Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 249

"That's a Tailed Beast Ball!" With widened pupils, Obito spoke this incredibly shocking answer.

Compared to someone reckless like Deidara, he had truly seen what a Tailed Beast Ball looked like when fired by a tailed beast.

Back fifteen years ago, during the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, Obito had controlled the Nine-Tails and made it fire a Tailed Beast Ball.

Although the Nine-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball was undoubtedly larger than the one in front of them now, it didn't stop Obito from recognizing that the sphere rapidly flying toward them was indeed a Tailed Beast Ball.

"A Tailed Beast Ball? Aren't those something only tailed beasts can fire? How could it appear here?"

"I don't know either, but if we get hit by that thing from this close, we're definitely dead." Obito didn't say that both he and Deidara would die here, because his own abilities allowed him to become immune to physical attacks—this kind of one-time explosive attack wasn't enough to kill him.

As for Deidara, it was obvious he didn't have any life-saving ninjutsu. Even if the Tailed Beast Ball hit the city-state beneath their feet instead of them directly, the shockwave from the explosion would be enough to shatter Deidara's internal organs.

"Then we better run!" Deidara took a step, trying to flee, but the gravitational force in this space was extremely low, and they were still floating mid-air, making it impossible to run quickly.

Just as Deidara was about to escape, Obito grabbed him by the shoulder from behind.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"It's too late to run now. The Tailed Beast Ball is almost here."

The two looked up at the Tailed Beast Ball in the sky. In just the few seconds they had spoken, it had already drawn dangerously close.

Although Obito wanted to keep his ability hidden as much as possible, it seemed he had no choice now but to use it in front of Deidara.

If Deidara were to die here, it would seriously impact Akatsuki's plans in the future. Worst case, he could just use his Sharingan to erase Deidara's memory afterward.

With a thought, a swirling vortex began expanding from the hole in Obito's mask, slowly drawing the two of them in.

Just as the vortex had nearly completely absorbed them—only a corner of their clothing still visible—the Tailed Beast Ball finally struck the high tower of the temple in the city-state. A blinding white light exploded from a single point, engulfing everything in all directions.

In that moment, the corner of Deidara's clothing that hadn't yet been pulled into the vortex was swallowed by the light and instantly turned to ashes.

A pitch-black space, with countless rectangular stone pillars floating within it.

Obito appeared on one of the pillars, gripping the back of Deidara's collar. Deidara fell awkwardly from mid-air onto the stone platform, while Obito landed gracefully, as if completely used to it.

"Where is this place?"

Sitting on the ground, Deidara looked around in confusion, completely bewildered.

Just then, Obito suddenly used a Body Flicker Technique to appear right in front of Deidara. With his right hand, he swept aside Deidara's massive bangs, revealing the hidden eye underneath—and stared directly into it with his Sharingan.

In the final moment before losing consciousness, Deidara caught sight of that eye—the same one he had glimpsed back at the lake's surface.

But the very next moment, he blacked out.

Silence returned to the space. Obito took a deep breath, then vanished from the space with the unconscious Deidara.

In a dark cave, a tall figure stood before a grotesque and terrifying giant statue. His orange hair stood out strikingly against the shadows.

Suddenly, a space-time vortex opened up beside him. Obito emerged from it, carrying the unconscious Deidara.

Glancing at the collapsed Deidara, Pain immediately asked, "What happened? Did the mission to capture the Three-Tails fail?"

"The intel from Zetsu was wrong. That lake didn't have the Three-Tails, it had a giant lizard."

Just then, a deformed figure stepped slowly out from behind one of the cave's stone pillars, speaking in a dry, raspy voice. "That's impossible. My intel is never wrong."

Obito countered, "You think I'm making this up? I saw it with my own eyes. There was a huge green lizard in the lake, with tendrils growing from its chin. It looked extremely bizarre—and it had a space-time teleportation ability."

"Both Deidara and I were transported into some alternate dimension controlled by that creature. There was a city in there—and even a Tailed Beast Ball came flying at us."

"If I didn't have the abilities of this Sharingan, we would never have made it back."

Obito wasn't exaggerating, but neither Pain nor Zetsu could fully comprehend what he was describing.

"A giant lizard? A city in a different dimension? A Tailed Beast Ball? None of that was there when I scouted the area," said Zetsu, holding up both hands, signaling that he wasn't taking the blame for this. But Obito wasn't trying to assign blame either—capturing the Three-Tails was what mattered most.

"Whatever the case, it's too late now. That monster in the lake was definitely not the Three-Tails. Either it killed the Three-Tails or someone else beat us to it."

"The Three-Tails got killed? That sounds pretty far-fetched."

Pain was skeptical. Even though the Three-Tails was one of the weaker tailed beasts, it still shouldn't be so easily wiped out by some unknown monster.

When thinking of giant beasts with incredible power in the shinobi world, Pain immediately thought of his master Jiraiya's summoned toads. But even those creatures couldn't dream of killing a tailed beast.

"It's not an exaggeration. That creature was unlike anything I've ever seen."

"To escape it, I had no choice but to reveal my power in front of Deidara—and he saw my Sharingan."

"But I've just used the Sharingan to alter his memory a bit. I think it'll be fine."

Since Obito was being this forthcoming, Pain didn't press further.

After all, it was Obito who had originally proposed the Eye of the Moon Plan. Pain didn't believe he had any reason to sabotage it.

Still, in Pain's mind, the masked man before him wasn't Obito—but rather Madara.

A creature so bizarre that even someone from the era of legendary ninja like Hashirama and Madara had never seen it—and that even Madara himself found unbelievable—just what kind of monster was it?

Pain couldn't help but feel curious.

"In any case, this mission to capture the Three-Tails has failed. Whether it was killed or taken, Zetsu, you need to focus entirely on tracking down any information about the Three-Tails. My eye can sense it—the Demonic Statue behind me is starting to stir."

As he spoke, Pain turned to look at the Gedo Statue behind him, one hand covering his eye.

---

"Look, that's the Hōzuki Castle."

By the massive rock on the cliffside, two figures leaned against its shadow, gazing into the depths of a wilderness covered with red berries. In the midst of that field stood a city resembling an ancient city-state.

"So the famous Hōzuki Castle is actually on an island... I've heard of such a place before, but never seen it with my own eyes."

"Of course," Orochimaru replied in his dry, slightly amused tone, explaining the origins of Hōzuki Castle to Kabuto.

"Hōzuki Castle was established by Kusa under the commission of the other nations. It's a prison specifically built to hold ninja criminals from various ninja villages."

"The reason Kusa was chosen is twofold: one, no country wants to personally manage dangerous but not death-sentenced ninja criminals. Two, the city's warden must come from a particular clan."

"A particular clan?" Kabuto asked with a puzzled look.

"Yes. Only members of a Kusa clan capable of using the Heavenly Prison can serve as the warden of Hōzuki Castle—and also as the chief guard of the prison."

"The Heavenly Prison brands the prisoner with a seal that prevents them from using chakra. Moreover, if they stray too far from the jutsu caster—the city warden—their body will spontaneously combust."

"I see." Kabuto nodded thoughtfully. Having such an ability did make that clan uniquely suited for the role of prison wardens.

"Hōzuki Castle is known to the outside world as the 'inescapable prison of fate.' Ninjas who enter are said to never escape until death. But... that's not entirely true. As far as I know, there was someone who escaped a long time ago."

In Orochimaru's mind, he recalled a certain greedy accountant from Akatsuki.

Seeing Orochimaru's wicked smile, Kabuto wisely chose not to pry.

In fact, as Sannin's most trusted aide, he still didn't even know the exact reason they were standing outside Hōzuki Castle now.

However, he had a strong feeling it was related to their recent mission involving the capture of the Three-Tails.

Because accompanying them wasn't just himself, but also Yūkimaru—the new Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails—still just a child with no fighting ability, along with his caretaker, Guren.

And then there were those fanatical eyes hidden beneath the cliffside foliage.

At that moment, Guren leaped up to the cliff and reported to Orochimaru.

"All the personnel from the base have made it ashore. We're just waiting for your command, Orochimaru-sama."

Orochimaru's smile widened.

"Tell them—whoever survives this mission will be rewarded with my favor. They may even serve directly at my side... and receive physical enhancements."

"Yes!" Guren turned and jumped back down the cliff, heading off to instruct the mercenaries Orochimaru had gathered through various means.

As Orochimaru stared at Hōzuki Castle, lit by massive searchlights piercing the darkening sky, he muttered with a twisted grin, "Tonight… Let's make some noise. Exercise time is over. All prisoners must return to their rooms immediately. I repeat..."

Atop Hōzuki Castle's highest tower, a structure only the city's warden could occupy, the current warden, Mui, stood on the balcony with his hands behind his back, emotionlessly watching the prisoners shuffle back to their cells.

Day after day of overseeing dangerous ninja criminals had numbed his emotions. Any human expression that once existed on his face had long disappeared.

But there was a time when he still smiled—when he still had his son.

Nine years ago, Mui sacrificed his son, Muku, to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss. But Muku never returned.

Since that day, he lost the ability to smile.

From that moment on, his goal changed—from reviving Kusa to simply seeing his son again. But the Box of Ultimate Bliss requires a tremendous amount of chakra to open. Even Muku, the most gifted ninja of Kusa, wasn't enough.

So to obtain even more powerful chakra, Mui thought of one thing—tailed beast jinchūriki.

But acquiring one was nearly impossible.

Back when Hashirama distributed the tailed beasts, Kusa received none. And today, each Jinchūriki is fiercely protected by the great ninja villages, not to mention their own formidable powers.

So Mui could only bury his desire deep in his heart, waiting for the day it might come true.

As he closed his eyes, recalling the moment his son was devoured by the Box nine years ago, the shrill sound of an alarm suddenly rang out across Hōzuki Castle.

The deafening alarm shattered his thoughts. His eyes flew open.

"What's going on? Who would be foolish enough to try escaping Hōzuki Castle at a time like this?"

Just then, a black phone next to him started ringing.

Mui rushed over and picked it up. A breathless voice of a guard came through.

"Mui-sama! A large number of ninjas are approaching the city—and they're attacking!"

"Ah! Sn-... Snake—!"

Boom!

A thunderous crash echoed just outside the balcony. Mui dropped the phone and ran to look outside.

And what he saw was utterly shocking.

A colossal three-headed snake, towering even higher than Hōzuki Castle's walls, had appeared outside.

The snake rampaged, flinging its heads left and right, sweeping guards off the walls like ants. Screams and cries of agony filled the air.

To guard a hundred high-level ninja criminals, one would typically need at least half that number in ninja guards.

But due to Mui's Heavenly Prison, which disables a prisoner's chakra and renders them ordinary, there weren't that many ninja stationed—half the guards were regular soldiers.

And now, this flaw was being exposed. Ordinary soldiers couldn't hope to stand against such a monstrous creature.

Let alone the unidentified swarm of ninjas now climbing the city walls.

Who would dare attack Hōzuki Castle?

Mui was stunned. After all, Hōzuki Castle was an internationally recognized prison, jointly sanctioned by the Five Great Nations. To attack it was to declare war on them all!

As he scanned the chaos inside and outside the city, his gaze finally locked onto the top of the three-headed serpent.

There stood two figures.

One of them was slender, with a snake-like face and a sinister grin.

It was Orochimaru!