Summary: He gave her choices but she had to choose the right one. She couldn't deny him. She held a dark secret, a secret so dark that it shocked everyone. They knew her as the timid, shy girl who lacks confidence, but what they didn't know is a secret no one was ready for…

A/N: Before we go any further, I just wanted to let everyone know that Ryoichi will never share any romantic feelings for Hinata. He is my first original character that I have come up with that is very dark and cruel. He won't change his ways throughout the entire story because that's who he is. In reality what demon would be kind to anyone? That's why I created him the way I did. There may be some moments of generosity but very few, maybe only like twice in the story and some awkward moments between Ryoichi and Hinata. He is very raw character, I hope the readers will grow to like him but because of his unruly personality I have a feeling some of you may not like his blunt honesty. Also this is the last chapter featuring Hinata as a twelve year old. The next chapter she will be sixteen years old.

Also thank you very much for the reviews. I appreciate them. I actually wasn't expecting anything seeing how dead fanfiction for Hinata based stories seem lately. So thank you very much.

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Chapter Two: Empty Soul

Xxxxxxxx

Darkness surrounds an empty soul~

Xxxxxxxx

Just like he wanted, she never told a soul about Ryoichi, she kept him as her secret and hers alone. He did everything he said he would do, follow her everywhere, he was very blunt with her during their trainings and he didn't hold back. Whenever she met up with her team, she was always hounded with questions from Kiba; asking her how she received all the bruises she has on her arms, face, legs and neck. She would reply just by saying she has been training, but deep down inside she knew for a fact Shino or Kurenai didn't believed her. Either one of them would say anything to her about it, merely keeping their thoughts to their self, figuring if she ever wanted to tell them the truth she would.

Throughout the months of training she has grasped the personality of Ryoichi much better than what she did in the past. He was a very apathetic male, who rarely smiles, he wears the same blank, serious expressions on his face most of the time unless he is upset; then and only then his expressions always contort into a very repugnant daunting expression. That expression always scared her the most…

Just like he promised, he had helped her to become stronger than what she was in the past. She was thankful for that much from the jet black haired male. Currently she was sitting down on a stool at Ichiraku Ramen Bar; eating a bowl of beef flavored ramen. She was so deep in thought she hadn't even realized that her crush had come and took a seat next to her.

"Hey Hinata, I didn't know you eat here."

Turning her head she was surprised to see Naruto sitting next to her with that bright smile of his, "Na-Naruto-kun, um yes I often come here when I have a chance to." She explained to the blonde. Due to her rigorous training with Ryoichi she hasn't really seen Naruto around the village as much anymore. Staring into his eyes; those bright cerulean eyes of his that she missed dearly, the blush was starting to rise on her cheeks after realizing that she was sitting right next to him.

Naruto continued smiling brightly at her, but the smile slowly disappeared when he noticed a rather large bruise on her neck. "It looks almost like a hand print, could…could someone have tried choke Hinata." His eyes narrowed at the purple bruise; turning his head away from her, looking down at his bowl of ramen. The blonde had heard from Kiba and Shino that Hinata has been coming to meet them for training late lately, to how she would have a new bruise on her body each time. He'll never forget the worry that sketched across their faces, apparently both males were thinking that Neji or her father were responsible for it.

"You know, if someone were ever hurting you, you can always tell me." He spoke lowly, turning his head he looked over at Hinata seriously.

Hinata didn't really know where this came from but when she looked closely at him she noticed he was looking at her neck. She narrowed her eyes off to the side, placing her hand over the bruise awkwardly. She could feel Ryoichi's chakra somewhere near her, she couldn't tell Naruto that her new teacher had done that to her. She'll never forget how harsh he had been with her that night.

Flashback~

Hinata winched under his dark gaze, Ryoichi was very angry with her for not getting the technique he had been trying to teach her for nearly two hours. He wasn't a patient male at all and he held no compassion whatsoever.

"I-I'm sorry Ryoichi-sensei." She whispered lowly, "I'll get it right the next time." Hinata had began referring to him as her teacher since he has been training her, despite him being so harsh and rough with her.

Ryoichi glowered at the smaller female, "The next time you get it wrong, you will regret it very much." He stated, his facial expression showed that he wasn't playing any mind games and he would honestly hurt her if she does something wrong.

Hinata nodded her head, she began charging all of her chakra into her hand. The chakra was a bright lavender ball, looking over at Ryoichi she noticed how he was staring at the chakra forming in her palm, but it suddenly vanished as quickly as it was formed. A pout formed on Hinata's lips, she was almost certain that she had it that time.

"That is the twentieth time, Hinata. I'm starting to really lose my patience with you." His voice obviously stated that he was in fact displeased with her. Ryoichi, wasn't a rational thinker, he would react based on his anger, much like how he was getting ready to do. He clamped his hand around her neck lifting her up off the ground.

"R-Ryoichi-sensei, what are you-"

"Shut-up; do not utter one word to me. For nearly two hours I have wasted my time trying to teach you one of the easiest techniques that I could teach you. Are you really that weak, where you don't know how to form your chakra into a sphere?" He tightened his grip around her neck, ignoring her protest to stop and let go. She even went as far as trying to kick at him but Ryoichi reacted indifferent to the kicking.

"I'd advise you to stop kicking, if you don't I'll be forced to kill you." His voice was deep and menacing, immediately her kicking stopped. Tossing her on the ground a few feet away from him, he turned his back on her. "Let's try this one more time; you better get it this time."

End of flashback~

Ryoichi was one careless male, he hurt her basically everyday and never cares. She's almost positive that he would break her legs if he ever wanted to and not even bother healing or saying sorry to her. This is the type of demon Ryoichi is, he cares and loves no one but himself. Snapping out of her thoughts she looked over at Naruto from the corner of her eye, "Yes, I know. Thank you for your concern but I am fine, nothing to worry a-about." She smiled softly at him.

Naruto looked a bit skeptical about her response; he couldn't hold it back any longer he just had to ask about her bruise. "What happened to your neck?" He asked bluntly but his tone held concern.

Her head snapped back, looking at him with widened eyes. "I just hurt it during training that's all." She smiled brightly but yet nervously at the male. Before Naruto could even respond back to her, Sakura approached the two. Seeing her standing behind Hinata, the blonde grinned widely, causing Hinata to turn around to see it was he was looking at. "Sakura-chan," She broke out into a small smile at the pink haired female.

The emerald eyed female looked down at Hinata, "Hi, Hinata and Naruto are you two together?" She asked raising her eyebrow upwards. She knew of Hinata's crush on Naruto, but she was almost positive that Naruto wasn't aware of the Hyuga's feelings. She figured it was most likely because Hinata was so quiet and shy, while Naruto was loud and outgoing.

"No, we came here separately." Naruto replied, slurping up his ramen, causing Sakura's eyebrow to twitch in annoyance at his bad manners.

Hinata stood up, paying for her meal; she stood up from the stool, "I better get going, I have to train." She explained to the two, both teammates looked at each other before looking back over at the female. Hinata had turned to start walking but she felt a hand grab onto her wrist. She paused turning her head to the side, her lavender-grey eyes made contact with bright blue eyes. "What is it, Naruto-kun?" She asked curiously. A crimson blush made its way on her face, at the fact his hand was touching her arm.

His facial expression was serious, his stared into her eyes, appearing to be searching for something or anything to tell him that something wasn't right. Her chakra was no longer that calm, peaceful chakra that it used to be. Now the blonde could sense a bit of dark chakra, this scared him, not out of fear but more so worried about the female. The worry was sketched into his eyes as he suddenly let go of her, he narrowed his eyes looking away from her. "It's nothing, sorry." He muttered, turning his back on the female, retreating back to his seat at the ramen stand.

Hinata stood there, confused by his actions but she shook her head and walked off. When the Hyuga female was gone, Sakura looked at her friend, "What was that all about?" Sitting down in the seat Hinata was previously sitting on, she turned her head to look at the blonde.

"Didn't you sense something different about Hinata?"

His voice was in a hushed as if he didn't want anyone to hear him. Sakura's eyes widened a few centimeters; she didn't really understand anything Naruto was saying. But judging by his expression he was really worried about her. Placing her hand softly on top of his, she smiled softly at him, "I'm sure it's nothing Naruto."

He tensed, keeping his head down, he knew that something wasn't right but Naruto couldn't think too much about it. "You're right Sakura, I won't think too hard on it." He grinned widely at her, but in the back of his mind he couldn't help but to think about the Hyuga.

Xxxxxxxx

"You're late," His deep voice brought shivers up her spine; it was clear by his tone that he wasn't very pleased with her tardiness. He raised hand up, letting his fingers run through his dark locks, his crimson eyes latched onto Hinata's orbs. "Don't ever keep me waiting, got it?"

Hinata nodded her head, angering him is something she does not want to do. She walked towards the male; her steps were slow and cautious, Ryoichi had a habit of suddenly attacking her to see if she had her guard up or not. The bruise on her neck was extremely sore, she used up most of her chakra just trying to ease the pain but that didn't seem to help. She placed her hand subconsciously on her neck, her eyes narrowed in pain, a part of her knew that the demon didn't care if she were in pain or not.

"Yes, I understand Ryoichi-sensei." She replied.

He nodded his head, taking slow steps towards the younger female he could sense how terrified she is of him. He was glad that she feared him, fear is what he lives off of and it excites him greatly to know how much power he has over her. Fear is what embattled this young girl and if she intended on working with him, she was going to have to get over that fear. "I'm going to need you to sit down on the ground," His facial expression held seriousness as he kneeled down about a foot away from her, sitting down on the ground with his legs folded, "I'm going to bestow you some of my charka."

The twelve year old female slowly sat down across from him, sitting with her legs tucked under her bottom, her mauve-grey eyes gazed over at the much older male. "H-How do you intend on lending me your charka, Ryoichi-sensei?"

"By meditating, clear you mind and focus solely on your charka, I'll be doing the same." He paused, narrowing his eyes while looking at her, "I must warn you, my charka isn't like your average ninja. I am a demon, making my charka far much darker and it will be very much to handle. I'm sure you have heard of the tailed-beast, am I correct?" He watched as she nodded her head slowly, but the look on her face showed that she didn't really know very much about them. "Well they are known to have dark charka; my charka on the other hand is far more sinister than theirs. Are you ready to walk into my darkness?"

This was a very big step, he has already taught her some of the most forbidden techniques already, he has even taught her some rare genjustu, and each one he taught her brought a lot out of her. So much that Ryoichi was force to lend her a small amount of his charka. His charka was indeed very sinister just as he said it was, it also burned for some reason. "Am I really ready for this?" She questioned herself. Looking over at the demon she could see his patience was narrowing, she has to reply back to him quickly before he snapped.

"Y-Yes, I'm ready." She silently cursed herself for stuttering, knowing that Ryoichi hated it but surprisingly kept his comments to himself about her slight speech impediment.

Ryoichi proceeded to close his eyes, while Hinata mimicked this as well. Silence engulfed their surroundings, you could hear nothing but the wind blowing gently as the birds chirped up in the trees. The jet black haired male concentrated on the female sitting across from him as a harsh wind suddenly blew around them. A dark reddish charka was seen forming around the demon, slowly extricating itself from his body over towards Hinata. He was determined enough to at least give her two quarters of his charka, with just that enough of amount she could measure up to a stronger ninja.

Once this sinister charka made its way to her body, she immediately felt it. The burning sensation was unbearable; it was taking all of her might not to scream out in pain. She had to force herself to hold in that scream, she bit down on her bite lip rather hard that it drew blood. Screaming in front of her teacher was a big no-no, Ryoichi hated seeing weakness and he shows he hates it in the most ruthless ways.

The demon glanced over at Hinata noticing how she was wincing in pain, he was quite taken back at the fact she hadn't screamed in pain yet, "She's getting better." He thought to himself in amusement. Releasing the last bit of charka that he was willing to give her, the exchange was finally made. "Get up, the transfer is done now." He ordered, standing up himself. His dark eyes paid close attention to how she struggled to stand to up; a scowl settled its way to his impassive expression. Ryoichi knew by her being a human she wouldn't be able to handle most of his extensive training, he hated that about her but had to deal with it the best way he could.

Hinata placed both of her hands on her knees, her back hunched over breathing heavily trying to catch her breath. Her eyes then glanced up at the demon; his eyes were glaring deep into her soul, trapping her in the very spot she stood. "Why does he have to be so intimidating?" She inwardly groaned to herself. Ryoichi is a very powerful person, probably capable of defeating the Hokage herself, she respected his strength. She just wishes that he could be a bit more gentle and kinder to her.

He snorted in pure annoyance at how long it was taking her to stand up. "Stand up straight, human. I'm tired of waiting around for you." He snapped at her harshly. She was really trying his patience, he felt compelled to grab her by her neck and toss her across the forest grounds. He wasn't known for his patience, not even in his world. He closed his eyes pinching the bridge of his nose. "By the time I open my eyes you better be standing up."

By the tone of his voice, she knew that he wasn't kidding around. She quickly pulled herself up; her breathing had now settled down, her eyes gazed over at the male noticing how his dark menacing eyes were now staring at her. "Ryoichi-sensei, I wanted to know have you ever trained anyone else prior to me."

The raven haired male wasn't expecting her to ask him that. Throughout his years of being in the living world he has never trained anyone, fully well knowing that there was no one who would be able to keep up with his rigorous training methods. He saw Hinata as a challenge; someone who was very weak but yet somewhere deep inside he knew that he would be able to turn her into someone very strong. "No, I've never trained anyone. You're the first," He responded. Turning his back on her, gazing up at the sky noticing the dark clouds, he could tell that he was going to rain shortly.

"That's enough training for today; I need to attend to something important. Don't forget, I'm watching you. You are me and I am you. Together we are one because the darkness we share has sealed us together." He spoke before leaping up into the trees, leaving her behind.

The demon often spoke oddly, using metaphors for his words or speaking like he was from the ancient times to even talking backwards. She didn't know why he would do that but knew that behind his words it showed her just how wise and profound he can be. Standing there in silence she realized that she has yet to move yet, snapping out of her thoughts she turned around and walked the opposite direction Ryoichi left. The first rain drop hit her forehead it was only seconds later when it began pouring down fiercely that she began sprinting back to the Hyuga Manor.

Xxxxxxxx

Uchiha Madara waited patiently for the ruthless demon to come. While he was waiting, it suddenly began pouring down raining. Growling lowly to himself from getting wet from the harsh rains, he turned his head to the side trying to find shelter for himself until he spotted a hut that wasn't too far from where he was standing. Running towards the hut, he nearly slipped on the now muddy ground, but quickly caught himself and continued running towards the shelter. Noticing that there was a long cloth that was used for the door for the entrance, he quickly passed through it. Entering the hut, he kneeled down trying to catch his breath.

"Finally, you arrive."

Madara lifted his head to see Ryoichi leaning against the woodened wall, "Yes, I have arrived." He replied, straightening his posture as he stood up straight, regaining his breath. "I was almost certain that I would get here before you," He chuckled halfheartedly. Seeing that Ryoichi wasn't going to laugh or even smirk, the Uchiha sighed to himself. "I wanted to meet you here because as you know I am the founder of the Akatsuki. We have already collected the four tailed monkey, we still have eight more to go. I'm heading back to the base and I need you to come with me to help search for another tailed beast."

Ryoichi remained silent for a few moments, it was clear to say that the demon was thinking over Madara's statement. Folding his arms across his chest, he closed his eyes briefly, "I will stay behind," He spoke lowly, his voice resonating throughout the hut. Although his eyes were currently closed he could feel the Uchiha's gaze on him, he was sure it wasn't a pleasant one either.

"What do you mean you'll stay behind? Have you forgotten about—"

"I have not forgotten anything, human. I'm staying behind because I have a duty here that I want to finish." Even though he was only using Hinata to cure his boredom, he could actually admit to himself that this is the most fun he has since he has been freed from the Forgotten Forest. The female Hyuga is very intriguing to him and training her is entertaining to him.

Madara stared over at the demon quickly noticing the amusement in his eyes; this drove his curiosity to a new level. "What is this 'duty' that's keeping you here in Konoha?" The black haired male asked curiously, tilting his to the side while staring at Ryoichi.

The crimson eyed male pushed himself away from the woodened wall, opening both of his eyes, "I've been training a human here in the village," He paused thinking rather or not if he should tell him about Hinata," she's a Hyuga." He finished after some moments. He could tell that he was taken back by hearing that she was a Hyuga, he would laugh if he were someone else but instead he opted for a small smirk; intimidating and devious looking one, but a smirk nevertheless.

"I never pictured you to train anyone, this is quite the shock." He stated, reaching behind his head scratching it awkwardly. "How long have you been training this Hyuga?"

The demon gazed off into the distance, appearing to be in thought. He hadn't been keeping track of how long he has been training her but he knew that it has been more than five months, "For awhile now, I intend on continuing my training with her. She is becoming stronger as the months pass on. She is very slow at learning things but she is getting there with my help." Ryoichi explained.

Madara remained silent, his mind on the fact that this demon, who hates practically everyone is training someone. His face was covered behind his mask, but if it weren't you would see the amusement lurking on his facial features. Seeing how it is a female, he wasn't really quite sure which Hyuga he could be training. But he wasn't going to go as far to ask him which one, he was curious but not that curious. "Very well then, I suppose we can communicate with each other in another way." The masked male slowly began vanishing but as he was disappearing he muttered to the demon to watch over Uzumaki Naruto.

Ryoichi stood in silence; he could still hear the rain falling on the ground outside the hut. He knew exactly who Naruto was, he couldn't help but to know seeing how Hinata is always seen blushing over the kid. He scoffed to himself; Ryoichi never understood how humans could hold such emotions for one person. Feelings of love didn't suit him at all. The only person he would ever care about is his own self. His red eyes gazed over at stack of hay that was in the corner of the hut. Sleeping here until the rain died out was his only option. Hovering over Hinata as her shadow twenty four seven could be irritating at times.

Especially when he is at the Hyuga Manor, where he had the pleasure of hearing her father talk down on Hinata to even seeing her cry so much. The fair skinned male was never good at consoling anyone; hell he wouldn't console anyone even if he knew how. So seeing her cry he would say nothing but ignore her, he enjoyed seeing her in pain after all.

The demon viewed Hinata just as annoying as any other human; he neither loved nor cared one ounce about her. He could easily kill her and making her his one thousandth victim. But he hasn't and he simply hasn't mainly because Hinata amuses him. Darkness would sooner or later engulf her, she had a little bit of him inside her and it would only take so long before she snaps. Her calm, nervous shy nature about her is holding in so much pain and anger, anger she feels towards herself. Ryoichi feeds off of her pain, trying to use it against her.

While training Hinata, she always messes up a jutsu, but if he taunts her enough about it eventually she'll understand it more.

Walking over towards the stack of hay, he turned around kneeling down as he fell against the hay. His hands were behind his head, closing his eyes slowly his mind began to drift off into memories of his past before he came to the world of the living.

Xxxxxxxx

"Hinata-sama, you have a visitor." The light voice called out to Hinata, from the outside of the sliding door. Hinata, who had been lying down on her matted bed on the floor, slowly sat up. Rising up one dark blue eyebrow, she didn't know who would come to visit her at this hour. It was almost eleven o'clock at night, but nevertheless she pulled the blankets from off her body.

"Who is it?" She asked the servant out of pure curiosity.

Silence was the only thing heard until she heard some shuffling noises. She let out an exasperated sigh after realizing that the servant had already left. Most likely only came to tell her that one thing before leaving. Pulling herself up into a standing position, her eyes gazed off to the side at the tall wardrobe were she kept most of her clothes. Walking out in her pajamas was something she wouldn't do to go see this person.

Fumbling through the clothes she found a black shirt along with a pair of gray khaki shorts. She quickly discarded her nightwear and put on the clothes, once she had them on Hinata headed towards her door sliding it open. Her mind was still on who could be visiting her. The female Hyuga rarely ever had gotten visits from anyone, unless it was her teammates.

Kiba and Shino would be at home during this time of night, so that crossed those two off the list. Walking throughout the large Hyuga corridors she had no idea where this 'visitor' could be, that is until she saw someone sitting down on the wooden floor near the training area of the manor. Her eyes widened at the person sitting, she couldn't believe that this was her visitor.

"U-Umm, hello" Hinata spoke in a very uncertain tone.

The person slowly turned around, their eyes stared into hers giving her a warm smile, "I know I'm the last person you expected to see" He spoke lowly to her as to not disturb any of the sleeping Hyuga's.

Hinata nodded her head slowly. She didn't know if she should walk closer and sit next to him or continue standing in the exact spot she was standing. She could barely see him because of the darkened night but every once in awhile she could see his face when a firefly would fly near his face.

"I'm here because Naruto seems to be very worried about you. He was discussing to Sakura and I about your chakra pattern, that it was dark. I promised him that I would check on you to see what is really going on. Sorry for coming so late, I had lost track of time." He chuckled, raising hand rubbing the back of his silver hair. His one black visible eye watched every nervous fidget that the female made.

"I-I'm fine, there is no reason to worry over me. I assured him of this earlier." She explained. Hinata couldn't help but to blush at realizing that Naruto was worried about her. She had been certain that once she told him she was fine he would soon forget about it and move on but he is still worried. But deep down she knew why he was worried, he could sense Ryoichi's chakra inside of her.

Kakashi eyed her, from what he was told he couldn't sense much of what Naruto was speaking to him about but he could sense something. It was very faint but it was there. It was making him wonder just what has the Hyuga been doing, he had a little talk about it with Kurenai but she didn't seem to notice an odd chakra. But she had commented on the bruises Hinata would have and how she would be concerned about her just as much as Kiba and Shino have been.

Hatake had never been very close with any of the other rookie nine, just mainly his team seven. Everyone else he viewed differently, it wasn't like he didn't care about them but he cared more about Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke than the others. Although he would never admit that out loud but it was true. Hinata on the other hand is just like the rest, she was just another kid who was on someone else's team who he didn't have to watch over. But when Naruto approached him about Hinata, he had been so worried about her and pleading with Kakashi just check on her. So out of pure obligation he came, but not on his own free will, only because of Naruto.

Out of all of the genin, he would have to say she was most likely one of the weakest. She lack a lot of things especially self confidence. She was always mostly looked over by many of his fellow comrades, in his opinion about her she was a wallflower. She never stuck out in anything; the only thing that seemed to keep her going was Uzumaki Naruto. But Hinata had gained his respect when she stood up for herself against Neji. If it hadn't been for Naruto she wouldn't have said anything.

"Well, he is highly concerned about you. You should talk to him and explain it a bit more to him that you're fine." Kakashi stood up from the wooden floor, placing his left hand into his pocket. As soon as he stood up he felt a tremendous amount of chakra. It was so sinister that it nearly brought him to his knees. Standing completely still, his heart rate went up. His wide eye looked around trying to see if he could spot someone around them. "What is this feeling? Could this have been what Naruto was feeling?" He looked over at Hinata; although she appeared to be calm her expression looked wary. "Just moments ago I didn't feel this, it couldn't be Hinata. Maybe it's someone else…" He was getting ready to say something about it until he noticed her parting her lips to speak.

"Kakashi-sensei, is that all?"

Her voice was strained, like she wanted him to leave. Narrowing his eye at the younger female he frowned to himself, "Hinata, is there something you need to tell me? You can always talk to me." Kakashi watched as she shook her head, she was determined to get him to leave. Something was going on; he just didn't know what it was. That sinister chakra could belong to Hiashi; it was no way it belonged to him.

Hinata watched Kakashi for awhile until she heard a loud 'poof' indicating he was now gone. Turning around she quickly walked back to her room, sliding her door closed.

"That human is weak, it's so pitiful. I did nothing but yet he felt nothing but fear." His deep voice was heard from in the darkened corner of her room.

The Hyuga frowned to herself; she knew that Ryoichi had only done that on purpose. Sure, he had a very powerful chakra that could easily bring you to your knees but at that one moment he seemed to have raised his chakra level just to test Kakashi's strength. "You shouldn't d-do that, Ryoichi-sensei." She spoke in a low whisper.

Just risking anyone hearing her taking out loud, she was for sure they would think she has gone crazy. Ryoichi can only be seen by her and her only from what he has told her. She wasn't sure as to why he hides from others but never bothered to ask him about it.

Coming out of the shadows, the moonlight laminated his facial features. If one would see the demon, his looks would put Sasuke to shame. He was a very attractive guy; at times Hinata couldn't help but to blush whenever he gets too close. Ryoichi notices this but acts very indifferent towards it, knowing that the girl obviously gets flustered easily.

"I do what I want to do, you will not tell me what I can and cannot do." His voice held no anger, which is rare but a good thing. Walking towards her until he was nearly standing a foot away from her, his red eyes glowed within the darkness. "Your training will become be even more intense starting our next session. I'm going to make you powerful."

Hinata looked up at him in question, "Powerful…?"

Nodding his head, he gazed over her head appearing to be in thought. Within the next two years, she would hopeful be as strong as him. And that's what he was aiming for.