Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 201

"How is this possible!"

Hiruzen's eyes widened in shock as he exclaimed.

In the dense white mist, a familiar shadow appeared again—a shadow that had already become an unshakable nightmare for several Kage-level ninjas.

At the same time, Rasa, who could sense the situation through his gold dust, immediately noticed something was off.

"The size of the creature inside is decreasing!"

"What?"

Hashirama furrowed his brows tightly. Even as the God of Shinobi, he couldn't think of any way to deal with the Hound of Tindalos at this moment.

Based on the power balance he had attempted earlier, there should have been no way for the Hound of Tindalos to break free from the sealing effect of the combined ninjutsu.

In truth, the hound hadn't broken free—it had simply used its ability to traverse space and time to escape.

The part of the hound's body that was gradually diminishing beneath the clay was the same portion that was slowly emerging from a corner of the Four Flames Formation.

It was only then that Hashirama realized: any binding imposed by tangible objects was utterly incapable of restraining the Hound of Tindalos.

If it couldn't be restrained, it certainly couldn't be killed.

Hashirama finally understood that while the beast before him had a much smaller body than the tailed beasts, it shared certain similarities with them—such as its immortality.

Tailed beasts were aggregations of chakra. Chakra didn't disappear into thin air, so even if a tailed beast were "killed," its chakra would eventually gather in some location and reform the beast in a few years.

This immortality was strikingly similar to that of the Hound of Tindalos.

But in some respects, the Hound of Tindalos was even more powerful than a tailed beast.

Tailed beasts could be subdued by suppressing their chakra. No matter how massive their forms were, they could be contained—tailed beasts could even be sealed within a human body, giving rise to jinchūriki.

However, the Hound of Tindalos was a physical being that, like chakra-based tailed beasts, was immortal but could not be confined by tangible objects.

Moreover, ninja techniques for sealing intangible entities were all chakra-based. Yet, Hashirama couldn't sense even the slightest trace of chakra in the hound's body.

At this moment, the God of Shinobi, who could easily handle tailed beasts, realized that the Hound of Tindalos stood at a level higher than that of the tailed beasts.

The only saving grace was that the Hound of Tindalos, while menacing, lacked the destructive power of a tailed beast and was invisible to ordinary humans.

And perhaps that was for the best. If creatures like this could freely attack humanity, humankind might have been extinct long ago.

As Hashirama deliberated on the next course of action, the Hound of Tindalos burst out of the white mist.

This marked the complete failure of the combined ninjutsu that the Five Kage had so painstakingly executed together.

A sense of powerlessness arose simultaneously in the hearts of the six. It was the kind of despair that comes from transitioning from hope to utter hopelessness.

This fear and despair, born of helplessness, emerged from deep within their hearts. Even the deceased, such as Hashirama and Tobirama, could vividly feel the unease brought about by this profound sense of powerlessness.

Throughout his life, Hashirama had only one major regret—a deep remorse for his inability to prevent a tragedy. That regret was his failure to win over Madara's heart, which led to Madara leaving Konoha and ultimately forcing Hashirama to kill his former comrade with his own hands.

But today, a new and equally devastating sense of helplessness gripped him.

It was the inability to deal with the monster before him.

For the first time, he realized that he was not strong enough. Once capable of overpowering the Nine-Tails clad in Susanoo's armor, he now found himself unable to handle a mere four-meter-long hound from another dimension.

Although the current Hashirama could not wield his full strength, he was convinced that even at his peak, he would have been no match for this Hound of Tindalos.

Its regenerative abilities grew stronger after every death, it could not be bound by tangible objects, and its body contained no chakra to seal. These qualities were utterly despair-inducing.

Standing atop the barrier of violet flames, the Hound of Tindalos let out a peculiar beastly roar before leaping back into the forest.

Even the Six Kage, who had just been working together in perfect harmony, began to falter in confusion. Disarrayed, they split up and were unable to mount an effective counterattack.

This time, the hound set its sights on Rasa. Trapped beneath layers of clay with his gold dust immobilized, he had no means to counter the attack and was forced to dodge.

Though he could not see the hound's body, the beast had a physical form and emitted an aura that could be sensed. Using this brief moment of awareness, Rasa managed to evade the attack—barely.

He thought he had succeeded.

In the split second when Rasa instinctively believed he had escaped, his body suddenly lost balance and he fell to the ground.

Lying prone, he turned to see his left leg completely severed at the root. Blood and mangled flesh spilled forth as blood streamed from the stump like a flowing river.

"Aaagh!"

A gut-wrenching scream echoed through the forest, loud enough to faintly reach beyond the Four Flames Formation.

On the battlefield, Baki, who was still confronting Genma, caught the faint, distorted scream. Though the scream was so warped it was hard to recognize its source, he couldn't shake the eerie sense that it belonged to the Kazekage.

Impossible.

Yet the reality aligned with his suspicion. Rasa lay on the ground, writhing and howling in agony.

In his blurred vision, he caught sight of his severed left leg, dangling a short distance ahead in the void. It was being held like a chew toy in the jaws of a faint, shadowy form.

What... is that?

He felt as if his eyes had finally discerned the vague outline of hound. Though still indistinct, it was no mere hallucination but something real.

But what did it matter now?

Adding to his despair was the sight of the other five Kage still standing atop the tree canopy. Not a single one of them moved to help.

Danzō and Hiruzen were, of course, indifferent. Though they had briefly allied moments ago, once it became clear that even teamwork could not defeat the Hound of Tindalos, neither saw any need to save an enemy intent on invading Konoha.

Hashirama and Tobirama, resurrected and under Orochimaru's control, remained motionless. Their inaction was a clear sign that Orochimaru had no intention of intervening.

Had Orochimaru planned to betray him from the beginning? Or did the Sannin simply see him as a useless cripple unworthy of rescue?

Regardless, Rasa had no time to ponder these questions.

Before him, the Hound of Tindalos discarded his severed leg and charged forward, tearing into his immobilized body. It devoured him completely.

The screams grew fainter and fainter, leaving behind only a gruesome scene of blood and flesh strewn across the rooftop tiles that had lost their golden luster.

The Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, had fallen.

His was quickly devoured by the hound, leaving nothing behind. Meanwhile, the others could not come up with any method to deal with the terrifying creatures during this time.

Faced with such an incomprehensible monster, although the pride of Kage-level ninjas prevented them from showing fear outright, the shock in their eyes and the trembling in their pupils betrayed their true feelings.

The Hound of Tindalos crushed Rasa's last skull fragment in its jaws before spitting out a few bone shards onto the ground and turning its crimson eyes toward the next target: Danzō, standing atop a distant tree canopy.

The creature dug its claws into the ground and charged rapidly toward Danzō's position.

Danzō, possessing a Sharingan, was more perceptive than Rasa. By observing the bushes and moss disturbed by the hound's movements, he quickly deduced its trajectory and realized it was coming for him.

The horrifying sight of Rasa's death was still vivid in his mind, and Danzō had no intention of meeting the same fate. He swiftly leaped back, retreating at full speed.

At the precise moment when the hound was about to collide with him, Danzō unleashed his full speed and used the Body Flicker Technique to evade its deadly pounce.

For an instant, Danzō felt as though he had brushed shoulders with death itself—a sensation he hadn't experienced in many years.

Even though Danzō had narrowly escaped, the wide sleeve of his Hokage robe was still torn open, leaving a gaping hole.

Danzō wasn't sure which part of the hound had caused the tear, but seeing the damage, he simply ripped off the entire sleeve. The detached sleeve drifted to the ground, revealing a seemingly normal human arm beneath—without any sign of a Sharingan.

Eleven years ago, Orochimaru had orchestrated his defection from Konoha, and after his escape, he had no further contact with Danzō. Thus, Danzō hadn't had the opportunity to modify his body, and the few Sharingan eyes he had obtained during the Uchiha clan's massacre were still stored in Root's underground lab.

This was one reason Danzō was so determined to capture Orochimaru during the Chunin Exams rather than kill him outright.

However, this didn't mean he was without combat power. He still possessed a Sharingan belonging to Shisui, and he was also a skilled Wind Release.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets!"

Danzō formed hand seals and fired marble-sized wind bullets from his mouth toward a point in the void.

Although Danzō, having never traversed time, couldn't see the Hound of Tindalos directly, he could discern its movements through the traces it left behind.

Using the precision of his Sharingan, he determined the hound's location based on these traces.

The wind bullets struck the hound repeatedly, and some hit the ground, sending soil and tree branches flying into the air.

From the side, Hiruzen urgently shouted, "Don't kill it!"

Danzō heeded Hiruzen's warning and immediately ceased his attack, but it was already too late.

From Hashirama's perspective, the Hound of Tindalos began to dissolve once more, transforming into its eerie white mist.

Soon, the hound would be reborn within the void, stronger and faster than before.

This realization plunged everyone into despair. The hound's previous strength had already required their combined efforts to suppress it, and its speed was nearly impossible for even Kage-level ninjas to evade.

With its attributes set to double upon rebirth, none could predict how powerful the hound would become this time.

The only piece of good news was that the group had a five-minute reprieve before the next resurrection.

"What should we do now, Shodaime-sama?" Hiruzen quickly leapt to Hashirama's side and asked, even momentarily forgetting that the current Hashirama was a reanimated body under Orochimaru's control.

However, even the God of Shinobi furrowed his brows, unable to come up with a solution.

Conventional ninjutsu and combat techniques were ineffective against the Hounds of Tindalos. An unkillable enemy was a source of despair in any situation—especially one that grew stronger with every death.

"Even I can't think of a solution," he said, shaking his head. His expression remained indifferent, free of urgency or fear of impending death, as he was already a dead man and thus had no reason to fear it.

On the other side, Tobirama voiced his own thoughts, saying, "The only possible solution now is sealing. However, ordinary sealing techniques definitely won't work."

Tobirama's observation was accurate. Physical-restriction sealing techniques had already proven ineffective, and most sealing methods used by ninjas were designed to target chakra.

Even if they could somehow seal the Hound of Tindalos in a different dimension, its ability to traverse time and space would allow it to escape effortlessly.

"No."

"There is one sealing technique," Orochimaru interrupted, shattering the group's growing despair.

His words instantly ignited a flicker of hope in everyone. Danzō urgently shouted, "What sealing technique? Speak quickly!"

Danzō's impatient tone brought a faint smile to Orochimaru's lips. Turning to face him, Orochimaru replied, "The Reverse Tetragram Sealing Jutsu."

The moment Orochimaru uttered those words, Danzō's expression froze, but Orochimaru continued to elaborate.

"The Reverse Tetragram seals everything within a radius of several hundred meters into the caster's own body. It's perfect for sealing the Hound of Tindalos entirely without the need to physically capture it."

"The most critical aspect is that the sealing space created by the Reverse Tetragram Sealing is spherical."

"The hound requires angular spaces to traverse time and space freely. If it is contained within a non-angular, spherical space, it would become an unbreakable cage for the hound."

After Orochimaru's explanation, Hiruzen immediately voiced his concern.

"This Reverse Tetragram Sealing is the inverse of the standard Double Tetragram Seal, isn't it? The technique requires a pre-placed Double Tetragram Seal on the caster's body. We don't have enough time left to set one up."

Meanwhile, on one side of the Four Flames Formation, the white mist began to form once again without warning, and the shadow of the hound became faintly visible within it.

Orochimaru shook his head and replied, "No, as far as I know, Danzō already has the seal on his body."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow in surprise and turned to look at Danzō behind him.

Danzō slowly loosened his Hokage robe, revealing a Double Tetragram Seal etched into his chest.