"Damn it—it's the Sharingan!"
The instant Akahoshi saw the three-tomoe Sharingan spinning in Uchiha Ran's eyes, his heart sank.
This—
this—was something he had never anticipated.
Hadn't Ran's Lightning Release: Kirin already dealt him devastating damage? And now, on top of that, this bastard was still using the Sharingan against him?!
In that single instant, Akahoshi felt his entire body slip beyond his control. Even the defensive form of the Peacock Mystic Method completely collapsed.
"I… I can't move at all. I can't even disrupt my chakra…"
"So this… this is Uchiha genjutsu…?"
His entire body was locked in paralysis. Akahoshi had absolutely no way to break free.
"What a shame," Ran said calmly.
"You can't escape the control of Floating Life, Dreamlike Illusion."
"And you seriously underestimated its power."
As he spoke, Ran smoothly slid his Zanpakutō back into its sheath.
In that instant—
—the battlefield ravaged by Lightning Release: Kirin vanished completely.
"Th-this is…?!"
Akahoshi stared in disbelief at his surroundings. Though he still couldn't move, he struggled to glance at his own arm from the corner of his eye.
It was perfectly intact.
Not a single wound.
"How is that possible…? Was it all genjutsu?!"
"You're right," Ran replied lightly.
"Floating Life, Dreamlike Illusion can indeed be considered a form of genjutsu."
Having fought so many battles, Ran found that this Akahoshi was, for once, an excellent audience.
"This is the ability of my Zanpakutō," Ran continued.
"You can think of it as a realistic illusion."
He slowly walked toward Akahoshi, his voice calm and measured.
"Once you're affected by Floating Life, Dreamlike Illusion, your five senses fall completely under my control."
"Sight. Sound. Touch. Smell. Taste."
"Everything."
"Once I control your five senses, I can create any environment I want before your eyes—and any sensation within your body."
Ran stopped in front of Akahoshi and casually reached toward his waist, feeling around.
"So it's here…
This so-called Star Stone is actually something like this."
He pulled the Star Stone from Akahoshi's belt and examined it closely.
At the same time, everything finally clicked in Akahoshi's mind.
If this Uchiha could control all five senses…
Then Akita and the others killing each other must have been the result of their senses being manipulated—mistaking comrades for enemies.
And what about me?
If Ran was telling the truth—
Then when I thought I had flown far away, my vision had already been controlled. I probably never left the spot at all… just flying in place like an idiot.
The Lightning Release: Kirin I felt…
The battlefield…
The injuries…
The blood…
—all of it had been false sensations imposed by Ran.
"Does… does such a terrifying genjutsu really exist in this world?!"
Once you're caught, you're toyed with completely—never knowing where reality ends and illusion begins.
Just like Natsuhiboshi… that foolish woman was probably still fighting empty air even now.
"So that's it… His real target was the Star Stone?"
Feeling the Star Stone being taken from his waist, Akahoshi's thoughts raced.
If the Uchiha's goal was the Star Stone…
Could that mean he might spare my life?
The Star Stone of the Star Village could be used for cultivation—enhancing chakra and forming unique chakra manifestations. Even in the shinobi world, it was an exceptionally rare treasure.
The Uchiha clan had no inherent conflict with the Star Village. Maybe—just maybe—
While Akahoshi's thoughts spiraled wildly, Ran continued examining the Star Stone.
Holding it in his hand, Ran recalled a story Orochimaru had once told him.
More than two hundred years ago, back when the shinobi world was still in the Warring States era—
One morning in the Star Village of the Land of Bears, the sky split with a thunderous roar. A meteor tore through the heavens and crashed down at an unimaginable speed.
The meteor wasn't particularly large—only about the size of a fist.
Yet its surface shimmered with an eerie, otherworldly light, as if a fragment of the stars themselves had descended.
Ran extended his chakra and gently probed the Star Stone.
Inside, he sensed an immense chakra—
pure, refined, and tightly sealed within the stone.
Could this be… Ten-Tails chakra, completely purified and sealed by the Star Stone?
Ran's thoughts deepened.
The Ten-Tails was a legendary tailed beast. The nine tailed beasts of the present era were merely fragments of its original form.
The Ten-Tails possessed inexhaustible power—enough to shake the entire shinobi world. Yet its chakra was saturated with monstrous resentment and hatred.
But this meteorite fused with Ten-Tails chakra felt different.
The two had formed a Star Stone that radiated energy—emitting a faint, persistent glow.
"So that's how it works…"
"This radiation is Ten-Tails chakra radiation. The villagers of the Star Village can't absorb Ten-Tails chakra directly, so they cultivate using its radiation instead…"
"No wonder it's harmful to ordinary people."
Ran understood.
Although the radiation from Ten-Tails chakra was dangerous, it brought tremendous benefits to ordinary Star Village shinobi. No wonder the successive Hoshikage had refused to abandon it.
"So this is pure Ten-Tails chakra…"
As Ran used his own chakra to connect with the Star Stone—
—the purified Ten-Tails chakra inside surged toward him, as if it had finally found an outlet.
Vast, overwhelming chakra poured into Ran's body, converging violently toward his dantian.
At the same time—
In a space suspended between reality and illusion, an elderly figure suddenly opened his eyes.
"How pure… Ten-Tails chakra…"
"Oh… an Uchiha…"
Then—
—the old man closed his eyes once more, sinking back into slumber.
...
...
"Ten-Tails chakra… it really is something else."
Feeling the vast, surging chakra within his body—and the growing mass of pure energy steadily expanding inside him—Ran felt deeply satisfied.
Pure Ten-Tails chakra was an incredibly primal, foundational power within the shinobi world.
And the Uchiha clan had deep ties to the Ten-Tails.
Sure enough, Ran could already feel his own chakra slowly merging with the Ten-Tails chakra. New streams of chakra flowed throughout his body, and he sensed it clearly—
—his three-tomoe Sharingan was beginning to change, ever so subtly.
Ran then experimented with the residual radiation energy left within the Star Stone.
Combining it with his own chakra—
—in Akahoshi's stunned gaze, Ran activated the Peacock Mystic Method.
Solidified chakra manifested behind him, continuously shifting form—
A peacock.
A leopard.
A tiger.
A qilin.
A dragon.
The chakra transformed freely with Ran's thoughts.
But after a brief test, Ran frowned slightly.
Compared to the seamless fusion between himself and the Ten-Tails chakra, the radiation-based chakra felt clumsy and incompatible.
He shook his head in disappointment.
"So this is the Star Village's strongest power?"
"That's all?"
"This level of strength… is nothing special."
It was boring.
The power fell far short of what Ran had imagined.
He immediately stopped using the radiation energy. Instead, he decided to bring the meteorite back and let Orochimaru-sensei study it properly.