Darkness Receded, Hungry Ghost Devoured

Arata's cool eyes could not help but glimmer with relief as he watched his clansmen and subordinates gradually appear at the edge of his vision.

Seven days.

It had taken Yogakure a full seven days to advance from the altar to the edge of Itsukushima, reaching the area where Night Aratama had hidden itself.

That sounded like quite a long time.

But one had to know that the residents of Itsukushima had spent decades fighting with all their strength, only to slow the rate at which the land was overrun by evil spirits. They had always clung to the old city for defense and had never launched any proper counterattack.

Until recently, they had even lost the homeland where they lived and could only make their final stand at the edge of the altar.

However, compared to completely purging the evil spirits from this land, the greatest gain during this time had been their coordination and cooperation with one another!!

The companions Arata had brought were either clansmen and students with deep bonds to him, or the backbone of Demon Hidden Village. As long as these people who formed the foundation of Yogakure first established bonds of mutual understanding, that connection would sooner or later spread to the other companions living in the village.

This should also have been the last thing he could do before leaving.

It was worth mentioning that the remaining survivors of Itsukushima had not merely watched these strangers, who seemed like divine soldiers descending from heaven, fight for them. Under Mikoto and Ritsu's leadership, they had joined in the counterattack.

Although Itsukushima's combat strength was weak, their decades of cooperation and familiarity with the terrain and resources had made them an indispensable aid to this advancing force.

Even Oto, after repairing her biwa, had joined