Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 215

In those eyes that constantly harbored emotions of hatred, a flicker of shock emerged from the Shan.

In fact, the whip did succeed in temporarily driving the Nine-Tails' consciousness out of Naruto. Currently, it was Naruto's own consciousness controlling his body.

"You…! Been waiting for this!"

Though Naruto had lost control moments ago, the Shan' whip inadvertently expelled the Nine-Tails' consciousness, allowing he to regain control of his body.

For the first time, he was able to retain his self-awareness in a partially tailed-beast-transformed state.

He accelerated across the ground, rushing toward the statue in the center of the temple, where the Shan had manipulated the Kaminarizu clan into worshiping.

In the Shan's astonished gaze, Naruto stepped onto the squat statue, using it as a foothold. Extending his chakra arms, he swiftly grabbed the fleeing Shan trying to escape higher up.

The orange chakra arm clenched it. In mere seconds, the scorching chakra seared its body, releasing blackened grease.

The Shan's greatest weakness was its fragile and powerless true form. Once caught by any force stronger than themselves, they didn't even have a chance to utilize their racial talent—those phase-shifting techniques granted by their worship of Azathoth.

At that moment, two large figures and one smaller figure tumbled down through the circular opening at the bottom of the temple hall.

The arrivals were Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru. All three looked disheveled, but their presence indicated they had triumphed over the plant slaves controlled by the Shans outside.

Though Xiclotlans were immensely strong, they lacked tactical intelligence. Moreover, being plants, their bodies couldn't match the strength of metal.

Thus, relying on Kiba's Fang Over Fang and Shino's destructive insects, they forced their way through, albeit in a messy state, and finally entered the temple.

"Naruto! What's this?!"

Seeing Naruto enveloped in orange chakra, Kiba and Shino were both startled.

However, Naruto immediately greeted them in his own voice, easing their worries while instructing them to check on Hinata.

It was only then that Kiba and Shino noticed Hinata lying unconscious on the ground and quickly ran over to her.

Initially, Naruto had genuinely believed Hinata was dead. Yet, when the Nine-Tails briefly took over his body, he vaguely saw Hinata step forward to protect him.

As the Shan in his hand lost its signs of life, he tossed it aside onto the ground, striving to control the chakra and retract the Nine-Tails' power back into his body. He then hurried toward Hinata.

"How's Hinata?"

Shino adjusted his glasses, calmly assessing the situation. "She's still breathing. There doesn't seem to be any external injuries, but she's unresponsive and unconscious."

"Hinata!"

"Hinata!"

Naruto lifted Hinata's body and shook her vigorously, trying to wake her up, but she remained unresponsive.

"Hey! Shaking her like that will just make her feel worse!" Kiba couldn't help but comment before turning to Shino. "What should we do next?"

"Let's get out of here first. I've got a bad feeling about this place," Shino said, shivering slightly.

Even though Shino, ever the perceptive one, had deciphered more from the relief carvings on the corridor walls than Naruto could, being inside this temple still gave him an inexplicable sense of unease.

This unease seemed to emanate from all directions—

From the pigeon-sized strange insect corpses littering the ground, from the squat indescribable statue at the temple's center, from the closed metal triangular door behind the statue, and from the ground where three ninjas lay with their skulls cracked open, brain matter spilled everywhere.

The strange occurrences in this place were countless. Any single one of them far exceeded the scope of their mission.

Shino had a nagging feeling that the secrets of this place were not something mere genin like them should meddle with. It would be better to report this to the village upon their return.

"We should leave this place first. Once we're back in the village, we can report it to Lord Hokage," Shino suggested.

Kiba immediately nodded in agreement. "I'm with you. Akamaru also sensed that there are more of those disgusting, grotesque bugs. Back at the forked passage, the upward path had a strong concentration of that same smell."

"But there are still a lot of those weird plants guarding the outside of the structure. I used up too much chakra breaking in earlier, and now I'm running low."

"Same here," Shino admitted.

As the two debated their next steps, Naruto suddenly scooped up Hinata in a princess carry.

"We're going to charge out of here right now and take Hinata straight back to the village for treatment," Naruto declared.

His words shocked both Shino and Kiba. Kiba immediately protested, "Naruto, what about the Bikōchū? Don't you need it to find Sasuke?"

"If we give up this chance, finding Sasuke with the Bikōchū will be nearly impossible. Are you sure about this, Naruto?"

Kiba and Shino, unaware of what had just transpired, assumed that Hinata had simply fainted and would recover with some rest.

However, Naruto had a sinking feeling that the situation wasn't so simple. Even though the Nine-Tails had taken over his body for most of the recent events, Naruto could sense something unusual had happened.

The Nine-Tails had relinquished control of his body without resistance. Now, as Naruto checked the massive iron gate in his inner world, the fox didn't even try to intimidate him as it usually did.

Hidden in the shadows, the Nine-Tails seemed withdrawn, refusing to respond no matter how much Naruto provoked it.

This was highly unusual!

Even Naruto, as dense as he sometimes was, realized that something extraordinary must have occurred while the Nine-Tails was in control.

Determined, he decided to prioritize Hinata's treatment over finding the Bikōchū.

"Hinata and Sasuke are both my friends. I won't abandon either of them," Naruto said firmly. "But right now, Hinata is lying unconscious in front of me. There's no way I can just pretend nothing happened and keep searching for the Bikōchū."

With that, Naruto sprinted toward the round exit of the hall, carrying Hinata in his arms.

Shino nodded in agreement, while Kiba sighed in resignation before quickly following Naruto. However, as they passed the corpse, Shino hesitated briefly and placed the relatively intact bug into his insect container.

Outside the dome-shaped gate of the conical structure, the Xiclotlans continued their vigil. Despite the enemy having infiltrated the building's interior, these creatures stubbornly remained focused on guarding the outside.

Amid this eerie stillness, a sudden cacophony erupted from behind the gate.

In an instant, the gate burst open as countless Narutos surged out like a torrent of popcorn exploding from a kernel.

The shadow clones formed a protective barrier, clearing the path for Naruto, Shino, and Kiba while fending off attacks from the gray plant slaves.

Carrying Hinata on his back, Naruto didn't look back as he led the group out of the forest, heading straight toward Konoha.

And so, the Bikōchū mission abruptly came to an end. They didn't even catch a glimpse of the elusive insect.

In the choice between Hinata and Sasuke, Naruto ultimately chose Hinata.

---

Returning to Konoha, Naruto immediately rushed Hinata to the Konoha Hospital for emergency treatment.

The medical-nin at Konoha Hospital found no external injuries on Hinata. However, upon examining her with modern instruments, they discovered a "tumor" between her brain and skull.

This tumor was extremely large, and its presence was the reason for her unconscious state. Since her skull had not fully matured, the tumor's location between her brain and skull exerted pressure on her brain's nerves, causing her to fall into a coma.

The only way to save her was through a craniotomy to remove the "tumor."

However, the medical-nin had two major doubts about this tumor.

The first was that a tumor of this size couldn't have grown so large in just a few days. During its growth, the patient would typically experience discomfort, mental fogginess, and frequent, unprovoked fainting spells. Yet, according to Shino and Kiba, Hinata hadn't shown any such symptoms recently, and her training had been proceeding as usual.

The second issue was that the images captured by the instruments suggested that this tumor appeared to be a "living organism." It contained a life structure just as complex as Hinata's own.

Hearing this, Shino appeared deep in thought.

At that moment, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the hospital hallway.

Leading the way was Hiashi, the head of the Hyūga clan, accompanied by Kurenai, who had just returned from a mission, and a large group of Hyūga clan members, including Neji and Hanabi.

Hiashi immediately approached the doctor and inquired about the situation. The doctor repeated the same explanation he had given to Naruto, Shino, and Kiba earlier.

"To save her, we first need to determine what this strange tumor actually is. Only then can we devise a surgical plan that won't harm her."

"But we must act quickly. If the tumor continues to compress her brain's nerves for too long, it could leave her in a vegetative state."

Upon hearing the possibility of his daughter's critical condition, Hiashi did not react with the anguish one might expect of a typical father. Instead, he furrowed his brows and calmly pressed the doctor for more specific details, eventually requesting to examine the tumor himself using the Byakugan.

Hanabi also asked to join him, and Hiashi agreed.

After Hiashi and Hanabi entered the hospital room, the accompanying Hyūga elders began whispering among themselves.

"If Hinata ends up in a vegetative state, then Hanabi will have to inherit the main family, won't she?"

"That might not be so bad. After all, Hanabi is more talented, more ambitious, and better suited to lead the Hyūga clan than Hinata ever was."

Their words carried a tone of certainty that Hinata wouldn't recover, as if they were already preparing for the next clan successor.

Hearing this, Kurenai, Shino, and Kiba looked visibly displeased, gritting their teeth in silent anger. Yet, knowing the elders' authority within the village and the Hyūga clan's internal matters, they felt it was not their place to intervene.

But Naruto couldn't care less about such formalities. He angrily shouted, "Hinata is still alive and fighting! How can you sit here planning to replace her as heir? What's wrong with you people?"

The elders, initially startled by the outburst, turned and saw that it was only Naruto. Dismissing him as a mere child, they sneered disdainfully.

"Oh, it's that fox kid."

"So, it's you. We're discussing internal matters of the Hyūga clan. It has nothing to do with an outsider like you."

"How presumptuous. Do you really think a brat like you has any say in who the Hyūga main house selects as their heir?"

"Especially when you're just the dead-last at the ninja academy. Isn't that right, Neji?"

One of the elders turned to Neji for confirmation. He nodded lightly in response.

"Mm, yes."

At this time, he had yet to encounter Naruto in the final match of the Chunin Exams and was still burdened by the unresolved pain of the Hyūga clan's cursed seal system.

"What did you say?!"

Naruto was completely infuriated by their words. The whisker-like markings on his face darkened, and his demeanor shifted dramatically. Even Kurenai, standing nearby, hesitated to step forward and mediate the situation.

Seeing his fox-like features emerge, the Hyūga elders immediately assumed defensive stances, fully aware of the power sealed within him.

Just then, a calm yet commanding voice echoed from the other end of the corridor.

"This is a hospital. What's with all the noise?"

Everyone turned to see who had spoken. Everyone but Naruto instantly eased their tension and stood down.

It was none other than Jiraiya, the Interim Hokage.

The head Hyūga elder subtly signaled to the others to withdraw their stances. They knew Naruto was the son of the Fourth Hokage, who had been Jiraiya's prized student. Escalating a conflict with Naruto here would only harm their standing.

With the Uchiha clan gone, the Hyūga clan now held the title of the largest and most influential family in Konoha. Their sway over the selection of Jōnin through Hokage-appointed votes made them a group that even the Hokage couldn't ignore. However, it had become apparent that Jiraiya himself had no desire to become Hokage, so he had no obligation to show them any courtesy.

Sure enough, as soon as Jiraiya arrived, he began to lightly admonish the Hyūga elders.

"You're all grown adults, picking on a kid? Isn't that a bit undignified?"

Though Jiraiya's tone was casual, even joking, it hit a nerve with the elders, who were extremely sensitive about their reputation.

Naruto, seeing this middle-aged man standing protectively in front of him, recognized him as the acting Hokage, whom he'd seen a few times after the Chunin Exams. Yet, for some reason, Naruto felt an inexplicable sense of warmth and familiarity.

This calmed Naruto considerably, causing the dark whisker marks on his face to gradually fade.

At that moment, the door to the hospital room opened, and Hiashi stepped out.

"What's all this noise outside? I could hear it from inside."

The head elder quickly replied, "We were just asking Hinata's companion a few questions. After all, we are very concerned about her recovery."

"I see."

Hiashi nodded, glancing briefly at Naruto and the others without much thought. However, when his eyes fell on Jiraiya, he immediately stepped forward to greet him.

"I didn't expect my daughter's condition to trouble you. Forgive me for not welcoming you sooner."

In Konoha, for a Hokage to personally visit a hospitalized Genin was an extraordinary honor.

"There's no need for that. If it weren't for me assigning this mission, none of this would have happened."

"This isn't the acting Hokage's fault. Perhaps it's just a trial that was fated for my daughter to endure."

Hiashi then invited Jiraiya inside. Jiraiya, in turn, gestured for Naruto and the others to join them in the room. He suggested they explain the details of the mission and Hinata's injuries more thoroughly.