Naruto: Call of Cthulhu

In front of the Police Force building, Obito was still locked in combat with the cat. The battle itself was rather dull, as it was a fight destined to cause no harm. The massive smoke-like body of the cat kept passing through his body, or rather, he was continually phasing through its body.

At first, he thought the cat's body was merely an illusion, making it appear as though its entire form was intangible. He believed the cat-shaped smoke was a form of trickery, with only a smaller core inside capable of physical attacks. If he attacked areas outside of this core, it would seem like his attack had been avoided through intangibility. Meanwhile, the core could shift inside its body to perform physical attacks on him.

Thus, he attempted to use his own body to probe the size and changing position of this core. He utilized his ability to send parts of his body to another dimension when they were struck by physical attacks. By allowing the cat's smoke form to continuously pass through him, he hoped to identify the core capable of launching real physical attacks.

However, after the cat passed through his body a dozen times, he realized he was mistaken. Every part of the cat's body that overlapped with his was counted as a physical attack, and the corresponding parts of his body were transported to the other dimension.

In other words, this cat truly had an intangibility even more powerful than his own. Though he wasn't sure how it was achieved, it was a revelation that deeply shocked him.

Fortunately for him, the cat didn't seem particularly intelligent. Besides its charge attacks, it couldn't do much to him, and its attack frequency wasn't high enough to force him to deactivate his intangibility. Even so, he didn't dare ignore the cat completely, because if he launched an attack, his body would become tangible again, giving the cat a chance to strike.

As a result, the progress of the Uchiha clan's extermination was delayed.

Standing motionless, Obito was still preoccupied with the plan to annihilate the Uchiha. He had been held up here for quite some time since the extermination had begun. Although no one from the village would come around at this time, it was best to finish such a mission behind enemy lines quickly.

He glanced over at Izumi, who was lying on the ground, and the dark figure beside her. At some point, the chains binding her had been undone, and the dark figure closed the heavy book in his hands before slowly standing up.

What just happened? I must have been distracted.

Who is that person? Could he be a powerful Uchiha? Why didn't Itachi tell me anything about this?

Has Itachi been lying to me all along?

The sudden appearance of this figure, the cat, and various uncertainties caused Obito to grow suspicious. For a brief moment, he even considered halting the extermination.

Just then, the dark figure turned around and began walking back in the direction from which he came. The cat, which had been preparing for another attack, paused and then slowly flew toward him as well. Together, the figure and the cat, surrounded by black smoke, walked away at a leisurely pace.

Why leave now? What was his purpose here?

As they departed, the moonlight, which had been obscured, returned, and the area in front of the Police Force building regained its original brightness. Time seemed to have reset to the moment he had first captured Izumi, except now he stood farther away, and she was no longer chained.

He didn't know why they left, but the heavy pressure they exerted had vanished.

Did Itachi keep secrets from me? Or is this something even he didn't know?

Looking at Izumi, still lying motionless on the ground with her back to him, he let out a cold snort, tugged the iron chain in his hand, and slowly walked toward her.

"What's wrong? Did your companion run away?"

"Have you given up?"

He had no idea who the dark figure was, but he assumed it was her ally. However, she remained silent and still.

Why isn't she responding? Is this a trap?

Obito circled around to the steps where his sword had been knocked away, picked it up, and then began walking toward Izumi. Despite the earlier interruptions, now that the threat was gone, there was no reason to halt the extermination.

Standing behind her, he raised his sword high, ready to strike at her back. At that moment, Izumi suddenly turned her head and looked at him. The unexpected movement caught him a bit off guard, and their eyes met.

Izumi's eyes were no longer their usual human black with white sclera. Now, like the dark figure's eyes, they were completely black, resembling pure black onyx.

In the next moment, from Obito's perspective, darkness surged out from her body, engulfing everything around her like a tide, swallowing all the light. Before he could react, everything around him was consumed by this darkness. In this pitch-black space, he could see only his own body; everything else was unreachable darkness.

What is this?

What did that man do to her?

Just a glance from her, and now...

He immediately thought of something. A technique that could be activated with just eye contact—could it be a Sharingan technique?

But her eyes were completely black, like that man's. There were no Sharingan. Could it be the Mangekyō Sharingan? Impossible. How could there be one that looked like that?

No Mangekyō could look like that.

He quickly dismissed the idea. Although each Uchiha awakened a unique Mangekyō Sharingan with different patterns and abilities, the Sharingan was always made up of red and black.

No one could transcend that limit.

Could this be just a normal illusion?

He thought of another possibility: that the darkness surrounding him was merely something his eyes were perceiving, and that seeing wasn't necessarily believing.

Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he recalled a certain genjutsu. It was a high-level illusion that could rob its target of all light, creating an environment where only the caster and their allies could see.

This genjutsu had been developed by the Second Hokage specifically to counter the Uchiha clan's Sharingan. Its name was the Infinite Darkness Jutsu.

The anti-Uchiha technique!

How can someone from the Uchiha clan use this technique?

He formed a seal with his left hand, disrupting the chakra flow within his body in an instant, but the dark world before him did not disappear.

Of course it wouldn't be that easy.

Disrupting the chakra flow is the simplest and most basic way to break a genjutsu, but in reality, most advanced genjutsus cannot be dispelled this way. For example, the genjutsu released by the Sharingan is resistant to this method.

The Infinite Darkness Jutsu was specifically designed to counter the Uchiha clan, so it wouldn't be easily dispelled by such a basic method. Without this solution, there's one more simple way to break it.

That is to directly attack the caster and interrupt their genjutsu.

If I remember correctly, this jutsu requires the caster to maintain the hand seals while performing it.

During the time Obito lived with Madara in the underground cave, he had taught him a lot of ninjutsu knowledge. And this included the Infinite Darkness Jutsu.

A memory flashed through his mind, transporting him back to the cave where he had spent so much time training under Madara's tutelage.

---

"The Second Hokage's Infinite Darkness... a formidable technique, but with a fatal flaw."

"A flaw?" a younger Obito had asked.

"Yes, apart from the Second Hokage himself, any other user of this technique becomes immobilized while casting it and can only rely on teammates to attack."

"So, the way to break this genjutsu is to directly attack the immobile caster. Though, I think this technique has probably been lost by now."

"So, you don't need to worry too much about it."

---

Obito secretly felt relieved for having absorbed Madara's teachings, and he began forming hand seals.

If I can just locate her, this will all be over.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

He spat out dozens of fire missiles, which flew in all directions, expanding his attack range to the maximum. Not only that, but he could slightly control the trajectory of these fire missiles, making them harder to avoid.

This should cover every angle.

But to his surprise, even this nearly all-encompassing Fire Release technique failed to dispel the genjutsu, and the world before him remained pitch black.

Impossible! How could she avoid all of that? Let's try again.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Once again, dozens of fire missiles shot in all directions. Yet, the genjutsu still wasn't dispelled. At this point, even Obito, who had been doing his best to stay calm, started to panic internally.

Why isn't this working? Am I missing something crucial?

She was lying on the ground earlier, so should I aim at the ground?

He felt unsure, but at this moment, it seemed like his only option.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

This time, the scattering fire missiles were directed toward the ground, and a large number of phoenix flower fire seeds landed and rolled across the surface.

If she's still on the ground, this has to hit her!

Still, the genjutsu remained unbroken. At that moment, he suddenly noticed something strange about his body.

In the previous instant, he felt his face being forcibly transported into the dimension of his kamui. This meant someone had just hit his face.

What? How did she—?

He immediately realized something was wrong. Someone hit him at this moment—it could only be that girl.

She can move? But that's impossible! How can she attack?

It's not the Infinite Darkness Jutsu?

Before he could figure it out, his stomach was also automatically transported into the kamui dimension.

I can't risk another ninjutsu. She almost had me.

Two consecutive attacks made him too afraid to use ninjutsu recklessly. While using ninjutsu, he couldn't activate his intangibility, and he was fortunate that the girl didn't know the weakness of his ability, or she could have easily killed him in those three moments!

Understanding this, Obito stood still and let the attacks from the darkness pass harmlessly through his intangible body. His abilities were still too powerful. Without understanding the principle of his intangibility, even blocking his vision wouldn't make it easy to harm him.

While buying himself some time, he began pondering why the girl's Infinite Darkness Jutsu allowed her to move. Madara had mentioned that only the Second Hokage could move while using the jutsu.

But after that girl came into contact with that dark figure, she could also freely move while using it.

Although he found this idea highly unlikely, he couldn't think of any other explanation. The Uchiha compound might have been a little distance from the core of Konoha Village, but it was still within the village itself.

For someone to bypass the barrier unnoticed and appear at the Uchiha compound at such a critical time, he must be very familiar with Konoha. And if he taught that girl how to use the jutsu without maintaining hand seals, could it really be... the Second Hokage?

But wasn't he supposed to have died? It is said he was surrounded by the Kinkaku Force from Kumo and sacrificed himself on the battlefield to protect his comrades.

But who knows if that's really true?

It's just like how everyone thought Madara died fighting Hashirama, when he actually survived for years after that.

If the Second Hokage didn't actually die, he might've become a ghost haunting the Uchiha from the shadows, just like Madara did. It would fit with how much he hated the clan.

But even if he survived, wouldn't he be ancient by now? What's with that man's appearance? Transformation jutsu? No, something like that can't trick my Sharingan.

And if he hated the Uchiha so much, shouldn't he be happy about the clan's destruction? Why would he teach that girl genjutsu?

Damn it! What the hell is going on here?! None of this makes any sense!

Caught up in his preconceived thoughts, Obito's mind began to spiral into contradictions.

Humans can only base their logic on what they already know, leading to more self-assured assumptions, and Obito was no exception. Trapped in his worldview, he couldn't see the truth before him. In a world beyond chakra, there exist powers that defy comprehension.

He thought he was facing genjutsu, but in another world, this would be called witchcraft.

Witchcraft is a method of controlling certain people, events, or objects through supernatural and mysterious forces. In the face of witchcraft, the power wielded through chakra, or ninjutsu, could even be regarded as a form of science.

Those who accept guidance from the Dark One and sign a soul contract through the Book of Azathoth are known as signers.

A signer's soul does not belong to their body but to the Dark One, and in return, the signer gains the ability to use witchcraft from the Dark One. By continually demonstrating loyalty to him, the Dark One reveals more dark magic and forbidden knowledge to them.

The female practitioner of witchcraft is called a witch. Thus, Izumi was no longer a ninja.

She was now a witch.