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Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 192
🕑 Added 2025-01-01 23:47:11 +0000 UTCAlthough the surrounding Haunter of the Dark were dealt with and things seemed temporarily safe, an unsettling wailing and screaming continued to echo in the ears of Gaara, Naruto, and their companions.
The human screams, however, had significantly diminished compared to before. It was unclear whether this was because those people had been rescued or had permanently disappeared from this world.
While fire were highly effective against the Haunter of the Dark, they were typically mastered by ninjas from Konoha.
Among genin, the only one capable of wielding a potent Fire Release technique was Sasuke, the lone survivor of the Uchiha clan.
As a result, other genin were essentially powerless against the Haunter of the Dark. Even Gaara, who could be considered a "walking powerhouse" at this stage, was limited to self-defense if his attacks lacked the attribute of fire, unable to inflict any real harm on the creatures.
Moreover, while the flames seemed to destroy the Haunter of the Dark, these beings were embodiments of Nyarlathotep and were extraordinary entities made of supernatural matter, which ordinary fire could not eradicate.
Only the fire of Cthugha, also formed from supernatural matter, could truly annihilate them.
As for why Cthugha would destroy the Haunter of the Dark, the reason was simple: the Haunter of the Dark were avatars of Nyarlathotep, representing the element of earth, while Cthugha symbolized fire.
Their relationship was akin to the "incompatible opposition" between Cthulhu and Hastur—Nyarlathotep and Cthugha similarly embodied the irreconcilability of earth and fire.
The Haunter of the Dark were first discovered in the Wood of N'gai. When a group of investigators was pursued by the creatures, they recited an incantation to summon Cthugha.
Sensing Nyarlathotep's presence in the forest, Cthugha, leading thousands of flame spirits, incinerated the entire forest in a fiery inferno.
The terrifying heat and flames wreaked indiscriminate havoc, rivaling the destructive power of a small nuclear explosion.
However, Cthugha did not regard the summoners as "allies." Humans could no more claim friendship with Cthugha than they could with ants or bacteria.
When Earth transitioned from a fiery ball of magma to a planet capable of sustaining life, Cthugha had already left the planet. Consequently, Cthugha has no worshippers on Earth. With no distinction between friend and foe, any perceived alliance is irrelevant.
From the Haunter of the Dark summoned through the Shining Trapezohedron, it was evident that these creatures were not singular. Flattening the forest might have been Cthugha's way of ensuring the eradication of every last one.
In this world, however, only the wielder of Cthugha's flames could destroy the Haunter of the Dark. Without intervention, these beings would remain in the Forest of Death eternally.
In the clearing of the forest, Gaara's and Naruto's squads quickly discussed their situation. Given that the entire Forest of Death was plagued by these mysterious creatures, they reasoned that the Chunin Exams were unlikely to continue under such conditions.
Prioritizing survival, they decided to travel together to the tower at the forest's center.
Just as they were about to move, a shadowy figure suddenly emerged from the dense trees near the tower.
This figure, appearing human in shape and lacking the towering presence of the Haunter of the Dark, gave some of the group a fleeting sense of relief. Unaware that the Haunter of the Dark could completely transform into human form, they relaxed slightly.
After all, Sasuke's chakra reserves were too low to perform Fire Release techniques again. Encountering another Haunter of the Dark would spell trouble.
With the forest teeming with unknown threats, it seemed only natural to form alliances with other survivors.
The approaching figure wore a conical hat adorned with the insignia of Kusa. The lanky individual's arms hung limply at their sides, giving the impression of someone who had barely survived an attack and was now alone.
"Hey!" Naruto called out boisterously. "Where are your teammates? You can join us if—"
Before he could finish, Gaara sharply shouted, "Danger!"
The figure suddenly raised an arm, and five black needles shot out, aimed at everyone except Sasuke.
These black needles were incredibly difficult to detect in the darkness unless observed closely. Only Gaara, who had remained on high alert from the moment he saw this person, managed to spot them in time.
His vigilance stemmed from sensing an overwhelming killing intent and malevolence from the figure—far exceeding the darkness of the beast sealed within himself.
Using his sand manipulation technique, Gaara summoned a thick sand wall from the ground to shield everyone, including Naruto's team.
As the sand wall rose, the five black needles struck its surface and began penetrating it with startling speed.
To Gaara's astonishment, the needles pierced through the protective sand wall, their sharp tips aiming directly at the foreheads of the five individuals inside.
Fortunately, just as the needle tips were mere millimeters from everyone's foreheads, they stopped of their own accord. Then, slowly, they began retracting.
This chilling scene left everyone drenched in cold sweat, the fear they felt rivaling the terror of their earlier encounter with the Haunter of the Dark.
But now was not the time to relax. Gaara quickly regained his composure and opened a gap in the sand wall to observe their attacker.
The figure on the other side removed their hat, revealing snow-white hair styled in a wavy center part, with two locks on either side of their face tied with unique ornaments.
On the man's broad forehead were two red dots, seemingly part of a distinctive cultural or ceremonial decoration.
Gaara also noticed something peculiar: the black needles the man had used earlier were not senbon or any traditional weapon. Instead, they were sharp spikes extending from the man's five fingers.
Were those... bones? Black bones?
Their length and color defied Gaara's understanding, yet the fact that they emerged from the man's fingers and retracted again left no other explanation—these had to be bones.
"Who are you?" Gaara asked coldly.
The man didn't hesitate to answer.
"Kimimaro."
Kimimaro...?
To ensure the smooth progress of the Chunin Exams, which were part of the prelude to the Konoha Crush Plan, Gaara had memorized the names of all noteworthy participants. Yet the name Kimimaro was unfamiliar to him.
As he contemplated this, Kimimaro launched another attack without a word.
He leaned forward slightly, legs pumping as he broke into a sprint, accelerating to a speed that left only a blur in his wake.
Gaara, the only one with a clear view from behind the sand wall, raised his hands, manipulating the sand to rise and grab at Kimimaro's legs. The ground rippled as if giant hands were reaching up to ensnare him.
But each time the sand came close, Kimimaro's speed increased abruptly, as though he had full control over his velocity, unaffected by physical limitations.
Gaara's sand repeatedly missed its target, unable to catch him.
Such speed! He's coming for me! Not good—there's no time!
In a flurry of thoughts, he sealed the observation gap in the sand wall, surrounding himself completely for protection.
But in the next moment, under the shocked gazes of everyone, a single black spike pierced through the sand wall.
It drove straight through the kanji for "love" on Gaara's forehead, impaling his skull.
"Gaara!"
Temari and Kankuro simultaneously shouted Gaara's name, their faces brimming with shock—it was almost unbelievable. Gaara had been taken down in an instant! And by an unknown ninja from Kusa, no less?
But just as they reeled from the shock, the sound of cracking echoed from Gaara's forehead. Numerous cracks rapidly spiderwebbed outward across his body.
As fragments of yellow sand began to crumble away, it became evident—inside was completely hollow. His "body" was gradually losing its color, fading into the hue of sand.
"What is going on?!"
Naruto cried out in surprise. However, Temari and Kankuro secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
This was Gaara's unique substitution technique. Similar in principle to a standard substitution jutsu, the only difference was that instead of using logs or stones as substitutes, he employed the sand armor covering his body.
Although the sand armor could regenerate by consuming chakra, this substitution jutsu, like any other, couldn't be used consecutively.
This meant that Gaara had been forced to activate his most critical survival technique after just one encounter.
Indeed, behind the collapsing sand armor substitution, a surge of yellow sand rose, revealing his true body.
At this moment, cracks covered his entire frame, shadows darkened his forehead, and his eyes were brimming with a growing madness and bloodlust. His mouth twisted into a sinister grin that stretched almost to his ears, as though something deep within him had awakened following the strike.
"That look…"
"It's him—the monster. This is bad."
Upon saying this, Temari and Kankuro were the first to retreat from Gaara's side. Nearby, Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who still had one hand on her shoulder, understanding that neither of them could contribute meaningfully in this situation.
They too stepped back.
Only Naruto remained, frowning and staring intently at Gaara's expression, sensing a strangely familiar energy radiating from him.
"This is…"
"Kid! If you don't want to die, step back now!"
Kankuro's warning echoed from behind, leaving Naruto no choice but to retreat for now and let Gaara take center stage.
Meanwhile, Kimimaro, standing beyond the sand wall, was unaware of what had transpired. However, the moment his attack struck something, he noticed a peculiar sensation—
He had missed? Indeed, he had.
Kimimaro quickly withdrew his black bone. At the same time, the sand wall before him abruptly collapsed, unleashing an overwhelming surge of yellow sand, as if a tsunami was crashing down from all directions.
"Sand Tsunami!"
Partially influenced by Shukaku's chakra, the enraged Gaara wasted no time unleashing one of his most powerful techniques.
The Sand Tsunami was a jutsu that provided him with a vast quantity of usable sand in a short time. Outside of desert environments, Gaara typically relied on the sand gourd he carried. However, this technique compressed and crushed surrounding rocks into sand, turning the area into a desert, thus granting him a massive arsenal.
Earlier, during their battle against the dark inhabitants, Gaara had secretly infused sand underground in preparation for this ultimate move. However, Sasuke's fire jutsu had forced the dark inhabitants back before he could deploy it.
But now, with Kimimaro's arrival, the jutsu finally had a chance to shine.
The tsunami of yellow sand surged toward Kimimaro, who rapidly retreated. His speed increased dramatically, even outpacing the sand under Gaara's control.
Gaara, his hands pressed against the ground, sensed Kimimaro's escape and was momentarily stunned by his incredible speed.
This only served to further enrage Gaara. Half his face transformed into a yellow tanuki-like visage, with its eye turning black with a sandy yellow iris.
Empowered by Shukaku's chakra, the speed of the flowing sand increased exponentially. At last, the overwhelming tide of yellow sand engulfed Kimimaro's figure.
In the next moment, the surging sand settled, covering the ground and transforming the area into a vast desert.
"Sand Burial!"
Visible shockwaves radiated from Gaara's palms, spreading fan-like across the desert. Each wave compressed the sandy terrain, lowering it by at least half a meter with every pulse.
This was his strongest jutsu at the moment, capable of being fully unleashed only in his semi-possession state, triggered by his fury.
Within the desert-covered area, everything is ground to dust. Both in range and destructive power, it surpasses Desert Requiem by several magnitudes.
Of course, its chakra consumption is also several times higher. However, since Gaara is in his semi-possessed form, part of his chakra comes from Shukaku, making the current chakra drain manageable.
Although the Sand Burial Prison ended a few seconds ago, Gaara's hands remained firmly planted on the ground.
In his perception, deep beneath the compacted desert sands, one object remained intact—it hadn't been crushed.
In the pitch-black underground, Kimimaro kept his eyes closed.
In the depths of his mind, he revisited memories from long ago—his younger self, living a shadowed life in a prison cell with no light or hope.
Until one day, when the Kaguya clan was annihilated, and he, always curled up in the dark corners of the cell, finally stepped out into the open world.
He still remembered the first time he saw a beautiful flower growing in the wild. It was also the moment that he found him.
"There's no such thing as life inherently having meaning. But if you stay alive, you might find something interesting. Just like you found that flower, just like I found you."
"Come, let's go."
It was Orochimaru's voice.
From that day onward, my world changed. I began to seek the truth of this world, to walk with Orochimaru-sama!
Suddenly, a cold voice pulled Kimimaro back to reality.
"Still alive, aren't you? If you're not dead, get up and work. Let's kill them."
Brother.
From the surface, a voice echoed faintly from the depths.
"Pierce them!"
"Bracken Dance!"
In an instant, hundreds of black bone spikes erupted from the underground desert.
These bone spikes shot upward from the sand and grew at an alarming rate. Their shapes no longer resembled ordinary bones but had transformed into regular, spear-like black spires.
Gaara, sensing the danger, acted quickly. He manipulated the sand to lift Naruto's team and his own squad, all six people, into the air on sand platforms.
The black bone spikes stopped growing once they reached the height of towering trees. Thanks to Gaara's sandy platforms, no one was harmed.
However, the sight of the dark forest of black spires left everyone speechless, stunned by the sheer magnitude and unnatural nature of the spectacle.
Everyone was paralyzed by shock. What exactly are these black spires?
Suddenly, behind the sand platform where Sasuke and Sakura stood, a single black spire shot upward, reaching even higher than the platform itself.
Emerging from this spire was a humanoid black figure. As it materialized, something horrifying unfolded—a serpent's head burst through its shoulder, tearing through its skin and flesh.
The serpent bore a sinister, human-like face—pale, gaunt, with drooping eyes.
It was unmistakably Orochimaru's face!
With lightning speed, his serpent head lashed out and bit Sasuke on the neck.
