The wind howled across the cliffs of Kuroda Village, scattering dust and old prayers carved into stone.
Children gathered near the shrine square, faces bright with excitement, hands pressed together as the elders prepared for the Chakra Awakening Ceremony.
For every twelve-year-old, this was the day their destiny would unfold.
Their chakra, the living light within would finally show itself.
Everyone except Raen.
"Step forward, Kuroda Raen," Elder Suna's voice rang clear through the hall.
Raen's hands were trembling, though he hid them behind his back. The other children whispered from behind him.
"That's the boy with no flow."
"I heard his father tried to Awaken him and died."
"Maybe he's cursed."
Raen swallowed. He'd heard it all before, but today the words felt sharper. He stepped into the circle drawn on the wooden floor, faint symbols glowing faintly in the dust.
Elder Suna dipped her brush into sacred ink. "Focus your breath. Feel the energy in your chest. Let it answer you."
Raen closed his eyes.
He did as he was told -inhaling, reaching deep within himself.
Nothing.
He tried again. Harder. He imagined a spark, a current, a warmth.
Still nothing.
Around him, the other initiates had already lit their chakra circles ,golden flames, blue ripples, flickering silver winds.
Raen's circle stayed cold.
A nervous murmur rippled through the hall. Elder Suna's lips thinned.
"Try again," she said softly, though her eyes had already decided.
Raen clenched his fists. "I… I can do it. Please, just ...."
He pressed his palms together, desperate, calling out to anything inside him.
A sudden pulse burst from the ground.
The inked circle hesh....cracked.
The air shimmered. The light around the other children dimmed, flickering like dying candles. Their chakra flared, then vanished.
Gasps echoed. One boy fell to his knees, coughing. His glowing hands had gone dull gray.
Elder Suna staggered back. "What..... what did you do?"
Raen froze, eyes wide. "I.... I didn't"
The elder raised her staff, fear plain in her trembling voice.
"your chakra..… it's gone. You've taken it from them!"
"I didn't mean to!" Raen shouted. His chest felt hollow, his vision swimming.
From the corner, a man's voice shouted, "Keep him away from my son!"
"Monster!"
"Curse child!"
The words crashed into him harder than any blow.
Raen stumbled out of the circle, heat rising in his eyes, not chakra, but tears.
Outside, the sky was gray and empty.
He ran down the shrine steps, through the muddy path, past the homes where curtains shut quickly as he passed.
By the time he reached the edge of the village, his throat burned.
He stopped beside the old river where he used to train.
He whispered to the water, "Why can't I be like them?" "Why can't I be normal?"
The river only looked back, cold and uncaring.
He picked up a stone and threw it hard. It skipped once, then vanished beneath the surface.
A figure stepped from behind a tree, an old man in tattered robes, silver hair bound by a faded cord.
"You shouldn't throw stones at the river," he said with a faint smile. "It never throws them back."
Raen spun, startled. "Who are you?"
The old man chuckled. "Just someone who's been watching the flow for a long, long time. You… you made quite the noise up there, boy."
Raen's eyes narrowed. "If you're here to call me cursed, get in line."
"Cursed?" The man laughed softly. "No. You've done something… impossible."
He knelt, tracing a circle in the dirt with a fingertip. "Every soul has chakra flowing through it, like threads of light. But you…" He looked up, eyes gleaming. "You are the space between the threads."
Raen blinked. "The space?"
The man nodded. "Where others shape chakra, you erase it. You break the flow. That's why the others' light dimmed when you tried to awaken."
Raen stepped back. "You're saying I'm broken."
"No." The old man's voice was gentle but firm. "I'm saying you are different. You were born to understand something no one else can."
"Who are you?" Raen asked again, heart pounding.
The man smiled faintly. "A wanderer. Call me Kaien. And if you wish… I can show you what lies beyond chakra."
Raen hesitated, glancing back toward the village. He could still hear the echoes.... monster, curse, mistake.
He looked forward again. Kaien's hand was outstretched, calm, patient.
Raen took it.
And for the first time in his life, he felt something,
not light, not heat
but peace.
"The day the boy without light met the man who walked in shadow… the world began to change."