Chapter 118 — Reunion Within the Soul
Inside the depths of Kakashi's mind, the chaos began to still.
The storm of memories faded into a vast white expanse — silent, endless, weightless.
Two figures stood there.
One was Kakashi — the man he was now, the one from the present world.
The other was a man around eighteen, dressed in the royal armor of Liminal Expanse — silver and blue, faintly cracked but still radiant with divine light.
It was His Highness — not the maddened shadow from the memories, but calm and composed, like someone who had finally stepped out of darkness and found peace within the light.
Kakashi looked at him quietly.
"So, you're finally in your right mind now?"
His Highness gave a faint smile. "More or less. Those two helped me from losing control completely."
Kakashi tilted his head slightly. "Those two?"
"The users of the Hematite and Heliodor Gems," His Highness said softly. "They were my closest friends… the ones who reached for me even when I was beyond saving. Without them, I would've never come back from the madness."
Kakashi's expression softened slightly. "And Akira?"
His Highness paused before answering, his tone gentler now.
"Yes. He is the Crown Prince — the same one from our past. But his memories are sealed… most likely by the Creators themselves."
Kakashi crossed his arms. "And how are you planning to remove that seal?"
"The 5th Prince can do that," His Highness replied.
Kakashi frowned. "How?"
His Highness grew quiet for a moment, his gaze lifting toward the endless white above them.
"I believe you're the fragment — the part of my soul that wasn't corrupted. That's why you aren't under the same influence that once controlled me."
Kakashi blinked slowly. "You mean, you expected this to happen?"
"In a way, yes." His Highness's voice softened. "Back then — when the Crown Prince had already fallen and the ten Gems were about to be given to the 5th Prince — I sensed something was terribly wrong. The Goshenite Gem… the one the Crown Prince used before his death… I had wielded it once, before him."
He closed his eyes briefly, memories flickering like faint light across his face.
"After he died, I brought the Gem to the 5th Prince. When I came into contact with him, my mind — which had been drowning in rage — suddenly cleared. I realized then that something had been controlling me… and not just me. Many others had fallen under the same unseen power."
His expression turned distant, shadowed by regret.
"To prevent that darkness from consuming everything again, I made a choice. I cut a piece of my soul — the purest part — and sent it into the cycle of reincarnation. That fragment became you, Kakashi Hatake."
Kakashi stared at him silently, realization dawning in his eyes.
His Highness met his gaze and smiled faintly.
"And now, at last, I've come to my senses — because you exist separately. Because that fragment — you — survived in a world untouched by Empyrean Schism."
The light around them began to pulse softly, rippling like the surface of a calm lake.
His Highness extended his hand toward Kakashi.
"Now… it's time to become one again."
Kakashi hesitated. He could feel the truth of those words deep within him — the call of his own soul.
The two of them stood face-to-face — the man he was, and the one he used to be.
And as their hands finally met, the world of white began to shimmer — merging light and shadow into one whole.
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