"Then how could you guarantee that Hirohiko and Yukina would truly become my companions, and be willing to give everything for me?"
After hearing his past self explain the cause and effect behind Hirohiko and Yukina, including the initial Transmigration Benefit and the true Transcendent Power within himself, Chiba furrowed his brow tightly and asked in a low voice.
"Do you remember a Transcendent Power you once had, called the Power of Bonds?"
The mist humanoid had clearly expected Chiba to ask this. It answered almost without hesitation.
"The Power of Bonds..."
Chiba was slightly taken aback.
Of course he knew of this Transcendent Power, and it had left a deep impression on him, because it was the only ability he had yet to fully understand.
Moreover, since it had already been extracted by Uchiha Nobuhiko, he no longer had the opportunity to study it.
"Could it be that this Power of Bonds controlled Hirohiko and Yukina, making them feel some kind of closeness or sense of belonging toward me?"
Then, in the next instant, he asked the question instinctively.
"No. You overestimate me, and you underestimate me as well. Although I have no emotions, I know that false emotions are an unreliable thing. I once had emotions too, and I once had a group of companions by my side. After losing my emotions, perhaps I can no longer feel what I felt back then, but I still know that only companions who are sincere can walk together to the end and protect you well. This Power of Bonds merely strengthened the subtle connection between the abilities similar to Transcendent Powers that I implanted into Uchiha Hirohiko and Hyuga Yukina, and beings whose bodies had likewise been altered by the Nightmare Cycle Universe Core Fragment. It simply made you feel