The clearing was a scar on the forest, the remnants of battles past etched into the earth like open wounds. Charred roots clawed at the soil, shattered trees leaned at impossible angles, and the acrid tang of burnt Eien energy hung in the air. Hishimiya's breath came in even, shallow pulls. Her hands were steady, her fingers wrapped around the hilt of her katana, though the weight of what she was about to do pressed against her chest like a vice.
Kage no Michi waited. The shadow had grown stronger, its presence a void that seemed to warp the light around it. Its voice rolled through the clearing like distant thunder, dark and deep.
"You come alone," it said, the words carrying the weight of centuries.
Hishimiya didn't falter. "I'm not alone," she said, her voice firmer than she felt. She could feel Ino-ku—the shikigami she had bound as a companion—coil around her consciousness, alert, protective. Spider-shaped and agile, the little companion was more than a guardian. It was an extension of her will, a part of her life, and it had always kept her from harm when she faltered.
The first strike was hers.
She invoked her Eien Ryoku, summoning the light within her body and weaving it with the cursed energy that pulsed in her veins. Her attack, True Heavenly Slideshow, unfolded in a dance of motion and precision. She moved like liquid, arcs of light slashing through the dark, forcing Kage to retreat even as the ground beneath her feet cracked with each strike. The pulses of Eiryu power—the cursed energy of her very being—pounded through her like waves of fire, pushing her body past exhaustion.
Kage no Michi countered with the darkness that had birthed it. Tendrils of shadow whipped forward, twisting unnaturally, striking at angles that defied the laws of physics. Each strike met Hishimiya's blade with a hiss of colliding energy, sparks scattering into the forest like fireflies. She could feel the strain in her limbs, the screaming pull of Eien Ryoku demanding balance, precision, control. One misstep, and it would consume her.
"You rely too much on speed," the shadow hissed, its voice a corrosive echo in her mind.
"I rely on more than speed," she retorted. With a flick of her wrist, she slid forward, moving faster than the eye could follow. The air vibrated with energy, her True Heavenly Slides breaking through shadowed defenses, grazing Kage with strikes that left scorch marks on the earth.
And then the clearing warped.
The shadows thickened, bending light, pulling her consciousness into a void of black. Kage activated Full Eclipse Room, its room, swallowing the world around them. Gravity twisted, the floor seemed to vanish, and the clearing blurred into infinite darkness. Hishimiya fell, her body limp, and for a moment she feared she had been struck down completely.
But she was not alone.
Ino-ku emerged from her pocket of magic, transforming into its spider form with metallic, silver-black legs. It wrapped her in a cocoon of energy, shielding her from the domain's corrosive pull. "Hishimiya," it whispered, though no sound passed her lips. Its presence healed the minor wounds she had received and created a barrier that Kage could not breach. Threads of cursed energy shot outward, striking at the shadows and pushing the entity back, but it was only enough to buy time.
She drew a ragged breath. The darkness of the domain pressed against her lungs, but the pulse within her chest surged louder, faster, stronger. This was the moment—the awakening. She felt it stir in her blood, a force so raw, so pure, that it burned away fatigue and fear alike. Hell disguised as Heaven, she realized. The darkness of the eclipse could not smother her light; it only sharpened it.
Hishimiya rose, every motion deliberate, radiating power that bent the surrounding darkness to her will. Her Eien Ryoku flared, weaving light and shadow into a pattern of predestined motion. She stepped back into the battlefield, onto the now-ruptured clearing, ready to confront Kage with renewed resolve.
She activated her room: Doors To Influence. Doors materialized across the clearing, each shimmering with latent power, reflecting futures, possibilities, and the invisible threads of influence that bound them all. Each door a path, each path a potential strike, each strike a reflection of her will.
"Do you think I'm attractive?" she asked, her voice calm, almost teasing.
Kage's form rippled with disdain but did not answer. "This room is unfinished… and strong," it admitted, recognizing the latent potential without granting her the satisfaction of acknowledgment.
Hishimiya stepped forward, her hands glowing with Eien Ryoku. She opened one of the doors fully, unleashing energy that collided with Kage, forcing the entity into retreat. The clearing shuddered as light and darkness erupted in violent harmony, the shockwaves bending trees, splitting the earth, and rattling the sky.
Kage no Michi screamed in rage as it was forced back, its form twisting and shrieking as the seal began to take hold. Hishimiya pressed her advantage, her True Heavenly Slides slicing through every defensive measure, every desperate counter. Each strike was precise, focused, powered by both Eiryu energy and her determination.
The battle's climax came in a final surge. Hishimiya channeled everything into the Doors To Influence, collapsing the domain around Kage, leaving no avenue for escape. The entity thrashed, shadows lashing out, but it could not breach the walls of fate she had woven. Light and energy tore through the void, and with a final, resonant pulse, Kage no Michi was sealed once more.
Hishimiya fell to her knees, sweat and blood mingling on her face. Ino-ku crawled onto her shoulder, murmuring a protective hum. Her body trembled, every muscle burned, yet she had survived. She had stood against darkness and endured, had pushed her Eien Ryoku beyond known limits, and had sealed an ancient, relentless enemy.
The clearing was silent. Smoke curled lazily into the sky, dust settled, and the forest held its breath once more. Hishimiya looked at her hands, at the faint glow of residual energy, and felt the weight of her growth. The battle had changed her. The awakening had awakened more than just power—it had awakened her destiny.
And far away, in the shadows of the trees, a whisper of malevolent energy lingered, a promise that Kage no Michi would return.
The clearing quivered under the force of Hishimiya's room. Doors shimmered into existence, some materializing behind Kage no Michi, some hovering at impossible angles above the battlefield. Each door was a path of influence, a potential reality she could bend with her Eien Ryoku—but controlling them was like juggling blades of light: precise, draining, and dangerously unstable.
Kage no Michi lunged, dark tendrils whipping through the air. Hishimiya pivoted, sliding between attacks with True Heavenly Slides, leaving streaks of radiant light in her wake. The tendrils collided with her residual light, exploding in sparks that carved gouges into the ground. Each movement demanded Eiryu power, more than she had ever expended in a single battle, and sweat dripped down her brow. Yet every step, every strike, was precise—a dance choreographed by instinct and the heartbeat she had first felt at the abandoned shrine.
"You rely on tricks," Kage hissed, its form splitting into shadows that surged across the clearing. "A child cannot contain this power!"
Hishimiya gritted her teeth. "I'm not a child. I am a Solar Grade! And I am your seal!" She channeled her Eien Ryoku into the doors, which snapped open like jaws of fate. A wave of radiant energy shot out, slamming into Kage with such force that the clearing buckled under the impact. Shadows screamed and scattered, but Kage did not falter. Its laughter echoed, cold and endless, as it coalesced into a larger, darker mass.
The next strike was nearly fatal. The shadow reached out, tendrils wrapping around Hishimiya, pulling her toward its core. She felt her energy faltering. Pain lanced through her arms as the cursed energy from the domain tried to corrupt her own, but a silver-black leg of Ino-ku shot forward, stabbing into the tendrils. Threads of protective energy snapped through the darkness, severing the grip and healing the minor lacerations from the attack.
"Hishimiya!" Ino-ku's thought echoed in her mind. "You cannot falter now!"
Breathing heavily, Hishimiya's eyes narrowed. The pulse of the Eien Ryoku in her chest became a roar, a living entity demanding release. This was it—the awakening. Hell disguised as Heaven. Light and shadow merged in a swirling vortex around her body. The battlefield seemed to fold in on itself as the force of her energy expanded outward. Kage recoiled slightly, its tendrils twitching with unease for the first time.
Hishimiya rose from the ground, her body glowing with a blinding mixture of solar energy and cursed Eiryu power. She could feel her consciousness splitting, simultaneously aware of every tendril, every shadow, every door in her domain. With a deep breath, she activated the full potential of Doors To Influence. Doors opened around Kage in impossible configurations, each one a potential strike, a trap, a pathway for her energy.
"Do you think I'm attractive?" Hishimiya asked, calm but with a sharp undertone that cut through the chaos.
Kage no Michi paused, shadows twisting unnaturally. "This room is unfinished… and strong," it said finally, its voice a distorted growl. It acknowledged her power but ignored her taunt, as if incapable of responding to anything but the threat she now posed.
Hishimiya pressed her advantage. She slid between tendrils, True Heavenly Slides streaking across the clearing in arcs of radiant light. Each strike was synchronized with the doors in her domain. Shadows collided with light, sparks erupting, sending shockwaves across the forest. Kage howled, the sound resonating with the echoes of centuries, but it could not break the walls of fate Hishimiya had constructed.
The battle intensified. Hishimiya's body began to burn under the strain of Eiryu energy. Sweat and blood coated her skin as she wove through attacks and launched counterstrikes. Ino-ku flitted across the battlefield, firing energy threads, blocking shadow tendrils, and occasionally wrapping a protective net around her body when Kage's power surged too close. "You cannot fail!" Ino-ku's voice was both command and reassurance. "You are the seal!"
Hishimiya felt the pull of the room around her, the residual corruption of Full Eclipse Room clawing at her sanity. She faltered for a moment, but the heartbeat in her chest—her own, amplified by destiny—kept her anchored. She drew in a deep breath, closing her eyes for a fraction of a second, and opened them to see the battlefield in its entirety. Every tendril, every shadow, every angle of attack, and every door she had summoned was under her control. The awakening had given her clarity, precision, and strength far beyond her previous limits.
She struck. The True Heavenly Slides moved faster, sharper, more precise. Each arc of light severed shadow tendrils, carved through the corrupted energy, and forced Kage backward. She combined her strikes with Doors To Influence, sending Kage careening from one door to another, trapping it within a labyrinth of predestined pathways.
The entity struggled, writhing in the confines of her room, attempting to escape. But the power Hishimiya wielded now was overwhelming. Light and shadow twisted in a spiral around Kage, each strike from True Heavenly Slides reinforced by the doors that limited its movement.
Finally, the climax. Hishimiya focused every ounce of Eiryu energy into a single, decisive strike. True Heavenly Slides converged, and the doors locked Kage within a radiant cage. The entity screamed, thrashing, twisting, but it could not break free. Energy erupted in every direction, shaking the forest, shattering trees, and carving deep scars into the earth.
With one final, resounding pulse, Kage no Michi was sealed back into its prison. Shadows dissolved, tendrils fell limp, and the clearing became quiet once again. Hishimiya sank to her knees, trembling, her katana slick with sweat and blood. Ino-ku crawled onto her shoulder, whispering soft reassurances.
She had survived. She had awakened. She had sealed an ancient force that could have consumed the world. And yet, deep in the shadows of the trees, a faint pulse of corrupted Eien energy lingered—a reminder that Kage no Michi would not be gone forever.
Hishimiya looked at her hands, exhausted but resolute. The awakening had changed her. She had tapped into Hell disguised as Heaven and learned the true extent of her influence. The battle was over, too soon?
2 weeks later...
"We welcome the second strongest and new Tsukimori, Hishimiya Itsugoyorozu, the user of the Pure Fate & True Heavenly SlideShow Eien Ryoku"
When Hishimiya wakened she obtained the Eien Ryoku of love & luck, 'Pure Fate', luck is the reason she beat Kage.
Hishimiya thought to herself while walking, "Ooh, that guy right there looks cute, let me go use my new catchphrase"
"Hey! Do you think I'm attractive?"
"Hishimiya, what?"
"Sorry, Sae didnt know it was y.."
"You're attractive but would you date me?"
...