Malphegor
patreon
Ch. 112: The Sannins: Seal the Deal
🕑 Added 2024-09-28 15:10:14 +0000 UTC"Is this a Shoggoth?"
Tsunade murmured softly as she gazed at the unforgettable scene before her.
Indeed, she was aware of the existence of Shoggoths. In Kakashi's story of his experiences in the Land of Snow, the enormous creature at the center of the ancient city was none other than a Shoggoth.
Although he had described it as a shapeless black substance capable of changing forms at will, she hadn't expected these black Shoggoths to be capable of something like this.
Rebuilding a body!
Now, inside the two liquid tanks were no longer just piles of black, formless sludge, but two flawless human bodies.
Although they retained their original appearances, the proportions of their bodies had been adjusted to achieve the golden ratio of human perfection.
Heiji, once showing signs of aging, now had a youthful, muscular body, replacing his former, deteriorating physique. His new body had been slightly restructured in terms of bone proportions, smoothing out wrinkles and refining his skin, though his facial features remained unchanged.
Anko, who was only sixteen, hadn't fully grown in height. The Shoggoth respected the original limits of her subconscious desires, leaving her height untouched but refining her body's curves. This refinement aligned closely with her own wishes—not exaggerated to the point of being overly voluptuous, but fixing areas she had felt insecure about.
For example, her slightly chubby waist, her not-so-full chest, her thighs, and her muscular calves—those parts of her body that had bothered her were smoothed out. Now, she had a body that would surely catch the attention of most men.
Tsunade frowned slightly. Is this what she truly wanted, or the Shoggoth's interpretation?
Shoggoths are a slave species, instinctively driven to please their masters.
When a Shoggoth recognizes a higher intellect as its master, it reads into some of their subconscious desires. Everyone has an ideal vision of their perfect body, and the Shoggoth had simply realized this vision for Anko and Heiji.
However, even though the two bodies were reshaped perfectly, neither of them had opened their eyes.
"Why haven't they opened their eyes?" Tsunade asked.
Orochimaru smirked coldly, walking to the tank where Anko was and opening it. "Don't rush. Let me explain a few things."
"Patience, Tsunade. Some miracles take time," Orochimaru said, his calm demeanor a stark contrast to Tsunade's anxiety.
Tsunade gritted her teeth. "This isn't a miracle, it's a manipulation of nature."
He then began explaining some principles.
Although he had formatted the Shoggoth using illusions, its inherent attributes couldn't be erased. Shoggoths are protoplasmic organisms with survival instincts, consuming any organic matter within them to sustain themselves, much like how a human stomach digests food without permission.
And the human brain is also organic matter.
This instinct to consume organic matter could trigger at any moment, meaning the Shoggoth could digest the human brain inside it.
"You mean it could devour their brains at any moment?"
This paradox exists because Shoggoths weren't creations of lower life forms like the Elder Things or humans. Their true master is the Unbegotten Source, and the Demiurge, Ubbo-Sathla.
Humans attempting to control lightning might end up being struck by it because lightning is a force of nature. Likewise, the Shoggoth's master might get consumed by the very being that serves them.
However, Orochimaru had discovered through his experiments that pure energy forms like chakra could resist the Shoggoth's protoplasmic cells from consuming inorganic matter.
For this reason, he created a semi-permeable membrane that could absorb chakra and cover the surface of inorganic matter.
The rare material needed to develop the membrane should absorb chakra. His first thought was the skin of Samehada, one of the Seven Ninja Swords of Kiri.
He initially thought it would be difficult to acquire, but Akatsuki managed to deliver enough fragments of the sword's skin within two days. Using this material, he created the membrane.
However, he hadn't revealed this to Tsunade to avoid exposing Akatsuki's involvement, as he wasn't ready to provoke them.
By covering the inorganic matter with this membrane, the Shoggoth wouldn't be able to consume what was inside, though it could still sense its presence. To protect Heiji and Anko's brains, Orochimaru had wrapped the membrane around them, which absorbed chakra from their brains to maintain the protection.
If their brain's chakra supply were interrupted, the membrane would lose its effectiveness, and the Shoggoth would instinctively devour the brain within.
Tsunade's task now was to use cardiac resuscitation techniques to reactivate the brain's consciousness while ensuring the production of chakra wasn't interrupted.
This would be tricky because medical resuscitation techniques involve stimulating the brain or heart with chakra, which could interfere with the person's own chakra flow.
Normally, it wouldn't matter, but Orochimaru's membrane relies on chakra to maintain protection. If Tsunade's chakra disrupts Anko's too much, even for just a few seconds, the membrane will lose its effect, and the Shoggoth will devour the brain.
Thus, she needed to be extremely careful to avoid interfering with Anko's chakra flow.
"So, I leave it to you, Tsunade."
With that, he stepped back, taking a spectator's stance.
"Now, it's in your hands. Can you save your precious student?"
Tsunade glanced at Orochimaru, who had backed away, then carefully lifted Anko from the tank and placed her on a smooth surgical table. Despite Anko's beautiful new body, Tsunade draped her own green cloak over her. Even unconscious, you deserve dignity, Anko.
Taking a deep breath, she focused, letting a small amount of green chakra gather on her fingertip. She touched Anko's forehead, closing her eyes to concentrate entirely, slowly injecting chakra into the consciousness region of Anko's brain.
Steady... precise... don't disrupt the flow...
Come on, Anko. She increased the flow slightly, as the tiny amount of chakra didn't have much effect.
But at that moment, Anko's brain began to tremble.
Yes, her brain was trembling!
"What's happening?" Tsunade's eyes darted between Anko and Orochimaru.
In the next moment, a wave of black Shoggoth matter rippled across Anko's forehead.
"Orochimaru! What's going on?"
This theory can be explained with a comparison to mecha: the human brain acts as the pilot, while the Shoggoth's body serves as the mecha. The human can control the mecha from inside, but there's a risk of the mecha consuming the pilot as fuel.
The membrane functions as a cockpit, protecting the pilot from being absorbed, but requires a form of energy called chakra to maintain that protection.
A layer of black waves pushed from the right side of Anko's forehead towards the left, almost forcing Tsunade's fingers away.
This might have been the Shoggoth's reflex to protect its master, or perhaps her chakra had interfered with Anko's chakra, causing it to react with excitement at the prospect of devouring a human brain.
In any case, it reminded her to be even more cautious from now on.
Tsunade concentrated all her energy to control her chakra. Although her actions seemed as simple as placing her finger lightly on Anko's forehead, the precision involved was far more refined than any medical ninja's chakra control techniques in the world.
If I can't do this, no one can. Come on, focus!
With this thought in mind, Tsunade both reassured and encouraged herself to relax and do better.
A bit more precise. A bit deeper. Please, wake up! Anko!
Stimulating Anko's brain's consciousness area without disrupting her chakra flow was far more difficult than Tsunade had imagined. The brain's neural network was complex—tugging on one strand could cause a chain reaction throughout the body. Any minor stimulation could disrupt Anko's already weak chakra flow.
If Anko had just fallen asleep or remained conscious, the technique would not be as challenging.
However, she had been in a brain-in-a-jar state for over a month, and this prolonged slumber had weakened her brain's chakra flow. Even the slightest external interference could cut off the chakra supply.
Respond to me!
Anko!
Wake up quickly!
Ten minutes had passed. While the technique didn't consume much chakra, it was extremely taxing on her mental energy.
In just ten minutes, her forehead was drenched in sweat. Just a little more... hang in there, Anko!
Perhaps Anko heard her inner plea, for finally, Tsunade detected an unusual electrical signal in Anko's consciousness. This signal spread like wildfire, quickly activating her dormant consciousness.
Then, Anko's eyelids twitched, and her eyes slowly opened.
Tsunade had expected some delay between brain activity and waking up, but Anko's body was now operating under a different mechanism.
Traditionally, the brain would send a command through the nervous system, which would then instruct the body part to act. The body was a passive receiver of the brain's signals.
However, her current body worked the other way around. The Shoggoth, sensing her desire to observe her surroundings, directly opened her eyes.
The new body had become an active partner in fulfilling the brain's commands.
This not only made her muscle reactions faster than those of ordinary people or even ninjas, but when her brain's commands were unclear, the Shoggoth could actively make decisions on its own.
"Tsu...nade-sama?"
When Anko first uttered 'Tsunade', her voice was strange, with a slight stutter. But the Shoggoth quickly adjusted Anko's voice to align with her brain's intentions, and the latter part of 'sama' came out in her normal tone.
Its goal was to read her subconscious and change itself to please her brain. This 'pleasure' didn't even require her to issue commands; the Shoggoth would automatically optimize her bodily functions.
Like earlier, when she was still unconscious, it had taken it upon itself to craft the perfect body for her.
Seeing Anko wake up, Tsunade finally relaxed her tense heart.
"Welcome back, Anko!"
At that moment, she almost couldn't hold back her tears, but just before they fell, she raised her head, preventing them from spilling.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Orochimaru approached, clapping, with an unreadable smile on his face. "How touching."
"As expected, you really managed to save her."
"Spare me the false praise. We both know you had your own agenda."
"You deserve some credit too, Orochimaru."
"Hmph."
He snorted, uninterested in taking credit. "Now, hand over what you promised," he said calmly as he simply extended his hand.
Finally, it had come to this.
Tsunade hesitated.
Although they had agreed earlier—if Anko could be saved, she would give him the scroll—now that Anko was revived, she wanted to back out.
Orochimaru was an extremely dangerous individual—not only an S-rank fugitive from Konoha, but also someone conducting inhumane experiments.
For example, the Shoggoth experiment clearly wasn't something he had concluded through mere speculation. If Tsunade gave him the scroll on the creature, Orochimaru would undoubtedly conduct more experiments, leading to catastrophic consequences.
I can't let this power fall into his hands. There must be another way.
She glanced at Anko, still recovering and oblivious to the situation, as well as the still-sleeping Heiji in the liquid tank. She wondered if they could escape together.
Anko's still vulnerable, and Heiji... I can't abandon either of them.
She would have to try.
While Tsunade calculated her escape, Orochimaru knew she wouldn't hand over the scroll so easily. He had long prepared a way to force her hand.
"Tsunade, in your current state, you can't escape—especially while carrying two burdens."
"And I haven't told you about this one yet."
At some point, the liquid tank containing Heiji had been opened. In a flash, Orochimaru appeared beside him, placing his hand on the man's brain.
"This person is just an ordinary human. His chakra is insufficient to maintain the membrane. So I reinforced his chakra with a bit of curse mark power to sustain it."
"But if I withdraw the mark, his brain will be devoured by the Shoggoth before your very eyes."
"So..."
"Hand over the scroll, Tsunade."
Damn you, Orochimaru.
She looked at his hand on Heiji, then glanced at the immobile Anko. Is the scroll worth more than a life? Than two lives?
Reluctantly, she took the scroll from her chest and handed it to him.
Orochimaru eagerly received it.
Necronomicon!
Here I come!
