"This is impossible!" Nadare stared at the seemingly unharmed Shoggoth. "My jutsu... it's like nothing happened!"

Two powerful ninjutsu attacks had landed on the Shoggoth's amorphous body but left no visible wounds.

Nadare's proud Ice Release, under the enhancement of chakra armor, was like a punch hitting a slime—any dents caused were quickly filled in by the rapidly expanding black primordial matter.

Kakashi's attack seemed to have some effect; there were small white smoke and fireball-sized gaps where the attack hit, but these were also quickly filled by primordial matter as if nothing had happened.

It's not just regenerating... it's as if our attacks never existed in the first place. Kakashi analyzed the creature's unnatural resilience.

Seeing this, Kakashi immediately realized something.

The Shoggoth's body was impervious to physical attacks and ordinary ninjutsu, which is why the ancient Elder civilization, known for its monstrous strength and advanced technology, fell into decline due to the Shoggoths' rebellion.

Our jutsu follows natural laws, but this thing... it's an abomination. Kakashi pieced together the information from the murals.

"Nadare," Kakashi said, "our ninjutsu won't work."

The Shoggoth was itself a blasphemous creation of the Elders, its existence defied natural laws and was not bound by natural principles.

Therefore, ordinary ninjutsu born of natural law could not harm it.

To forcefully kill a Shoggoth, one would need power beyond natural cycles, but such ninjutsu were beyond the capability of these ninjas.

Was there really no way?

At this moment, Kakashi recalled the method the Elders had used to enslave the Shoggoths.

According to the mural's information, the Elders created the Shoggoths and used hypnosis to make it transform into a form that adapted to the environment to build cities for them.

Though it was unknown why a Shoggoth could later resist the Elders' hypnosis, it at least suggested that hypnosis was a very effective countermeasure against the Shoggoths.

Transferring hypnosis to a ninja would undoubtedly mean illusion techniques.

And Kakashi's left eye could cast a powerful genjutsu technique.

Watching the Shoggoth slowly approaching, he pulled up the forehead protector covering his left eye, revealing a blood-red eye.

Nadare also noticed Kakashi's movement and immediately recognized what was hidden under his forehead protector. The Sharingan?

Nadare was not unfamiliar with the Sharingan.

Although he had never seen it in person, no ninja in the ninja world was unaware of the famed Uchiha Clan's bloodline limit, the Sharingan, known as the eye that reflects the mind.

How could he possess the Sharingan? He's not a member of the Uchiha Clan!

But before Nadare could think further, Kakashi spoke.

"Now's not the time for explanations. Go, I'll hold it off."

Nadare glanced at the amorphous black form on the opposite side, knowing he had no means to deal with it.

Since Kakashi was staying behind, he had a chance to escape.

If Kakashi dies here... it saves me the trouble later.

"Alright!" Nadare responded and then turned to flee, leaving Kakashi to face the enormous entity alone.

"Tekeli—li"

"Tekeli—li"

Accompanied by a strong stench and a deep, mournful flute sound, the nightmare creature composed of countless bubbles and green eyes slowly approached Kakashi.

But no matter how they moved, the focus of these green eyes never left Kakashi.

It possessed high intelligence and knew clearly that the one who had attacked it earlier was this small creature in front of it.

It also knew that the weakness of most creatures was the small tumor on top of their head. As long as it removed the tumor on top of this creature's head, the body would collapse and be at its mercy.

A Shoggoth was not an ordinary creature; it did not have a head and torso distinction and could not comprehend the meaning of a head, so it defaulted to seeing it as a biological switch, appearing as a removable tumor on top.

Both the Elders and the blind sea sparrows they kept were like this, and so was this small creature in front of it.

Thus, the Shoggoth's countless eyes were fixed on Kakashi's head, ready to use the amorphous primordial matter to form a suitable shape and remove this biological switch with immense force.

I have one shot at this. If genjutsu doesn't work... Kakashi focused his chakra into the Sharingan.

But as it looked at his head, the Shoggoth's eyes inevitably made contact with the Sharingan on his left eye.

The three tomoe on the eye were slowly rotating, giving the Shoggoth a feeling of dizziness.

"Death Mirage Jutsu!"

Kakashi's hands quickly formed seals, shooting an imperceptible light from his eyes directly into the Shoggoth's thousands of eyes.

The Shoggoth instantly felt that everything in front of it became illusory; the scenes seen by its thousands of eyes turned unreal.

The place where the small creature originally stood transformed into its master.

The Shoggoth's master wielded a five-pointed star weapon, and even after billions of years, the Shoggoth had not forgotten this weapon.

It was a weapon capable of emitting special rays, and anything that was hit by these rays, including the Shoggoth, would face a fate infinitely worse than being turned to dust—it would be decomposed into molecules or atoms.

Under this light, the Shoggoth, as a biological entity, instinctively yielded to the Elder, and the deep impression left at that time was not forgotten even after eons.

Seeing the Elder Thing holding the weapon aimed at it, the Shoggoth recoiled, its amorphous body continuously retreating towards the cave entrance, prostrating on the ground in a display of loyalty to its master.

In the real cave, Kakashi saw the Shoggoth's retreat and did not know what the Shoggoth saw in the genjutsu, but it was undoubtedly a tremendous fear.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

What is it seeing? What could terrify a creature like this? Kakashi wondered, maintaining his focus on the jutsu.

The Death Mirage Jutsu made the victim see the most terrifying vision they were unwilling to see, and with the enhancement of the Sharingan, the immersion effect of this technique was exponentially increased.

The Shoggoth was an unknown creature with a completely different structure from humans; most illusions were targeted at human senses. Kakashi was unsure if it would be equally effective on the Shoggoth.

But based on the mural's description, Kakashi guessed that the Shoggoth was a high-intelligence being with memory, so he used the Death Mirage Jutsu.

However, he did not expect that a being that was itself a nightmare could have something it feared, and to such an extent.

But his situation was not good either.

Using the Sharingan could amplify the Death Mirage Jutsu's effect, but it also increased Chakra consumption.

Facing tens of thousands of eyes simultaneously, his mental exhaustion was also immense, and he was on the verge of collapsing.

Just... a little... longer. I can't let this thing loose in the world. Kakashi gritted his teeth, pushing himself to maintain the jutsu.

Kakashi's vision began to blur, his muscles trembling with the effort of standing. The strain of maintaining the genjutsu on such an alien mind was taking its toll.

No... not yet... I can't...

After a while, Kakashi could no longer hold on, his heavy body dropped to one knee, and the Sharingan helplessly closed.

The genjutsu was lifted.

Kakashi was panting heavily, completely ignoring the foul stench that filled the air.

Move... I have to move. If I stop now, it's over. His muscles screamed in protest, but he forced himself to stay upright.

The Shoggoth in front of him was still retreating towards the cave opening. It seemed that the genjutsu had effectively intimidated it. However, Kakashi couldn't stay here any longer. His chakra was entirely depleted, and he had no means left to fight the Shoggoth. The only option was to flee quickly.

With that thought, his body sprang into action, turning to run back down the passage he had come from.

At that moment, the retreating Shoggoth raised one of its eyes, only to notice that the figure holding a ray weapon against it had suddenly disappeared.

Its amorphous body stopped rolling immediately, and tens of thousands of eyes began scanning the cave simultaneously. Not only had its most feared master vanished, but the small creature was also gone.

Through billions of years of evolutionary intelligence, the Shoggoth was no longer a mere highly intelligent animal. It immediately realized it had been deceived.

Tens of thousands of eyes trembled violently—the Shoggoth's only way of expressing emotion. The more they shook, the angrier it was.

"Tekeli-li!"

A deep, muffled flute sound echoed through the passage.

Kakashi, running with all his strength down the passage, couldn't even spare a moment to look back. His chakra was drained, and there was nothing he could do even if he did glance back.

Don't look back. Don't think. Just run. Kakashi's thoughts were a mantra, pushing him forward.

As for Sandayū, even Kakashi, a seasoned ninja, had entirely forgotten about the man and his involvement.

Suddenly, a familiar foul stench filled the air again. Kakashi knew the Shoggoth was closing in. Its movement differed from its ancient creators—the Shoggoths didn't rely on limbs for mobility. They rolled forward as their amorphous bodies expanded and contracted. In these narrow tunnels, the Shoggoth could move rapidly, like a surging river, clearing any obstacles between it and its target.

"Faster... I need to go faster!" Kakashi gasped, his lungs burning with each breath.

He never looked back, but he could hear the unique flute sound of the Shoggoth drawing closer.

"Tekeli-li!"

"Tekeli-li!"

The sound grew louder, and Kakashi feared that even a moment's hesitation would lead to him being crushed by the Shoggoth's speed and power.

Reaching the plaza where the giant penguins gathered, Kakashi used all his remaining strength to push aside their massive bodies. His simple thought was that perhaps these creatures could slow the Shoggoth down, even if only for a second.

CRASH! SCREECH! SPLAT!

The sounds of destruction echoed behind him as the Shoggoth plowed through the penguin obstacle.

After crossing the plaza, Kakashi saw Sandayū stumbling further into the cave. In Kakashi's view, Sandayū had completely lost his sanity. Ever since seeing that enormous mural deep within the cave, his behavior had been utterly abnormal, and now it had fully escalated. His eyes were lifeless, his arms dangled like a zombie's, and his feet blindly marched forward as if he would walk straight into a pit without hesitation.

He had likely forgotten why he was heading deeper into the cave, forgotten his purpose entirely. Nadare might have sensed Sandayū's abnormality and left him behind while escaping, but Kakashi still wanted to pull him back before he stepped into the abyss.

As Kakashi passed by him, he grabbed Sandayū's shoulder, trying to wake him from his trance.

"Sandayū!" Kakashi's voice was urgent, desperate. "Run with me! Don't look back!"

His seemed to stir something in Sandayū, and he began to mimic Kakashi's actions, turning and running back down the passage without asking anything about his brother.

Together, they ran with all their strength, desperate to escape the hell that loomed over them. But behind them, the Shoggoth's sounds grew louder, and the noise of its rolling, shattering the stone walls, became more distinct.

Yet, before the sound could overtake them, Kakashi spotted the exit. Light from outside was just ahead, and he breathed a sigh of relief. There! Just a little further...

Glancing at Sandayū running beside him, he was slightly relieved. Although it was impossible to save Sandayū's brother in this situation, at least the client was still alive.

Moreover, the events that occurred here were crucial intelligence for Konoha. Kakashi needed to bring back everything—the nightmare creatures he had encountered and the mural history he had seen in the city of the ancient ones.

The exit was just ahead, and Kakashi pushed himself harder, his steps growing stronger.

---

However, Sandayū was different. The cold, damp tunnel faded away, and he found himself standing in front of a modest house.

"I'm home," he said. Home? But wasn't I...

"How was work?" a woman asked him.

"It was... fine," he heard himself say. Something is off.

"Dad! Dad!" A young girl came running down the stairs. "Can we go to the park today? You promised!"

Sandayū looked at the girl, then at the woman. His wife and daughter. Of course. How could I forget?

"Let me change first."

As he walked upstairs to their bedroom, Sandayū caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He looked... different. Younger. Healthier.

Days passed in this new reality. He went to work at an office job he couldn't remember. He came home to his family and had dinner. Then he played with his daughter.

It was the same routine every day but he was happy.

Sometimes, strange things would happen. In the park one day, Sandayū noticed a man feeding pigeons on a bench nearby. The man turned and for a split second, Sandayū thought he saw a face with too many eyes.

One night, he had heard a strange flute-like sound. But when he went to check, there was no sound.

Years later, his daughter grew up. Sandayū watched with pride as she started her first job. She met a nice young man and they got married.

His daughter visited him one afternoon.

"It's going to be a boy. We want to name him after you," she said.

Sandayū smiled. A name. Yohei. No, it was a different name. A different name?

As he held his newborn grandson months later, he thought the eyes looked green and bubble-like.

More time passed. Sandayū retired. He and his wife moved to a smaller house.

One afternoon, when he pushed his grandson on a swing in the backyard, he heard that strange flute sound again.

It grew louder.

"Grandpa?" his grandson asked.

Sandayū looked at the boy. His face seemed to melt and reshape. It looked like a mass of bubbles and eyes.

He stumbled backward, falling onto the grass. When he looked up, everything was normal again. But the flute sound continued.

"Tekeli-li... Tekeli-li..."

Who am I?

Where am I?

What am I doing?

"Yoshiro," Sandayū whispered.

He blinked, and he was sitting in his living room. His wife was knitting in her favorite chair. His daughter sat near his wife and her son played with toy cars on the floor.

"This isn't real," Sandayū said.

His wife looked up. "What do you mean, dear?"

Sandayū stood up. "None of this is real. You're not real. I... I don't have a wife. Or a daughter. Or a grandson."

"You're scaring me," his daughter said, pulling her son close.

"I'm sorry," Sandayū said, tears forming in his eyes. "I love you but this isn't my life. My brother... Yoshiro needs me."

"But we need you too, Grandpa," his grandson said, his voice oddly deep.

The walls of the house began to melt away, revealing darkness. Sandayū could see the tunnel now.

"None of this is real," he choked out through tears. "I have to go."

As he shouted these words, the false world shattered around him. Sandayū found himself back in the cold, damp tunnel.

Just as his thoughts cleared, that strange sound came from behind.

"Tekeli-li"

"Tekeli-li"

"Te…"

"Brother…"

"Help me!"

"Brother, save me!"

Sandayū's frantic steps suddenly stopped when he heard the familiar voice. He lost his balance in his haste and tumbled to the ground.

Kakashi immediately heard the fall and turned back to see him lying on the ground, staring back into the darkness.

At that moment, the voice echoed again from the pitch-black tunnel.

"Help me!"

"Brother, save me!"

"Don't listen! Keep running!" Kakashi shouted.

"That's not your brother!"

"Run!"

He shouted, desperate to bring him back to his senses but Sandayū ignored him completely. He got up, stood still, and faced the dark tunnel, waiting.

"Run, Sandayū!"

Kakashi shouted, desperate to bring Sandayū back to his senses, but Sandayū's mind had shattered beyond repair. He stood motionless, oblivious to Kakashi's warnings.

Within seconds, the source of the voice drew closer, until it reached a point where Sandayū could see it.

In the middle of the Shoggoth's massive, shapeless body, a human head had grotesquely appeared.

It was the face of Sandayū's brother.

"Yoshi... ro?"