Kuro to abandon that impulsive idea, but she didn't...

Although it had a happy ending.

After the operation concluded, Uchiha Kuro smiled and left with the words, "It was a pleasure working together. Let's keep in touch."

However, I realized that even though I genuinely considered him a companion at the time, I failed to persuade him otherwise.

She remained somewhat confused...

He looked at Mei Terumi before him, noticing the confusion in her eyes.

He didn't ask any questions, but simply interrupted her thoughts at just the right moment:

I have a general understanding of the situation regarding the Land of Whirlpools mission.

We'll discuss the follow-up plan for that ruin, as well as the interpretation and use of this scroll, another time later. For today... you should get some rest.

Mei Terumi snapped out of her daze and was about to thank him when she remembered what Koko had just said about not needing to apologize, so she simply nodded apologetically.

She stood up, waved lightly in the direction of the knock, then pushed open the office door and walked away down the corridor...

After confirming that Mei Terumi had completely left, the gentle smile on Kokoro's face vanished in the next instant.

He turned his gaze back to the scroll on the table, his face, which had been altered by the Transformation Technique, now appearing solemn and deep.

He gently closed his eyes, letting his mind unfold all the gains from this trip to the Land of Whirlpools.

The power of the Mangekyō Sharingan, the Sealing Jutsu scrolls passed down through generations of the Uzumaki Clan, and the truth buried beneath the dust of history from the Era of Ninshu a thousand years ago.

Along with the Chakra from Otsutsuki Indra that seeped into his body along with the absorbed eye power...

He leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.

Sunlight streamed through the mist outside the window and fell on his face.

With her eyes closed, she whispered in a voice only she could hear:

"These are all good things, but why do I feel more and more tired..."

Although the information in my mind was chaotic and complex, the things that needed to be done next were very clear.

He studies the Dōjutsu of the Eternal World, searches for the whereabouts of the sword named Great Ori Cutter, and attempts to use the power of Inari God to absorb the Chakra of these two reincarnations of Indra and Asura in this world...

Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.

Although they are currently just two kids who haven't graduated from the Ninja Academy yet, if everything continues to proceed according to the timeline, then the window of opportunity for him to make contact won't be long.

Besides these, there are also...

Kou kept his eyes tightly closed, remaining silent for a long time.

They excavate the tombs of past Asura and Indra reincarnations to extract any remaining Chakra and memories.

For thousands of years, the reincarnations of these two brothers have left countless traces in the history of the Ninja World, some celebrated and some forgotten.

Those traces might be insignificant to others, but to him, every undiscovered grave represented at least one possible opportunity.

But trying to find clues to those graves on one's own is like trying to scoop a single grain of sand from the ocean.

He can't do it, at least not on his own.

However, if experts in this field collaborate, all of this becomes much easier.

Orochimaru, the number one grave-digging boy in the Ninja World, is an absolute expert in Ninja World archaeology!

Kou had no doubt that Orochimaru already possessed the coordinates of several ancient tombs that might be related to the reincarnation of Indra Asura.

After all, the reincarnations of Asura and Indra throughout history have all appeared in the Senju Clan, Uzumaki, Uchiha clans.

The allure of these three families to Orochimaru is undeniable.

Orochimaru, that despicable bastard, has definitely studied the graves of these three families!

If I cooperate with that guy, my operation will definitely go much more smoothly.

With his current strength, he has absolutely no need to worry about Orochimaru playing dirty tricks on him.

As for the bargaining chips for cooperation, Koko also held a handful in his hands. Any one of them would be enough to excite Orochimaru to the point of ecstasy!

That guy may be an absolute scumbag, but he's definitely smarter than the vast majority of people in this Ninja World.

If I propose a collaboration, the chances of him agreeing are not low.

But...

He opened his eyes and his gaze fell on the monotonous ceiling above his desk.

But what he saw was not a monotonous expanse of white, but a laboratory that had been sealed off by Konoha's Anbu long ago.

After Orochimaru defected, Konoha immediately dispatched multiple teams to his various secret hideouts around the village to seize and collect evidence.

The team that Kou belonged to was responsible for a laboratory in a remote location.

It is hidden deep in a valley a full day's journey from the main city of Konoha, and its entrance is surrounded by three layers of Sealing Jutsu and two trigger-based illusion arrays.

The moment he pushed open that iron gate, Kou experienced what it meant to feel physically nauseous for the first time outside of the battlefield.

It was a small room with stark white walls, and the cold light of the lamp illuminated the entire space.

On the iron shelves against the wall, glass containers of various sizes were neatly arranged, each containing a different organ.

In the deepest part of the room, there were several iron beds fixed to the ground, and the bloodstains on the floor that had not been cleaned up had dried from deep red to dark brown.

As for those tied to the iron beds, they were all mummified corpses whose organs had been removed.

And they were just children, not even ten years old yet.

They weren't ninjas, or even villagers from Konoha...

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples vigorously.

Over the years, having experienced so much, he believes that his psychological threshold for many things has been adjusted to a much higher level than before.

But when seriously considering cooperating with Orochimaru, that physical aversion still surges up for a moment.

Kou couldn't help but sigh wearily.

Since gaining power, I have rarely hesitated about anything.

However, just as he was still hesitating, a Uzumaki- like spatial distortion appeared silently and unexpectedly in the center of the room...

(I had a lot of classes today and was quite busy, so I'm posting this a little late. Sorry...)

(The new chapter was posted, but it's stuck in the approval process again. I'm so frustrated.)