Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 270

"Your fighting power isn't even worthy of being called an appetizer."

Kisame swept his gaze over the already-exhausted group, his tone carrying a faint mockery.

Everyone except Jūgo, who was no longer in human form, showed an unwilling expression on their faces.

But aside from frustration, no one had any way of defeating Kisame.

Why?

Why is Kisame this strong?

Such thoughts appeared in Suigetsu's mind, who had narrowly escaped death at Kisame's hands.

If not for his liquefied body's immunity to physical attacks, he would have been torn apart by Kisame's sharks just moments ago.

What Suigetsu couldn't understand was this: back in Kiri, Kisame had just been an obscure, ordinary ninja. Why did he now possess such overwhelming power?

Even Mangetsu would absolutely be no match for Kisame in his current state.

Especially that incomprehensible ability to summon those unnatural sharks, it was beyond belief.

As the two sides remained locked in confrontation, a flock of crows suddenly burst into the sky from the dense forest.

Against the clear sky, the black-feathered crows were obvious, and Team Taka's members all looked up, drawn by them.

Hearing the grating caws, Kisame also raised his head slowly.

After gazing at the crows for a second, he spoke lightly:

"Looks like it's time to withdraw."

"Wait!"

Perhaps driven by some stubborn obsession, Suigetsu reached out as if to stop him, but Kisame's figure flickered and vanished.

With Kisame gone, everyone, Team Taka, Guren, and Rinji, heaved heavy breaths of relief. Jūgo, sensing the threat had disappeared, slowly reverted to his human form.

Soon after, Sasuke emerged from the forest, supporting himself on a tree.

His chest and clothes were drenched in blood. Seeing this, Karin immediately rushed to him in concern.

"Sasuke, you're injured!"

"Bite me, quickly!"

She rolled up her sleeve, offering her scarred arm full of bite marks to Sasuke. But he shook his head, gently pushing her arm away.

"This isn't my blood."

Not his blood?

Karin couldn't quite grasp his meaning, but Sasuke had already stepped forward, staring at Guren.

Meeting Sasuke's piercing gaze sent a chill down Guren's spine, reminding her of why he had come in the first place, for the Three-Tails' jinchūriki.

Although Itachi had interrupted midway, now that his condition was unknown and his partner had retreated, wasn't everything back to square one?

But Sasuke's words stunned Guren.

"Akatsuki's goal is to collect all the tailed beasts. If you continue to wander outside, they'll target you again."

"With your strength, you can't possibly protect a jinchūriki."

"So my advice is: flee to Konoha. For both you and the jinchūriki, it's the best choice."

"Even though you were once one of Orochimaru's subordinates, as long as you offer intelligence on him in exchange, Konoha will definitely give you protection."

"But that's only a suggestion. You can ignore it, and wait for the next Akatsuki strike, when they come to take the Three-Tails."

Leaving Guren frozen in thought, Sasuke walked off into the forest.

Karin hurried after him, asking, "Sasuke! Where are we going next?"

Sasuke didn't stop or answer. His sharp eyes simply gazed southward.

---

Meanwhile, back in Konoha, Naruto was idly wandering the streets.

Since his return, Tsunade had assigned him several B-rank missions, forming a new Team 7 with Sakura.

The new team members were: Yamato as leader, Naruto, Sakura, and Sai.

After Danzō's death, most of Root's ninjas were absorbed into the ANBU, while some, like Ryōma, retired.

Due to his personality, Sai wasn't accepted by either ANBU or other squads, so Tsunade forcibly placed him into Team 7.

As for Yamato, he naturally took on the role of Jiraiya's substitute, the "Wood Release tool" to suppress the Nine-Tails within Naruto.

After their B-rank missions, Tsunade shifted Naruto to chakra nature training, temporarily withholding new missions.

Today was supposed to be another training day at the great waterfall outside the village.

But Yamato, who usually supervised Naruto, had mysteriously vanished since morning.

Without Yamato, Tsunade forbade Naruto from training alone.

So, he could only wander the village, appearing idle, but actually searching for Yamato.

After roaming around aimlessly, Naruto eventually found himself in front of a small building at the village's edge.

Though outwardly just an apartment, it was actually a dormitory for Root members, housing many who lived undercover.

"Here... isn't this Sai's place?"

Remembering this, Naruto smirked mischievously.

At first, Naruto and Sai's relationship was rocky, but thanks to Yamato's counseling, and scolding, their bond had slowly warmed, resembling Naruto's early friendship with Sasuke.

Since he had free time today, Naruto decided to prank Sai, just as he once did with Sasuke.

After pinpointing Sai's room, Naruto climbed the wall like a spider, arriving at the window.

The window wasn't shut, though a dark curtain covered most of it.

He pushed the curtain aside and peeked in, calling softly:

"Sai?"

No reply. Sai wasn't home.

Naruto's plan: lie in wait inside, then jump out to scare Sai when he returned.

Resolved, he slipped into the apartment, looking for the best spot to launch his prank.

Unlike Naruto's messy home, Sai's room was meticulously organized.

The only odd thing was the sheer number of drawings, mostly black-and-white sketches, though some colorful, carefully framed paintings decorated the walls.

Directly opposite the window stood a large easel, with a small stool before it. Clearly, Sai often sat there to sketch the outside scenery.

But when Naruto approached the easel, the drawing he saw wasn't what he expected at all.

It wasn't a landscape.

It was a grotesque, humanoid monster, radiating pure malice.

The humanoid monster on the drawing paper seemed as if it did not belong to this world. A human-like body with four limbs and a torso carried the head of a dog, while its entire form was covered with gray skin resembling rubber.

The drawing itself wasn't fully completed, its lower half still blank, but with his genius brushstrokes, sense of composition, and use of shadows, Sai nevertheless managed to capture the grotesque, unruly, and revolting corruption of the creature.

It was as though these weren't just the boundless imaginations of Sai, but the depiction of something that truly existed.

Naruto's eyes lingered on the monster in the drawing for quite a while before finally shifting away a little. That was when he noticed a pile of drawing papers stacked beneath it.

And it seemed that on those sheets too were things drawn with heavy use of shadow.

Driven by curiosity, he slowly reached out his hand toward the corner of the papers, intending to lift the top sheet and peek at what lay beneath.

But just then, the hilt of a blade pressed down on the stack, stopping Naruto from moving any further.

"Entering someone's home without permission and then freely flipping through their drawings, that's not very polite, is it?"

Sai's cold, detached voice sounded from beside him, and Naruto sheepishly withdrew his hand.

Sai stepped forward, picked up a white cloth from the low table, and covered the easel with it. Then he asked, "Do you have some business with me at my house?"

"If not, I could accuse you of harassment."

Placing aside the daily goods he had just bought, Sai fixed his eyes on Naruto, though from the corner of his gaze he was actually keeping a close watch on the pile of drawings atop the easel.

Ever since the incident with the ghouls, images of those humanoid monsters had occasionally resurfaced in Sai's mind.

Though Sai was certain that he wasn't like that forbidden artist who was enthralled by ghouls and descended into madness, he simply couldn't help himself, he had to put those creatures onto paper.

What's more, Sai even intended to use the ghouls' images in his ninjutsu: Super Beast Imitating Drawing.

That jutsu materialized ink animals from his scrolls through chakra, their forms entirely shaped by his will.

In other words, even bringing to life ghouls, creatures that shouldn't exist in this world, was completely possible for him!

Did Naruto see my drawings?

Would he think I'm some kind of freak because of them?

Such thoughts circled in Sai's mind, but in truth Naruto, being as dense as ever, had already half-forgotten the monster in the drawing.

Right now, what mattered most to him was coming up with an excuse to cover up his breaking in.

"I came... It's, because..."

Just then, a voice called from outside the window.

"Sai! There's a mission!"

Both men turned their heads and saw that it was Sakura.

Sakura, surprised to find Naruto inside Sai's home, asked in confusion, "Naruto, what are you doing at Sai's place?"

At that moment Naruto's mind lit up, and he exclaimed, "Ah! That's right! I came to let Sai know that he has a mission!"

"Let's go already!"

Without waiting, Naruto bolted out the window and dashed toward the Hokage's office.

Sakura, watching his retreating back, couldn't help but wonder.

How did Naruto even know about the mission?

---

When Team 7 arrived at the Hokage's office, they pushed open the door and entered. Their temporary jonin leader, Yamato, was already waiting.

"So fast? You managed to gather everyone already?"

Tsunade was slightly surprised at Sakura's speed, though in truth she had only gone to one location and found both of them there.

Not dwelling on it, Tsunade immediately said, "At the request of our ally, Suna, we are to assist in capturing a rogue ninja from Suna, Mukade."

"Mukade?"

The three of them questioned the danger posed by this otherwise unknown ninja. After all, to warrant help from an allied village, such a missing-nin was usually a notorious S-rank.

"Yes." Tsunade nodded. "The mission's destination is the ancient city of Rōran.

"Rōran lies in the desert between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire. Decades ago, it was a city even more prosperous than Konoha.

"To build such a massive city in the barren desert, it relied on the Ryūmyaku, an enormous energy source buried underground.

"Because the Ryūmyaku's power was too dangerous, the Fourth Hokage sealed it twenty years ago. But half a month ago, Mukade somehow discovered a way to break that seal. He now seeks to seize the Ryūmyaku's power. The Suna ninjas can't intercept him in time, so it falls to us of Konoha to stop him.

"Your mission: defend with your lives the sealing technique left behind by the Fourth Hokage!"

Her command was clear and concise. With the assignment received, the four members of Team 7 immediately set off.

And from afar, Kagami smiled as he saw them leave the village.

---

At the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind lay a stretch of desert belonging to no nation.

Once, cities had existed there, the marketplace of Sora-ku, known for its black-market dealings, and the once-glorious city of Rōran.

But now, all had fallen into ruin, swallowed by the merciless sands.

Only a small remnant lingered in Rōran, still dealing in ninja weapons and tools.

As for Rōran, it was deserted, nothing but ruins.

Led by Yamato, the cloaked members of Team 7 pressed on swiftly through the endless desert toward their destination.

At last, in the distance, faint outlines of jagged ruins rose against the sunlight, sprawling like claws in the desert.

"That must be Rōran."

Yamato was uncertain, never having been there himself, but he had once heard Kakashi speak of the ancient city.

"Let's just go check it out!"

Naruto, ever the man of action, rushed ahead toward the ruins. The others could only follow.

Dashing at full speed, Naruto was the first to charge into the remains, immediately struck by the sight around him.

Though now desolate, the collapsed stones made clear how magnificent the city and its streets once were.

Konoha's buildings could never compare with these massive stone bricks, each taller than a man.

As Naruto walked through the city's central street, a sudden series of cracking stones echoed from the distance, swiftly drawing closer to him.