The Title of Demon Shadow Still Felt a Little Too Weighty

The chakra wings formed by the Mysterious Peacock Method could carry them dozens of body lengths with a single beat. In the blink of an eye, the rainforest that stretched across the region had been flung to the edge of their vision.

The isolated stone village and the Sky Ninja fortress that had fallen back to earth were left behind as well.

"What's wrong?"

Noticing his young apprentice's obvious drop in spirits, Arata broke from the cold silence he had maintained on their way there and asked her himself.

His manner was not the only thing that had changed. A thin but powerful chakra barrier had appeared in front of them.

It blocked the rushing wind and let his voice reach Hotaru's ears clearly.

It had not been there on the way in.

"Nothing. I wasn't thinking about anything, Master."

Her gloomy thoughts had been interrupted, and she could not hide the fluster in her voice.

Arata gave a soft snort at that answer. He said nothing more and showed no sign of pressing her.

But the silence did not last long. "Master, did Amaru really mean what she said?"

Hotaru could no longer hold back the question that had been weighing on her heart.

"I don't know."

Arata could not give her a definite answer.

Even the calm, steady flow of chakra in Amaru's body earlier could not tell him with certainty what she truly thought.

And time was harder still to predict. No one could say what she might become in the future. After all...

Such a useless answer did nothing to ease the tangled emotions in Hotaru's eyes.

But she also knew no one else could answer that question for her. Only Amaru herself could truly know how she felt.

So Hotaru shook her head and tucked