The journey to the shrine was longer than Aiko remembered. As a child, she had wandered into the forgotten ruins without understanding their significance. Now, every step felt heavier, weighed down by the knowledge that the answers she sought might shatter everything she had believed about her lineage.
Ryou walked beside her, silent but vigilant. Through their bond, she could feel the tension coiling inside him, the same unease that gripped her. He was ready to fight, but this was a battle neither of them fully understood yet.
Mei trailed slightly behind, her usual commentary subdued as they approached the outskirts of Aiko's childhood village. The remnants of the shrine lay beyond it, past the mist-covered forest that no one dared enter.
They reached the treeline as dusk began to settle, the fading light casting eerie shadows through the ancient oaks. The air grew colder, thick with the scent of damp earth and something older—something that had been waiting for them.
"This place is cursed," Mei muttered. "You feel that, right?"
Aiko did. The closer they got, the more the air pulsed with unseen energy. It wasn't just magic—it was expectation.
Ryou placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. "We're not alone."
Aiko swallowed hard. The ruins loomed before them now, half-buried beneath years of neglect. The shrine's foundation was cracked, its wooden beams long since collapsed. But the carvings on the remaining stone—worn yet unmistakable—glowed faintly beneath the twilight.
She stepped forward, heart hammering. The whispers of the past pressed against her mind, teasing the edges of memory.
She touched one of the stones, and the world shifted.
A sudden wave of energy crashed over her, dragging her into another vision.
She stood in the shrine as it once was—whole, radiant, filled with flickering lanterns and the scent of incense. A figure stood at the altar, their back to her, robes flowing like liquid silver.
Then, they turned.
Aiko's breath caught in her throat.
It was her ancestor.
The same face from her vision at the Nexus. The one who had forced the Kyūbi to divide her power.
Their eyes locked, and this time, the vision did not fade.
"You were never meant to see this," the figure said, their voice echoing through the chamber.
Aiko's fingers curled into fists. "Why did you do it?"
The ancestor studied her for a long moment. "Because love makes fools of even the strongest. And power… power must be contained."
Aiko's chest ached, rage and sorrow twisting inside her. "You destroyed everything. You doomed me. You doomed him."
The ancestor's expression did not change. "The cycle must continue."
"No," Aiko whispered. "It ends now."
The vision shattered, and she gasped, stumbling back into the present. Ryou caught her before she fell, his grip steady, grounding.
"What did you see?" he asked, voice tight.
Aiko looked up at him, resolve hardening in her eyes. "The one who cursed us isn't gone." She exhaled sharply, bracing herself for the truth. "They've been waiting for us."
And with that, the final confrontation became inevitable.