During the King of Iron Fist Tournament 2, Kunimitsu had strived to steal the hallowed sword 'Yoshimitsu' from its rightful owner, so that her grandfather could forge a copy of the great sword. No one other than Kunimitsu knew her reasons for such a seemingly selfless quest, risking her life for the appeasement of a family member. Whether it was shame, or an undying sense of honour, or even a well-crafted plan from whence she would kill him and keep both swords for herself, no one ever found out.
She had faced Yoshimitsu during the tournament. However, ever since leaving the Manji clan, her skills have become less refined – she had lost the intimate connection she had previously felt with her senses.
On every quest she embarked, she covered her face with a white fox mask. Her grandfather had told her that she had come to depend too much upon her vision, and thus she willingly obscured it whenever she was training or fighting. Consequently, her sense of hearing and touch had become very acute. Yet somehow, these senses, like her fighting techniques, had begun to wither away.
The fight was a long and drawn-out affair, but in the end, Yoshimitsu emerged as the victor. She could feel his foot pressing down on her stomach, and sense his sword pointed at her neck.
"What are you waiting for, you bastard? Kill me!"
Yoshimitsu reached down and tore off her mask – she could now see him clearly. His face was menacing.
"You have dishonoured yourself in such a way that a true ninja would consider the shame thereof to be a fate worse than death. However, it is clear to me that you feel no such shame – you have no regrets whatsoever for your self-indulgent lifestyle."
Kunimitsu rolled her eyes.
"For other delinquents, I would offer a swift and painless death. But you shall now receive such a satisfaction"
Yoshimitsu lifted his sword into the air, and stabbed her directly in the stomach. Kunimitsu gasped, overcome by a horrific pain, which burned and screamed inside of her.
Yoshimitsu lifted his blood-stained sword, the one that Kunimitsu had been so eager to steal, and sheathed it once again.
"To hell with you" He ran away.
Kunimitsu's blood was ebbing outwards, gushing every which way – she had lost consciousness by this point. Soon enough, she would be dead. Yet in that instant, she was lifted – she was not on Earth anymore.
All of a sudden, she found herself standing, alive and uninjured, in an infinitely large plane of utter darkness. But the plane did not stay dark for long – almost instantly, a great flash of white light shone down from above. Blackness remained elsewhere, with the light concentrating itself directly in front of Kunimitsu. Then, all at once, a celestial chorus surrounded her – Kunimitsu was dumbfounded, unable to do anything but stare at this immense accumulation of light. The chorus rose in volume, until eventually it was at practically deafening levels. Eventually, the light exploded outwards, and a summoning circle appeared on the floor. Something was rising from the floor like a phoenix. Kunimitsu turned away – when she looked back a few seconds later, an angel had appeared before her.
Unable to even gasp, Kunimitsu stared at this majestic being that stood in front of her.
Within several millennia, but simultaneously in a matter of seconds, the angel spoke.
"It is not your time"
She said it with the sting of a thousand scorpion's tails. She said it with the tenderness of a mother to her child. She said it with the fiery wrath of a lake of fire. She said it with the cool serenity of a snow-covered cottage. Kunimitsu was almost paralysed by the power of these five words.
"You still have much left to do with your time on Earth"
At last, Kunimitsu found herself able to speak. "What… what do you mean?"
"You do not know it yet, my child, but you are destined to do incredible things. You shall purge this tepid world of all that corrupts it"
"Why would I want to do that?! I don't care about the world – I've failed my grandfather! How can I redeem myself from that?"
The angel's face curved into a serene grin. "My dear, you have so much more to atone for than that. Before I can return you to Earth, you must sacrifice something precious to you"
Kunimitsu was confused.
"You have spent years training yourself to no longer need your eyes", Angel remarked. She stepped towards Kunimitsu. "And now, I am affording you the opportunity to put those skills to the test – permanently"
Suddenly, all of the light concentrated itself into a pure white trail of fire. It leapt up into the air, and Angel rose, becoming one with the fire. In an instant, the fire shot towards Kunimitsu's face and into her eyes.
Kunimitsu fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. Her entire face had been overcome by a sensation unlike anything she had ever felt before. It vaguely resembled intense pain, but it was far more excruciating than that. It crept up towards her cheek, making its way towards her eyeballs. It was the searing heat of an everlasting flame, the cold hardness of an isolated glacier, the throbbing agony of a thousand arrows, all at once, the aching pain of forgotten wounds forged in battle-torn lands.
All of these individual pains overcame her all at once. She found herself screaming, begging for it to stop. Memories of her life flooded her mind all at once. Friendships she had forged, women she had loved, people she had betrayed or otherwise harmed for the gain of no one but herself. The memories only made the pain hurt worse.
Then, at last, there was silence.
The light had disappeared. Now, there was only darkness.
"Now", the angel said from above her. "I shall allow you to see yourself one last time…"
A reflection of Kunimitsu appeared in front of her, and she was aghast at what had happened to her. Her eyes, which had turned to liquid, were lying on the floor at her feet, and horrific burns covered both sides of her face. Her reflection disappeared.
"You are alive again now", the angel said. "But there is still much more work to be done"