After killing Maeda, Kana seemed to awaken anew.
Her body was still the same one tortured into unbearable weakness, yet it burst forth with boundless vitality.
She followed Araki through one Kusagakure ninja residence after another, her blade rising and falling, rising and falling. From Xia Ji's clumsy, terrified thrusts to clean, decisive killing blows, it took only a few heads.
Maeda, Long Lan, some of Maeda's trusted subordinates, Kusagakure Ninja from other factions who had come here for treatment because of the deal, and so on...
She did not care that blood spraying from her enemies' wounds would stain her clothes. Thus, after passing through more than half the compound, her once light-colored garments had long been soaked crimson.
Only the two fingers she used each time to grasp the hem of Araki's clothes were carefully protected, untouched by even a trace of blood.
Still clutching Araki's hem, the two of them emerged from the last house, one after the other.
Watching the Kusagakure compound gradually descend into panic as the thick stench of blood spread, Kana, having avenged her great wrongs and been reborn, finally remembered that she still did not know Araki's identity.
"My lord, why did you help me?... Even going so far as to oppose Kusagakure?"
Standing atop a rooftop, Kana softly voiced the doubt in her heart.
At that moment, she was wrapped in bloodstained clothes, her red hair fluttering in the wind. Though she looked every bit like a great demon lord, her tone still carried a hint of caution.
Because after enduring such hellish suffering, Araki, who had saved her with a single hand, had become the only ray of light in her heart.
Only those who had truly experienced darkness could crave light so desperately.
And once they had possessed the