Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 200

Having just heard Orochimaru's explanation, Hashirama was mentally prepared for the immortality of the Hound of Tindalos.

However, when he witnessed this immortal existence with his own eyes, he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of shock.

Although he himself was in the state of Edo Tensei—a form of immortality—this type of immortality was fundamentally different from that of the Hound of Tindalos.

Strictly speaking, Edo Tensei didn't signify "immortality"; it simply meant that the person was already dead and thus couldn't be destroyed again.

On the other hand, the Hound of Tindalos represented true immortality. They could never die or be eradicated, which transcended the realm of biological life altogether.

Thankfully, from Hashirama's perspective, dealing with the hound wasn't too challenging—just a matter of some wooden stakes.

Once again, Hashirama clapped his hands together, using the same technique to summon four massive wooden stakes from the ground, pinning down the hound's four limbs.

But this time, he sensed something unusual.

The hound seemed slightly stronger than before.

Even so, Hashirama repeated his earlier actions, shouting as he tore the hound's body apart.

Each time the hound was "killed," it required five minutes to resurrect.

The process took two minutes for it's body to liquefy, followed by two more minutes for the liquid to transform into white mist. In the final minute, the mist coalesced, and the hound would emerge from it, fully reborn.

Thus, while the Hound of Tindalos was indeed immortal, killing it still provided a crucial five-minute reprieve.

But when the hound revived again, Hashirama confirmed one alarming fact.

Each time the hound was reborn, its strength increased slightly. After just two defeats by Hashirama's wooden stakes, the hound's power had nearly doubled from when it first appeared.

Hashirama's expression grew tense. His ordinary wooden stakes were already struggling to restrain the creature. The hound's powerful limbs strained against the stakes, creating a loud cracking noise.

With a tremendous sound of splintering wood, the Hound of Tindalos broke free of the stakes that Hashirama had summoned.

"How is this possible?"

Everyone else was immediately stunned. The same hound that had been so easily subdued moments ago had now grown strong enough to shatter Hashirama's restraints.

Hashirama quickly shouted, "Don't kill this thing! Every time it dies, it gets stronger!"

This revelation shocked everyone further, as Orochimaru hadn't mentioned this detail earlier.

Rasa, enraged, turned to the Sannin and snapped, "Orochimaru!"

But Orochimaru himself looked bewildered. He had only just discovered this as well.

Neither the Mi-Go nor the Necronomicon had recorded this information.

In truth, the mysterious appearance of the Hounds of Tindalos wasn't because no one had ever seen them; rather, it was because those who had encountered the hounds never lived to tell the tale.

Even if someone managed to "kill" a hound, they would inevitably be hunted down and killed by it later, leaving no one alive to document its nature.

Previously, killing the hound had offered a precious five-minute window of respite, but now even that was gone.

If they couldn't kill the hound, they'd have to keep evading it indefinitely. While the two Edo Tensei Kage could fight tirelessly, the others wouldn't last as long.

But there was no time to think further. The Hound of Tindalos charged forward, its doubled strength making it impossible for anyone except Hashirama and Tobirama to confront it head-on.

Moreover, its increased power came with enhanced speed, nearly doubling its agility from before without any change in size.

"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!"

Hashirama clapped his hands together again, and thick, twisted trees began growing rapidly from the rooftop's tiles.

The gnarled branches, entwined like writhing tentacles, formed a dense and warped forest.

"Everyone, get on the vines!" he ordered.

The six of them understood immediately, transforming into six shadows as they each took a position around the forest, encircling the hound in the center.

Though the Root ninja observing from outside couldn't see the Hound of Tindalos, they could sense that those inside were all working in unison against an invisible foe.

When the forest materialized and the six individuals leapt onto its vines with coordinated movements, even the hardened Root ninja were left awestruck.

Just moments ago, these six were on opposing sides and had never worked together. Yet now, faced with an unexpected enemy, they responded in unison with remarkable synergy.

This demonstrated the unparalleled combat instincts and experience of Kage-level shinobi, a realm far beyond that of ordinary ninja.

Inside the Four Flames Formation, there was no question: these were some of the strongest fighters in the ninja world—Kage-level combatants.

Six Kage-level ninjas, united to face a single enemy—such an event had never occurred even during the grand battles of the past ninja world wars.

What kind of threat could demand such an alliance? Not even the Nine-Tails, the most powerful of the tailed beasts, could likely hold its own against this fearsome array of strength.

While the nature of the enemy within the barrier remained unknown, the overwhelming disparity in power caused unease and fear among the three Root members observing from the sidelines.

---

Meanwhile, positioned at the four corners of the barrier were four of Orochimaru's Sound Five: Sakon and Ukon, Kidomaru, Tayuya, and Jirobo. Each held their hands in a sealing formation, maintaining the Four Flames Formation.

Although technically inside the barrier, the four were separated by smaller, independent chambers created by secondary layers of barriers, ensuring they were not targets of the hound's attack.

Orochimaru had tasked them with a single responsibility: to maintain the barrier. However, curiosity was beginning to get the better of some.

"Kidomaru! Focus! Orochimaru-sama's orders are clear: we are only to uphold the barrier," Jirobo barked as he noticed a slight disturbance in Kidomaru's chakra.

Kidomaru, turning his head slightly, grumbled, "This is such a rare spectacle—it's a pity we can't see it."

"Ha! Fatso, stop pretending to be so upright. Don't tell me you don't want to take a peek?" Tayuya, the sharp-tongued kunoichi of the group, sneered.

"…"

"Alright, alright," Sakon interjected. "I'll help us out."

As he spoke, a second head emerged from Sakon's back—his brother. Ukon's head turned to face the interior of the Four Flames Formation.

"This…"

"Impossible."

"What's happening in there? Spit it out already!" Tayuya demanded impatiently.

Ukon muttered in disbelief, "I can't believe what I'm seeing…"

"The six of them… they're fighting together?"

---

"Join forces to suppress it!"

Hashirama shouted loudly, clapping his hands together as countless vines sprouted from the trees, wrapping themselves around the body of the Hound of Tindalos.

Although the Hound of Tindalos was trying to evade the vines this time, the sheer number of vines produced by the Deep Forest Emergence overwhelmed it. Additionally, the dense forest terrain hindered its ability to make quick, linear movements, allowing the vines to catch it.

Even with numerous vines ensnaring it, the four-meter-long hound still struggled fiercely. Hashirama had to keep his hands clasped to barely suppress its overwhelming strength.

Damn it, if only I could use Sage Mode right now.

For a brief moment, Hashirama's eyes darkened, but the effect dissipated in less than a second.

This was because the body chosen by Orochimaru as the host was of too poor quality—none other than the remnants of Sound ninja's Chunin Exam participants.

As genin, they couldn't awaken more of Hashirama's full strength.

Orochimaru also noticed that Hashirama had attempted to use Sage Mode but failed.

In truth, Orochimaru had the capability to create a host body much closer to Hashirama's full power in his prime.

Previously, Orochimaru had assisted Pain with research on enhancing the White Zetsu Army, and during his escape from the Akatsuki, he had stolen some of the White Zetsu cells—Hashirama's cells.

With the use of primordial Shoggoth replication, he might even be able to recreate Hashirama's entire original body!

However, Orochimaru was well aware that both Hashirama and Tobirama knew the method to break Edo Tensei. While using a talisman could forcefully suppress them and prevent them from breaking the jutsu, fully restoring the brothers to their prime might render the talisman ineffective against their overwhelming chakra.

Especially against Hashirama—he was not someone to underestimate.

To avoid losing control, Orochimaru deliberately weakened the host bodies to suppress the brothers' powers.

Yet now, it seemed like he had dug his own grave.

As more vines were being torn apart by the Hound of Tindalos and the growth of new ones couldn't keep up, Rasa and Orochimaru took action.

"Multiple Striking Shadow Snakes!"

"Gold Dust Imperial Funeral!"

From Orochimaru's sleeves, a swarm of large snakes shot out, coiling around the Hound of Tindalos's body.

Rasa simultaneously coated the Hound, already entangled by vines, with gold dust. Although the creature's body couldn't be seen directly, the vines marked its general shape, allowing Rasa to precisely cover it.

Initially, the gold dust collected from the rooftop tiles wasn't enough for this technique. But thanks to the vines filling the space, the gold dust was just sufficient to completely encase the Hound.

"Crush it!"

With a gesture from Rasa, the combined mass of gold dust and vines compressed by several dozen centimeters. The compression was calculated precisely—not enough to kill the Hound but enough to further restrict its movements.

At that moment, Tobirama made his move. His hands blurred as he formed seals, unleashing a jutsu.

A dimensional portal opened directly above the Hound of Tindalos, and massive chunks of sticky clay poured out, landing on the Hound, already bound by vines and gold dust.

Nearby, Danzō and Hiruzen coordinated without needing instructions. Forming their own hand seals, they unleashed their jutsu.

"Fire Style: Fierce Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

A massive fire dragon shot out of Hiruzen's mouth, surging toward the thick layer of clay poured over the hound. 

Simultaneously, Danzō unleashed a wind jutsu. Fierce gusts of wind swirled around the fire dragon, intensifying its ferocity, and in an instant, the flames roared skyward. 

This was a collaborative jutsu developed by Tobirama, combining multiple elemental techniques. By sequentially using Earth Release, Fire Release, and Wind Release, the principles of elemental synergy enhanced the power of each individual jutsu. 

In a perfected version, even all five elemental releases could be utilized together. 

Such advanced combinations were not something every ninja could execute solo, and performing them as a team required extensive training and coordination.

However, Tobirama, Danzō, and Hiruzen executed this combination flawlessly, without any prior tactical communication.

As Tobirama's clay solidified under the intense heat, it formed a terrifying brown statue.

The hound had first been ensnared by Hashirama's Wood Release vines. These were reinforced with Orochimaru's snake appendages and Rasa's gold sand. Tobirama then doused the trapped hound with his clay, which was fired and hardened by Hiruzen's Fire Release, enhanced by Danzō's Wind Release.

This sequence of jutsu was so effective that even Rasa struggled to manipulate his gold sand, now trapped beneath the clay.

Rasa attempted to extract the gold sand using his Magnet Release, but each effort failed. He frowned slightly and turned his gaze toward Tobirama, a sinking suspicion forming in his mind. He began to suspect that the Second Hokage had deliberately encased his gold sand beneath the clay.

Tobirama could have warned Rasa to extract the gold sand in the brief moment before pouring the clay, a window short enough to prevent the hound from escaping. But he hadn't. Or perhaps he had purposefully chosen not to.

Rasa recalled hearing from the Third Kazekage that the Second Hokage was a master tactician, and now he saw it firsthand. 

If the hound was successfully subdued, the conflict between Suna and Konoha would inevitably resume. However, with Rasa's gold sand sealed and no additional reserves in the area, his combat effectiveness had been drastically diminished. 

This shrewd tactic simultaneously solved the immediate threat and weakened a future adversary. Truly a terrifying individual.

Even though Orochimaru controlled the actions of the reanimated, those like Tobirama, who retained their consciousness, still saw Rasa as an enemy of Konoha and acted subtly against him.

"Looks like it can't move now," Hashirama said as he cautiously began to loosen his grip on the vines. Despite relaxing their hold, no movement came from beneath the clay.

The combined efforts of six Kage-level ninja had created this improvised collaborative jutsu. While unplanned, the sheer strength of the participants ensured its effectiveness.

Such a combination technique was more than sufficient to subdue even a mountain-sized tailed beast, let alone a four-meter-long "hound." 

While the hound was immortal, theoretically sealing it in this manner rendered it effectively contained. 

However, Konoha's arena rooftop would now be forever marked by a haunting clay statue.

Just as everyone believed the ordeal was over, a sinister white mist began to materialize in the corner of the Four Purple Flame Formation.