Torikaze irritably flicked his hand, and all the crystals turned to dust and sank into the soil.
Just then, Chisato returned. Seeing that Torikaze was clearly in low spirits, she went over to ask him about it.
"What's wrong? I heard something seemed to have happened in the Land of Whirlpools, so I came back right away to check on you. Is this because of Qinghe?"
Torikaze glanced at Chisato, then smiled and shook his head. "No. Qinghe has already passed away. He chose to leave of his own accord. He wanted to become a shinobi in his next life, so I respected his decision."
Chisato did not quite understand. "Then what are you agonizing over?"
Torikaze sighed. "Ever since I encased Qinghe's body in crystal, I've had the feeling that something has been calling to me."
"I just tried encasing myself too, and I heard a fragmented sentence. That voice told me to go somewhere, but it wouldn't tell me where."
Chisato did not know what exactly Torikaze had heard, but she rarely saw him so conflicted.
"Let's figure out a way to solve it together. Sighing by yourself won't help."
Torikaze nodded. That was all they could do.
Chisato sat across from Torikaze and poured herself a cup of tea.
"I never expected Qinghe to die. It really is saddening. There aren't many familiar faces from the Land of Whirlpools left anymore."
Torikaze felt uncomfortable about it as well. "Yeah. Only the First Prince and the Third Prince are left, and those two won't be around much longer either..."
Chisato waved her hand and directly changed the subject. "You said you only felt that sensation after using pale green crystal to encase Qinghe's body..."
"That's right. It only started after that."
Chisato knew that Torikaze's Crystal Release had