The afternoon sunlight streamed through the transparent dome of the artificial sky, casting dappled light and shadows across the Castle's stone floor.
Hinata Hyuga sat at the long dining table. The meal before her was exquisite and lavish, but she had barely touched her chopsticks.
Otsutsuki Toneri had said that it was always twilight here.
And Hinata disliked it very much.
Her gaze fell on the empty chair opposite her.
At breakfast, Otsutsuki Toneri had still been sitting there, watching her and occasionally asking a question or two.
Now, there was nothing but air in the chair.
"Where is Toneri?" Hinata turned toward the puppet standing at her side.
The puppet turned its expressionless face toward her and answered in an emotionless voice, "Master is resting and is temporarily unable to join you for lunch."
Resting?
Hinata lowered her head, pretending to continue eating.
She recalled the various details she had noticed whenever Toneri appeared before her over the past two days.
When they were together, Toneri would occasionally stop walking abruptly, or fall silent and cover both eyes with his hand.
Pain and discomfort that he could barely conceal would also appear on his face.
Hinata did not know what this meant, but clearly, something was wrong with Toneri.
And his current "rest" was proof.
Her fingers tightened slightly around her chopsticks.
If Toneri is "resting," and still suffering from that discomfort, then now...
Now is the best chance.
Having made up her mind, Hinata finished lunch without giving anything away, letting none of the puppets beside her notice anything amiss.
Though these puppets had no emotions, Hinata knew they could observe, record, and report every irregularity to their master, Otsutsuki Toneri.
So she could not let anything slip.
After lunch, Hinata went to visit her younger sister Hanabi,