The bonfire lit everyone's faces, casting warmth across one half and gray darkness across the other, much like their own fates.
Hirako took a sip of porridge, stirred the chunks of meat in his bowl with his chopsticks, then put one into his mouth. After chewing for a moment, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he let out a long breath.
"Phew~ Now this is food! Compared to this, what we ate before was basically like chocolate bars smeared with shit!"
Hearing Hirako's words, the veins on Kensei's forehead bulged. As the one usually responsible for most of the cooking, he stared at Hirako and said in a chilling tone,
"Fine! Then there'll be one less serving from now on! After all, not just anyone can stomach chocolate bars touched with shit! Right, Hirako?!"
Looking at Kensei's savage expression and twisted features, Hirako suddenly realized what he had just said. He immediately covered his mouth and hurriedly asked Asano Kiyoshi,
"Little Kiyoshi, can you tell me exactly what happened after I triggered the Hollow Reishi inside you today?"
Hearing Hirako's question, Asano Kiyoshi did not answer right away. Instead, he asked Hirako first,
"Um, did something strange happen while I was unconscious?"
Hearing Asano Kiyoshi's words, Hirako nodded and said,
"Yeah. After you passed out, a kind of Black Reiatsu started seeping out of your body. It felt incredibly oppressive, completely different from every kind of Reiatsu we've encountered so far. That Reiatsu was purer and more suffocating. How should I put it? It was a little like the Reiatsu we have after Hollowfication, but also somewhat different."
"After that Reiatsu emerged from your body, it circled around you without doing anything to hurt you or anyone else. Still, just to be safe, we used Kido to seal off the Reishi