Far from any village, a lone traveller walked an old forgotten path. He wore the body of a low-ranking Zenin sorcerer — middle-aged, plain-faced, black hair tied back, simple robes that drew no attention. Only someone who got very close would notice the line of stitches running neatly across the top of his head and the ancient, cold intelligence in his eyes.
Kenjaku had been moving for days. Rumours had finally reached him: two clans completely erased, a porcelain curse wearing a spinning crown of black shards, the Fly King now serving her, and one of the Hollow Blade's strongest men barely escaping alive. It was too interesting to ignore.
He stopped on a distant ridge and looked down at the Sando Estate. New stone walls, a half-rebuilt hall, and a swarm of fly curses hauling heavy beams like a trained labour crew. Himiko sat on her throne issuing calm orders while Kuro, still clearly hurting, directed everything with obvious irritation.
A slow smile spread across the stolen Zenin face.
"…How interesting."
He sank into the shadow of a tree and disappeared.
A few minutes later he watched from a closer ridge, hidden deep in the treeline behind several layers of subtle cursed-energy veils. He was being extremely careful. Himiko's senses were sharpening every day, Kuro's swarm patrolled wide areas, and those four council scouts were still lurking nearby.
Kenjaku kept his presence suppressed with centuries of experience. He observed Himiko on her throne and Kuro moving stiffly, the hole in his chest still leaking.
"She's not a normal curse," he murmured to himself. "A vengeful spirit born from pure human betrayal. Her own clan feared a woman in power and that fear created her. The timing isn't a coincidence either. The Gojo boy's Six Eyes have pushed the balance too far toward humanity. The world is correcting itself… and she's one of its answers."
He gave a quiet, layered chuckle.
"If one vengeful spirit has already evolved this far, more will follow soon. Stronger ones. The true Disaster Curses may wake earlier than planned. For now I'll let her grow. The stronger she becomes, the more useful she'll be later."
He stayed perfectly still, completely undetected, watching every small change in the estate.
As the sun dipped low, Kuro finally dropped the heavy stone he was carrying, green blood still seeping from the slowly-closing wound in his chest. He turned to Himiko with a tired buzz.
"O i, Queen. I never actually asked… how exactly did you beat that bastard after I got knocked out?"
Himiko lowered her scroll, one eyebrow raised.
"You were unconscious for a while," she said coolly. "When you went down I felt something… the same feeling I had when I first evolved. Like my judgement was spreading across everything around me, finding it all lacking."
She rose gracefully from her throne and stepped down into the courtyard.
"I had never done it on purpose before. That was the first time I consciously called it. The first time I truly understood what it was."
Kuro clicked his mandibles, waiting. When she stayed silent he pressed.
"So what actually happened?"
Himiko's expression didn't change. "The situation became… unacceptable. My power answered."
She refused to say she'd panicked. Her pride would never allow it.
"I awakened it in that moment," she continued, voice smooth. "Not through training. It simply came when it was needed."
Kuro let out a knowing buzz. "You're not gonna admit you lost your cool because I got dropped, are you?"
Himiko's crimson eye flicked toward him, cold and imperious. "I did what was necessary. Nothing more."
She paused, then added with that familiar arrogance, "Would you like to see it? I've never used it outside of battle before — consciously, at least."
Kuro scratched the back of his head, looking a little nervous. "…Yeah, alright. But keep it small. I don't want to get caught in whatever dropped that guy."
Himiko's lips curved into a small, dangerous smile.
"You were caught in it last time too," she said sweetly. "While you were unconscious."
Before he could step back she raised her hand.
"Domain Expansion: Court of Fractured Oaths."
A wave of freezing white porcelain surged from her feet like liquid glass, turning dirt and broken stone smooth and glossy in seconds. Several fly-heads froze mid-air, wings locked in place. Jagged black grudge-shard pillars erupted from the ground, thin and needle-like in some places, thick and twisted in others.
Kuro was engulfed instantly. He became a life-sized porcelain statue — wings half-flared, one clawed hand raised in protest, compound eyes frozen in pure betrayal.
Himiko stood breathing harder than usual, her crown spinning slowly. She let out a soft, amused laugh.
"Oh dear… I may have misjudged the range again."
She tilted her head, admiring her frozen general. "You do make a rather handsome statue."
The domain only lasted under thirty seconds. When it collapsed, the porcelain melted away, the black pillars crumbled, and Kuro staggered forward, shaking his head.
"That felt weird," he muttered. "Like something was judging me and deciding I wasn't good enough. There's more to it, isn't there? Something you haven't unlocked yet."
Himiko smiled, clearly pleased. "Very perceptive, General."
From the treeline the four observers sat frozen, their listening talisman glowing faintly in Gojo no Kenji's palm.
"She's casually training an incomplete domain like it's nothing," Kenji whispered.
Kamo no Jiro's face was pale. "Her clan had two techniques — Soul Fracture and the rarer Soul Sentencing. She clearly inherited Soul Fracture, but it's twisted now. That 'judged' feeling the Fly King described… that's a piece of Soul Sentencing. She's somehow merged both."
The Zenin scout swallowed. "An incomplete domain with no barrier, porcelain that freezes everything, and now this sense of judgement… we still don't fully understand what she's become."
Back over to Kenjaku's position….
His eyes gleamed with pure fascination. A small obsidian mirror floated beside his ear, silently carrying every word from the courtyard below.
"She's training an incomplete domain right in her own courtyard," he chuckled softly. "And even her own subordinate can feel himself being judged. She's somehow merged her clan's two techniques — Soul Fracture and Soul Sentencing — into something completely new. How delightful."
His unsettling smile widened.
"If one vengeful spirit born from human betrayal has already evolved this far, then the world's correction is speeding up. More curses will be born soon. Stronger ones. The true Disaster Curses may awaken earlier than I planned."
He gave a quiet, layered laugh.
"I'll let her grow for now. Let her build her little empire. The stronger she becomes, the more useful she'll be when the time comes."
The last light of the sun vanished. The observers' time was officially up.