Naruto: Call of Cthulhu

A skinless figure walked in the middle of the street. Its head was devoid of skin, but its facial features still vaguely resembled those of a human. No one knew what its head looked like before it lost its skin. On either side of its head were two eardrum-like structures, fully exposed to the air. These sensitive eardrums could detect the faintest sounds.

Suddenly, the Skinless One was drawn to a faint sound and immediately turned toward its source. A small mouse darted out of the shadows on the side of the street, desperately trying to escape to the other side.

The third eye on the Skinless One's forehead instinctively emitted a crimson light, which locked onto the moving mouse.

The red beam fell on it, yet its skin remained intact. It was a bizarre sight—the mouse squeaked and safely scurried across the street, diving into a hole under the foundation of a building, almost as if the Skinless One's red light was merely lighting the way for it.

While it was distracted by the mouse, the sound of something cutting through the air came from a nearby building. The muscles and tendons on its exposed neck twitched immediately, and its head snapped around with such speed that it seemed momentarily blurred.

Even though every part of its body reacted far faster than a human's, it was already too late. A kunai, tied with explosive tags, struck its head, causing a massive explosion that threw up a cloud of dust and smoke.

Taking advantage of the obscuring smoke, four ninjas rushed out of a nearby shop, heading across the street.

In truth, Yusuke hadn't wanted to use this tactic unless it was absolutely necessary. The sound of the explosion could attract the attention of the Konoha ninjas, and they had set out in such haste that they didn't have many explosive tags left. The remaining tags were reserved for breaking through Konoha's defenses later.

As for these mysterious monsters that appeared out of nowhere? He would leave those for the Konoha ninjas to deal with.

Using the cover of smoke, the four ninjas quickly crossed to the other side of the street and headed deeper into an alley. But at that moment, a crimson beam of light shot through the smoke, hitting the back of the last ninja in the group.

Sousuke immediately felt an unbearable itching on his back as his skin rapidly began to peel away. From a distance, it looked like his skin was simply disintegrating for no reason. But upon closer inspection, he realized his skin was crumbling like cookie crumbs.

The crumbled skin fell to the ground instantly, without sticking to the red, sticky muscle tissue underneath.

Seeing his own arm's skin disintegrating before his eyes, Sousuke's mental defenses collapsed. He screamed and fell to the ground, rolling before coming to a stop. He stood up and stumbled to a nearby building. Frantically, he pressed his body against its walls, rubbing his skin against them like a bear scratching against a tree.

This desperate act only accelerated his demise, but his mind was already consumed by madness. All he could think about was stopping the unbearable itching. The soft, exposed blood vessels on his skin were easily ruptured. With every scrape against the white wall, another patch of red blood stained the area.

"We're all going to die like that! We should surrender to Konoha!" one of the remaining ninjas cried out.

"The Uchiha don't surrender. We adapt and overcome."

Yusuke, running ahead, glanced back and saw what had happened to Sousuke. There was no time to marvel at the Skinless One's incredible regenerative abilities.

"Over the wall!"

The three remaining ninjas quickly leaped onto the wall, flipping over into a courtyard, temporarily escaping the Skinless One's lethal gaze.

"That was too close. Is everyone—"

But before they could regain their footing, a crimson beam shot down from the top of the wall, hitting another Uchiha ninja.

Just like before, the ninja's skin began to rot away, and the unbearable itching drove him to scratch his body against nearby objects.

"The itching... Make it stop!" the ninja cried out.

"Damn it! It's so fast!" Hachidai, looking at the skinless figure standing atop the wall, trembled slightly.

Yusuke was equally shocked. He had assumed the creature wasn't particularly intelligent and thought they could evade it by using walls and cover. Even if it was fast, they could outrun it.

But he hadn't expected this monster to have such incredible tracking abilities. Once it locked onto a target, there was no escape. And it didn't even need to catch up physically—once its third eye saw its target, the skin would begin to peel away.

As he was lost in thought, the crimson light once again started moving in his direction.

So this is how it ends... He didn't have time to dodge. Just as the beam was about to hit him, Hachidai roared and charged at the skinless figure.

For the clan, for our future. Yusuke must survive, Hachidai made his decision.

The shout immediately drew the attention of the sound-sensitive creature, and its crimson beam shifted toward him.

"Hachidai, no!" Yusuke cried out.

In an instant, Hachidai's entire body was enveloped in the red light, and his skin began to rot away rapidly. But the man paid no mind to the pain or itching. Before he had charged at the monster, he had already made up his mind—to ensure at least one of them would survive.

"Run, Yusuke! The clan needs you more than me!" he yelled as ran toward the creature.

Hachidai, a middle-aged man with short brown hair and narrow eyes, had never seemed remarkable. But he was an invaluable talent in the Police Force. Despite being a regular jonin, his keen analytical skills had earned him the respect of their leader, Fugaku.

Fugaku had even considered making him the deputy captain of the Police Force, but Hachidai had declined, recommending the younger Yusuke for the role. Even now, Yusuke had no idea what potential Hachidai had seen in him that made him worthy of such care and protection.

I'm not worth this sacrifice!

Watching as Hachidai threw himself at the skinless figure, using his skinless, bloodied body to cover its head and block the deadly crimson light, tears welled up in Yusuke's eyes.

He wiped at the liquid with his hand, and under the moonlight, he realized what was flowing from his eyes wasn't ordinary tears but bright red blood.

Is this... grief?

At the same time, the three tomoe in his Sharingan began to merge, taking the shape of a blade.

The creature turned its gaze toward Yusuke.

"Ah, I'm going to die too. This is the end."

He had already come to terms with his fate. Even though Hachidai had tried to help him escape earlier, he could no longer bring himself to run away. The Uchiha compound was filled with monsters, and outside, Konoha was ready to destroy the Uchiha clan. This left him with almost no hope for survival.

As the crimson light rapidly approached him, he made one final attempt to survive. He raised his hands to shield his face. Though it was utterly futile, his instincts still drove him to do so.

A few seconds passed and he realized that his body felt no different. Given the speed at which the light had been moving, it should have already hit him by now.

He slowly lowered his arms and saw an astonishing sight.

In front of him, a massive, sturdy arm was blocking the light. The arm was not entirely solid; it was composed of translucent black chakra. Through the semi-transparent black arm, he could see the crimson light emanating from the Skinless One's forehead. However, it couldn't penetrate the arm's protective chakra and was completely blocked outside.

"This...this is!"

He immediately reached for his eyes and pulled out a small mirror to check. What he saw shocked him.

The three tomoe had fused into a new shape resembling a shuriken.

"The ultimate form of the Sharingan! I have it!"

"I finally have it!"

Hachidai looked at the excited Yusuke. Though he no longer had skin on his face to form a smile, his heart was filled with satisfaction. This was his lifelong wish. After all these years, he had finally achieved it.

After the Third Great Ninja War, Fugaku had once approached him and had offered him the position of deputy captain of the Police Force. He had even told him about the Mangekyo Sharingan.

It was the ultimate form of the Sharingan. Those who possessed it gained power equal to, or even surpassing that of a Kage-level ninja. The method to awaken it involved experiencing deep emotional pain.

Fugaku had also shown him his own Mangekyo Sharingan.

Its existence and awakening method had only been known to the higher-ups of the Uchiha clan. In the past, this knowledge had once been widespread within the clan. This had led many members to become obsessed with gaining its power, which had then resulted in infighting and bloodshed.

As a result, its existence had become classified information within the clan. Of course, there had been exceptions like Shisui, who had awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan on his own.

As for why Fugaku had revealed this secret to Hachidai, it was clear he had wanted to groom Hachidai into a Mangekyo user. The more wielders of this power the Uchiha clan had, the stronger they would become.

But only Hachidai had known that, as someone with no close family or friends, there was no one whose death could cause him enough grief to awaken the Mangekyo. Thus, he had refused Fugaku's offer and had devised a plan with him: the Mangekyo Sharingan Project.

Hachidai would play the role of someone who could evoke grief and anger in the target. At the crucial moment, he would sacrifice himself, allowing the target to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.

After days of searching, he had set his sights on Yusuke, who had distinguished himself during the Third Great Ninja War but had grown frustrated as his achievements were overshadowed by the prodigy Shisui.

"And you're certain Yusuke is the right choice?" Fugaku had asked.

"Yes, he has the potential."

Under the joint effort of Fugaku and Hachidai, a series of events had unfolded. Hachidai had defied opposition to help the young Yusuke become deputy captain of the police force and had fully supported him in his duties.

To strengthen their bond, he had even moved near Yusuke's home, offering fatherly care and support. All of this had been for Yusuke to awaken the Mangekyo. On a deeper level, it had been for the great revival of the Uchiha clan.

After more than a decade of planning, Hachidai finally saw the results: Yusuke had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Having witnessed this, he could die without regrets. He closed his eyes, even though he no longer had eyelids.

On the other side, Yusuke begun to experiment with the black arm. It wasn't physical but formed from his own chakra. It could perform various actions according to his will, just like his own arm, but with far greater strength than any ninja could possess.

He didn't know that this arm was part of Susanoo and what he was using was merely its most basic form. But for now, he didn't need to know that. The arm's ability to block the Skinless One's crimson light was the most important thing.

With the black arm's protection, he drew his katana and charged directly toward the creature, who stood on the wall. The Skinless One lacked intelligence and had no complex attack methods. It could only aim the crimson light from its forehead at him.

But now, he had completely countered this move. Under the protection of the black arm, he leaped up and, with both his katana and the black arm, struck at the Skinless One's head.

Its body was instantly crushed and deformed by the chakra, and the wall it stood on collapsed under the force of the black arm. He glanced at the rubble and was certain that the creature had been crushed into a paste by the black arm, with no chance of returning to its original form.

Initially, he had intended to finish the Skinless One with his katana, but it hadn't been necessary; the black arm's power had completely overpowered it. Sheathing his katana, he looked at the black arm, which was slowly fading.

The chakra consumption was significant.

But this would become the Uchiha clan's strongest weapon.

As long as I can fully master this power, I can avenge myself on Konoha! Wait for me. I'll return for revenge!

Imagining himself ravaging Konoha in the future, a slight smile appeared on Yusuke's lips. That smile grew wider, eventually turning into wild laughter.

"Ha, hahaha..."

"Hahahaha!"

"HAHAhaha!"

Konoha thought they could wipe us out?

"HAHAHAH—"

He stopped laughing as he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Looking down, he saw a blade piercing through his chest from behind. His own blood flowed along the blade.

As he turned around, he faced someone he never could have expected.

"You..."

"Itachi!"