"I've prepared everything for you. What you do after you get back is up to you. Keep this. If you need to contact me later, just feed chakra into it."
When they parted the next day,
Bai Ye handed everything he had prepared to Pakura and had her head back to Sunagakure first.
He stayed in Kirigakure for the time being to take care of his unfinished business.
His only regret was that he had originally wanted to find Kisame.
But Obito seemed to have beaten him to it and taken Kisame away.
So when Mei Terumi later told Bai Ye that Kisame was no longer in the village,
Bai Ye said nothing.
After all, he had considered this from the start.
If he could find Kisame, he would.
If not, he would let it go.
After Pakura left, he stayed in Kirigakure for about three more days.
Bai Ye finally finished handling everything on Kirigakure's side.
All that remained was to bring in Konoha's construction crews and merchant caravans.
On the day he left, Genji, Mei Terumi, and a group of Mist Ninja escorted him to Kirigakure Gorge.
Watching Bai Ye's retreating figure, Mei Terumi hesitated before finally hurrying over to stand in front of him. "After this... remember your promise."
She spoke softly enough that only the two of them could hear.
She did not know why she had felt the inexplicable urge to run over and say that.
After all, she had already repeated it countless times.
Even before he left, that had not actually been what Mei Terumi wanted to say.
Yet once the words reached her lips, they turned into that instead.
"I remember. I'm off."
"Mm..."
Watching him wave as he left, Mei Terumi said nothing more.
She did not know whether they would