[Scene opens – Rekikan, Squad Six Barracks – Two days later]
Jin lay flat on the training ground, shirtless, bruised, and barely breathing.
Across from him stood Captain Aria, wiping dust off her blade like she didn't just body him for the seventh time in a row.
"You've got raw talent," she said coldly, "but raw doesn't win wars. Control does."
Jin groaned. "Control is overrated. I made that Wretched Alpha my chew toy."
"And yet you can't land a single hit on me."
He sat up. "…Fair."
[Scene shift – Soulcore Meditation Chamber]
Later that night, Jin sat in a chamber filled with glowing soul crystals, trying to connect with Renzai's spirit. His blade floated in front of him, spinning slowly, humming with suppressed fire.
He closed his eyes.
The world went silent.
Then—
"Back again, brat?" a voice echoed in his mind, deep and rough like magma rolling through steel.
Jin stood in a realm of black sky and crimson clouds. In front of him towered a spirit clad in crimson samurai armor, cracked mask, and burning horns—a wrathful god, coiled in flame.
"Renzai," Jin said."I need more power. I want to go further."
The spirit grinned.
"Power has a price. You want to burn brighter? Then be ready to lose more than just your fear."
The world shook. Flames surged. The resonance deepened.
[Meanwhile – Kuragami Stronghold: The Shattered Depths]
The scene shifts.
Deep beneath the veil, inside a ruined cathedral of bone and obsidian, the Kuragami stirred.
At the center sat a throne made of broken Kesshinken.On it—Lord Nureha, cloaked in cursed soul bandages, surrounded by his elite.
Beside him knelt the masked figure from before—Raikou Kuroya.
Jin's older brother.
"The boy has awakened," Raikou said."Renzai burns again."
"Good," Lord Nureha hissed. "Then the gate to the Crimson Eclipse draws near."
He raised his hand.
A cursed blade materialized from shadow—long, jagged, vibrating with Yomurei energy.
"Send the Reapers. Let Squad Six bleed."
[Scene shift – Squad Six Mission Briefing Room]
Captain Aria slammed a map down.
"We've received word. The Kuragami launched a strike on the outer villages. Entire spiritual barriers torn apart in seconds."
Marin looked grim."They've never hit that close before."
Ketsu narrowed his eyes. "They're sending a message."
"They're sending me," Jin said, cracking his neck.
Aria pointed to a marked zone on the map.
"Your first squad-led mission: intercept and eliminate the incoming strike force before they breach the veil."
Jin nodded."About time I stretched again."
[Final Scene – Outskirts of the Veil: Battlefield, midnight]
The squad arrived in a field of broken tombs and shattered soulstones. The sky twisted with corrupted energy. Crows with shattered wings circled above.
Then—
Five Kuragami Reapers stepped out of the mist. Each cloaked in bone armor, blades humming with forbidden power.
One stepped forward, face covered in a grinning plague mask.
"Kuroya," he rasped."Your flame dies tonight."
Jin stepped forward, cloak whipping in the wind, Renzai glowing at his side.
"Try me."