Gaki's origin is cloaked in both legend and mystery. He is a descendant among descendants, the culmination of generations of powerful shinobi, each bearing the last name Kurosaki. Within the Yami Clan, his birth was a moment of awe and apprehension. For when Gaki entered the world, it was immediately clear: this child was different. He bore not only the lineage of legends but the burden of their gifts.
From the beginning, Master Akashi took a special interest in him. Under Akashi's strict but steady guidance, Gaki developed powers that even the elders of the clan whispered about in reverence and fear. Among his inherited abilities, the most feared and revered was the Void Pulse—a move only theorized in scrolls until Gaki performed it instinctively at the age of seven.
Yet Void Pulse was only the beginning.
From his great-grandmother, Lady Kurosaki, Gaki inherited the Shadowblood Pulse. His blood contained crystallized shadow particles. When he bled, the shadow chakra in his blood activated, creating spectral tendrils or armor. The more wounded he became, the more powerful and uncontrollable this ability grew. Ancient texts ominously referred to this as "The Curse of Bleeding Light."
From his mother, Mizari, he inherited the Hollow Pulse Body, allowing him to temporarily erase his physical presence and become a living void. Upon re-materializing, he left behind false shadows that functioned as sensory traps.
From his grandfather, the fabled "White Phantom," lay the dormant Boneveil Aura. When pushed beyond his limits, Gaki emitted a ghostly armor of light-shadow hybrid chakra. This Boneveil was sharp as obsidian and reactive to motion, forming both shield and blade. Legend had it that the White Phantom once held back an entire army using only this power.
But even among all these formidable techniques, one power stood alone as his most dangerous: the Eclipse Reversal. A forbidden technique unique to Gaki himself, it was unmastered by even his ancestors. It inverted the flow of shadow chakra within a target, causing their own powers to ravage their body. He used it only once, in a spar against his childhood friend Hakuma, leaving Hakuma in a vegetative state. Even Kuzi Endo, the shadow behind the shadows, bore many of Gaki's abilities—but not the Eclipse Reversal. That remained solely Gaki's burden.
Despite his immense power, Gaki was a beloved figure in his village. He helped elders with their daily chores, often animating his shadow companions to carry baskets or mend fences. He was reckless, yes, but endearing. The villagers knew him as both a problem child and a miracle.
He spent his days alongside Shidou and Hakuma, his closest friends. With Shidou, mischief was inevitable. They played pranks on the grumpy villager Rukum, throwing rocks at his door and vanishing into the shadows.
"Haha, see ya, old man!" Gaki laughed, sprinting with Shidou as Rukum howled from his porch.
"GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE RASCALS!" Rukum shouted, flailing a broom behind them.
Gaki and Shidou trained together as well, refining their shadow styles under Master Akashi's stern eye. Sometimes, Shidou's own sensei joined them, guiding their reckless energy into disciplined power.
But it was with Harum that Gaki found a deeper sense of purpose. Their bond was forged not through pranks or chaos, but through compassion and responsibility. They worked together to heal, to build, to protect. Harum reminded Gaki of the good he could do, of the reason his power mattered.
Gaki was chaos and kindness, mischief and miracle. He bore the weight of the Kurosaki legacy, not with bitterness, but with a grin and a shadow trailing behind him—a shadow that might one day eclipse the world.
Yet even he had no knowledge of the corruption festering beneath the Yami arts. He believed the shadow was noble. He believed in its power—and in himself.
But belief is a fragile thing.
The Fire Blossom Festival Incident (Age 10)
During the annual Fire Blossom Festival, Gaki and Shidou performed shadow illusions for the village children. One illusion spiraled out of control and turned real—a projection of a "shadow wraith" that attacked a stall and injured a civilian. Gaki took the blame and was punished with a month of solitary meditation, where he first began hearing the voice of the sealed shadow from the Abyss. This event taught him restraint—and guilt.
At the age of thirteen, Gaki had already etched his name into the whispers of the village—not just for his prodigious shadow arts or his chaotic mischief, but now for something far more unexpected: love.
Her name was Hana.
She wasn't a prodigy, nor was she born into any prestigious lineage. She was simply kind, quietly intelligent, and utterly unwavering in her convictions. Where Gaki embodied the storm—wild, powerful, unpredictable—Hana was the anchor. Their bond formed gradually, between shared moments after training, hushed conversations beneath the paper lanterns of dusk, and one unforgettable night by the old sakura tree when Gaki first confessed his dream.
"I want to lead this village one day," he had said, eyes fixed on the stars above. "Not just as a fighter. As something more… like a leader of the whole village, a king who will surpass Kousei the Fourth and become the Fifth King. Someone who protects, decides, inspires."
Hana had smiled, reaching for his hand. "Then I'll be by your side. Every step of the way."
It wasn't a romantic fantasy. It was a vow. At thirteen, their words may have seemed childish to others—but to them, it was a pact sealed stronger than any jutsu.
From that day on, Hana became his quiet confidante. She tempered his recklessness, grounded his wild ambitions, and reminded him of the people he fought for—not just the shadows he wielded. While the world would come to fear or revere the name Gaki, she would always be the one who saw the boy beneath the legend.
The Failed Rescue Mission (Age 15)
There are moments in Gaki's life that shaped his power. And then there are moments that broke something within him.
It was during the spring of his fourteenth year, when the forests still whispered of winter, that three elite scouts vanished beyond the Black Needle Ridge—a place where even birds hesitated to fly. The Yami clan, cautious and wise, ordered a waiting strategy. "They are trained," the elders said. "They know how to hide. Let them return."
Gaki did not wait.
He had trained with one of the missing scouts—Hana, his beloved girlfriend, a kind soul who once taught him how to catch shadow frogs without hurting them. Gaki remembered her laugh. He remembered the way she called him "Gaki-chan" like he was still thirteen.
Flashback
Hana had first shown Gaki how to catch shadow frogs when they were both still young—a quiet, forgotten tradition passed down from her grandfather, a former Yami scout. Shadow frogs were elusive creatures that lived near the riverbanks at dusk, formed of partial chakra and partial spirit. They weren't dangerous, but they were notoriously hard to spot, slipping between light and shadow like flickers of memory.
"Why are we doing this?" Gaki had asked, crouched beside her in the reeds, annoyed that his more destructive jutsu had no effect.
"Because you need patience," Hana whispered, cupping her hands carefully over a ripple in the water. "And because these little guys can sense when someone's heart is off-balance."
Gaki scoffed but tried again—slower this time.
To Hana, catching shadow frogs wasn't just a game. It was a lesson in focus, humility, and connection to the shadow nature without force. For Gaki, whose power often exploded without control, it was the first time he began to understand the gentler side of the Yami arts.
Years later, he'd still remember those evenings when the world felt simple.
Cut to present
So, without permission, he left the village at dusk—just before the lanterns were lit. Shidou came with him, of course. No words were exchanged. He simply saw Gaki packing supplies and joined in silence.
The two raced through the wild underbrush, their shadow forms flickering between trees like ghost-foxes. Hours passed. The air thickened. The scent of old chakra burned in the wind. By midnight, they found the remnants—shredded gear, signs of battle, and one survivor barely clinging to life.
And Hana.
She lay crumpled beneath a hollow tree, her chest barely rising. Her shadow signature was weak, flickering like a candle drowning in its own wax.
Gaki held her as she gasped. "You… grew taller," she whispered with a crooked smile.
"I came for you," he said, clutching her hand with trembling fingers.
She touched his face. "I knew you would."
She died a minute later. Gaki didn't cry. Not then.
By dawn, they returned with the other survivors. Gaki faced the elders that morning, head bowed, lips sealed. He never defended his actions. He never revealed how he'd fought off the beasts alone while carrying Hana's body on his back.
Instead, he asked for more training.
From that day, he became obsessed with refining not just strength, but precision—how to sense flickers of danger faster, how to close distance in less than a heartbeat, how to push his abilities to cover more ground, more people, more lives.
Because that day taught him one thing: even the strongest are useless if they arrive too late.
Gaki (Age 22)
Gaki had officially become a sensei at Kage no Daigaku, teaching students the arts of the shadow style. One fateful day, the biggest shadow demons roamed the earth, and the best shadow style users fought them off. Gaki protected the villagers, enduring hard battles against the shadow demons. He ultimately killed the largest shadow demon, but it split into multiple smaller demons.
Suddenly, a child emerged to face one of the shadow demons. The creature lunged at the boy, but the child was ready to fight back. Just in time, Gaki arrived to save the boy, marking the beginning of the story of young Kimikage and how Gaki's origin ended. The mystery of the massive shadow demons remained unsolved for the people of Yami and the greatest shadow users, even as the higher-ups had no explanation for it—though they clearly knew something.