and Kujo stand in front of the old man, sleepy-eyed but alert.
Old Man:“You’ve promised. Now prove it. Today, I will test something far more important than your strength—your instinct.”
Ren:“Wait, instinct?”
Kujo:“You mean like a surprise test?”
Old Man (smirking):“Something like that.”
He waves his hand—and vanishes into the forest mist.
[Deep in the woods – eerie silence]
Ren and Kujo walk cautiously.
Kujo (quietly):“Do you think this is part of the test?”
Ren:“I don’t like this… something feels off.”
Suddenly, a twisted beast—almost shadow-like but with glowing ribs and jagged horns—bursts from the trees, roaring.
It looks real. Too real. It charges them, growling like it’s out for blood.
Kujo:“Run?!”
Ren (gritting teeth):“No. This is the test.
Strategy in action
Ren dives behind a fallen tree. Kujo climbs a low branch.
Kujo (whispers):“I’ll distract. You hit from behind.”
Ren (nods):“Wait for the roar… that’s when it’s blind.”
Action begins
The monster charges at Kujo—he jumps down and yells. It turns and lunges.
Ren throws a rock to distract it, then uses a branch to hit its back leg. It stumbles.
Kujo slams a stick across its side. The creature shrieks, twitches—and vanishes into smoke.
Hidden vantage point
The old man, hidden behind a thick tree, watches everything.
Old Man (thinking):
“They didn’t run. They didn’t rely on power… they used each other. Strategy. Calm. I think... I’ve found them. These are warriors.”
Back at the clearing – evening
Ren and Kujo return, panting.
Old Man (reappears from shadows):“You didn’t die. That’s good.”
Kujo:“Was that… real?”
Old Man:“Real enough to kill you. But you didn’t let it.”
Ren (serious):“So now what?”
The man walks forward and places his hand on both their heads.
Old Man (firm):“Now I teach you the true language. But beware…”
He points to the scar on Ren’s neck, faint but glowing faintly black.
Old Man:“You’ve already been marked by the darkness. If you lose control… the language will devour you first.”
Stars above, cave glowing from inside
Inside the cave, strange symbols swirl on the walls, responding to the boys’ presence.morning fog hangs over the pond like a veil. The surface is completely still, reflecting the grey sky. Birds chirp distantly. The old man leads Ren and Kujo silently to the edge of the water.
He kneels by the pond, dips two fingers in, and lifts a single droplet into the air. It floats unnaturally between his fingers.
Old Man (calm):
“This is Kutsu. The world listens… if your thoughts speak clearly.”
He closes his eyes and thinks of something good—a memory perhaps, or a deep emotion. The droplet turns golden, glowing warmly, softly vibrating.
Kujo (whispers):“…What the hell…”
Old Man (still calm):
“Now watch again.”
He takes another droplet. His eyes narrow. His expression shifts. Dark. Cold. His brow tenses—and the droplet suddenly turns black, sizzles into thin smoke.
Ren (staring):“…So Kutsu changes with our thoughts?”
The old man stands, slowly wiping his hand.
Old Man (firm):
“Kutsu is not for the strong. It is for the calm. For those who know how to feel without drowning.”
“If you do not master your own emotion... Kutsu will master you instead.”
[ Ren and Kujo try it themselves]
Ren kneels by the pond. He thinks about the drawing his sister once made for him before she died. He thinks of her laugh. Her voice.
A droplet rises. It glows dim gold.
But then—he remembers her final scream, the day the shadows took her.
The gold flickers—then the droplet bursts into smoke.
Ren gasps, clenching his fist. His neck scar pulses faintly.
Old Man (watching closely):
“You’re already tainted. The darkness wants your thoughts. You must not let it feed.”
[ Kujo tries next]
Kujo closes his eyes. He thinks of his brother. Not his death—but the times they sat together by a lake, fishing in silence. His breathing slows.
A droplet rises. Glows. Then gently falls back into the pond—unchanged.
Old Man (nods):
“Balanced. Not glowing. Not dark. But stable.”
“That... is the beginning of control.”
[The warning]
The old man steps into the pond barefoot. The water ripples unnaturally around him.
Old Man:
“You will learn three levels of Kutsu.”
1. Whispering Kutsu – Manipulating small elements (like droplets or dust).
2. Spoken Kutsu – Commanding objects and minds with thought-born words.
3. True Kutsu – Words that alter reality itself.
He pauses and looks directly at Ren.
Old Man (lower voice):
“But the deeper you go, the more your soul is exposed. If your emotions are wild—if your pain controls you—Kutsu will not obey…”
“It will break you.”
[ around the campfire]
Kujo and Ren sit beside the fire, silent. The old man meditates under the stars.
Kujo (to Ren):“You okay?”
Ren (softly):“She’s still in my head. I try to think of good things, but they’re always mixed with blood.”
Kujo:“Then let’s clean them. One memory at a time.”
Ren looks at Kujo—then slowly smiles, just a little.
[POV from the Trees]
But something is watching them from the darkness. A shadowed figure—its eyes glowing dull red.
It whispers something… the word "Kutsu", but warped and corrupted.
Narrator (Old Man’s voice):
> “To awaken the Kutsu — the truth beneath the soul — one must first tear away the illusion of self.”
A cold mist rolls off the lake’s surface, rising like ghostly fingers curling into the sky. Trees stand silent in the half-light, birds barely stirring. The mountains that encase the valley echo with a quiet, eerie stillness. No footsteps, no conversation. Only breath.
It’s been two years.
Ren and Kujo stand at the edge of the frozen river, stripped to the waist, bodies hardened by daily brutality. They are no longer boys. Their muscles coil like drawn steel cables, their eyes dulled of comfort. Yet something flickers behind their gaze — a storm held in chains.
[5:00 AM – The Path of Endurance]
The horn sounds — a low boom across the valley.
Without a word, they take off sprinting barefoot across stone, ice, thorns, and hidden roots. Twenty kilometers. Every morning.
Their feet bleed. Legs tremble.
They do not stop.
Kujo (panting, eyes forward):“We’re faster. The hills look shorter now.”
Ren (stone-faced):“No, we just suffer quieter.”
They reach the other side — a rusted bell nailed into a tree stump. They slap it with trembling hands. Their reward?
One banana each. No water.
The old man nods from afar.
> “You’ll eat when your soul is hungry enough to kill your stomach.”
[7:30 AM to Noon – The Pushup Oath]
Back at the stone platform behind the cabin, they begin the daily ritual.
10,000 pushups.
But with every hundred, they must speak a name of someone they vow to protect.
Ren (softly):“…Sena… Yuu… my mother… Aki…”Kujo:“…Fuyu… Rin… our people…”
Their voices break around 6,000. Tears mix with sweat. Arms quiver, backs bend, muscles scream.
They push further.
The sky bleeds from blue to white. The sun rises, indifferent.
[Aura Control – The Cave of Stillness]
Inside a dark underground cavern, they kneel under a dome of obsidian rock. The old man sits in front of them, radiating a quiet, choking aura — like gravity turned violent.
Ren clutches his chest. His scar pulses — the one gifted by the demon. It feels like the blackness is crawling into it.
Kujo vomits blood but clenches his fists and stays seated.
Old Man (without emotion):
“If your aura cannot survive mine, you’ll shatter in front of real darkness.The world won't wait for your strength to grow.”
For four hours, they sit under the crushing aura — sweat pooling, breath uneven.
And every day, it gets heavier.
[Nightfall – 100,000 Sit-Ups Under Moonlight]
They begin as the moon rises — a silver blade above them.
100,000 sit-ups. No assistance. No time limit. But no sleep allowed.
The cold numbs their backs. Their necks cramp. Ren’s nose bleeds. Kujo’s lips crack and tremble.
If either of them passes out, they're thrown into a frozen lake to wake up.
Ren (at 47,000):“My body… it stopped moving.”
Kujo (voice dull):“Then move with your anger.”
They don’t stop.
[Fire Ant Discipline – The Insect Meditation]
At 3:00 AM, they kneel inside a rotting forest clearing, lit only by the pale light of fungus and fireflies.
Fire ants crawl onto their bodies — face, neck, stomach, eyelids. They itch. Bite. Burn.
They must not react.Not even blink.
Any twitch resets the timer.
They remain still as statues, even as blood trails trickle down their backs.
Kujo (in his mind):
> “Pain is nothing.It’s screaming is what gives it power.”
[The Bear Trial – The Apex of Fear]
Once a week — a ritual designed not to build strength, but conquer fear.
The old man unleashes a mountain bear — massive, primal, hungry.
Ren and Kujo must stand in its path. Not to fight.Not to dodge.To not move.
If they flinch, they repeat the trial for a full month.
The first time, Ren flinched.The second, Kujo blinked.
Now — they don’t breathe.
The bear snorts inches from their faces. Snarls. Then walks away.
Old Man:
> “Your aura must taste like death. Then, beasts will bow to you.”
[Flashback – Breaking Point]
On the 300th day, Kujo collapsed.
Shivering, fevered, curled in a fetal position near the training altar.
Kujo:“I’m not built for this. I was a boy with a flute… a dreamer…”
Ren (kneeling beside him, gripping his shoulder):“You were a boy. That boy died.What stands now is the one who’ll awaken Kutsu.Don’t you dare mourn your weakness.”
Kujo grits his teeth, weeping silently.
He stands the next morning, covered in frost — eyes blazing.
[The New Them – Present Day]
Scene: Lakeside, 2 years later
The water around them ripples unnaturally. Without touching it, droplets hover in the air — their aura finally responding to will, not emotion.
Ren breathes calmly. His aura pulses — red and silver.Kujo’s hums black and gold, swirling like a storm tethered by will.
They kneel before the Old Man.
He looks at them quietly. For the first time, he seems smaller — older.
Old Man (softly):
> “It’s time.”
Ren:“…Time for what?”
Old Man (with a slow exhale):
“Time for you to leave this mountain.This is all I can give you. I have no more techniques, no more trials.The rest… lies beyond me. It lies in the world. In your choices.”
Kujo (hesitant):“You’re… saying we’re ready?”
Old Man:
“No. You’re not ready.But you’ve survived what others could not.That means something.That means… you might endure what’s to come.”
Ren:“…So this was never about finishing something. It was about becoming someone who keeps going.”
Old Man (finally smiling):
“Exactly.”
[ Departure]
Ren and Kujo pack their things — what little they have. Old worn boots. A scarf. A scroll. Nothing flashy. Nothing sacred. Just scars, experience, and the fire inside.
They step onto the worn path at the mountain’s base.
Kujo (quietly):“…Feels strange. No screaming. No cold air hitting my lungs.”
Ren (smirks):“Feels like freedom.”
Old Man (from the ridge above, shouting):
“Don’t thank me.Thank yourselves… if you survive what’s next.”
They look up.
Bow slightly.
Then disappear into the mist.
[Closing Narration]
Old Man (voiceover):
> “You’ve survived training.Now survive the world.”
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