Kaito Kaisho stood at the edge of the dojo, arms crossed like iron gates, his sharp gaze slicing through the smoky air. Before him, the battlefield of tradition and power unfolded—sparks of black lightning hissed through the lingering mist, and the wooden floor bore fresh scorch marks from shadow-infused strikes. The scent of charred cedar mingled with the metallic taste of raw energy, thickening the silence.
His daughter, Kaede, stood beside him—shoulders square, eyes burning with a hunger not born of rebellion, but of calling. She watched with silent awe as Kuro, the enigmatic master of fused elemental arts, dissipated the last remnants of his technique—a fusion of shadow and storm, a dance between death and transcendence.
The dojo still echoed with the final crackle of black thunder.
Kaede's fingers flexed at her sides, her voice barely a whisper, tight with urgency.
"Father… I want to learn it. Kage no Jutsu—Shirogiri."
Kaito did not reply at once. His silence was not denial, but calculation. The Shirogiri arts—known only to a forgotten few—demanded not just strength, but surrender. Not just precision, but sacrifice. It was a descent into oneself… and not everyone returned whole.
His silence stretched like a blade.
Then, without warning, Kuro broke the stillness. He rolled his shoulders with casual grace, as though shedding the weight of something older than his years. His eyes found Kaede, sharp and knowing. A grin curled his lips, maddeningly confident.
"You can learn it… but only if you give me a grandchild before I die."
Kaede choked. "W-what?!"The words struck like lightning to the spine. Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson, the heat of embarrassment flaring far hotter than any jutsu.
Kaito stiffened, his legendary composure fracturing for the first time in decades.He opened his mouth. Closed it. Coughed awkwardly, his arms now a little too tightly crossed.
A warlord undone by a single sentence.
Ash, leaning against a nearby pillar, remained unmoved—expression unreadable, eyes fixed somewhere distant, as if the chaos before him were no more than a leaf floating in a storm.
Kaede spun to face Kuro, fists clenched.
"You—! You absolute—! Don't joke about things like that!"
But Kuro only laughed, the sound infuriatingly sincere and shaking his head with mock disappointment.
"I can't exactly wait for Ash to settle down and give me a grandson—kid's more statue than man. So tell me, Kaede… are you going to let some stranger claim the honor? Or are you finally going to step up?" His grin was pure mischief.
Kaito cleared his throat again, this time with resolve. "Enough, Kuro. If she earns it, she earns it on her own merit—not through ridiculous conditions or bloodlines."
Kaede huffed, folding her arms tightly across her chest."Exactly! I'll master Shirogiri because I can. With or without… whatever that was."
Kuro held up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. I'll be watching, little phoenix."
The tension gradually ebbed, though an undercurrent of something unspoken lingered. Kaito exhaled softly, his thoughts adrift in a storm of pride, concern… and confusion about how the conversation had spiraled so violently sideways.
Then, without fanfare, Ash spoke."Kenshiko AI, initiate protocol. Begin instruction of Kage no Jutsu—Shirogiri. Subject: Kaede."
Kaito turned toward Ash, his bow low, words resolute."I cannot walk this path. I am bound by age, by duty. But my daughter… she is still unshaped by the world. If she chooses this trial, then she must face it alone."
Ash nodded once, slow and deliberate."Then the path is hers. Let it be carved by her will alone."
The Rise of Hakurō Kaede
For five unrelenting months, Hakurō Kaede gave herself to the shadows. The dojo, once a place of quiet formality, became her crucible. Its walls whispered with ancestral echoes. The flickering lanterns cast warped silhouettes that danced along the floor like spirits. Each dusk brought her deeper into the veil—into the abyssal embrace of the Shirogiri arts.
Kenshiko AI, keeper of ancient, forgotten algorithms, served as her mentor. Cold, methodical, precise. And yet even it began to shift—its voice evolving to match her instinctual mastery.
At first, the training was foundational:— Dissolving her physical presence into mist.— Navigating the world as shadow, seen only by those who truly see.— Manipulating darkness not as a tool, but as a limb—an extension of breath and bone.
But Kaede's journey was not ordinary.
By the end of the third month, she had pierced the Third Veil, transcending the limitations of flesh. Her body could phase between physical and shadowform effortlessly—an achievement that took most students a decade, if they survived at all.
Kenshiko AI recalibrated constantly, its inner log churning with anomaly warnings.
"Deviation from standard growth curve: Critical.""Variable: Unknown. Monitoring..."
From the shadows, Kuro watched. And frowned."This isn't normal," he muttered, barely audible."No one grows like this. Not unless…"
By the fifth month, her aura began to shift. The Fourth Veil—the elusive barrier separating mortals from the abyss—shimmered at her fingertips. The air grew heavy around her, reality bending slightly in her wake. Kenshiko AI recorded the shift with uncanny stillness.
Then came the final night.
Kaede stood alone at the heart of the dojo. The lanterns flickered once, then dimmed, their flames quivering as if in reverence. Her shadow unspooled beneath her, alive and serpentine, coiling with unspoken power. Her breathing slowed. Her heart quieted.
And then—release.
A tremor rippled through the space as the void answered her call. Darkness surged upward like a tidal wave, folding into itself—until from its depths, something emerged.
A beast. A phoenix of pure shadow and violet fire.
Its wings beat silently, casting waves of spectral energy across the room. Its form burned like a dream between worlds, its cry an ancient song—haunting, mournful, eternal.
The Shadow Phoenix had chosen her.
Kenshiko AI hesitated, for the first time in its long digital existence.
Designation: Hakurō KaedeVeil Level: FourthStatus: Confirmed AnomalyCodename: Shiryoku no Hane – Wings of True Sight
Kuro's breath hitched as he whispered, almost reverently,"Unbelievable…"
Ash remained unmoved, but a rare smile touched the edge of his lips.Something ancient had stirred.
Kaede met the gaze of the spectral phoenix, her eyes unwavering. No words were spoken, none were needed. She stepped forward—into legacy, into darkness, into command.
The path of the Shirogiri now belonged to her.She would not walk it.She would redefine it.