"Silly child, how could I blame you?"
Ada stepped forward and gently embraced Daemon.
"It's my fault for not explaining it clearly to you, making you suffer so much. I'm sorry."
Daemon buried his face in Ada's soft shoulder, his taut body instantly relaxing.
He shook his head gently, rubbing his nose against Ada's clothes. "No, I was too willful. I only thought of having you all to myself, afraid you'd be taken away by others. I didn't consider your safety at all, and I said so many hurtful things."
Shun, standing aside, quietly watched the siblings embrace, not wanting to disturb this rare reconciliation. Only when their emotions gradually calmed did he slowly lower his arm and walk over.
"Does your wound still hurt? Have you been changing the dressing on time?"
Daemon lifted his head from Ada's embrace, his eyes red and his face still streaked with unshed tears. The hostility and wariness he had previously shown towards Shun were gone, replaced by a complex mix of guilt and a hint of imperceptible reverence.
He shook his head gently, hesitated for a few seconds, then took a deep breath and bowed deeply to Shun. "I'm sorry, Shun-sama, I misunderstood you before and said many excessive things. Please forgive me. Thank you for being willing to protect my sister. From now on, I won't be unreasonable anymore."
Shun nodded slightly, accepting his apology. "It's good that you understand. Your sister cares about you the most. From now on, we are family, no need to be so polite."
A few days later, Daemon's wrist wound had mostly healed.
Shun sat on the sofa, looking at the still slender Daemon, and stated his arrangement, "Your mind has opened now, you are no longer the unreasonable child you once were. However, you lack systematic learning and experience, possessing brute strength but not knowing how to use it. Ninja Academy is a good place. There are peers and professional teachers who teach basic Ninjutsu and theoretical knowledge. Go there to grow well, make some friends, and temper your mindset and strength."
Daemon didn't hesitate or refuse in the slightest.
Having experienced the despair of losing his sister in the Genjutsu, he deeply understood his lack of strength and knew that acting recklessly alone would only drag his sister down.
He turned to look at Ada, who stood beside him.
Seeing the anticipation and encouragement in his sister's eyes, he nodded vigorously. "Okay, I'll go. I'll study hard at the Ninja Academy and get stronger as quickly as possible, so I can protect sister too."
On the day Daemon entered the Ninja Academy, the school gate was bustling with students and parents reporting for enrollment.
Ada held Daemon's hand, repeatedly reminding him of various precautions, from diet and daily life to getting along with others, meticulously.
"Eat well at school, don't be picky. Get along well with your classmates and don't quarrel easily. If anyone bullies you, tell the teacher immediately, or send a message to me..."
Daemon listened patiently, patting Ada's hand. "Don't worry, sister, I'm not a child anymore. I'll take care of myself."
He turned to Shun beside him and bowed slightly. "Shun-sama, please take good care of my sister and don't let her suffer any grievances."
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of her."
After seeing Daemon off, Ada moved to the palace as Shun had arranged.
Time flowed quietly, and several months passed in a flash.
Daemon gradually adapted to his new life. He was no longer as taciturn as when he first enrolled, having made several like-minded friends, and his Ninjutsu and theoretical knowledge were steadily improving.
Occasionally, when he returned for holidays, he would proactively share interesting stories from school with Shun and Ada, becoming much more cheerful.
As for Shun, over these past few months, his mastery of Omnipotence, Senrigan, and Ten Directions, had become even more profound.
He could easily manifest various abilities with Omnipotence, Senrigan allowed him to observe scenes tens of thousands of miles away, and Ten Directions could even deduce numerous future possibilities.
The power brought by them grew stronger and stronger, yet the doubts in his heart proliferated like vines, coiling around him and making him increasingly uneasy.
Late at night, Shun sat leaning against the edge of the tatami, staring blankly at the floor in front of him.
Ten Directions was said to be able to glimpse all future trajectories in the Universe, but his repeated deductions these days revealed that when it came to Shibai, the timeline was always chaotic, sometimes broken, and sometimes showing contradictory scenes.
'Can Ten Directions really show all futures?'
'If not, then it means someone is deliberately hiding something.'
'Is it Shibai? Perhaps he didn't die, nor did he transcend this Universe's dimension.'
Ada lay on her side on the inner part of the tatami, covered by a soft quilt. She had been observing Shun's movements, seeing that he had not lain down to rest, but was just staring blankly.
She gently propped herself up, her long hair sliding over her shoulder, revealing her smooth back.
She stretched out her slender, fair arm, warm to the touch, and gently hooked Shun's neck. Then, soft lips, carrying a faint fragrance, actively pressed against his.
The warm, soft touch, carrying a familiar fragrance, instantly brought Shun back to his senses. He instinctively wrapped his arm around Ada's slender waist, gently caressing her delicate skin, then deepened the kiss.
As their lips intertwined, a gentle aura enveloped them both. All the irritation and doubts were temporarily cast aside, leaving only the increasingly rapid beating of each other's hearts.
After a long while, the kiss gradually ceased.
Ada's cheeks were flushed, and she was slightly breathless. She rested her head on Shun's shoulder and asked, "Shun, what were you thinking about just now? So engrossed that you didn't even notice me watching you."
Shun replied, "I was thinking about Shibai."
Ada paused slightly, a hint of confusion in her eyes. "Why think about him? Didn't he die already?"
Shun voiced his conjectures, "I suspect he didn't die. His timeline always shows errors, which is too abnormal. It's highly likely that it was artificially interfered with, and the only one who could do that is himself."
Upon hearing this, Ada's brows furrowed slightly, and a hint of worry flashed in her eyes.
She was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "Oh! Sanzu Amado has a few strands of Shibai's hair. Isshiki gave them to him for research, apparently trying to extract special Shinjutsus from them. Perhaps these hairs contain clues about Shibai that could help you deduce his situation."
"Is that so?"
A glimmer of light flashed in Shun's eyes. The problem that had troubled him for so long finally seemed to have a breakthrough.
He gently pinched Ada's flushed cheek, his eyes full of tender smiles. "Then I'll go ask him for it first thing tomorrow morning. But for now... let me properly accompany you, my clingy little enchantress."
With that, Ada gasped, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck, her cheek pressed against his warm chest, her face growing even redder.
Soon, faint breaths and soft murmurs filled the room.
The next morning, in Amado's laboratory, various precise instruments were operating, emitting faint "humming" sounds.
Hearing the movement from the doorway, he looked up, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
He then quickly put down his work, respectfully stepped forward, bowed slightly, and asked, "Shun-sama, why have you come? Do you have any instructions?"
Shun got staright to the point. "I've come to ask you for something. Shibai's hair. I know you have it here."
A hint of hesitation flashed in Amado's eyes, along with some struggle.
Shibai's hair was crucial research material for him, but he had no room to refuse Shun's request.
After a few seconds of silence, he seemed to make a huge decision, his gaze filled with anticipation. "Shun-sama, if you can revive my daughter, Akebi, I am willing to offer all of Shibai's hair to you. This has been my only wish for many years. As long as Akebi can be revived, I am willing to do anything for you."
He tightly clasped his hands together. Reviving his daughter was the sole motivation supporting his continued research.
Upon hearing this, Shun's eyes remained calm and unperturbed.
After he clapped his hands gently, a blurry figure continuously gathered and took shape, gradually becoming clear. It was the image of Akebi, wearing a pink dress, her eyes filled with a hint of bewilderment.
"Akebi!"
Amado trembled with excitement upon seeing the familiar figure, his voice changing pitch.
He rushed forward and tightly embraced his revived daughter, as if afraid she would disappear again.
"Akebi, my daughter, you're finally back... Daddy missed you so much..."
Akebi was still somewhat bewildered, her eyes full of confusion. After a few seconds, she recognized the person in front of her from fragments of memory.
"Father...?"
Hearing his daughter's call, Amado cried even harder.
After a while, he gradually calmed his excited emotions.
Then, he bowed deeply, full of gratitude and reverence. "Thank you, Shun-sama. I will never forget your great kindness. From now on, whatever you command, I will gladly carry out, even if it means death."
After speaking, he straightened up and quickly walked to a sealed, constant-temperature laboratory cabinet, entered a complex password, opened the cabinet door, and took out an exquisite silver box.
He carefully opened the box, inside which several silver-white strands of hair were neatly arranged.
He held the box and respectfully presented it. "Shun-sama, these are the strands of Shibai's hair you requested. They are all here, five strands in total."
Shun nodded slightly, his gaze falling on the hair in the box. He gently picked up one strand.
He casually placed the hair into a sealed storage box, then glanced at the four remaining strands in the box and said to Amado, "You can keep these for continued research. Shibai's Shinjutsus are quite special, and I am very interested. Report any future research findings to me at any time."
"Understood."