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Ch. 149: Land of Gods: Dagon
🕑 Added 2024-10-20 16:15:51 +0000 UTCItachi looked at the sudden upheaval around him, and the disbelief in his eyes could no longer be suppressed by calm reasoning.
"How is this possible?"
He took a step back as his wide eyes frantically stared at the colossal stone city standing behind Kojiro. The massive stone city stretched endlessly before him.
These ostentatious green stone pillars filled the Tsukuyomi world, constructed in a way that defied conventional spatial structures and dimensional scales, ultimately presenting this stange city.
At that moment, the city seemed to be the true illusion, a place that could never exist in the real world. Within it, an even larger shadow emerged. And hidden within this shadow was an existence more indescribable, unviewable, and unimaginable than the city itself.
Anyone who dared to pierce through this shadow would undoubtedly witness something even more insane and horrifying than the nightmares of the abyss.
And just as Itachi's eyes narrowed at the sight of the city, Kojiro began to twist his body around the stone pillars, seemingly trying to break free from its chains.
Just a moment ago, he had been completely immobilized, but now he showed signs of resistance. This change was not due to any alterations in his body but rather resulted from Itachi's shaken mental state.
Once the caster's mental state wavers, the grip on the target's spirit within the Tsukuyomi world becomes less secure.
Crack!
The iron chains binding Kojiro broke apart, falling to the ground and instantly shattering into fragments. He stood back on the ground, glancing at the sword lodged in his chest before swiping his fin-like arm, sending the sword flying. The sword that fell to the ground also shattered into fragments, disappearing without a trace.
Kojiro did not attack Itachi, but instead turned to attack the stone pillar that had just bound him. Facing the pillar behind him, he used his massive body and scaled, broad fin to strike and slap it. Each blow caused the pillar to tilt further.
Eventually, the pillar crashed to the ground, shattering like other objects
Itachi's mental creation was destroyed, symbolizing that in the mental duel within the Tsukuyomi world, Kojiro had completely gained the upper hand. At that moment, Itachi still stood frozen in place.
When he witnessed the emergence of the stone city, he felt certain rational parts of his mind rapidly slipping away. Though he wanted to take action, he found himself completely unable to do anything.
In this world, fighting was meaningless; only the true ruler could command it and bend reality to their will. Now, Itachi could no longer restrain Kojiro. Against Kojiro's immense mental power, Itachi's spirit, while also maintaining Tsukuyomi, was but a flickering firefly.
A firefly cannot compete with the brilliance of the full moon.
Kojiro, with his powerful spirit, could construct a stone city in the Tsukuyomi world controlled by Itachi and influence his mind, causing him to waver. With the destruction of the stone pillar, Itachi completely lost control over this world, and Kojiro became the new ruler.
However, he still ignored Itachi, who was mentally overwhelmed and kneeling on one knee, and instead turned to face the city, raising his fin-like arms high.
"The Sleeper of R'lyeh!"
"Great Dreamer!"
"Great Old One!"
"Great Cthulhu!"
"In the name of the cult, I praise the ruler of all!"
"In the name of the gate to Y'ha-nthlei and all who use this gate, I summon the ancient ruler to descend!"
"In His house at R'lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming!"
As Kojiro chanted, Itachi saw the colossal shadow above the stone city growing faint. Beneath the fading shadow was a distinct form.
Even his perception could not discern the complete posture of this form, but he could vaguely see that it was a fat, bloated, green body oozing slime. On this body were octopus tentacles, spread out like hellish appendages that grasped souls.
And more elongated than the already enormous body was a pair of wings resembling bat wings, only these wings were thousands or tens of thousands of times larger than bat wings.
When the image of this alien god appeared before him, even if it was just a fragmentary form, it instilled tremendous fear within Itachi. He felt the presence of an entity that had been, was, and would always be!
In that moment, he could no longer remain calm and let out a frantic howl.
"Ah!"
---
In the real world, Itachi slowly opened his eyes. Kneeling on one knee, he looked utterly disheveled, while Kojiro stood brightly and proudly.
The time in the Tsukuyomi world does not correspond to the real world; everything that just occurred was merely a fleeting moment. To an outsider's eyes, it appeared that Kojiro suddenly halted while running toward Itachi, and then Itachi simply knelt down—nothing more.
In reality, the two had been engaged in a mental duel for an entire cycle. The outcome was Itachi's complete defeat. Moreover, since Kojiro had forcibly broken his Tsukuyomi, Itachi himself suffered a backlash.
After the backlash, he painfully covered his left eye, gasping for breath, unable to stand.
Side effects are so severe.
This was his first use of Tsukuyomi, and he had never anticipated being countered by a spirit far stronger than his own. If it were merely a slight difference in mental strength, he might have still triumphed by leveraging the power of his Sharingan.
But Kojiro's spirit was unimaginably strong; a human's spirit could never reach such levels. If an ordinary person has a mental strength of 100, an ordinary ninja 200, and Itachi 500, then Kojiro's mental power was over 5000.
Thus, the current Kojiro was a monstrous existence, both in body and spirit.
Just as he had said, he had given his body and soul to Cthulhu. What stood there now was no longer Kojiro but the true Dagon.
Itachi knelt on one knee, unable to move as the mental torment he endured left his body temporarily paralyzed. He could only watch as Kojiro slowly approached him.
Suddenly, a shadow darted out from behind Itachi, grabbing his weakened form and leaping onto the rafters, disappearing from the sight of Kojiro and the surrounding cultists. Kojiro turned to look, only to find that Jūzō, whom he had just struck down, had vanished. It seemed he was the one who had rescued Itachi.
However, Kojiro did not rush to pursue them. Instead, he reverted from his monstrous form to his human appearance under the watchful eyes of the cultists.
"Father Dagon has won!"
"He has triumphed!"
The cultists cheered loudly below, and he merely raised his hand slightly in acknowledgment before heading backstage.
In the dark backstage area, while changing his clothes, Kojiro spoke to himself, "I've injured those two and the ninjas from Kiri. I still have an important guest to meet soon. I'll leave the rest to you."
"Understood."
A shadowy human figure disappeared instantly in the darkness.
---
"Are there any pursuers, Itachi?"
"Not for now."
In the forest, Jūzō carried the sword in one hand while supporting Itachi on his shoulder, with Itachi's head facing backward, keeping an eye on their rear.
The two continued to flee for a while longer until Jūzō suddenly fell from the branches, causing them to roll onto the ground. After a brief period of recovery, Itachi had regained some mobility. He quickly turned around to check on his teammate.
Jūzō lay on the ground in a disheveled state. His sword was no longer intact; a part of the blade was broken off and lodged in his abdomen.
"Jūzō!"
Itachi quickly helped him lean against a tree for comfort.
"I was careless. I shouldn't have tried to block that strike with the sword," Jūzō said, lifting the broken blade weakly and forcing a bitter smile. "That guy... he's not even human anymore."
"Get out of here, now."
"But—"
He shook his head slightly, coughing up a mouthful of blood. "I'm done for. Even if you're not a medic, you can see that, right?"
"Just go. Don't waste any more time."
"I'm sorry," Itachi said as he turned to leave.
Jūzō glanced down at the sword in his hand, smiling faintly. "After leaving that wretched Bloody Mist Village, I thought you were my only companion."
Suddenly, a thick mist began to swirl around the silent forest.
He looked up at the mist enveloping the surroundings and smiled. "I never thought I'd end up dying at the hands of my own."
"What a cruel irony."
As soon as Jūzō finished speaking, a sharp glint flashed through the mist, and his head was severed, flying from his body. The mist dispersed, revealing a figure who approached Jūzō's corpse and removed the hood to expose a face masked with bandages.
It was none other than Zabuza, who years ago had been tasked by the Fourth Mizukage to infiltrate the Land of Gods. Although he was attacked by the Deep Ones back then, he had not died. Instead, he was saved by Kojiro and had since become one of his most loyal followers.
Zabuza glanced briefly at the severed head of Jūzō that had rolled to the side, then turned his gaze to the sword still clutched in the lifeless hand. He walked over, pried the sword from the grip, slung it over his back, and continued the chase.
Meanwhile, Itachi, now able to move freely, continued running towards the coast.
He felt conflicted about leaving his teammate behind. But there was no time to dwell on it; his priority was to escape. When he reached a massive rock at the coastline, he saw Guren fleeing ahead, chased by a few ninjas.
A path of pink crystalline structures stretched across the water, connecting to the opposite shore. While this prevented her from being ambushed by Deep Ones lurking in the water, it also provided a clear route for the pursuing ninjas.
Guren was carrying a cloth bag over her shoulder, and Itachi recognized it as the pure-blood Deep One they had left on the boat. This woman remained so loyal to Orochimaru that even now, she hadn't abandoned the mission.
After assessing the situation, he jumped off the rock and rushed toward the shore.
Damn it! They are getting closer!
Guren glanced back and saw several cultist ninjas closing in, their killing intent unmasked. It was clear that if they caught up, her life would be in danger.
She looked at the bag on her shoulder.
Even in the face of such peril, she was reluctant to let go of it, knowing that it contained the important experimental specimen that Orochimaru required. No matter the cost, even if it meant her life, it was all for him!
As Guren wrestled with her decision, a series of explosions erupted behind her, lighting up the night.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
Dozens of shuriken cloaked in flames flew towards the cultist ninjas, catching them off guard and sending them tumbling to the ground.
Noticing the shift in the battle, Guren turned to see Itachi approaching through the flames. The sight brought her a moment of relief, but when he got closer, she realized he was alone.
"Where's that guy?" she asked.
Itachi knew who she meant and could only shake his head in resignation. Guren's head lowered, a hint of sorrow clouding her eyes.
"Let's go. These guys are hard to kill," Itachi said, glancing at the cultist ninjas still burning on the ground.
"Okay," Guren nodded slightly. Together, they stepped onto the crystallized surface of the sea, disappearing into the darkness of the night.
