The mountain wind carried screams through the night — some were of fire, some of fate. The moon hung above Mount Kaguya like a single, watchful eye, its pale light gleaming over rivers of molten rock that bled down the slopes, whispering the sound of suffering.At the peak, Master Masauru stood, still as stone, his cloak snapping in the wind. Behind him, a young warrior climbed the cliff path, bleeding, gasping, alive through sheer defiance.That warrior was Yuto Hinata.His clothes hung in blackened shreds, flesh burned and scarred, but his eyes glowed with molten gold — the mark of the Sun Eyes. Masauru turned when Yuto reached the summit, expression hard but proud."You've come far," he said. "But the true fire awaits. You'll face Fire Legend Yuki — Guardian of the Sun Path."Yuto bowed, burned hands trembling. "I'm ready, Master. Even if I die trying."The Arrival at Kazan FallsThey crossed the burning valleys where lava carved blood‑red rivers and ash choked the air. By the time they reached Kazan Plateau, the heat alone could cook flesh from bone. Seven colossal torches surrounded the altar where Yuki waited — his white cloak stained with soot, his hair glowing like living flame.Yuki smiled faintly. "Yuto Hinata… I thought you'd be taller."The air warped around his voice. Masauru's hand rested on his sword. "He's the one who awakened the Sun Eyes fighting the Devil of Shadows. He survived death's bite."Yuki's grin vanished. "Then let's see if he can survive the Sun's."The Book of YokoOn the altar rested a massive tome bound in scales that shone like the inside of a forge. Yuki opened it, and molten glyphs erupted into the air.The fire spoke in tongues older than time:"Push the heart of the mountain.
Walk among the flames.
Breathe only once each day.
Wield the eternal blade.
Awaken the eyes that see within fire."The symbols burned themselves into Yuto's vision, searing flesh and mind as one.He didn't scream.Masauru only nodded. "Let the trials begin."The Trial of the RockThe wind screamed down the cliffs like a tortured god. Before Yuto stood a boulder vast as a fortress. Moss and scars covered its face like the remains of dead warriors."Push it," Yuki said flatly.He blinked, disbelief breaking through exhaustion. "This? No one could move it.""Exactly," Yuki replied, eyes sharp as molten glass. "Move it, or die trying. Only when your will burns brighter than flame will it yield."He pressed both palms against the cold stone. Instantly, the heat of the mountain sank into him. Skin blistered, tendons screamed. The rock didn't move.Again. Again. Again. Days dissolved into agony. Blood smeared across ash. When his body collapsed, he crawled. When he crawled, he cursed the gods.Every sunset burned against his wounds, every sunrise mocked him. Yet somewhere between pain and madness, the words of his dead mother returned — The sun always rises again… even if it dies first.His tears boiled on his skin.On the sixty‑third dawn, steam curled from his arms. The veins in his hands glowed orange. He roared, slamming his palms into the rock. The mountain shook. Cracks raced across the surface like lightning.The stone moved — barely an inch, but the sound was thunder.Yuki stepped back, stunned. "No one has ever—"Yuto fell onto his knees, laughing through blood. "Then I'm the first."The Season of FireMonths passed. Every day, Yuto trained until his flesh peeled, until fire became air. He fought burning illusions birthed by Yuki's sorcery. He carried volcanic logs across rivers of ash until his bones screamed.Winter came. Snow melted on his skin before it touched him.Under the crimson sky, he pushed the rock again — twenty inches this time. His vision blackened. He collapsed. But when he opened his eyes, the sunset looked like his mother's smile.Yuki knelt beside him. "The fire's learning your name."Yuto smiled faintly. "Then I'll earn its respect."The Sun TempleYuzi appeared one night — cloaked in shadow, eyes bright as coals. "Enough physical trials," he said. "You've mastered endurance. Now face truth."Inside the Sun Temple, fire lived as if alive. The instant Yuto stepped forward, his body ignited. Flesh charred, lungs filled with smoke. He fell screaming into the dust."Again," Yuki ordered coldly."I can't breathe in there," Yuto gasped."Then learn to breathe fire," Yuzi said.Day after day, he burned. Every breath was razors. Every heartbeat, lightning.But when the ancient monk Yoko appeared, the fire finally listened."You fight against the flame," said Yoko, his voice like wind in cinders. "You must let it pass through you. The sun burns, yes — but it gives life too."So Yuto surrendered. He stopped fighting. Let the fire crawl his veins, eat his pain, carve his fear into light.By the twelfth sunrise, his screams ended. He sat amid the inferno, unburning. Gold veins coursed under his skin like rivers of dawn. The temple trembled.He opened his eyes — and they blazed like twin suns.The Solar Convergence"Your final trial," Yuki said, "is not fire. It's balance."On Mount Kaien, under storms that never ceased, Yuto trained to align his heartbeat with the sun. He meditated in lightning, swallowed flame and shadow in turn.When Yuzi summoned phantoms of his dead village, the boy did not flinch. He let them claw his flesh until pain became silence.Then came the Solar Fusion. Sealed inside a crystal chamber, Yuto endured seven days of sunlight forced through volcanic veins. His body broke, healed, and broke again.On the seventh dawn, the mountain exploded with light.When the brightness faded, Yuto emerged — golden‑eyed, skin etched with light, aura pulsating with the rhythm of the sun.Yuki bowed deeply. "The flame no longer owns you. You own it."Yuto raised his hand. Fire coiled around his fingers like breath. "The sun doesn't burn me anymore," he said. "It breathes with me."Yoko's voice echoed faintly. "To withstand the sun, you must become it."EpilogueNight fell. The world seemed quiet. But across the northern sky, darkness stirred again — constellations bleeding black, the shadows of old devils returning.Yuto stared into the storm crawling over the mountains. His fists clenched. The fire beneath his skin flickered like a living star."The darkness rises," he murmured. "So will I."The wind roared back like an answer — and the mountain burned with dawn that refused to end to be continued.