"So… in the end, it's time for us to part ways, old man."
Shukaku looked at Bunpuku, who had quietly sat down within the vast sea of stone inside the mindscape, and spoke in a low voice.
"Yeah," Bunpuku replied gently. "I don't really know what happened either… but he still gave me a little time."
Looking at the old monk's calm expression, Shukaku felt an unfamiliar heaviness in his chest.
This was the Jinchūriki who had lived alongside him since the very beginning—a monk imprisoned within a temple cage, decades passing like a single unchanging day.
Though Shukaku always claimed to hate humans, always shouted about wanting to seize Bunpuku's body, deep down… he had already acknowledged this old monk.
"Old man," Shukaku said quietly, "we tailed beasts don't truly die. But people like you… there probably won't ever be another."
Hearing this, Bunpuku raised both hands.On his left palm was written 'Acceptance', on his right, 'Heart'.
He lowered his hands, letting the reflected character heart ripple across the surface of the mindscape's waters.
"No… it isn't like that."
Shukaku tilted his small head, puzzled, as he looked at Bunpuku.
Gazing at the wavering reflection, Bunpuku continued softly:
"The human heart is like a reflection on water—unstable, often saying one thing while meaning another. Yet at its core, people long to accept one another."
"Beasts are no different…"
As Bunpuku's figure grew fainter within the mindscape, Shukaku suddenly blurted out:
"Then why not surrender to that Uchiha brat? Go to Konoha together. Maybe you could still live."
But Shukaku knew—it was impossible.
Bunpuku had spoken of the human heart. Even if they went to Konoha, his fate would still end in death.To be spared pain now… was the kindness that Uchiha Ran had granted him.
"You really are a strange old man," Shukaku muttered. "Honestly… you're a lot like that old guy, the Sage of Six Paths."
At those words, Bunpuku's eyes filled with tears.
In the end… the only one who truly understood him was Shukaku.
"Thank you," Bunpuku said, smiling through his tears."Of everything you've ever said to me… that was the most touching."
"Tch…"
"Shukaku… goodbye."
"You'll definitely find someone one day—someone who protects you, guides you. And when you accept that person's heart…"
"You'll finally understand what my master meant… by the words he left in my hands…"
"Old man…"
Bunpuku's figure slowly faded away.
Moments later, a miniature Shukaku appeared before Uchiha Ran.
"I still don't know how you did it, Uchiha brat," Shukaku said with a scowl."But as expected, I really hate your clan. Next time we meet, I'll definitely make you pay!"
He stuck out his tongue at Ran—
—and then dissolved into golden sand, vanishing into the sky.
…
"Heh."
Watching Shukaku disappear through death and temporary erasure, Ran let out a soft chuckle.
But the smile only lasted a few seconds.
Suddenly, his body stiffened.
A violent, overwhelming sensation flooded his eyes.
It's coming.
As the Ten-Tails chakra continuously crashed into his eyes, Ran could clearly feel his Sharingan evolving—at a speed dozens of times faster than before.
And it wasn't slowing down.
If anything, it was accelerating.
"It's coming!" Ran felt it instinctively. "Right now—!"
Sure enough, as time passed, the three-tomoe Sharingan in his eyes began to transform.The tomoe spun rapidly, warping and twisting—
Until they formed a bizarre, unfamiliar pattern.
A pinwheel-like core… surrounded by sharp, triangular edges.
"So this is the Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Ran didn't linger on its appearance. Instead, he focused entirely on feeling its power.
"So that's it… I see now."
"This is my Mangekyō."
"It really does suit me perfectly."
After experiencing it for a long while, the smile on Ran's face became impossible to suppress. He leapt onto a boulder, spread his arms wide like the Demon King Piccolo—
And burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha—! I get it now!"
"From this moment on… I'm only going to become more and more unstoppable!"
Ran had every reason to believe it.
Because his Mangekyō powers were fundamentally different from anyone else's.
His left eye was called Hōgyoku.His right eye was called Takamagahara.
Takamagahara—the legendary realm where the Eight Million Gods reside, the so-called Divine Domain, said to be the birthplace of Amenominakanushi, the primordial god.
For Uchiha Ran, this represented an overwhelming space–time authority.
Through Takamagahara, he could create a unique dimensional space of the same name. Using it, he could freely manipulate spatial forces—whether performing space–time traversal like Kamui, evading real-world attacks by slipping into another dimension, or even cutting and defending space itself within the ninja world.
Yet… something still felt off.
Ran sensed that Takamagahara wasn't the true limit of his right eye.
He felt he couldn't fully unleash its real power yet.
"Takamagahara isn't the strongest ability of my Mangekyō," Ran muttered."It's powerful—yes—but not the strongest."
"My right eye is definitely hiding something I haven't awakened yet."
Pushing up his glasses, Ran stopped dwelling on it and instead turned his attention to the dōjutsu housed in his left eye.
"Hōgyoku."
In the world of the Shinigami, the Hōgyoku's true power was to manifest the deepest desires within one's heart—shaping reality according to those wishes.
Ran's overwhelming desire for evolution had shaped his Mangekyō.
Thus, the power of Hōgyoku was evolution itself.
Its passive effect was constant evolution.
Even if Ran did nothing, his eyes would continue to evolve under Hōgyoku's influence—Mangekyō Sharingan… Eternal Mangekyō… Rinnegan… Tomoe Rinnegan…
Even his bloodline would continuously ascend.
Not even the Ōtsutsuki were the endpoint of Hōgyoku's evolution.
And with the right catalysts or evolutionary paths, the process could be drastically accelerated.
Even more terrifying—
Hōgyoku could be activated actively.
On one hand, it could temporarily grant Ran the power of a future evolutionary state.
On the other—
He could use it to modify and evolve others.
So this is the power of evolution…
Hōgyoku.
"Spirit King… it seems I truly owe you more than a few favors."
"My desire for evolution, combined with your gift, gave birth to Hōgyoku."
"But if I desire the strongest power…"
"Why did my right eye awaken Takamagahara?"
Ran was still full of questions.
But it didn't matter.
Right now, he was itching to test the power of his Mangekyō—
And just in time, the sounds of battle between Tsunade and Pakura echoed from nearby.