[Scene: Hōzuki Clan Compound – Private Chamber]
The chamber was dim, lit only by a single lantern that flickered against polished stone walls. In the center sat Lord Shibuki Hōzuki, the current clan head—an older shinobi with silver hair tied back into a warrior's knot and eyes like deep tidepools: slow-moving, but deadly.
Shiroku knelt before him, posture stiff, hands pressed to his thighs. His lip was split, and a faint bruise shadowed one cheek—remnants of the duel.
The silence dragged on.
Finally, Shibuki spoke—his voice smooth, but sharp-edged:
"You lost."
Shiroku clenched his jaw. "Yes, Clan Head."
"To an unproven boy. A crystal-wielding outsider. You know how that reflects on our bloodline?"
"I held back. It was Academy-sanctioned. No killing allowed."
Shibuki's gaze narrowed.
"Don't insult me. I watched the footage. You didn't hold back. You got read—countered. Outmaneuvered."
Shiroku bit back a retort. His hands curled into fists.
Shibuki stood and walked slowly toward the scroll wall. Dozens of names were inscribed there—ancestors, masters, killers.
"We're Hōzuki. Water incarnate. Our techniques are feared because they're precise. Fluid. Cold. You fought like someone with something to prove, not someone protecting a legacy."
A long pause.
Then Shibuki turned, voice lowering.
"You don't get to be just a student. Every mistake you make in public marks all of us. That crystal boy didn't just defeat you—he wounded the clan's name."
Shiroku stared downward. "I understand."
"Do you?"
Shibuki stepped closer, crouched eye-level.
"Then understand this too: he's more than a fluke. That boy was crafted. Someone's trained him outside of the Academy. He's dangerous—and he's not finished growing. Watch him."
"Should I… retaliate?"
That earned a dry chuckle.
"No. If you kill him now, the elders will see it as fear. Weakness hiding behind violence."
"But if you surpass him… if you rise, and he doesn't? That restores honor."
He turned away, pausing at the door.
"You're still my heir, Shiroku. But stop fighting like a child. Start fighting like a Hōzuki."
[Cutaway – Clan Head's Private Thought]
As Shiroku left in silence, the old clan head lingered by the window, watching the mist drift over the courtyard.
"A crystal boy, born from nothing, defeats my blood…"
His fingers traced the name "Mangetsu Hōzuki" on the ancestor wall.
"Maybe this generation won't be so simple after all."
[Parallel Scene – Academy Library]
Back at the Academy, Riku sits with scrolls and diagrams spread before him, Kōten perched on his shoulder like a sentinel. He's studying sealing theory and elemental polarity, cross-referencing ideas for how to better fuse Crystal Release with chakra flow mapping.
He doesn't know that he's being watched—not just by his peers, but by clan eyes, old eyes, who now see him as more than a fluke.
As he turns a page, he mutters under his breath:
"I need to grow faster. Stronger. That last duel… was just the beginning."
END