The graves stood in a crooked line, freshly carved into the earth. Yuuchi knelt in front of them, dirt clinging to his hands, tears drying on his cheeks as the dawn light stretched across the sky. He had buried his family with trembling hands—his siblings, his father—and the last one… his mother. A woman he once looked up to, now lost to corruption.
She had been turned into a shadow demon. And he—her son—had been forced to end her suffering with his own blade.
As he stood up, steeling himself for the long journey to the Yami village in search of answers, the world around him seemed to still. Then came a sound: the soft rustle of cloth. A man emerged from the trees, robed and silent, his chakra unfamiliar—flickering between shadow and flame.
Yuuchi's instincts flared. In one fluid motion, he drew a kunai and hurled it forward. The man dodged easily, his movements calm, fluid. Another strike, another effortless deflection. In the blink of an eye, he had Yuuchi pinned to the ground, one knee on his chest—not harshly, but firmly.
"Listen, kid," the man said, voice low and even. "I'm not here to hurt you. I know what happened… to your mom. To your whole family."
"Get off me!" Yuuchi snapped, struggling against him. "What could you possibly say to help me? Can you bring my mother back from the dead?"
The man sighed and slowly released him. "It's not that simple. Your mother was a weak shadow user. That weakness allowed the corruption to fester, to turn her into what you saw. But it's not the end of her story—not if you let me help."
Yuuchi sat up, breathing hard, eyes burning. "Help? Who are you?"
"I'm from the Hirokage Clan," the man said, stepping back and letting Yuuchi catch his breath. "We weren't always outcasts. Long ago—during the Golden Age of the Yami, before I was even born—my ancestors served as elite shadow users."
He lifted a hand and conjured a flickering flame, dark at the edges but bright at its core. "By blending fire chakra with shadow chakra, we discovered a balance. A way to purify the shadow, not be consumed by it. That's what our Blazing Veil Technique does—it cleanses unstable shadow energy before it turns someone into a demon."
Yuuchi stared, still shaken. "Why haven't I heard of you?"
"Because the Yami thought we were spreading lies," the man replied, his voice firm. "When we tried to warn them—tried to share what we'd discovered—they called us heretics and banished us. We've stayed hidden in the Ember Range ever since, working in secret to create a full cure for shadow corruption."
The man extended his hand.
"Come with me to our headquarters. Bring your mother's body. We can try. I can't promise anything, but I can promise this—we won't give up on her."
Yuuchi trembled, caught between despair and hope. His throat tightened as emotion welled up inside him.
"How… how can I trust you?" he asked.
The man's answer came without hesitation. "You don't," he said simply. "You just have to have faith."
Yuuchi let the tears fall as he gently lifted his mother's body into his arms.
"…Fine," he whispered. "Where do we start?"
Katakuichi's incorruptibility is still incredibly special, because:
He was born with it—a natural, passive immunity. The Hirokage Clan can only treat or delay corruption in others, not grant immunity.
Their cure is unreliable—the Blazing Veil can purify some unstable users, but it doesn't work on everyone, especially advanced or near-demonic cases.
The Hirokage technique is rare and secret—most of the world, including the Yami Clan and even Kuzi Endo's forces, either don't believe in them or think the technique is a myth.
Chernobog himself values Katakuichi above all—if the god of shadows considers him the "True Vessel," that implies something beyond just resisting corruption—possibly spiritual resonance or bloodline fate.
His incorruptibility is perfect—while Hirokage treatments lessen or delay the effects, Katakuichi's chakra never shifts, even under intense pressure or when using forbidden techniques.
"We needed fire to burn the corruption out of us... pain, sacrifice, countless failures. But he—that boy Katakuichi—he was born untouched. No torment. No trial. Just purity. It's not a gift. It's a warning. Even Chernobog waits in silence for what he might become."
He is the proof that some shadows were never meant to corrupt."
"The Hirokage clan burns their own bodies just to silence the shadows," Shidou murmured, his thoughts heavy. "But Katakuichi... he was born in silence—untouched, untainted. While the Hirokage fight endlessly to control their corruption, he simply exists. That is what makes him truly dangerous."