The festival ended with fireworks and laughter echoing into the night sky. Raien stood on the edge of the square, arms crossed, watching the final shimmering burst of gold crack across the stars.
It should've felt perfect.
But something tugged at him—a cold breeze that didn't belong in the warm summer air. A distant flicker of dread. And a low hum in his chest that hadn't stirred since the day of the Trials.
"Do you feel it?""Yes," Raien whispered. "Something's wrong."
The Stranger
He saw the man before anyone else did.
A lone figure approaching from the forest path. Cloaked in black, his hood low over his face. His steps were calm. Measured. Too calm for someone arriving during a celebration.
Raien narrowed his eyes and instinctively moved toward Genzo, who stood near the elders.
"Someone's coming," Raien said quietly.
Genzo turned, following his gaze.
The stranger walked right into the square without hesitation. Though his robes were simple, there was an air of quiet power around him. The kind that made the crowd go silent without knowing why.
Only the crackling of the firepits remained.
Raien stepped forward.
"Evening," he called. "You're a little late to the party."
The man didn't smile.
"I wasn't invited."
"I do not like him,"Kyūbakko growled. "He stinks of blood and smoke."
Genzo stepped between them. "Who are you, traveler?"
The stranger finally pulled back his hood.
His face was lean and sharp. His eyes, a pale silver-gray that shimmered like moonlight on steel.
"My name is Kuroji," he said. "And I've come seeking the boy with the beast inside him."
Everyone Knows Now
Silence fell over the square.
Raien's stomach dropped. "You... know?"
Kuroji's eyes didn't leave him. "I know more than most. The Nine-Tail sealed inside you—it calls to me."
"He knows me by name," the fox hissed. "That's impossible."
Mei stepped beside Raien, her fists glowing faintly with wind magic. "How do you know what's inside him?"
Taro drew his short sword, uncharacteristically serious. "You'd better explain fast, old man."
Kuroji raised one hand. "I come not to fight… yet. But you are all living on borrowed peace. Something stirs in the East. Something that once bowed to the fox."
Raien's heart thudded.
Genzo's voice was sharp. "The fox has been sealed for over a decade. Nothing bows to him now."
Kuroji tilted his head. "Then you are more naive than I thought. Seals do not erase loyalty—they only delay it."
He turned to Raien again. "You are not the end of this story, boy. You are the beginning."
And then, without warning, he stepped back—and vanished into a cloud of black smoke.
Raien shouted and rushed forward, swinging out a flare of red energy—but there was nothing. No trace of the man. Not even a footprint.
Just the unsettling silence he left behind.
Unraveling
They gathered that night in Genzo's study—Raien, Mei, Taro, and Genzo himself. Candles flickered against the paper walls, casting long shadows as wind howled softly outside.
Raien sat with his arms around his knees, staring at the floor.
"He knew," he muttered. "He knew what I am."
"You're not a what," Mei said, sitting across from him. "You're still you."
"She is wrong," Kyūbakko said quietly. "I am becoming more of you, and you of me. The closer the seal breaks…"
"Enough," Raien snapped aloud.
Everyone looked at him.
"Sorry," he said, quieter. "It's just… the fox. He's been loud since that guy showed up."
"Did he say Kuroji?" Genzo asked.
Raien nodded.
Genzo sighed and poured tea. "That name is old. A shadow from before your time. Kuroji the Gray-Eyed was once part of the Empire's top spellblade corps. Vanished years ago during a war. Presumed dead. Looks like they were wrong."
Taro finally spoke. "What did he mean about something stirring in the East?"
Genzo didn't answer right away.
Then, quietly, he said, "Long ago, the Nine-Tail ruled over a cult called the Ash Fang. Fanatics who believed chaos brought strength. They were wiped out after the sealing... or so we thought."
Raien's blood ran cold. "You think they're back?"
"I think they never left," Genzo said grimly. "And now they've found their new prophet."
Sleepless
Raien couldn't sleep that night.
He lay staring at the ceiling, the flicker of moonlight casting pale streaks through the window. Kyūbakko whispered low in his head, a sound like wind stirring ancient leaves.
"They're calling to me, Raien. They know my scent. I do not like being hunted."
Raien closed his eyes. "Neither do I."
"Do you trust your master? The girl? The fool?"
"…Yes."
"Then you are lucky. But even the loyal will fear you when the storm comes."
Training Days and Awkward Moments
The next morning, Genzo had Raien up before sunrise.
"Time to sharpen what's dull," he said, tossing Raien a wooden sword.
"You do realize I fought an exploding tanuki two days ago."
"Then this'll be relaxing."
Mei joined them shortly after, clearly annoyed to be awake this early.
"Next time the fox goes berserk, you deal with it," she muttered at Raien.
He grinned. "You're just mad you got beat by a fish."
She launched a wind-blade that knocked him into a training dummy.
Taro showed up last, munching an apple and wearing training armor over his pajamas.
"Why am I here?"
"Because you need discipline," Genzo said.
"Yeah, but… I don't want discipline."
They sparred through sunrise, sweat pouring, laughter mingling with grunts of pain. For a while, it almost felt normal again.
Until Raien lost focus during a parry.
He caught Mei's strike with his palm—but for a second, his eyes flashed red. Heat surged. The fox's chakra bled through him in a pulse that cracked the air.
Everyone froze.
Mei stepped back, chest rising slowly. "You okay?"
Raien's breath hitched. "Yeah. Just slipped."
"You will slip more, soon."
A Vision in Smoke
That night, Raien dreamed.
He stood on a blackened plain under a bleeding red sky. Ash fell like snow. Mountains burned in the distance. And in front of him, chained to the earth, was the Nine-Tail himself—towering, monstrous, beautiful and terrible.
But something was different.
A shadow knelt before the beast, whispering in a forgotten tongue. Behind him stood a gathering of cloaked figures, each bearing a symbol: fangs over fire.
Raien stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
The kneeling man stood.
Kuroji.
"Your future," he said. "Or your doom."
The Nine-Tail's eyes opened.
"Awaken."
Raien jolted up, drenched in sweat.
The Council Meeting
Two days later, the village council gathered in the shrine hall. The elders, Genzo, and a few others met in secret to discuss what to do if the Ash Fang returned.
Raien stood outside, not allowed in.
Which was fine, except Taro had found snacks.
"You want some smoked squid?" he offered.
Raien shook his head. "No appetite."
Taro nodded, chewing. "Y'know… it's weird. I used to be scared of you. Back when you were glowing red and foaming at the mouth."
"Thanks, Taro."
"But then you beat up a magic fish for us. So I think we're good."
Mei snorted from behind a pillar. "That's the dumbest logic I've ever heard."
Raien chuckled. "Thanks, I guess."
Just then, Genzo came out, face like stone.
"The elders want to send word to the capital. We're requesting aid."
"And if aid doesn't come?" Raien asked.
Genzo met his eyes.
"Then we stand alone."
A Message in Flame
That night, a flaming arrow crashed into the southern watchtower.
The guard barely had time to shout before a figure darted into the night—masked, robed in black, wielding twin daggers.
Raien chased without thinking, vaulting over walls and roofs as Kyūbakko roared in his head.
"That mark on his blade—it belongs to the Ash Fang!"
The intruder darted into the woods, fast as shadow, but Raien kept pace. Red fire licked at his fingers. He was faster now. Stronger.
He launched a burst of foxfire at the attacker's feet.
Boom.
The figure stumbled, rolled, and vanished into a puff of smoke—vanishing like Kuroji.
Raien picked up the weapon left behind. A jagged obsidian dagger etched with burning runes.
This wasn't a dream anymore.
They were here.