Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 240

The claws behind him suddenly slashed toward Sai. Although his brain hadn't yet reacted, his body, honed through years of training, instinctively moved.

He quickly sidestepped and leaped away. The shadowy claws missed him, smashing the camera in front of him into pieces. Looking at the shattered wooden fragments on the ground, he felt a strange twinge of heartache, though he didn't know why.

But there was no time to dwell on such feelings. Sai quickly jumped back two steps and turned to face the shadow that had ambushed him.

It bore humanoid features but was clearly a complete monster.

Standing on two legs, claws extended forward, its body was humanoid but dog-headed, with rubbery, hoof-like feet.

It exuded a corpse-like stench, wearing tattered clothes, towering high with rows of sharp teeth.

A ghoul!

In that instant, his mind flashed to the paintings—the creatures Pickman called ghouls, humanoid monsters of legend.

The creature before him looked almost identical to those ghouls, except for one key difference: this monster was wearing the brown suit from Pickman's self-portrait.

Even that brown suit now hung in tatters, clinging loosely to its gray, rubbery skin.

If Pickman hadn't willingly handed this suit to the monster, then it was clear—the monster was Pickman!

"Pickman-san!"

Sai shouted at him sternly, but his voice didn't bring back Pickman's reason. Instead, it enraged the ghoul.

With a roar, the ghoul lunged at Sai, saliva spraying from its mouth and splattering onto the ground. The putrid stench of decay wafted through the air, and he recognized it as the smell of rotting corpses.

No wonder—this ghoul, once Pickman, had just devoured his landlord. The landlord's mangled remains were probably still being digested in its stomach.

After its roar, the ghoul flailed its claws and leaped at Sai.

The ghoul was fast. It could move on two legs like a human, but it could also drop to all fours and run like an animal.

When it used all four limbs, its speed was far beyond that of an ordinary human. Caught off guard, he failed to dodge in time and was tackled to the ground by the ghoul.

Fortunately, he had already drawn the short blade from his back and managed to use it to block the ghoul's rows of sharp teeth, preventing those bacteria-ridden jaws from touching his body.

In truth, he could have dodged the ghoul's attack earlier. However, he hesitated.

Seeing the suit on the ghoul, he had already guessed its previous identity as a human. This realization made him pause.

But now, with his face less than a foot away from the ghoul's, Sai could clearly see that there was no trace of human reason in its bloodshot eyes.

Only wild, crimson fury remained. The foul stench of its animalistic panting proclaimed that it was no longer human.

Still, he struggled to imagine how a man who had looked so handsome just three days ago could have turned into this dog-headed monster before him.

That monstrous face was filled with a ravenous hunger, not just for his body, but for food in general.

It had devoured every last bit of Peters' flesh, and yet it was still unsatisfied.

The ghoul's sharp claws dug into his shoulder, piercing his skin with just a bit of pressure. The sharp pain snapped his thoughts back to reality.

He thrust the short blade pressed against the ghoul's two rows of teeth upward with force, instantly sending the creature flying a few meters back before it landed steadily on the ground.

After pushing the ghoul away, Sai performed a nimble kip-up to get back on his feet, just as the ghoul launched its second lunge, right on cue.

This time, he held nothing back. He sidestepped the ghoul's frontal attack and, with a backhanded swing of his blade, severed one of the ghoul's arms.

"Aaargh!"
A piercing scream erupted from the ghoul's mouth as bright red blood sprayed violently, spilling onto the cold, hard floor of the basement.

Sai had held back with that swing. In that fleeting moment, he could have easily decapitated the ghoul if he wanted to.

But he had a reason to keep it alive. For the creature known as the ghoul, his goal was to capture it alive.

If the ghoul could remain alive even after all its limbs were severed, he would have successfully delivered a live sample back to Konoha.

Although this ghoul had once been human, the most humane thing to do for such a creature would be to put it out of its misery.

But the education Sai had received since childhood taught him to prioritize obtaining information at any cost—humanitarian concerns were irrelevant.

The ghoul stood in place, gripping the stump of its severed arm with its remaining hand. Its grotesque dog-like head glared fiercely at Sai, but its body made no movements.

Oh? It didn't lose control and go berserk after getting injured. That shows some intelligence.

Sai was now determined to capture this ghoul. He charged at the creature, but midway through his assault, the ghoul suddenly dodged to the side, disappearing into the darkness beyond the reach of the kerosene lamp's light.

The basement was shrouded in darkness, with the only source of illumination being the kerosene lamp Sai had placed on the ground earlier.

This made him wary of chasing blindly. He immediately assumed a two-handed defensive stance with his blade, ready to react to any surprise attacks.

However, after waiting for a short while, he realized something was off.

In that brief time, he noticed the sound of breathing in the room had dwindled to just his own.

When he had entered the basement earlier, he had listened carefully and confirmed there were no other sounds of breathing in the area.

Could it be...

He quickly picked up the kerosene lamp and rushed toward the darkness. In a dim corner, he found a narrow, circular black hole in the floor.

It might have been a well, but given that this was a basement rather than a courtyard, it was more likely an entrance to the sewer system.

Not wanting to let the ghoul escape, he didn't hesitate. He immediately jumped into the hole.

In the pitch-black sewer, Sai continued his pursuit.

Fortunately, thanks to the trail of blood left by the ghoul's wound, he was able to track it quickly and maintain a steady pace. He was confident he would catch up soon.

As he followed the trail, he emerged from the narrow sewer into a larger, central area resembling a hub for the sewer system.

This was where the sewage from the interconnected underground waterways of North Corner Town converged before flowing into an even deeper layer.

Around the circular walls of this central chamber were over a dozen sewer entrances. The trail of the ghoul's blood led into one of them.

But just as he prepared to follow, the entrances to the sewer tunnels suddenly filled with dense, writhing shadows.

What the...?!

The sudden change in the situation made him halt abruptly. Holding his breath and focusing intently, he stared at the shadows.

Through the faint light filtering down from the thin metal mesh atop the central treatment area of the town's underground sewer system, he could see dozens of ghouls gradually emerging from the dark openings of the pipes.

Their appearance was similar to the ghoul named Pickman, but these creatures were completely unclothed, exuding an even more primal and savage aura.

What is going on?

Why are there so many ghouls all of a sudden? 

Sai's eyes were filled with undisguised shock. Even he hadn't expected that the sewers would be hiding dozens of these creatures.

However, upon closer thought, this was completely logical. Pickman was an extreme realist painter, and if his works were never the products of imagination but rather real depictions of certain moments, places, or events in the real world, then the existence of these ghouls wasn't so surprising.

Pickman must have seen these monsters feeding somewhere, capturing the scene with his old camera before replicating it in his artwork. 

Only such a process could explain how Pickman managed to create paintings so grotesque, as if demons themselves had drawn them.

What he hadn't anticipated, though, was just how close these terrifying humanoid creatures were to human civilization. They were hiding right beneath it, dwelling in these dark, shadowy sewers.

In these tunnels, the ghouls had abundant decaying matter to consume. Occasionally, they would even prey on the unlucky individuals who wandered into the sewer by mistake, ambushing them from the darkness.

Even worse, on certain dark nights, these creatures would surface.

Just like in Pickman's painting, they would gather around the edges of their victim's bed, staring greedily at human flesh, as though sitting at an ordinary dining table.

Yet he observed no trace of humanity left in these long-shadowed ghouls. They were entirely savage monsters!

As he considered how to deal with the situation, some of the ghouls within the encircling walls could no longer contain their instincts. The hunger for flesh drove them to charge at him.

In an instant, five ghouls leapt from the higher sewer pipes, pouncing toward him.

His pupils contracted sharply. Reacting within a split second, he crouched low and slid across the floor, narrowly dodging the claws of the five ghouls.

Before he could catch his breath, two more ghouls charged at him from the left and right.

Ahead lay the foul, germ-ridden central sewer well—deep and bottomless, plunging into a pit of wastewater. Behind him were the five ghouls he had just dodged. 

This time, Sai couldn't evade. He had no choice but to draw his blade.

With lightning speed, Sai unleashed his technique, the blade slicing sharply to his left. The motion effortlessly felled one of the ghouls.

But as Sai swung back to the right, it was too late. A ghoul's hooked claw raked across the deltoid muscle below his shoulder, leaving a terrible gash.

He retaliated with a reverse grip slash, but the moment had already passed. The ghoul's attack, though shallow, inflicted a wound that would be difficult to heal. The creature didn't press its advantage; instead, it leaped back several paces, its grotesque, dog-like head still fixated on him with a vicious glare.

Sai barely had time to catch his breath when three more ghouls attacked from above and behind.

He quickly raised his blade to defend himself, severing the hideous dog head of one ghoul with a swift slash. 

But Sai could not fend off all three at once. The other two agile ghouls managed to tear into his abdomen and thigh, their claws slicing into his muscles.

At this point, blood was streaming from multiple wounds—his waist, abdomen, thigh, shoulder, and deltoid. 

If he stopped to staunch the bleeding immediately, his life could still be saved. But if he continued battling these monsters, the increasing number of injuries would inevitably lead to death from excessive blood loss.

These creatures were intelligent!

During the brief clashes, he realized that their attacks were not random or chaotic. 

These ghouls behaved like seasoned hunters. When facing an enemy stronger than themselves, they didn't attack head-on. Instead, they used their numbers to steadily inflict more wounds on their prey.

The more wounds there were, the more blood would be lost. The more blood was lost, the weaker the prey would become, until eventually it could no longer fight back.

And this is the sewer—an environment teeming with bacteria. Sai, with his injuries, would suffer far more than he imagined in such conditions.

These ghouls, although humanoid in appearance, possess physical capabilities far beyond that of ordinary people. Their speed and strength are on par with that of a genin. It was impossible for Sai to eliminate these dozens of ghouls single-handedly.

It seemed escape was the only option.

He glanced upward at the metal grate overhead, beyond which the clear sky could be seen.

If he could reach the surface,he was confident that his speed would allow him to outrun the pursuing ghouls.

As for the possibility of those dozens of ghouls reaching the surface and attacking civilians on the streets—that wasn't something he needed to concern himself with.

Having made up his mind, he immediately sprang into action.

He hurled a kunai toward the metal grate, tied with an explosive tag.

The explosive tag struck the metal grate and blew a hole in it.

Seizing the moment when the surrounding ghouls were still reacting to the explosion, he jumped toward the opening in the grate, aiming to escape.

But as he leapt into the air, two more ghouls jumped out from a high sewer outlet along the wall, pouncing on him.

In midair, he couldn't adjust his trajectory. He raised his short blade and managed to slice off one of the ghoul's claws.

However, he couldn't defend against the second one. Its sharp claws raked across his back, leaving two bloody gashes. The blow also disrupted his momentum and balance, sending him plummeting toward the dark, gaping maw of the central sewage treatment pit below.

If he fell into that pit, the depth and turbulence of the sewage would make escape impossible.

Even if he managed to climb out, the wounds on his body would be soaked in the polluted water, making survival and a return to Konoha impossible.

In this life-or-death moment, Sai quickly drew another kunai and threw it at the stone wall of the central sewer outlet.

Thunk!

Thankfully, the wall was brittle, and his kunai embedded itself into the stone. He grabbed onto the rope tied to the end of the kunai with his left hand.

Crash!

Sai slammed into the stone wall with a loud thud. Now, he dangled like a sausage from the wall of the central sewer outlet, unable to climb higher or descend safely.

Below him was the abyss-like darkness of the sewage pit. Above him, dozens of ghouls were slowly extending their dog-like heads over the edge of the opening.

"Damn it… is this the end?"

He tried to struggle, raising his right hand with the short blade, intending to stab it into the wall and use it as a support to climb up.

But the slick surface of the wall prevented the blade from penetrating. Instead, the kunai embedded in the wall started to loosen and slip under the strain of his weight.

Debris fell onto his head. If he made any large movements, the kunai would fall out before his blade could gain purchase, and he'd plummet into the inescapable sewage pit below.

"You seem to be in quite a predicament. Do you need a little help?"

Just as Sai was teetering on the brink, a voice echoed from above. Looking up, he saw a figure standing nonchalantly at the edge of the metal grate he had just blown open.

The person was clad entirely in black, with purple facial markings covering their face. Their hands were casually tucked into their pockets.

The individual bore several distinctive features, including a large, bandage-wrapped object strapped to their back and a peculiar, pointed hat resembling animal ears.

But Sai's gaze locked onto one particular detail.

On the person's forehead protector.

It was the symbol of… Suna!