Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 216

In the hospital ward, Shino recounted the events of their search for the Bikōchū. His account included their encounter with the Kamizuru clan from Iwa and the abduction of Hinata by the Kamizuru clan in the middle of the night.

But these details weren't the main point; the focus was on the mysterious entity within the cone-shaped structure.

He explained what he saw and heard to the best of his understanding, including the strange plants they encountered outside the structure. He also mentioned that by the time they reached the bottom of the temple-like cone structure, they found Hinata in her current condition.

In other words, only Naruto, who had entered the cone structure ahead of Shino and Kiba, might know what had truly happened to Hinata.

However, he said that he lost consciousness at that time and had no idea what had occurred.

This remark made Jiraiya look at Naruto with a meaningful expression. A nearby doctor even suggested that perhaps Naruto's brain might also contain one of those strange tumors.

But Hiashi immediately dismissed the doctor's concerns, saying, "I examined him with my Byakugan; his brain is completely normal."

Naruto felt a chill down his spine when Hiashi stared at him with the Byakugan and made such a statement, which could easily be misconstrued.

At that moment, Shino suddenly spoke again: "Actually, I've had a theory ever since we entered that cone structure, but I'm not sure if it's correct."

"Go ahead and share it," Jiraiya encouraged.

"I suspect that the cone structure wasn't built by the Kamizuru clan or by the gray plant outside that attacks people. Rather, it was constructed by insects."

"Insects?"

His words immediately aroused surprise and doubt among the others. After all, insects might dig burrows at most, but how could they build a gigantic structure capable of accommodating humans? That completely defied common sense.

"Yes. On the walls of the passage leading to the bottom of the cone structure, I saw some carvings. Those carvings gave me the impression that insects were the main subjects of the artwork."

"Additionally, many of the doors and vertical passages within the cone structure were peculiar circular corridors. Such corridors are inconvenient for humans and other animals but are commonly used by insects."

The Aburame clan were experts in insect research. No one understood insects better than the members of the Aburame clan. Since Shino had made such an observation, it was highly likely to be true.

At this moment, Naruto suddenly remembered something.

"Come to think of it, when I woke up, I was indeed attacked by an insect. It seemed to be shooting a white beam at me."

"A white beam?"

Naruto's words piqued everyone's curiosity about this so-called insect.

In the past, insects rarely took center stage in ninja stories due to their seemingly limited abilities. People often associated insects with insignificance and powerlessness.

Thus, when they first discovered the cone structure, no one suspected it was built by insects. Instead, they preferred to believe it was part of a conspiracy orchestrated by the Kamizuru clan in the Bikōchū Forest.

However, after hearing Shino's theory, Jiraiya couldn't help but take these insects seriously.

Especially in recent years, many bizarre incidents had been caused by previously unknown and inexplicable creatures.

The ancient city incident in the Land of Snow. The Mi-Go assault on the daimyō's residence in the Land of Fire. The subterranean giant worm incident. And the recent attack by the Hounds of Tindalos during the Chunin Exams, which targeted Kage-level ninjas.

Behind all these events were extraordinary and otherworldly creatures. These were just the cases Jiraiya had found documented in the archives since becoming the Interim Hokage.

Other events, like the Uchiha clan massacre, had their records destroyed by Danzō. Sasuke, the sole survivor, had gone missing, leaving Jiraiya to piece together hints of the truth from correspondence between himself and the late Hiruzen.

Beyond these major events, there could have been countless smaller, more distant occurrences, shrouded in the guise of normalcy—events unnoticed by most.

Thus, even though Hinata's condition was dire, Jiraiya decided to hear what Shino had to say about the insects.

"Did you bring back that insect?"

"Yes, it's here."

Shino reached into the bag on his back and retrieved a transparent insect container.

Originally intended for capturing Bikōchū, the box was now filled to capacity by a single massive insect.

Inside the container, which was sized for normal insects, a nearly pigeon-sized insect had been forcibly stuffed.

Jiraiya took the container and brought it closer with Hiashi to examine its contents.

The creature inside had a pair of enormous eyes, utterly distinct from those of ordinary insects. Rather than compound eyes, it had a pair of black eyes with faint green pupils.

Below its eyes were three horizontally arranged mouths, each secreting a viscous, revolting slime that smeared the glass of the container.

Its body was supported by ten segmented legs, each covered in bristly black appendages that made it look utterly grotesque.

On its back were two semicircular wings adorned with triangular scales, one of which had been broken off. Shino had placed the severed wing in the container alongside the creature.

This insect was undoubtedly the ugliest and most bizarre creature any of them had ever seen.

In the shinobi world, there were indeed some fearsome insects living in extreme environments, such as the Demon Desert of the Land of Wind or Konoha's Forest of Death.

But those insects typically resembled ordinary ones that had grown to astonishing sizes under extreme conditions.

This insect, however, was fundamentally different in its biological structure from any other insect. Its three grotesque mouths and human-sized eyes were utterly alien—this was a creature that should not exist in the world!

Its existence seemed to challenge the reality of all other insects. Even someone as well-traveled as Jiraiya had never heard of anything like it.

Everyone in the room was horrified and unnerved by the monstrous insect, but Hiashi suddenly noticed something strange.

"Wait!"

Activating his Byakugan, he closely examined the "tumor" in Hinata's brain and then looked again at the bizarre insect in the container.

With his advanced sight, he could make out some details of the tumor in Hinata's brain, enough to compare it to the creature.

After repeated comparisons, he finally reached a conclusion.

"The thing in her brain is not a tumor at all! It's this insect! And it's still alive!"

His immediately shocked everyone present, as no one had initially considered this possibility.

The doctor questioned in disbelief, "How could this be? She doesn't have any external injuries. How could insects get inside her body?"

"No," Jiraiya shook his head, denying the doctor's assertion.

"It's not necessarily true that insects can't enter the body without external injuries. During my travels, I heard about a group of mercenary ninjas called Nokizaru Group."

"The ninjas specialize in using a type of explosive insect. The larvae of these insects are as small as bacteria and can unknowingly be inhaled during normal breathing."

"Once inside the body, these insects grow by absorbing residual chakra from the host's chakra usage. Eventually, they explode inside the host like explosive tags."

Jiraiya's explanation left everyone horrified. If this were true, Hinata's fate would be even worse than becoming a vegetable.

However, Jiraiya quickly reassured everyone. 

"But this incident definitely isn't the work of Nokizaru Group. Hiashi, when you observed the insect in Hinata's brain with your Byakugan, you didn't see any chakra, did you?"

"No, not at all," Hiashi confirmed.

"That's it," Jiraiya thought to himself. He had read research reports on unknown organisms, and the common thread among them was the absence of any trace of chakra in their bodies.

"In that case, we need to study what kind of organism this insect really is."

"Shino, take the insect's corpse sample back to the Aburame clan's base immediately. Your clan is the best suited in Konoha for researching insects."

"Yes!" Shino promptly left with the insect sample. When it came to studying insects, the Aburame clan was undoubtedly the most qualified in the village.

"Of course, we can't delay Hinata's surgery either. Doctor, what are the current odds of success for the surgery?" Jiraiya asked.

The doctor hesitated, then said nervously, "If it were just a brain tumor, the success rate would be at least 90%. But if it's a living organism, even a slight error or unexpected complication during surgery could affect the intricate neural networks in the brain."

"To perform this surgery, one would need exceptional medical knowledge and experience, something that no one in Konoha currently…"

"If only that person were here," the doctor muttered.

As soon as the doctor mentioned "that person," Hiashi and Jiraiya immediately understood who he meant. Only Naruto stood by, loudly asking, "Who is it?"

"Who would have thought," Jiraiya said with a wry smile, "I had planned to deal with Konoha's matters before setting off to find her, but now I'll have to leave immediately."

Turning to the doctor, he said, "I'll go find her. In the meantime, keep Hinata in this state."

The doctor sighed in relief but reminded him, "Make it quick. I estimate the surgery needs to be done within a week, or else…"

"I understand. I'll leave right away."

"Then we'll leave everything to you, Jiraiya-sama," Hiashi said, bowing deeply to him.

"Leave it to me," Jiraiya assured him.

As he opened the door to leave, Naruto suddenly shouted, "I'm coming too!"

"What?"

"I'm coming with you to find the person who can perform Hinata's surgery!"

"Why? Don't you trust me?" Jiraiya asked.

"It's not that," Naruto shook his head. "This whole situation happened because I wanted to find Sasuke. Hinata got into this mess because she was helping me look for him. I have to take responsibility!"

Seeing Naruto's determined gaze, Jiraiya smiled faintly and said, "Alright, you can come. But don't cause me any trouble on the way."

"Of course not!"

Jiraiya and Naruto left Konoha and headed straight for a nearby place called Tanzaku Quarters, wasting no time on detours.

Since Jiraiya had confidently promised to complete their task within a week, it was clear he had a plan in mind.

After the incident during the Chunin Exams, while Danzō had specifically named Jiraiya as the next Hokage, the Konoha elders had actually intended for Jiraiya and Tsunade to be sought out simultaneously. Whoever was found first would temporarily return to stabilize the situation, leaving the formal appointment of the next Hokage for later.

Tsunade, having amassed a significant gambling debt while away, had been on the run and was notoriously hard to track down. 

Jiraiya, on the other hand, was flamboyant and lived a life of indulgence, making it relatively easy for the ANBU to locate him first.

However, upon his return to Konoha, Jiraiya did not order the ANBU to cease their search for Tsunade. Instead, he intended to address the village's pressing issues first and then personally convince Tsunade to take up the role of Hokage.

Recently, the ANBU had reported that she had been frequenting gambling dens of Tanzaku Quarters.

---

"Still the same old gambler."

Upon arriving at Tanzaku Quarters, Jiraiya, who had been cooped up for over a month with nothing but "old beef jerky" to look at, found himself captivated by the dazzling nightlife and neon lights.

With a whole week to work with and knowing that Tsunade was somewhere on this street, Jiraiya felt no urgency. He figured it would be easy to convince Tsunade to return to Konoha with a simple excuse—perhaps an urgent medical procedure only she could perform. After all, despite her gambling habits, Tsunade still had the heart of a healer.

With that thought in mind, Jiraiya was eager to immerse himself in the "charms" of the street's establishments.

But just as he was about to step into a shop adorned with welcoming older women at the door, Naruto cast a suspicious glance his way.

Sensing trouble, Jiraiya quickly made an excuse, claiming he was going in to look for Tsunade. To distract Naruto, he handed him a water balloon, instructing him to pop it using chakra. Jiraiya promised that if Naruto succeeded, he would teach him an S-rank jutsu.

The trick worked. Naruto took the bait, and Jiraiya slipped away to enjoy himself.

When night fell, Jiraiya emerged from a cozy establishment with glowing pink lights, smiling contentedly, and made his way to the mountainside to check on Naruto.

Seeing Naruto still diligently working on the water balloon exercise, Jiraiya chuckled to himself.

Not everyone can be a genius like Minato, he thought. Even his son isn't a natural.

Just then, two shadows appeared behind Jiraiya. Kneeling on one knee, the figures revealed themselves to be members of Konoha's ANBU.

"Jiraiya-sama," one began hesitantly.

"We've… lost Lady Tsunade."

Jiraiya almost spat out a mouthful of blood in shock.

"What?! How did you lose her?"

"She seems to have noticed us. This afternoon, she abruptly left Tanzaku Quarters with her accompanying kunoichi."

"She is one of the Sannin, just like you, sir. Our tracking techniques…"

Before the ANBU could finish explaining, Jiraiya interrupted, his expression frantic. He bolted from behind the rock, grabbed Naruto by the hand, and started running.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked, utterly confused.

"Tsunade's gone! We've got to find her, fast!"