The inn was noisy, with the smell of alcohol mixed with the warmth and bustle of cooking.
Yumeko held her wine cup, her gaze casually sweeping across the corner before landing right on the man who had just taken his seat.
The other party was dressed like a traveler in dark clothes. He looked ordinary on the surface, but that air of a strong expert could not be concealed no matter what.
Yumeko's heart stirred slightly, and a thought flashed through her mind.
He looks like someone from the Uchiha clan...
And not an ordinary one, either. He looks like an expert.
She did not think much of it and simply took two more glances subconsciously.
To be honest, over the years, she had met plenty of experts whose names had never been mentioned in the original work.
People like Senju Shuichi and Uchiha Izumiichi, she had met several times, to varying degrees. After all, there had been so many wars.
Almost at the exact same moment, Uchiha Katsu also noticed the gaze that had fallen on him.
The hand holding Uchiha Katsu's wine cup paused slightly. Although his Sharingan was not activated, his senses were exceptionally sharp.
His brows furrowed slightly as he raised his head and followed that gaze.
Their eyes suddenly collided in midair.
Yumeko's heart tightened.
Those eyes were calm and emotionless, yet they carried an indescribable sense of pressure.
They were definitely not the eyes of an ordinary traveler.
She immediately realized that this person was not simple.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Yumeko barely hesitated.
She immediately put down her wine cup, raised her hand to call the waiter over to settle the bill, and moved cleanly and decisively.
"Check, please!"
The sound of the money landing on the table was very light. When she stood up, she did not look at Uchiha Katsu again.
She simply turned around, pushed open the door, and left, her figure soon disappearing into the night of the northern town.
Uchiha Katsu remained seated, his gaze still fixed in the direction she had left.
His brows furrowed slightly.
'This person... is very strange.'
'Why did she immediately get up and leave as soon as she saw me?'
'It's as if she was deliberately avoiding something.'
He quickly searched through the memories of his previous life, but found no relevant impression at all.
In his previous life, he seemed to have never seen this person before.
Sitting inside the inn, Uchiha Katsu felt more and more that something was wrong the more he thought about it.
That person disguised as a man had a hint of wariness in her eyes, yet it did not look like the ordinary panic of a passerby.
The moment she noticed his gaze, she immediately settled the bill and left. Her movements were clean and decisive, clearly showing that she was not an ordinary passerby.
He put down his wine cup, stood up, pushed open the door, and walked out.
The night in the northern town was deep. The streets and alleys were narrow, and the lights were sparse. Relying on his keen senses, Uchiha Katsu quickly locked onto the back of the person walking ahead.
He subconsciously quickened his pace and followed her.
Yumeko had only just left the inn when she faintly felt a sense of discomfort in her back.
Her footsteps paused slightly as she sensed carefully. Someone was behind her.
And that person was not hiding himself at all.
Her heart sank. Without looking back, she simply quickened her pace.
The footsteps behind her quickened as well.
Yumeko walked faster and faster, almost breaking into a run.
Uchiha Katsu, however, stayed firmly behind her, neither too close nor too far, as if he had already locked onto his prey.
After turning through two alleys, Yumeko was completely certain. This person was following her.
She suddenly turned and went into an even narrower, darker alley.
There were almost no pedestrians here, only the heavy shadows cast by the walls.
Yumeko stopped and turned around to face the person behind her.
The night wind blew past. Her gaze was calm and wary as she looked directly at Uchiha Katsu, who had caught up.
"Who are you?"
"Why are you following me?", Yumeko demanded.
The air in the narrow alley froze.
Uchiha Katsu stood in the shadows, his gaze calmly resting on Yumeko. His voice was faint, yet carried a hint of probing. "Who are you?"
Katsu paused, then added, "You look... like you know me."
Yumeko froze for a moment before she could not help laughing in exasperation.
"Come on, bro."
"You're the one following me, and you're asking me who I am?"
She raised her hand and rubbed her brow, saying helplessly.
Uchiha Katsu did not answer immediately.
He simply looked at her quietly with those cold eyes.
The way Yumeko spoke was very strange.
Her tone was casual, and her choice of words did not sound like the way people in the shinobi world of this era usually spoke.
That modern-sounding way of speaking made him faintly feel that something was wrong.
Because Uchiha Katsu had spent so many years in the Pure Land, lived for so long, and lived two lives, he was extremely sensitive to changes in spoken language.
At this moment, Yumeko's gaze also sharpened slightly.
She sensed a certain extremely subtle yet unusually familiar aura coming from the other party.
That aura seemed to have been covered layer after layer, yet a trace of it still remained.
It was like the aura of her son, Indra.
Yumeko subconsciously muttered to herself, her voice extremely soft. "This person... seems to be Indra's reincarnation..."
The moment her words fell, Uchiha Katsu's pupils suddenly contracted.
Katsu's eyes widened abruptly, and his entire body instantly tensed.
The secret of the reincarnations of Asura and Indra could absolutely not be known by outsiders.
That was a truth only a very small number of people could come into contact with.
At present, the only people in the entire world who knew were probably himself and Arisu.
'Why would this person know?!'
More importantly...
He had already used his fake death to completely make Indra's chakra leave his body.
There was no related power left on him at this moment, yet the person in front of him had still seen through it at a glance.
It was clear that she was anything but ordinary.
The night wind poured in from the mouth of the alley, stirring the corners of their clothes.
Uchiha Katsu's gaze completely darkened. "What did you just say?"
"Huh? What did I say? Hehe."
Hearing Uchiha Katsu's low questioning voice, the corners of Yumeko's mouth suddenly curved into a faint smile.
She had already completely confirmed in her heart that the person in front of her was Indra's reincarnation.
Her mischievous streak instantly rose up.
She deliberately slowed her speech, looking at Uchiha Katsu with a hint of teasing and condescending disdain as she slowly spoke. "You're just a mortal. Even if I tell you, you won't understand."
Yumeko paused, and a mischievous glint flashed through her eyes.
"You probably... still don't know what your fate is, do you?"
After saying that, she gave a light laugh, her voice carrying obvious teasing. "Hehe, forget it. Why should I talk to a speck of dust from history like you? Bye-bye~"
Before her words had even finished, Yumeko's figure suddenly flickered.
She instantly used the Mayfly Technique, her figure rapidly dispersing into the night like dust, leaving behind only a trace of an almost imperceptible afterimage.
Uchiha Katsu's pupils contracted sharply.
Those words were like a heavy hammer, smashing hard into his heart.
'Mortal? Fate?'
'This person not only knew the secret of Indra's reincarnation, she even knew his "fate" as well as if she had seen it herself?'
He barely hesitated. His blood-red Sharingan instantly opened, the three tomoe slowly rotating as his powerful perception and predictive abilities spread out in an instant.
"Stop!"
Uchiha Katsu shouted in a low voice, his figure shooting after her like lightning as he firmly locked onto the direction in which Yumeko had disappeared.