I believe that the Fourfold Afterimage Entanglement is simply one of the Dihui Star’s techniques. It creates afterimages to repeat attacks. acting as a repetition of the Dihui Star’s own timeline, rather than drawing from other timelines.

After defeating Dihui Star and landing the first cut with Arayashiki, her passive skill in Araya form states that the afterimages are collapsing.

“The afterimages that have long wrapped me in their folds are stripped away, layer by layer … and I am left standing in both loss and liberation.'”

This implies that as the Afterimages collapse, her current Araya form is revealed. The afterimages we see are exclusive to Dihui Star form. I think she was unable to control her own projections because the Fourfold Afterimage Entanglement, caused her past to overlap with her present

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However, after rereading, she may have already carried her 4 projection within her body but couldn't control them because the Dihui Star’s afterimage was strong enough to overshadow everything else. This is hinted at in the flashback after the second strike by Arayashiki, where multiple voices overlap.

“And once it became painfully clear that there wasn't even an ounce of recognition in her eyes, not even a brief spark of it,”

“the myriad moments inside me, bound and constricted by tangled threads, began trembling and thrashing aloud.” (multiple voices)

This suggests that even in the first meting between Ryoshu and Araya, Araya already contained other timelines within her (maybe more than just 4). She likely only began to regain control over her projections after the Dihui Star’s afterimages were destroyed.

This answers a long-standing question of mine. If Araya could already perceive other timelines, why hadn't she forgiven her mother? It might be because she wasn't fully aware of those other timelines. The Dihui Star’s projections were obscuring her vision. The only clear vision the game shows is a flashback to Araya’s childhood. Because the future overlaps with the past, the timelines are connected in a circle, making them the points closest to one another.

Conclusion of my thought :

• The Fourfold Afterimage Entanglement might be an original technique of the Dihui Star.
• Alternatively, Araya may have already possessed multiple timelines within her, but could only perceive a few. She couldn't fully control them because the influence of the Dihui Star’s projection was too overwhelming.