Building off this, what if the cure for the Shadow Leeches wasn't even Takanuva himself, but rather the Mask of Light. The Teridax claimed the Mask of Shadows allowed him to see the hidden darkness in everyone, and it stands to reason the Mask of Light could see the light, the good in everyone along with its ability to spread peace and understanding.
Perhaps the story would go that the Shadow Matoran would claim that they have no more light and goodness left in them. But Takanuva uses the Avohkii in a way he never had before and finds that that's not true that you can't full get rid of a person's light. Or at least, you can't forcefully take away all of someone's light, to get rid of it completely would have to be that person's choice.
In that way, the effects of the Shadow Leech become a metaphor for forced trauma bringing out the darkest parts of people, and the empathy of Takanuva and the power of the Mask of Light being a metaphor for emotional healing. This is even thematically supported in canon, Takanuva, while almost losing himself to rage, claims that he is what they made him.
And perhaps most ironically, the fact that Takanuva is now half-light, half-shadow is what gives him the empathy to see this, but only if he can make peace with himself about his own dark-side that comes out. We could even go the route of having each cure be very personal for each Shadow Matoran, finding their personal light in personal ways.
And maybe this method of curing doesn't happen right away, but rather it begins the process and the full healing happens over time later. But it opens the Shadow Matoran up enough to at least that they'll still leave with the other Av-Matoran before the energy storms hit.
Also on another note, the Klakk (which I personally enjoyed btw, but I understand its not everyone's taste) was made by Mutran in story. Don't know the human that designed it irl tho
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