Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 264

From the description in the letter from the head of Kusa, anyone would feel that Orochimaru did something completely meaningless.

The Box of Ultimate Bliss was not as the legends claimed, it didn't grant a single wish. Inside, there was only a terrifying monster.

After Orochimaru killed that monster, he just left?

"It couldn't have been that simple. There must be a cause-and-effect relationship behind it all."

"Although I found ruins in the Demon Desert where Orochimaru had been before, the ruins he recently visited weren't there. It must have been somewhere else."

"Orochimaru risked exposing the fact that he's still alive just to go to the Demon Desert, but I still haven't found his real purpose."

"Not to mention, after appearing in the Demon Desert, he immediately attacked Hozuki Castle and opened the legendary Box of Ultimate Bliss."

"He wouldn't do something meaningless. There must be something inside the Box."

After Orochimaru left the village, Jiraiya had also investigated him for a while. Based on his experience, Orochimaru only shows up in person when there's something he must obtain himself.

Because of this, he once suspected that the reason Orochimaru went into hiding was because he'd gained the help of outsiders, likely the mysterious organization.

And this time, Orochimaru had no choice but to break his fake-death disguise and reappear, it must have been because there was something he had to obtain himself.

Judging from the end result of this entire series of events, it's very likely that Orochimaru discovered the true secret of the Box of Ultimate Bliss.

There were rumors that the Box had the power to take over the world and could grant the wish of anyone who opened it, no matter how outrageous.

But Jiraiya had always been skeptical of that claim. The Box might indeed be special, after all, it was a tool of the Sage of Six Paths, but perhaps it wasn't that exaggerated.

He believed that a wise person like Orochimaru wouldn't so easily expose that he's still alive without verifying the Box's true nature.

Besides, legendary ninja like the Sannin had known about the Box of Ultimate Bliss for years. If Orochimaru was truly interested, why didn't he act on it earlier?

So Orochimaru must have discovered the Box's true value — and that's why he made his move.

Could it be... Necronomicon?

Prompted by Jiraiya's earlier comments, Tsunade was the first to voice the speculation about the Necronomicon.

"Maybe Orochimaru was inspired by the Necronomicon, or was searching for it, and that's why he opened the Box of Ultimate Bliss."

"Hmm, that's very possible. But as for what the truth really is, only Orochimaru himself knows."

Jiraiya confirmed Tsunade's idea and continued, "What we can be sure of now is that over the years, Orochimaru has likely collected many volumes of the Necronomicon, and from them, learned a lot about the Old Ones."

"The Necronomicon contains prophecies about the future. Maybe one of them aligns with the doomsday prophecy spoken of by the Great Toad Sage."

"If we could know the exact content of that prophecy, maybe there's still a way to avoid such a terrible future."

Over the years, Jiraiya had never forgotten the Great Toad Sage's terrifying prophecy about the resurrection of ancient forces and the invasion of the human world by primeval evil, and had always been seeking a way to avert it.

"So right now, the top priority is to find Orochimaru and get clear answers."

"Tsunade, originally I planned to start investigating Akatsuki after finishing Naruto's training. But I now believe that solving the Orochimaru issue comes first."

"He probably knows far more than we imagine. Even during the Chunin Exams three years ago, he may have used information we still don't know about to fake his death."

"I need to ask Orochimaru all of this face-to-face."

When it came to important matters, Jiraiya was always decisive and action-oriented.

And Tsunade knew that once Jiraiya made up his mind, even she couldn't persuade him otherwise.

Seeing the determination in Jiraiya's eyes, Tsunade could only silently give her blessings.

---

Meanwhile, on the edge of the open window in the Hokage's office, a spider was quietly watching Jiraiya and Tsunade, taking in everything.

On the other end of the spider's vision was Kagami.

Realizing that there was no more useful information to be gained, he slowly removed his finger from over one eye, signaling the withdrawal of the spider's vision.

He felt that the worldline shifted once again.

In the original timeline, Jiraiya began investigating Akatsuki after completing three years of training with Naruto.

It was during this solo investigation that he discovered Akatsuki's main base was likely in Ame.

To verify this, he infiltrated Ame alone, which ultimately led to his death. But now, because Jiraiya had heard from Abdul, that Orochimaru possessed an evil tome called the Necronomicon, Jiraiya shifted his focus.

He now believed that investigating Orochimaru was more important than tracking Akatsuki.

Since he wouldn't investigate Akatsuki, the infiltration of Ame, and thus his death, wouldn't happen.

---

In a shadowy cavern, figures clad in illusory camouflage stood on pedestals arranged in a circle.

Among them, one figure, shrouded in darkness except for his distinct eyes, began to speak.

"The regular meeting of Akatsuki begins now."

"First, let me inform you, thanks to everyone's efforts over the years, Akatsuki has now accumulated considerable wealth."

"This allows us to perfectly transition from the first phase of our plan to the second: collecting the tailed beasts held by the various ninja villages."

This second phase of the plan was originally intended to begin years ago, but was interrupted by the sudden death of the Three-Tails' jinchuriki.

To carry out the tailed beast collection smoothly, it had to be done in one swift move, leaving the great nations no time to react, so Akatsuki had been keeping a low profile all these years.

Recently, when the Three-Tails was resurrected, Pain immediately dispatched the masked man, believed to be Madara, and Deidara to capture it. But they failed.

Now, after some time gathering intel, Zetsu had finally recovered the lost information about the Three-Tails' whereabouts.

Pain's current obsession with the Three-Tails wasn't without reason, according to the intelligence they had, the Three-Tails was the only tailed beast among the nine that was unclaimed.

All the other tailed beasts had their own jinchūriki and were affiliated with ninja villages. Only the Three-Tails, after being reborn, hadn't yet been reclaimed by Kirigakure.

Capturing an unclaimed tailed beast didn't require dealing with a jinchūriki, nor would it draw the attention of the village behind that jinchūriki.

"Zetsu, tell us about the situation with the Three-Tails," Pain commanded in a calm tone.

"It wasn't a mistake in my intel regarding the Three-Tails' rebirth location. Someone else beat us to it and captured it."

"That person… was Orochimaru."

Black Zetsu and White Zetsu spoke in unison, revealing this information and startling the other members of Akatsuki.

"What? That snake is still alive?!"

"I knew he wasn't dead! Only my art can put an end to him!"

"Shut up! That's my job!"

Sasori and Deidara launched into another one of their comedic arguments. Of course, the two had the strongest reaction to the news of Orochimaru's survival.

After all, Pain had originally sent Sasori and Deidara, freshly teamed up, to eliminate Orochimaru for betraying the organization. Though it appeared at the time that Orochimaru had been blown up and killed, he had actually escaped.

Now, the same trick had been played again, Orochimaru had faked his death and fooled them all once more, making both of them furious.

If the opportunity presented itself, the two of them would gladly hunt Orochimaru down right now and crush that slippery snake.

But Pain didn't give them the chance.

"Orochimaru will be dealt with later. For now, the Three-Tails is our top priority."

"Zetsu, continue."

White Zetsu picked up the story: "Orochimaru sealed the Three-Tails inside a child's body and used its chakra to open the 'Box of Ultimate Bliss.'"

"But after that was done, his subordinates betrayed him and took the child with the Three-Tails sealed inside and went into hiding."

This again stirred confusion among the Akatsuki members. This time, Hidan was the one to speak up.

"The Box of Ultimate Bliss? What the hell is that?"

Kakuzu, standing beside him, replied with a grim voice, "It's a ninja tool said to be from the Sage of Six Paths. Supposedly, it can grant any wish to the one who opens it."

"Lies! Only Jashin-sama can grant any wish! Only Jashin-sama!!"

Normally, Hidan's outbursts would irritate Kakuzu, but whenever Hidan mentioned Jashin, even he did not speak further.

Hidan had joined Akatsuki under the condition that his preaching and the daily rituals of the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign would not be interfered with. Every so often, Hidan would ride a Byakhee to a secret gathering site to conduct their religious ceremonies.

Once, he had secretly followed Hidan using the Akatsuki ring's tracking ability. What he saw at the Brotherhood's gathering shocked even him.

Even someone as ancient as him, had never witnessed such a blasphemous ritual.

Through the flickering of the strange flames, a yellow, indescribable entity emerged from the darkness.

Voices from the otherworld echoed throughout the ceremony. The Brotherhood members appeared enraptured, as if they were enjoying a divine concert.

But to him, those sounds were terrifying and unnatural. The last time he'd felt fear like that was when he fought the First Hokage.

Back then, he only had one heart, was still young, and lacked experience, just a single glance from Hashirama was enough to scare him stiff.

Now, in this moment, it was the same. When that yellow, indescribable being turned its hooded head slightly toward Kakuzu, all five of his hearts skipped a beat at once.

Fortunately, he was a man of few words, if his vocal cords were any more developed, he might've screamed on the spot.

From that day forward, he never mocked Hidan's religion again, nor did he speak ill of Jashin.

Pain once again cut off Hidan's rant about Jashin.

"In any case, now that we've located the Three-Tails, I need someone to bring it back."

"This mission goes to you, Itachi and Kisame."

Since the Three-Tails was already inside a human host, Tobi lost interest in tormenting the tailed beast directly, so the task fell to Itachi and Kisame.

"Understood," Itachi said.

"Hehehe," Kisame chuckled.

On two large stones by a remote forest road, Itachi and Kisame slowly opened their eyes from their meditative poses.

"Just finished one mission for the organization, and before we even get a break, here comes another, huh, Itachi-san?"

Kisame's tone was teasing, perhaps trying to provoke Itachi's dissatisfaction with Akatsuki.

But Itachi remained unmoved, simply replying in a quiet voice, "Let's go."

Watching Itachi's retreating back, Kisame slung Samehada over his shoulder and smirked.

"This isn't what we agreed on..."

---

In a dark cave, Sasuke stood face-to-face with Orochimaru.

Sasuke's right hand rested on his Kusanagi sword, while Orochimaru stood with Kimimaro in front of him and Kabuto and a giant pink-shelled creature behind him. The tension between both sides was palpable.

"You said after you were done with your business, you'd give me the Three-Tails' jinchūriki."

While Orochimaru had been away at Hozuki Castle to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss and obtain the Silver Key, Sasuke had been guarding his base.

In return, once everything was over, Orochimaru had promised to hand over the Three-Tails' jinchūriki to Sasuke. Sasuke planned to use that person to lure out members of Akatsuki, particularly his brother, Itachi, and uncover the truth behind the Uchiha clan massacre.

But when Orochimaru returned, he informed Sasuke that the Three-Tails' jinchūriki had already been taken away by Guren.

That enraged Sasuke.

"Whether it's the Three-Tails' jinchūriki, Akatsuki where Itachi is, or that dark-skinned man, these are all beyond your grasp for now."

"The waters here run too deep. Give up on those childish ambitions."

"If you continue to assist me patiently, one day, I'll let you know everything you want to know."

Orochimaru continued to sweet-talk him, but Sasuke had run out of patience. With a cold look in his eyes, he slowly unsheathed his Kusanagi blade.

At the same time, three figures descended from the cave's ceiling and stood beside Sasuke, forming an opposing front to Orochimaru's group.

"So, you've all sided with Sasuke while I was gone, huh?"

"Suigetsu, Jūgo, Karin…"