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Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 193
🕑 Added 2025-01-03 00:50:23 +0000 UTC"Ah!"
Sasuke let out a cry of pain, finally snapping the others on the sand platform out of their daze to notice the unusual scene involving Sasuke and Sakura.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto shouted, but in the next moment, he was stunned into silence by the horrifying sight on the black spikes.
On the surface of that black spikes, the humanoid form's dark exterior was slowly peeling away, revealing Kimimaro's upper body underneath.
At the same time, Orochimaru's snake head was retracting back into Kimimaro's shoulder, as if it had never been there.
However, a mark had already been left on Sasuke's body. Three black tomoe appeared on the skin of his neck, accompanied by intense pain.
"I don't know what Orochimaru-sama sees in a brat like you," Kimimaro said coldly. "But there's a secret within you that he wants. He needs you."
"If you want to uncover the secret of the Uchiha clan's massacre night, come find Orochimaru-sama."
Kimimaro's words left everyone stunned.
Who was Orochimaru? What was the "Massacre Night"?
Although Sasuke didn't know who Orochimaru was, he remembered the Uchiha clan's massacre.
To this day, Sasuke could no longer recall the details of that night clearly, as if the painful memory had been sealed away by his brain as a self-defense mechanism.
But what stood out most to him was the gentle, loving gaze that Itachi had given him that night.
Someone like that could never be the perpetrator of the massacre.
From that day on, he resolved to find his brother and uncover the truth about the massacre night, to clear Itachi's name.
However, Sasuke was also keenly aware of his own weakness. At this point, not only was he far from finding Itachi or uncovering the truth, but he couldn't even find anyone in the village who believed in him.
Except for his brother's former companion, Kagami.
He was the only one who agreed with Sasuke's beliefs, refusing to believe Itachi was the culprit. The rest of Konoha had already branded his brother as the murderer.
But now, from Kimimaro's words, Sasuke caught a glimmer of hope.
This person called Orochimaru seemed to know the secret of that night.
This meant that Orochimaru might believe in his theory—that Itachi wasn't the culprit of the massacre night!
This sense of validation momentarily made him forget the pain in his neck. His eyes widened in astonishment, even forgetting that Orochimaru might be the one responsible for the current dangerous situation.
Kimimaro glanced deeply at Sasuke before turning to face the others.
"As for the rest of you… Die!"
"Digital Shrapnel!"
Kimimaro quickly raised his hands, and sharp bone-like spikes shot out from the fingertips of both hands, aiming at everyone except Sasuke.
Gaara realized that this was the same technique Kimimaro had first used against them.
However, it was clear that the earlier attack wasn't the full version. Previously, Kimimaro had only raised one hand, using the spikes from five fingers to attack.
Now, he was unleashing all ten finger spikes at such close range. The power and range of the attack were incomparable to before.
Moreover, they were in midair, far from the ground, leaving Gaara no time to manipulate sand from below to create a sand wall for protection. Not to mention, the earlier exchange had already proven that his sand defense couldn't withstand the piercing force of this technique.
It's over!
We're going to die!
The fear of death descended on everyone. In their eyes, the sharp points of the spikes rapidly grew larger in their pupils, and their bodies instinctively raised their hands in a futile attempt to block the attack.
But a second later, Naruto, Gaara, and the others realized their heads had not been pierced by the spikes.
Lowering their hands from their faces, they were met with an astonishing sight.
In front of the bones, a black, cushion-like object had appeared, blocking the spikes.
Although the spikes still penetrated the black cushion, their sharp tips only barely emerged from the other side, stopping short of piercing anyone's forehead.
"Stop bullying kids here. If you want a fight, I can entertain you for a few rounds."
On the branch of a tree that hadn't been pierced by bones, a striking and confident figure stood with one hand casually tucked into a pocket.
The other hand was raised, its five fingers transformed into black tendrils, each tipped with a cushion-like shape. These were the very cushions that had stopped the bones, which even Gaara's sand walls couldn't defend against.
Everyone present immediately recognized the woman—it was none other than the proctor of the second stage of the Chunin Exams.
Anko!
"Hey! Who are you calling kids?"
At this critical moment, Naruto blurted out the most ill-timed comment, leaving everyone else dumbfounded.
Anko, however, ignored him and turned her attention to Gaara.
"You're Gaara from Suna, right? The Chunin Exams have been temporarily suspended. All examinees are to evacuate to the tower. Take these people and fly to the tower immediately. I'll handle this guy."
Gaara didn't say much, as he already understood from their earlier skirmish that he was nowhere near Kimimaro's level of power. Staying here for a senseless fight would be meaningless.
Thus, he manipulated the sand platform to carry everyone toward the tower.
As they flew further away, Gaara glanced back at Kimimaro and Anko.
Kimimaro's fingers had morphed into five black spikes, while Anko's fingers had turned into five black tendrils.
Judging by the similarly dark, shiny surface of their respective weapons, they appeared to be made of the same material.
Could this be... the same bloodline limit?
Gaara, limited by his narrow understanding, could only come to this conclusion in his mind.
Back to Anko—seeing that Gaara had successfully flown the group away, she quickly retracted her tendrils, returning her hand to its normal form before slipping it back into her trench coat pocket.
Kimimaro, on the other hand, slowly retracted the spikes from his fingers, his movements significantly slower than Anko's.
At the same time, the black spikes grown from the ground by Kimimaro's Bracken Dance began to melt away. Like shadows, they crawled back toward Kimimaro, merging into his body.
Now, the entire battlefield seemed to return to its initial state.
He stood motionless atop the last remaining black spikes, his hands at his sides. Anko stood on the tree branch, both hands in her pockets. The two stared at each other in silence, neither making the first move or saying a word.
During the earlier moment when she used her transformed body to block the black spikes from him, she had noticed something.
The black material composing the spikes was strikingly similar—no, identical—to the material forming her own tendrils.
So...
"Is your body... made of those things too?"
Anko paused slightly before finally speaking the name of the substance.
"Shoggoth."
For a considerable period, Anko forced herself to stop thinking about the substances that composed her body and tried to view herself as just an ordinary person.
However, today's experience forced her to recall these shiny black protoplasmic creatures, the Shoggoths—disgusting beings that made up her body.
When faced with her question, Kimimaro didn't hesitate to answer. Despite his cold and aloof demeanor, he was surprisingly adept at expressing his innermost thoughts.
When Anko asked whether his body was also made of Shoggoth, Kimimaro replied, "You could say that. But I am far superior to you."
His gaze carried an unmistakable arrogance as he looked down at Anko as if she were an inferior product.
However, with her wealth of experience, Anko wasn't angered by his words. Instead, she analyzed the information hidden within them.
Kimimaro's body was also made of Shoggoth. And the person who mastered the evil technique of utilizing it for human body modification—there was no doubt it could only be one individual in this shinobi world.
Orochimaru.
It seemed that after creating a body using Shoggoths back then, Orochimaru hadn't stopped researching them. The man in front of her must be a product of his new Shoggoth technology.
Could he also be in the Forest of Death? Were the black, wailing forms in the shadows also Shoggoths? How were they connected to Orochimaru?
At this point, she noticed that the wailing around her had become much fainter, and the human screams had almost entirely disappeared.
The disappearance of human screams was understandable. Over an hour had passed since these dark forms began attacking the genin candidates. By now, the candidates had either been rescued, killed, or were calmly hiding in place.
As for the reduction in the wailing, it was likely because ANBU ninjas had discovered their weakness: fear of fire techniques.
Most high-ranking Konoha ninjas were skilled in fire jutsu, so identifying this weakness wouldn't have been difficult.
Anko, as the proctor of the second stage of the Chunin Exams, had fulfilled her responsibilities. Now, she could focus entirely on the enemy before her.
A confident smile appeared on her lips as she suddenly leaped forward, aiming at Kimimaro, who stood on a black spike.
What speed!
In an instant, Anko moved at a speed that would astonish even a seasoned ninja, appearing right in front of Kimimaro.
Kimimaro, not underestimating her, quickly extended a blade-like black bone from the knuckle of his middle finger and moved with the grace of a dancer to strike at Anko.
"Camellia Dance!"
Anko deflected the two black bone blades with her kunai, one in each hand, and then aimed at Kimimaro's eyes with even greater speed.
Kimimaro's black bone blades were too long to block in time, so he had to evade in a different manner.
His neck suddenly moved like a snake, twisting and vibrating at high speed in various directions, allowing his head to avoid the edge of Anko's kunai at an almost impossible angle.
However, the motion was too extreme. Her kunai still grazed the bone near Kimimaro's temple.
At the same time, Anko's overly aggressive attack caused her cheek to scrape against Kimimaro's black bone blade.
Both landed on the ground after the exchange, glaring at each other.
Blood trickled down both their faces from nearly identical wounds caused by the sharp kunai and black bone blades. Yet neither paid any attention to their injuries.
Both wounds healed at a visibly rapid pace, as if unseen hands were stitching the torn skin back together.
However, Anko's healing speed was noticeably faster than Kimimaro's. Her wound healed a full five seconds earlier than his.
Noticing this, Anko mockingly said, "Looks like Orochimaru's techniques haven't advanced over the years; they've regressed."
This comment struck a nerve with Kimimaro. To him, Orochimaru was an irreplaceable saint in this world, someone no one was allowed to insult.
"You understand nothing about Lord Orochimaru!"
"Larch Dance!"
With a furious roar, dozens of sharp black bone spikes suddenly protruded from Kimimaro's snow-white skin, arming his body like a porcupine bristling with spikes.
In this form, he became a seamless combination of offense and defense. The bone spikes not only protected his body from attacks but also enhanced his lethality, enabling him to fully unleash his combat prowess.
In this spiked form, Kimimaro abandoned his elevated vantage point, leaping through the air and slashing down toward Anko.
Anko, unable to directly clash with Kimimaro's spike-covered body, swiftly retreated to avoid his attack while forming hand seals with both hands.
"Striking Shadow Snakes!"
Countless thick serpentine limbs shot out from the sleeves of Anko's coat, coiling toward Kimimaro's body.
While most of the snakes were inevitably shredded by his black bone spikes, his bones were finite and couldn't cover every inch of his body. Many of the serpentine limbs managed to evade the spikes, coiling around parts of Kimimaro's body that were not protected.
However, just as Anko thought her move had succeeded, the spikes protruding from Kimimaro's body began to move. Under his control, they rotated like miniature fans within their limited range, shredding all the serpents that had latched onto him.
He can control the direction and movement of his protruding spikes at will!
The severed snake limbs fell to the ground, and Kimimaro, stepping on the writhing remnants, suddenly surged forward with astonishing speed.
A series of afterimages trailed his movements as Kimimaro closed the distance to Anko. Without much effort, multiple bone spikes extended rapidly, piercing her body in an instant.
Squelch!
Blood arced through the air. Five extended bone spikes impaled Anko in different places: her abdomen, left shoulder, right shoulder, chest, and side waist.
The five spikes then shifted angles and curves, lifting Anko's body like an elephant raising a tusk-mounted trophy.
Suspended in the air, blood trickling from her mouth, Anko gripped the black spikes impaling her, trying to free herself. However, gravity and her skewered state made it impossible to pull herself free with her hands alone.
"Cough."
Anko let out a soft cough, spitting a mouthful of fresh blood onto Kimimaro's face below.
Yet Kimimaro didn't recoil in disgust. Instead, his expression turned fanatical. His once-green eyes now glowed red with bloodlust, his pupils trembling as they fixated on Anko's agonized, struggling form.
"Finally! I have you!"
"You are mine now!"
"I will drain you dry!"
"Be devoured by me!"
Kimimaro's voice was filled with uncontrollable fervor, so intense that his tone became almost unrecognizable, completely different from before.
Not only that, but Anko could feel her body weakening, as if she were slowly being consumed!
