Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 247

"What?! The Tailed Beast Bomb was actually eaten?!" Kabuto wore a look of utter disbelief, but the scene that had just occurred had been clearly observed through his high-powered lenses.

The moment Isobu launched its Tailed Beast Bomb, it flew directly into the wide-open jaws of the great water lizard. There was no explosion at all; the Tailed Beast Bomb disappeared into Bokrug's mouth as if it were just a small pill—vanished without a trace.

The attack held enough power to flatten a mountain, yet Bokrug swallowed it without a hint of effort. It was an event that completely defied understanding.

Beside him, Sasuke and Guren wore similar expressions of shock, equally shaken by the appearance of this massive lizard from an ancient era.

Unlike the three of them, Orochimaru's face showed much less exaggerated emotion.

Bokrug's overwhelming power had already been anticipated by him. Although among the Great Old Ones recorded in the Necronomicon, the Great Water Lizard was considered a lower-ranking being, it was still one of the Great Old Ones.

According to the tales within the Necronomicon, it spent a thousand years amassing strength to destroy the Kingdom of Sarnath.

However, for the Great Old Ones—whose bodies are made of supernatural matter and who are known as eternal sleepers—a thousand years is but a fleeting moment, a blink between one second and the next.

The method by which Bokrug destroyed Sarnath wasn't detailed in the Necronomicon. It only stated that with the first light of dawn the next day, the green mist that had surrounded the lake and the city vanished completely.

So did the people of Sarnath. Even the city's bronze gates, marble palaces, and distant towers were wiped from existence, as if the splendor of Sarnath and the miracles of mankind had never existed at all.

All that remained was a half-buried, sea-green statue on the grass.

In other words, Bokrug's ability most likely involves disappearance.

Although it had seemed like Bokrug had swallowed the Tailed Beast Bomb just now, if we consider the power hinted at in those ancient tales, it becomes easier to understand.

The Great Water Lizard, the Great Old One Bokrug, didn't consume the Tailed Beast Bomb—it made it disappear in an instant.

It's hard to imagine that such a grotesquely powerful monster could possess an ability related to eerie vanishing.

Compared to these "spectators," the most shocked of all was the giant turtle-like Isobu on the water's surface.

Even the Nine-Tails wouldn't be able to take a direct hit from a Tailed Beast Bomb unscathed—but the monster before him could!

What the hell is this thing?!

While Isobu was still stunned, more of the tendrils from Bokrug's lower jaw wrapped around its neck, pulling it taut and extending it further.

Seeing this, Kabuto immediately snapped to attention and shouted a warning: "Orochimaru-sama! If this continues, the Three-Tails will be killed!"

"Prepare the seal!" Of course, Orochimaru hadn't forgotten the purpose of their mission. Summoning Bokrug to beat up the Three-Tails wasn't the end goal. His true objective was to seal the Three-Tails into Yūkimaru's body.

The power of a tailed beast is immense. To seal one, you must first gain control of its body.

There are several methods to do this—legendary ninja tools left by the Sage of Six Paths, powerful sealing techniques possessed by those with special bloodlines, or even sheer numerical force to suppress the beast.

But as a lone operator, Orochimaru didn't have access to any of these. So his only option was to use a Great Old One to subdue the tailed beast.

Now that the Three-Tails was firmly pinned down by Bokrug—more securely than any sealing technique could manage—it was the perfect time to begin the sealing.

Upon hearing Orochimaru's order, Kabuto immediately snatched the unconscious Yūkimaru from Guren's arms and placed him in front of Orochimaru, who had already prepared the sealing scroll and the ritual pedestal needed for the process and began forming hand seals.

"Eight Trigrams Seal!"

A massive sealing pattern appeared on Yūkimaru's stomach. At the same time, on the surface of the lake, Isobu felt a powerful force beginning to pull at the chakra inside its body.

—This is…

Isobu glanced sideways and immediately saw a group of people atop the high cliff performing some kind of sealing ritual. Having already experienced two previous jinchūriki hosts, Isobu instantly realized what they were doing.

They're trying to seal me! Damn it! At a time like this?!

Isobu glanced at the massive lizard in front of him. Though he was still struggling with the creature, he could already sense that his defeat was inevitable.

What's worse, as his chakra was slowly being drained, his strength was also diminishing, widening the gap between himself and the monster even further.

If he resisted the sealing now, his head would undoubtedly be torn off. If he were to be killed here, who knew how many years it would take to resurrect again?

Tailed beasts do revive after being killed, but the resurrection time isn't fixed—it can be short or long. Sometimes a year, sometimes decades, even centuries.

What's more, when a tailed beast revives and its chakra gathers again, the total amount is usually much less than before death. It takes time to rebuild. For that reason, tailed beasts always try to avoid death if they can.

When the Sage of Six Paths first divided the chakra, all nine tailed beasts were given an equal share—there was no difference in strength at the time.

But over time, as tailed beasts live on, chakra naturally gathers around them, becoming their own tailed beast chakra.

So the longer a tailed beast survives, the more chakra it accumulates, and the stronger it becomes.

The strongest of all the tailed beasts, the Nine-Tails Kurama, wasn't powerful because of its number of tails or anything else—it was simply because Kurama had never died in over a thousand years.

So, having just recently revived, Isobu definitely didn't want to be killed again so soon. Otherwise, he'd fall even further behind the other tailed beasts.

"So long as I'm alive, there's still hope!"

I'll accept the sealing!

As Isobu let go of his inner resistance, his massive turtle form began to rapidly dissolve, transforming into ice-blue chakra that surged toward Yūkimaru's body on the cliff.

"Ahh!"

The intense rush of warmth entering his body instantly woke Yūkimaru, who cried out in pain.

But Orochimaru paid no attention. He just stared, excitedly, as the tailed beast chakra rapidly filled Yūkimaru's body.

Perfect! Now I finally have a jinchūriki of my own.

Soon, the last traces of Isobu's chakra entered Yūkimaru's body, activating the Eight Trigrams Seal and locking the chakra securely inside.

"The tailed beast jinchūriki is mine! Hahahaha!"

Orochimaru stood up and laughed triumphantly.

However, his voice caught the attention of Bokrug in the center of the lake.

The massive lizard turned its head toward Orochimaru at the lake's edge, its yellow-green eyes glowing ominously with increasing displeasure.

"Orochimaru-sama, that thing is looking at us!"

"Run!"

---

Three days later, in the clear sky, a giant white bird was soaring high, its wings flapping powerfully. If one looked closely, two individuals dressed in black cloaks with red clouds could be seen sitting on the bird's back.

"We were doing just fine on our mission up north, me and Sasori-senpai. Why did the boss suddenly send me to capture a Tailed Beast? And with you of all people. What a pain. The boss said the Three-Tails revived way earlier than expected. As soon as the location was confirmed, we were dispatched immediately. He was afraid someone else might beat us to it."

"Hey, hey, hey! Are you completely missing the point here? I get that capturing a tailed beast is part of our mission and all, but why am I stuck teaming up with a half-baked intern like you instead of Sasori-senpai?"

"Aw, don't be so cold, Deidara-senpai! I am doing my best to go from intern to a full member of the organization. I'm working super hard to build up my record, y'know?"

The two continued chatting as they flew. The person sitting in front spoke with a tone of irritation, and the other referred to him as "Deidara-senpai."

The guy in the back looked suspicious, wearing a yellow spiral-patterned mask. His voice was lighthearted and goofy, almost clown-like.

As they flew along, Deidara suddenly felt something strange around his waist.

Without even needing to look down, he already knew—Tobi had sneakily wrapped his arms around his waist again.

"Tobi, get your hands off me."

"But Deidara-senpai, I'm afraid of heights! Just let me hold on a little, especially since I'm stuck sitting behind you."

"…"

"Oh yeah, Deidara-senpai, are you sure Sasori-senpai won't get mad when he finds out you flew off carrying me? If he finds out I was holding your waist, you think he'll beat me up? Sasori-senpai is scary. Unlike me—I just want to protect you, senpai."

At this point, veins were visibly throbbing on Deidara's forehead. He finally snapped. Reaching behind him, he shoved Tobi square in the chest, sending him off the bird's back.

Tobi's body tumbled down through the sky, the wind howling around him as he fell.

"AAAHHH!"

"I'm gonna die!! Help me, Deidara-senpai!"

"I'm gonna SPLAT!!"

"I'm gonna hit the ground and turn into meat paste! Like, extra-meaty meat paste!!"

"Senpai, save meee!"

Tobi's cries echoed from below, but Deidara didn't react at all. He just kept flying forward, unfazed.

Then suddenly, the screaming stopped. He reappeared on the bird's back in an instant, sitting right behind Deidara like nothing had happened.

"Ha ha! Just kidding! There's no way I'd actually die before I get promoted in the organization, right? But man, that was pretty close! We must be at least a thousand meters up. If I really fell… yeah, I'd be squished into meat paste that's even more pastey than regular meat paste!"

The same Tobi who had just claimed he was terrified of heights now leaned over casually, peering down at the ground to estimate how far below it was—completely unbothered.

Deidara, meanwhile, gave a slight sideways glance at Tobi, whom he had just pushed off the bird, only to see him instantly reappear right behind him as if nothing had happened. His expression grew a little more serious.

This Tobi—although usually acting like a complete goofball and showing no sign of any real offensive power, always giving off the impression of a harmless errand-boy within the organization—still had a strange and unsettling ability: teleportation.

That alone was enough to puzzle him to no end.

And it wasn't just that. He also knew that Tobi's body was immune to all forms of physical attacks. Even he had no idea how the ability worked or what its weakness was.

But with his understanding, he simply chalked it up to Tobi being weirdly durable and able to teleport—that was probably all there was to him. No real combat ability. Hence why he was still a low-ranking intern doing grunt work in the organization.

The rest of the flight was silent as they soared on the clay-crafted bird over the peaks of distant mountains, until finally, they arrived directly above their destination.

"According to the intel the boss gave us, the resurrected Three-Tails is hiding in this lake."

Deidara adjusted the monocular scope with his right hand, zooming in and scanning the lake from above, looking for anything unusual.

Tobi—or rather, Obito—stared silently at the still surface of the lake, memories from the past stirring within him.

Back then, he had miraculously survived and, filled with hope, tried to reunite with his old teammates, Kakashi and Rin. But what he saw instead…

Kakashi had pierced Rin's chest with his Chidori!

From that moment on, Obito decided to carry out Madara's plan. He would abandon this world, a world without Rin, and create a new one where she still existed.

Later investigations revealed the truth behind that scene. Kakashi had been forced to do it.

Kiri had sealed the Three-Tails inside Rin, hoping to release it inside Konoha. Rin, not wanting to endanger the village, had thrown herself onto Kakashi's attack, sacrificing herself.

But to Obito, the reason didn't matter anymore. Rin was Rin. A world without her wasn't worth keeping.

Still, before remaking the world, if he could take revenge on those responsible for her death, he was more than willing to do so.

That was why, after taking control of the Fourth Mizukage through genjutsu, he began ruthlessly targeting ninjas within Kiri.

And among the major culprits behind Rin's death—besides Kiri—was the Three-Tails itself.

That damn Three-Tails! If it had never existed, I wouldn't have lost Rin!

Driven by that belief, he had Pain reassign the "Art Duo", placing himself with Deidara to personally take part in the Three-Tails' capture.

Of course, the Three-Tails couldn't be killed, it was too important for future plans. But if Deidara could rough it up a bit in front of him, that alone would help vent some of his anger.

"The lake's surface is calm—doesn't look like anyone's watching. We can go straight for the capture."

Deidara stowed away his scope and directed the bird to rapidly dive, stopping just ten meters above the lake.

"In a moment, I'll use my art to blast the Three-Tails out. That'll be faster. Then I'll leave the capture to you, Tobi. You're part of the organization too, after all. I'll let you take the credit this time."

Though Deidara said it casually, it was actually a ploy to see what kind of offensive abilities his companion really had.

Before Obito could reply, Deidara hurled a handful of clay spiders into the lake.

"Art is…"

"An explosion!"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A series of thunderous explosions erupted on the lake surface, shooting massive jets of water into the air, drenching both Deidara and Obito's waterproof cloaks.

Just seconds after the last explosion, a thick green mist began to rise rapidly from the center of the lake.

"That… What is that!?"