"He Yin, has something happened recently?"
In the kitchen, Chiba watched He Yin move so briskly she was almost humming. After hesitating, he set down the bowl he was halfway through washing and finally asked.
By now, they had made three trips back and forth, bringing over all the dishes that needed washing.
Chiba felt it was time to ask about the situation here.
Honestly, he still felt that the children's current state was very abnormal. Perhaps they had become more and more like shinobi, even displaying the bearing of qualified shinobi, because Hyuga Yukyō was suited to being a teacher and had taught them well. But changes in their fundamental temperament, that sense of growth from within, could not be achieved through teaching alone.
The children's changes had absolutely come from something that had happened here! And at the dinner table this time, all of them had seemed especially disciplined. There had still been laughter and cheer, warmth and enthusiasm, and a harmonious, joyful atmosphere born from their genuine happiness at his arrival. But if it had been the children of the past, they would probably have started questioning him while eating. He would not have had any leisure to eat at all.
The children's behavior during and after the meal made Chiba feel that they had undergone changes beyond the reach of education—changes that could only come after experience.
A kind of maturation.
That included Hyuga Yukyō. Honestly, Chiba felt that he had changed greatly, even in terms of personality.
Though he did not want to admit it, during their conversation in the secret room just now, Chiba had clearly sensed a maturity like his own from Hyuga Yukyō. It was as if Hyuga Yukyō's true age was no longer that of a child a few years older