Yuki's senses snapped tight as he fell through the rift—no air, no sound, only a cascade of shifting lights and shadows that wrapped around him like living smoke. His void aura flared instinctively, forming a faint bubble of stillness around his body.
When the spiral of darkness released him, Yuki found himself on a vast plain of obsidian glass. Above, the sky rippled with fractal patterns of violet and silver; below, each step echoed as if the ground spoke secrets. In the distance, a lone tower of black stone rose, crowned by a pulsing orb of shadow.
A voice like distant thunder rolled across the plain:
"Welcome, child of nothingness."
Yuki's breath caught—this was no hallucination. He focused, calling on his void senses. The words came from the tower itself. Tendrils of shadow snaked from its base, coiling around his feet. He barely managed to shrug them off, void chains dissolving the dark strands in a hiss.
Trial of Memories
Steeling himself, Yuki approached the tower. Its surface was etched with scenes from his past—his lonely childhood, his first clash with Nogitsune, flashes of Ren, Aiko, and Kai. As he touched the stone, each memory played in vivid relief. Joy, pain, love, anger—all emotions surged together, threatening to overwhelm him.
A whisper curled around his mind: "All must be sacrificed to embrace true power."
Yuki clenched his teeth. He closed his eyes and let the memories wash over him without fear, anchoring himself to every friendship and bond he'd forged. With a roar, he expelled a burst of void energy, shattering the memory-lit surface and revealing a hidden doorway.
Face of the Eidolon
Inside the tower's hollow, Yuki descended a spiral ramp until he reached a chamber of suspended light. At its center floated the Eidolon, a form both formless—an inky mass flecked with starlight, its "face" a shifting mosaic of forgotten dreams.
"You stand before the Eidolon," it intoned. "I am born of fear and pain. Will you claim my power, or will you destroy me?"
The chamber trembled as the Eidolon's aura collided with Yuki's void, warping the space. The walls pulsed with every heartbeat, and Yuki felt his own fears echo in the creature's voice.
"I… will not slaughter what I am," Yuki declared, voice steady. "Nor will I be consumed."
He extended both hands, channeling his void into a spiral of light and darkness. The Eidolon recoiled, then calmed, its form distilling into a single orb of pure shadow.
"Then we are bound," it whispered, drifting toward Yuki's chest. "I shall lend you my sight beyond the veil—and feed on your courage so neither of us falters."
A New Power
When Yuki opened his eyes again, the orb hovered before him like a dark star. He felt threads of ancient energy weaving into his aura—clarity of the unseen, strength born from collective memory.
Behind him, the tower's entrance glowed. He stepped out onto the obsidian plain, now transformed: the fractured sky smoothed into a dome of starlight, and the shadowy tendrils retracted in respect.
With renewed purpose, Yuki pressed his hand to the rift's edge. The portal shimmered, beckoning him home. As he crossed the threshold, he carried more than void power—he carried the Eidolon's pact, a silent guardian of memory and fear.
Back at camp, moonlight filtered through the trees. Ren, Aiko, and Kai awaited him by the rune circle, worry etched on their faces. At Yuki's approach, relief swept through them.
Ren grasped his shoulder. "Did you find it?"
Yuki looked skyward, the Eidolon's orb pulsing faintly at his back. "More than I could imagine," he replied. "And now, we prepare—for Madara doesn't fight alone, and neither will we."