In an unknown binary star system, the suns rose and rose again, set and set again.
Yes, this was neither a rhetorical device nor a metaphor. It was something that truly happened on this planet.
As a planet in a binary star system, it was a world where you could even see two suns.
Sometimes, the two suns rose together, then set one after the other. Sometimes, they rose one after the other, then set together.
On very rare occasions, you could even see both suns rise together and set together.
Most of the time, however, the two suns took turns rising and setting.
The suns changed every day. The only things that remained unchanged were the enormous pill furnace floating in the air and the young man sitting beside it.
Tetsuya had become so completely immersed in refining pills that he had lost all awareness of the world around him.
The Pill Flame blazed fiercely. Inside the furnace, the various medicinal ingredients and "supplementary materials" he had added were gradually refined, slowly merging together.
Time flew by. Refining pills was a lengthy process, and even Tetsuya did not know how long it would take to finish.
All he knew was that this first attempt at refining pills was an invaluable experience. He had to carefully comprehend every step of the process.
Jigen and the others held their positions in four directions, their eyes closed in quiet meditation as they guarded Tetsuya while he refined the pills.
Only because their strength had reached this level could they remain motionless without food or water and suffer no ill effects.
Ordinary Ninja from the Shinobi World would have long since starved to death if they had stood there without any food or water.
An unknown amount of time passed before a dense