Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 271

Naruto immediately turned his head at the sound. The stones on the street ground split apart as if sliced open by a shark's fin cutting through water.

Before Naruto could even grasp what was happening, a brown mechanical construct shaped like a fly drilled up from underground, stretching out a freely extendable arm straight toward Naruto's face.

Naruto reacted instantly, raising the kunai in his hand by instinct to block.

Though his defense kept the blow from landing on a vital spot, the sheer force still sent Naruto skidding back several meters.

Steadying himself, Naruto glared at the massive creature in the distance and quickly hurled a handful of shuriken.

But the fly-like puppet was extremely agile. The hooked blades on its claws spread wide like fan blades, spinning rapidly to deflect every last shuriken Naruto had thrown.

At the same time, its bulging eyes transformed into drills, lunging at Naruto.

"This thing... it's a puppet!"

Seeing this, Naruto finally realized the creature was one of Suna's most unique ninja tools, puppets.

Even with that understanding, Naruto chose to take it head-on. By sacrificing one shadow clone and a Rasengan, he managed to smash the puppet completely to pieces.

But hidden within the puppet's fragments were countless explosive tags, which detonated all at once. At the critical moment, it was Sai who controlled his ink-beast tiger in a pseudo-tailed-beast form to snatch Naruto away.

Looking at the slightly battered Naruto, Yamato lectured:

"When fighting against puppet users, you mustn't get distracted by the puppets themselves. What really matters is the chakra threads controlling them."

"By the way, why didn't you use your chakra blade just now?"

Since Suna had already sent details about Mukade to Konoha in advance, the village knew he was an exceptional puppeteer.

To counter Mukade's puppetry, Tsunade had provided the team with chakra blades, tools capable of severing chakra threads.

The principle of these blades was simple: chakra infused into them would manifest in the form of a weapon. Compared to a medical-nin's chakra scalpel, they had a broader range and were easier to use. Even a ninja like Naruto could learn to wield one in a second.

"Heh heh, I panicked and totally forgot about it."

Naruto scratched his head with an awkward laugh.

Just then, a thunderous boom erupted from the ruins in the distance, drawing everyone's eyes.

Watching the massive plume of smoke rising from the ruins, Yamato ordered:

"Mukade should be there. Everyone, stay alert."

"Yes!"

The four members of Team 7 regrouped in formation and rushed toward the explosion site at the heart of the ruins.

At the center, they found a freshly blasted hole exposed in the ground.

Standing at its edge, they peered down and saw what looked like an enormous underground space.

Rōran was built upon an underground ley line, and with this being a downward passage, it wasn't hard to guess where it led.

"Down there should be the Ryūmyaku, the source of the massive chakra crystal energy."

"Mukade must already be inside. We need to hurry."

The space was a vertical shaft leading underground. At its center stood a gigantic tower descending into the depths, its surface lined with spiraling stairs.

But taking the stairs now would be far too slow. Sai quickly unrolled a scroll, dipped his brush, and drew a giant bird.

"Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitating Drawing!"

With a quick hand seal, the ink came to life. A black-and-white bird in an ink-painting style leapt from the scroll, carrying Team 7 in a wide spiral flight toward the tower's base.

After over half a minute of descent, the bird was nearly at ground level.

Before it could land, the four jumped off midair and immediately sprinted down the only corridor leading into the tower's foundation.

After a long passageway, they finally arrived at the Ryūmyaku's sealing site.

It was a vast hemispherical chamber. Beneath a dome as grand as a palace hall yawned a bottomless abyss.

At the center of the abyss stood a circular platform upheld by a single pillar. Only one bridge before them connected across to it.

Upon that platform lay the sealing jutsu of the Ryūmyaku.

Even from afar, they could see the intricate black inscriptions and, at the very center, a sealing kunai driven deep into the stone.

"That's the Fourth Hokage's sealing jutsu."

Yamato calmly assessed.

But just as he finished, a figure emerged from behind a humanoid stone statue beside the seal.

The man wore a reddish-brown robe. His body was unnaturally gaunt, as if hollowed out, his receding hairline betraying years of obsessive toil. He looked as though he had sacrificed more than anyone could imagine for his research.

This man was Mukade.

"You Konoha ninjas are far too slow."

"Once I infuse my puppets with the Ryūmyaku's power, not just the Five Great Nations, even the entire world will bend to my command!"

It was the classic, shallow boast of a stock villain. Then, before their eyes, Mukade began his ritual.

He formed a few quick hand seals and placed both hands beside the sealing kunai.

A purple radiance flared from the sealing array, instantly vaporizing his clothes.

At the same time, the chakra stored in the seal, along with the Ryūmyaku's own chakra, surged into Mukade's body.

"Stop!"

Seeing Mukade seemingly close to breaking the seal, Naruto charged at him, sprinting at full speed across the bridge, already halfway across.

But what they didn't know was that Mukade had no means of actually breaking the seal.

The Fourth Hokage's sealing arts were extraordinary. Having learned advanced fuinjutsu from Kushina of the Uzumaki clan, Minato created seals so intricate they were impossible to unravel by ordinary means.

After years of fruitless attempts, Mukade had chosen another method: to forcefully absorb both the chakra of the seal and part of the Ryūmyaku itself into his body.

As the seal's chakra weakened, the Ryūmyaku's overwhelming power erupted.

The long-accumulated chakra surged upward, smashing through the dome and shattering the bridge. Everything caught in the radiant torrent was dragged in.

The chakra burst was so immense and dense that even Naruto, a jinchūriki, had no choice but to flee.

But the pull was inescapable. The raging purple beam swallowed Naruto instantly.

Yamato tried to haul him back with Wood Release, only to be sucked in as well.

Sakura attempted to rush into the beam, but Sai's ink-bird forcibly dragged her away.

Everything unfolded exactly as in the original timeline.

Yet, as Sai looked back toward the upper half of the purple beam, he glimpsed something vast, monstrous silhouettes, indistinct yet immense.

These shapes rose with the purple chakra column, swimming upward like gods ascending into the heavens.

A chill of terror crawled over Sai's skin.

The pillar of purple chakra gradually dimmed and vanished, and everything swallowed up by it disappeared along with it.

That included Naruto, Yamato, and the shadowy figure in Sai's vision.

What was that?

Riding his giant bird back to the surface, Sai's eyes widened, his terror laid bare without the slightest attempt to conceal it.

Beside him, Sakura was still crying out, but Sai's mind wasn't on Naruto or Captain Yamato's safety, it was fixed on that thing he had seen inside the pillar of purple light.

That thing had looked like a dragon soaring through the heavens. Though its form was impossible to make out, the strange silhouette glowing in that light convinced Sai it was something that truly existed.

Not only that, but Sai had also heard a hidden, eerie wailing sound.

Perhaps Sakura, too busy screaming Naruto's name and distracted by the noise around them, hadn't noticed, but Sai was certain he had heard it.

The bizarre, massive figure and the abnormal howl filled Sai with unease and dread.

It was the same dread he had only ever felt once before, when they had encountered the flesh-eating monster in the northern town of the Land of Rivers.

---

In the boundless darkness of his consciousness, Naruto stirred, awakened by the hardness beneath his body and a chill brushing over his skin. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

In his last memory, he had been engulfed by the pillar of purple chakra, but now his body bore no injuries.

Instead, he found himself transported to a completely unfamiliar place.

Sitting up, he looked around.

It resembled ruins, though not quite like the ruins of Rōran he had seen earlier. These ruins didn't look nearly as ancient, the fallen stone columns and walls still retained a fresher bluish tint.

Beside the spot where he had been lying stood a tomb. Its style suggested it belonged to someone of high rank, and in this vast space, it was the only tomb present.

But Naruto didn't dwell on that. He jumped to his feet and shouted the names of his companions.

"Captain Yamato!"

"Sakura!"

"Sai!"

Only his own voice echoed back in the silence.

Realizing he was alone, Naruto didn't rush to leave. Instead, he decided to investigate where exactly he was.

The collapsed stone pillars and walls told him nothing, so he approached the tomb.

On the gravestone was written: "The Tomb of Queen Sāra, the Thirty-Ninth Ruler of Rōran."

Rōran?

Naruto's mind took a moment to catch up, then he recalled, the mission had brought them to the ancient city of Rōran.

"Does that mean I'm still inside Rōran?"

"Sakura!"

Clinging to a flicker of hope, he called out again. Still, there was no reply.

With no more information to gather from his surroundings, Naruto hurried toward the only passage leading out of the chamber.

It was a corridor slanting upward. After running for quite some time, he reached a platform.

The moment his feet touched the finely carved square platform, it lifted off the ground, rising.

When it finally stopped, his vision opened wide.

He realized he had been deep underground, now he had returned to the surface.

Towering around him were countless spires that pierced the skies, dazzlingly tall. Some had circular cross-sections, others hexagonal, and bridges crisscrossed between them.

Looking up, he saw brown cables stretched through the air like an endless web of wires across the city.

Standing amidst the high-rises, Naruto could only gasp, "Amazing!"

"So tall..."

His eyes fell on a tower far down the street, significantly taller than all the rest. It was without question the tallest building he had ever seen in his life.

"Hey."

"Hey."

A faint voice came from nearby as he marveled.

He turned and saw a figure in a red dress and green vest, beckoning him from the shadows beneath one of the towers.

The figure's face was covered with a black cloth, concealing her features, but her repeated gestures made her meaning clear.

Naruto glanced around, no one else was on the street, then pointed at himself questioningly. Was she calling him?

The figure nodded. This time, Naruto was sure.

He jogged over, but just as he reached her, she drew a curved blade from behind her back and leveled it at him.

"Who are you?"

"Why did you come out of the queen's tomb?"

"Whoa, whoa! That's dangerous!"

He raised his hands, signaling he meant no harm. It wasn't that he couldn't handle her, but from her stance and grip, he could tell she posed no real threat.

She was just an ordinary person.

"I'm a ninja from Konoha, here on a mission."

"Konoha ninja?"

Her voice still carried suspicion. Naruto lifted the forehead protector on his brow, clearly showing Konoha's insignia.

"A Konoha ninja... I'll believe you for now. But what's your mission here? And why did you come out of the former queen's tomb?"

Her vigilance was unyielding, and Naruto, never good with words, had no way to explain the situation.

After all, he himself was utterly confused. One moment he'd been in ruins buried by sand, and the next he was in a city of dazzling towers.

Suddenly, a faint humming of wings echoed from above.

The masked woman instantly grabbed Naruto's wrist, eyes sharp.

"Come with me!"

Before he could react, she pulled him along, fleeing into the distance.

Moments later, near the platform Naruto had ascended, three mechanical puppets descended from the sky, scanning the area.

On closer inspection, their designs strongly resembled the puppets that had attacked Naruto back in the ruins.

Led by the masked woman, Naruto was taken to the city's edge.

Here, the buildings were far cruder than the grand towers of the city center, densely packed fortresses of yellow sand and stone.

But unlike the deserted streets earlier, this place showed signs of life. As soon as Naruto and the masked woman entered, people approached.

"Masako, did you see Her Majesty the Queen?"

A short, plump woman with a simple face asked eagerly. The masked woman, however, regretfully shook her head.