Creak—
A teeth-grinding sound, testament to how long this door hadn't been opened.
But this signal of a long-awaited visitor's arrival didn't distract the One-Tail jinchūriki—the monk with graying eyebrows and beard.
Implanted with Shukaku since childhood, becoming the One-Tail jinchūriki, this monk had through arduous training successfully harnessed the tailed beast's power. But Sunagakure's leadership couldn't trust their crude sealing techniques, fearing the jinchūriki might rampage—so they imprisoned him in prison.
By now, even his name was forgotten. Even the prison guard called him simply by the tailed beast's name: "Shukaku."
Yet despite this, the monk felt no dissatisfaction about his circumstances. He continued to meditate in this sunless prison.
Decades of day-and-night cultivation had long rendered him calm. Why would a mere visitor's arrival disrupt Does he sit in meditation and enter concentration?
And stepping into the prison, Hii Kōri was equally surprised.
Though he'd previewed information about the jinchūriki, he hadn't expected a monk.
A pure monk.
He could clearly sense vast chakra within this elderly monk—yet not a shred belonging to the monk himself.
Spiritual energy is as calm as water, still clear but waning life energy - distinct, with no trace of fusion.
Plus Sunagakure's signature comical-looking sealing formula.
If the tailed beast within so wished, such seals couldn't block Shukaku long. Seeing this, he understood why Sand had imprisoned this jinchūriki.
Yet a monk with no chakra of his own, relying on such crude seals—how had he kept the tailed beast stable for so many years?
The answer was obvious.
"Spiritual... Binding Vow."
Regardless of records, Shukaku's temperament should be fiery. Yet before Hii Kōri lay chakra, his state perfectly matched the old monk's aura.
Calm, peaceful, like an undisturbed pool deep in a cave.
Through meditation, the monk hadn't gained power—but a serene and tranquil state of mind.
This clear mind and character—which Shukaku praised as resembling the Sage of Six Paths—had forged friendly relations with the tailed beast.
"Dōmo, Jinchūriki-san, Hii Kōri desu."
Influenced by the Zen atmosphere surrounding this cell, Hii Kōri pressed palms together and bowed to the nameless jinchūriki.
"Dōmo, Hii Kōri-san. Bunpuku desu."
Since greeted thus, even in deep meditation, Bunpuku couldn't ignore him.
Addressed not by the tailed beast's name, but emphasizing jinchūriki identity, he should report that long-unspoken name.
Those ignorant of profound etiquette are but three-parts; suffering cruel "ninja eight-parts" is taken for granted—so recorded in the Kojiki.
Though not a ninja, Bunpuku felt obliged to observe such etiquette.
"What brings a young man like you to such a place to see this old monk?"
Bunpuku looked up, taking in Hii Kōri's appearance. After long scrutiny, this monk—who'd reached the mind of clear mirror and still water—inevitably felt puzzled.
Though the boy seemed mature and calm in temperament, his bone age was indeed eight or nine.
Sending someone still practically a child here—what was the intention? Bunpuku couldn't make head or tail.
"Mission. Check the tailed beast seal. Reinforce if needed."
Hii Kōri raised his hands—a golden, hemispherical barrier quickly opening, enveloping him and Bunpuku. "Ah, don't mind. Looks bluffing, but just a soundproof barrier."
"Work, you know. Though you obviously don't need my help, I gotta at least go through the motions."
Not intending to explain in detail, Hii Kōri stepped forward, sitting cross-legged at appropriate distance.
Removing his round glasses, those gray eyes fixed on the old monk. For a moment, he couldn't help but sigh.
"Seeing Shukaku's chakra within you, I can assert: as long as you're jinchūriki, there's no room for my sealing techniques. Ah—don't repeat that."
"Namu."
Though slightly surprised, Bunpuku pressed palms together and murmured consent.
"Time-wise, I can stay a bit longer. Mind if I chat—personal reasons?"
Phrased as question, obviously Hii Kōri wouldn't leave even if refused.
Back when he was a jujutsu sorcerer, finding a monk to communicate was nearly impossible. Now encountering one here? No way he'd leave.
Clearly reading his thoughts, Bunpuku just smiled and shook his head.
"Master Bunpuku... those eyes of yours—are they the Pure Eye?"
Since not refused, Hii Kōri wouldn't simply talk. Gaze lowered to familiar palm prints, he asked softly.
Pure Eye—attributed to eminent monks—supposedly manifests observed emotions and psychology as smoke or color.
That gaze was the very embodiment of "transparent insight."
"Hohoho... Live long enough, you encounter wonderful things. Never expected to hear that word from a child..."
Bunpuku started in surprise, then cheerfully stroked his beard, sighing with emotion.
"Still, this old monk's cultivation is not home. Can't see that much clearly."
"Not at all. Living so harmoniously with a tailed beast—you're more transparent than 99% of the world."
"Feeling with the heart—that is great love."
Bunpuku spread his palms. On each was inscribed a character: "Receive" and "Heart." Then he pressed palms together, entering samadhi, softly expounding his philosophy. "If you truly accept each other, what difference between humans and tailed beasts?"
"Indeed. If humans and tailed beasts can communicate, naturally they can accept each other."
Hii Kōri didn't deny this. This old monk was proof.
But precisely because only Bunpuku existed, it proved something else.
"Yet humans can't understand each other—let alone humans and tailed beasts? Even understanding doesn't guarantee hand-in-hand peaceful coexistence."
He reached out, tracing "Heart" on the ground before him, his voice full of emotion.
"Understanding each other can breed deeper murderous intent. Not uncommon."
Fingers moved, adding strokes to "Heart"—transforming it into "Give."
"Give and receive... How you treat others, treat the world—that determines results. That's my view."
"What do you think?"
***
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