The late-night streets were completely silent, with no trace of human activity. The shop's customers had all left, leaving only their table occupied.
"It's been you asking the questions all along, Senpai. This meeting was supposed to be my turn to ask, after all." The tea in front of Itachi had gone cold.
Though his tone was as relaxed as before, his expression had turned serious.
Since he was the one who initiated the Genjutsu and arranged the meeting location, his words made sense. Logan chuckled and said: "Then go ahead and ask. Actually... we agreed to have this talk years ago, didn't we? Who would've thought it'd drag on till now."
"Three years ago?" Itachi responded almost instantly, without a moment's hesitation. Clearly, he remembered their encounter vividly… when Orochimaru attacked Konoha, and he and Kisame had covered Logan's retreat. Back then, their conversation had been interrupted because Sasuke was among the pursuers.
Logan said, "Yeah. About you and Sasuke... there are things I've wanted to say but never got the chance."
Itachi's expression instinctively hardened, his usual cold and detached 'older brother' demeanor surfacing reflexively. But then he realized the setting was different from usual, and maintaining such a facade here would be pointless.
'Perhaps... Senpai had already seen through it.'
He lowered his eyelids and said calmly, "The reason our promised talk got delayed till now is because you suddenly disappeared without explanation, isn't it?"
"Anyway, I'll ask first." Itachi insisted, his tone firm. When it came to Sasuke, he'd rather address it later.
"Fine, fine, you're the boss, you ask first." Logan had no rebuttal. The accidental transmigration wasn't something he could control, but from an outsider's perspective, he did mess up.
Itachi took a moment to gather his thoughts, but just as he was about to speak, Logan raised a hand to stop him, "Hold on."
He subtly gestured toward the shop owner at the counter, who was watching them a little too intently, "Let's talk outside."
"That's...?" Itachi frowned slightly, his guard immediately rising, 'I'd been careless… was that guy a spy?'
Itachi then asked in a whisper, "Eliminate him to silence the leak?"
Logan went to pay the bill, then came back and tugged at Itachi's sleeve, "Eliminate your head. The guy just wants to close up and rest. Let's go."
Even the sharpest instincts could misfire sometimes. Itachi stood up awkwardly.
"Idiots."
The owner of the tavern wiped his sweat as he watched the two leave, 'Damn it, I've seen guys bonding over drinks before, but never two dudes getting this cozy. And they didn't even order more dishes. So Annoying.'
The streets at midnight were eerily quiet. Most houses were already dark, with only the occasional patrol from the security forces passing through the deserted intersections.
There wasn't anywhere to go, and if they kept wandering, they might get stopped for questioning as suspicious individuals.
In the end, Logan and Itachi ended up leaping across rooftops, and arrived at the initially rejected location, which is outside the city walls.
They didn't go too far. They jumped onto a tree trunk in a small forest on a gentle mountain. From there, they could see the rows of torches lining the city walls, illuminating the sprawling buildings below.
Not a single human voice could be heard. The faint croaking of frogs and chirping of insects drifted from the distant mountains, making the world feel even more silent.
"Sigh." Logan casually wiped the rough bark and sat down, gazing blankly at Dosei City.
Itachi, who had been standing stiffly, now seemed out of place. After a brief hesitation, he sat down as well.
"After meeting your clones, I was supposed to run, but something came up... So I explained to Pain that I'd been in a Summoned Beast's dimension."
Without waiting for Itachi to speak, Logan began explaining on his own, "For now, I'm still sort of with Akatsuki. I'm not completely seen as an enemy, but you know how I am… if there's no special circumstance, I just slack off on Akatsuki's missions."
Itachi nodded, listening, but his expression also showed confusion.
"Senpai, there's something I don't understand."
"What?"
With Itachi's intelligence, he didn't need a lengthy explanation. Just a brief summary was enough for him to piece together how Logan's return had affected his relationship with Akatsuki.
But this also raised other questions.
In fact, it was something he'd always wanted to ask, "It feels like there's some hidden secret about you, Senpai."
"...Huh?"
Itachi took a deep breath and said seriously, "Isn't there a contradiction here? Slacking off on missions and all... I remember, back when the organization was just starting the Biju Capture Plan and doing preliminary preparations, you completed a high number of missions and contributed a significant amount of funds to Akatsuki."
Itachi continued, "The leader even praised you for it. That means you didn't slack off when you first joined."
"But now, there's been a change. So... something's off here." Itachi recalled the night of the Uchiha Clan's Massacre, when he left Konoha with the masked man and joined Akatsuki, only to later hear that Logan had also joined.
As for Akatsuki itself, Itachi certainly didn't have any fondness for it. Though their goal of peace aligned with his ideals, their methods were not the same.
'What about Senpai, then?'
"Senpai, why did you join Akatsuki in the first place?" Itachi asked.
Within the Akatsuki, each member had their own distinct personality, and clashes due to incompatible temperaments were commonplace.
Yet, regardless of their differing worldviews, their strength, or even whether they agreed with Pain's ideology, they all had their own code of conduct, or rather, their own motivations.
Whether it was hidden schemes they kept to themselves or simple, mundane desires for pleasure, at the very least, they all had something driving them.
It wasn't just Akatsuki. S-Rank Missing-nin were a colorful bunch, while Konoha's Ninja protected their village and their comrades. Every Ninja had their own Ninja Way.
In the end, it was simple, just like how ordinary people worked to put food on the table and clothes on their backs.
Itachi: "I want to understand your reasons, Senpai."
Logan scratched his head, 'Why did I join Akatsuki? Why the change later?'
To Logan, none of this was particularly earth-shattering.
He had lived through these developments, and to readers, it might seem obvious. But for people in the Ninja World, many things weren't so clear.
There was indeed a change in the middle. After getting rid of the trouble of transmigration and no longer having to travel back and forth, how could he not change?
Logan sighed inwardly. He had hesitated before, but now that things had come to this, it was time to lay everything out. Besides, he felt less guarded around Itachi.
"At first, it was for Space-Time Ninjutsu..."
Itachi listened patiently. He had heard something about this from the masked man.
"I needed to figure out a mystery, something that happened to me." Logan said, "That's why I suddenly disappeared... and why none of you could find any trace of me."
Itachi's mind raced, "Senpai, you... can enter another dimension? But if it's not the Summoned Beast's dimension..."
"You could say that, but it's indeed not the Summoned Beast's dimension." Logan smiled bitterly and nodded, "But later, things changed..."
"The problem was solved?" Itachi reacted quickly, unable to stop himself from asking.
"Yeah, right after that time I vanished right in front of you." Logan chuckled, "You might not believe this, but... that other dimension is actually my homeland."
"..."
Everything suddenly made sense. Itachi didn't doubt him, because lies and deception only existed where there was distrust and pretense. Here, in this moment, between the two of them, there was only honesty.
However, the sheer weight of Logan's words sent Itachi's thoughts spiraling.
"Don't overthink the parts that are too hard to grasp." Logan nudged him. He knew Itachi had a tendency to overanalyze, and he was practically a philosopher at this point. He then pulled out a three-pronged kunai.
"See this? You know the legend of the 'Yellow Flash', right? My technique is even more advanced than that. Thanks to it, after solving the problems in that other world, I was able to come back."
"Ah, right... Senpai, you were gone for so long, but you still came back." Itachi muttered, temporarily setting aside his deep thoughts, "Why did you come back?"
Logan stared straight into Itachi's eyes and said nothing.
After a few seconds, Itachi was stunned. The emotions swirling between them needed no words. He saw past the surface and understood the meaning conveyed beneath.
"For..."
"For you two troublesome brothers, that's why!" Logan said unhappily.
At first, he had just wanted to go home… to live a peaceful, stable life. But later, he found that he couldn't stop worrying about certain people in this world.
He was sitting through exams, solving problems, living day after day in a mundane routine... until he suddenly realized that, deep down, he had never truly let go.
So he came back here.
Just like when he faced the Four Purple Flame Formation, muttering 'Here we go' under his breath, shedding his identity, cutting down enemies without hesitation.
Maybe that was just the kind of person he was.
The corner of Itachi's mouth twitched slightly, 'So this was the secret Senpai had been carrying. All this time, he had been burdened by something, yet even when given a better choice, he turned back without hesitation.'
"Senpai…"
All his doubts and unease seemed to melt away. Which meant the only thing left was...
"Alright, if there's nothing else, it's my turn now." Logan crossed his arms, his tone suddenly lofty.