The wind howled across the abandoned mountain plateau, high above the forests and ruins where no man dared tread. Lightning danced in the distance, painting the sky in ghostly blues. A storm was coming. But it wasn't nature's fury that shook the air — it was Riku's.
He stood at the cliff's edge, shirtless, his tall frame barely flinching against the violent gale. Cursed energy pulsed from his body in rhythmic waves, making the earth tremble beneath him. His golden eyes were focused, sharp, and unblinking. His silver hair whipped wildly, almost like it too was alive.
He raised his hand toward the heavens.
And then snapped his fingers.
With that single gesture, a spark erupted in the sky above — not lightning, but cursed fire.
A sphere of black flame hovered above his palm, glowing with sickly crimson veins, churning like it had a soul of its own. The air around it distorted violently, as if even light refused to be near.
"Still too unstable," Riku muttered, narrowing his eyes. "It wants to consume indiscriminately."
This wasn't ordinary fire.
This was Sukuna's Flame — a cursed technique born of divine destruction, a blaze capable of incinerating souls and matter alike. And now it was his to command.
But command was the key.
The last time he'd let it go freely, it vaporized half a hillside.
"Focus," he told himself, feeling the fire push against his control like a rabid animal. "It's not just about strength. It's about will."
The fire flared again — sensing weakness. It sought to erupt.
Riku responded instantly.
He stomped once.
From his shadow, Max Elephant emerged, massive and majestic. It let out a bellow, then released a tidal wave of water from its trunk — smashing directly into the fireball.
Sizzle. Steam. Explosion.
The cursed fire resisted.
But it bent.
It didn't vanish — it compressed, pulled tighter into Riku's palm, smaller, denser.
"Good…" he whispered, sweat beading on his brow. "That's it. Submit."
He closed his fingers around the orb.
And for the first time… it didn't fight him.
It obeyed.
Riku smiled.
"Progress."
He let the flame vanish in a puff of smoke, and Max Elephant faded back into the shadow.
Then came a sudden shift in the air.
Riku's body tensed.
Something was nearby.
He turned his head slightly, golden eyes scanning the plateau.
A cursed spirit — stronger than the one from days before. Tall, bipedal, with spindly arms and a face full of stitched-shut mouths. Its cursed energy was rancid, bitter. It had been feeding on humans recently.
Riku rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles.
"Perfect timing."
The spirit screeched and lunged — unnaturally fast for its size.
Riku didn't move.
Instead, his shadow rippled, and Toad burst forth, catching the cursed spirit mid-air with its massive tongue. The creature thrashed wildly, trying to free itself, but it was held tight.
"I need to test something," Riku said coolly.
He raised two fingers and sliced them across his chest.
Blood trickled down — activating a binding vow.
"By pain, I amplify precision," he chanted.
Suddenly, a second technique layered atop his aura — clean, surgical, Cleave.
Riku blurred.
In a flash, he was in front of the spirit.
He tapped its forehead gently.
"Cleave."
The creature split in half from head to toe, falling silently in two symmetrical halves. No scream. No resistance. Just clean, instant death.
Riku exhaled slowly, his chest burning from the vow's toll. He wasn't invincible — but his power was growing clearer with each battle. Each technique, each success, made the pieces fit tighter together.
He looked at the remains and knelt beside them.
The spirit's soul lingered, barely conscious.
But instead of destroying it, Riku did something else.
He placed a hand on the fractured soul… and channeled reverse cursed energy into it.
"You were a monster," he murmured, "but even monsters have stories. Find peace in the next life."
The soul shimmered… and was gone.
The wind fell silent again.
He stood, brushing his hand through his hair. Blood still trickled from the cut across his chest, but his regeneration was already stitching it closed.
"Cursed fire… Cleave… Ten Shadows… All aligning."
He smiled to himself, but his smile was laced with something deeper now — hunger. Not just for power. But for meaning.
"Three years," he whispered. "That's all I have before they come."
He looked up at the storm clouds gathering.
"Before Momo Ayase enters my life. Before Aira. Before the others. Before this world tears open."
He turned and began walking down the mountain, cursed energy wrapping around his body like a cloak of invisible flame.
"I need to be more than strong."
Lightning cracked behind him.
"I need to be unshakable."
As he descended, the shadows beneath his feet twisted joyfully. The Ten Shadows danced. The fire inside him purred.
And in the distance… something ancient watched him.
From beneath the crust of the world.
A presence.
A voice, buried deep.
"Soon, my heir… soon, you'll awaken all of me."