The explosion wasn't outward this time.
It was inward.
Crimson light swallowed Kiyoshi whole—Rei and Daiki felt the shockwave pass through them instead of pushing them away.
And then—
Everything went still.
Silent.
Motionless.
Except for Kiyoshi.
His body hung in suspension, kneeling but weightless, eyes half-open, glowing faintly. Crimson tendrils curled around him like smoke that breathed.
Daiki whispered, "Is he… alive?"
Rei knelt beside him, placing two fingers to his neck.
A pulse—slow, but steady.
"He's fighting inside," she murmured. "He's somewhere else."
Daiki exhaled shakily. "Well, that's vague and terrifying."
Rei didn't smile. "Then we keep him grounded until he comes back."
---
Inside Kiyoshi's Mind
He opened his eyes to darkness.
Not empty darkness—living darkness. A void that pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat. The ground beneath him felt like water made of chakra: ripples of crimson spreading with each step he took.
He wasn't alone.
A shape stood across the mindscape—fully formed now.
A perfect silhouette of him.
Same height.
Same build.
Same stance.
Same chakra signature.
But its "eyes" were nothing but swirling crimson holes.
The apparition tilted its head, mirroring him.
"Where are we?" Kiyoshi asked, voice echoing strangely.
The apparition's answer came directly into his mind:
"Home."
Kiyoshi clenched his fists. "This isn't your home."
A faint ripple ran through the creature's body.
"I came from you."
"I am what your bloodline hid."
"I am what your clan feared."
Kiyoshi took a step forward. "No. You came from the relic's influence."
A low, vibrating hum filled the void. Amusement.
"The relic did not create me."
"It revealed me."
Kiyoshi flinched. "That's—no. That's not possible."
The apparition lifted a hand.
A mirror formed between them—smooth, glassy, but reflecting nothing.
Until Kiyoshi looked into it.
Then—
He saw flashes.
Fragments of memories he never lived.
Men with Ketsuryūgan drenched in warblood.
Eyes glowing as they ripped thoughts from enemies.
A clan elder whispering: "Control the reflection, or it consumes you."
A child—maybe him, maybe not—refusing to look into a mirror out of fear.
Kiyoshi stumbled back. "Stop! Those aren't my memories!"
The apparition stepped closer.
"Not yours."
"But they live in your blood."
Kiyoshi's breathing quickened. "I'm not like them."
The creature paused.
Then its form shifted slowly—
—and it became Kiyoshi.
With his face.
His expression.
His eyes.
But twisted, darker, sharper.
"You could be."
Kiyoshi's fist trembled. "I WON'T."
"Then choose."
The mindscape shook beneath them, the void trembling like a heartbeat.
"Fight me."
"Or become me."
Kiyoshi inhaled sharply.
He knew what this was.
Not a battle for power.
A battle for identity.
---
Outside — Rei and Daiki Anchor Him
Rei placed both hands on Kiyoshi's back, channeling steady chakra into him—soft, warm, grounding.
"Come on," she whispered. "Find your way back."
Daiki stood guard, watching the forest nervously. "Rei… not to ruin the moment, but ANBU are going to be here in like two minutes. Three, if they're slow."
Rei didn't look up. "Then buy him three minutes."
Daiki swallowed. "…Great. Yeah. No pressure."
He cracked his knuckles and faced the treeline. "Oi! Mysterious forest horrors! This is private property!"
Rei sighed. "Daiki, please focus."
"I am! My coping mechanism is shouting."
---
Mindscape — The Battle Begins
The apparition lunged first.
Kiyoshi dodged—barely—feeling his own chakra twist against him. Every attack the creature made felt familiar, as if it already knew his moves.
Because it did.
It was him.
The figure whispered as it struck:
"You fear being alone."
A blow to his ribs.
"You fear your own strength."
A strike to his shoulder.
"You fear becoming the monster people expect you to be."
A crushing grip around his throat.
Kiyoshi gagged, clawing at the apparition's hand. "I'm—not—a—monster—!"
The apparition leaned close, its voice a cold whisper inside his skull.
"Then stop acting like prey."
The words hit harder than the attacks.
Because—
a part of him believed them.
And the creature felt that doubt like blood in the water.
"Accept me."
"And you will never fear again."
Kiyoshi's vision dimmed.
He felt himself slipping.
Losing.
Drowning in his own bloodline's shadow.
Until—
A voice, distant but clear, cut through the darkness.
"Kiyoshi—choose US!"
Rei.
Her voice was like a tether—warm, steady, real.
Then Daiki's voice followed, louder, chaotic, desperate:
"If you let this freak win, I swear I'm dragging you back myself!"
Kiyoshi's eyes snapped open.
And something inside him ignited.
Not darkness.
Not hunger.
Not the relic's whisper.
Something human.
He gritted his teeth and growled, "I choose—ME."
Crimson light surged around him—
—but this time, it didn't belong to the apparition.
It belonged to him.
He ripped the creature's hand from his throat, chakra flaring so hard the mindscape cracked like glass under his feet.
The apparition recoiled for the first time.
Its voice warbled, distorted.
"Impossible…"
Kiyoshi rose slowly, eyes blazing—not wild, not corrupted, but controlled.
Balanced.
"You're not my future."
The apparition screeched.
"I AM YOUR REFLECTION!"
Kiyoshi stepped forward, fists glowing.
"Then I'll reshape the mirror."
He launched himself at the apparition—
—and the chapter ends as Kiyoshi lands the first true blow against his dark reflection, shattering part of its form.