Konoha, late at night.
Moonlight spilled quietly over the silent streets like water, draping the sleeping village in a veil of pale silver.
Streetlamps burned quietly in the darkness, one after another, casting yellowish light onto the stone-paved streets. The mottled patches intertwined, as though light and shadow were whispering across the ground.
Yemu walked slowly through the peaceful night, his hands in his pockets.
He wore neatly tailored casual clothes. His short, silver-white hair gleamed coldly beneath the moonlight, and his handsome face was as still as water.
His gaze was calm yet alert. Even in this quietest of moments, his presence resembled a beast concealed deep in the forest-silent, but powerful.
The wind swept past the eaves, stirring the leaves and carrying a faint scent of grass.
Yemu's gaze shifted slightly-as he rounded a corner, his eyes settled beneath a utility pole nearby. In that instant, he stopped.
Under the dim yellow light, a familiar boy leaned silently against the pole.
His silhouette stretched and fractured, half sharply defined beneath the light, half submerged in shadow, as though he stood suspended on the boundary between light and darkness.
Sasuke Uchiha.
His hands hung at his sides, and his slightly disheveled bangs obscured his eyes.
His straight-backed figure seemed stiff and taut now, as though maintaining that silent posture took every ounce of his strength.
Yemu approached slowly, his gaze calm. "Aren't you going home?"
Sasuke did not answer immediately. He merely kept his head lowered, his voice faintly trembling as though he had forced it from deep in his throat:
"Why... were you able to become so strong?"
Yemu lowered his lashes slightly. After a moment of silence, he answered in the same calm tone, "Just good luck."
"...You're lying."
Sasuke abruptly raised his head. Though he had