Chapter 81 The Great Cult

The clones had made it to the Land of Demons. It was a wretched place filled with more cultists than they ever wished to see. When they arrived they were encountered by Jashinists and attacked the clones. The battle was over quickly. The clones looked aheadat the first village in the lands. At its gates was a troubling statue depicting three figures. In the center was a depiction of a faceless man carved from obsidian, it depicted Jashin, the Shadowed man, A massive serpent curled around Jashin it was made from more traditional stone. The snake was to represent Yig, father of Serpents. Finally perched at the base of the statue was a winged humanoid with tentacles for a face. It depicted Cthulhu.

"Two Great Old Ones and an Outer God, and their cultists are working together", said a clone.

"It is troubling, the seers and psychics are the most effected by the Threshold of Dreams, they have flocked here bringing Cthulhu's teachings with them. Orohimaru brought Yig, and the Jashinists brought the Shadowed man. All to form the Great Cult as they call it. If we don't stop this Cthulhu will have more than just Star Spawn at his side when he rises", said another clone.

Their eyes turned to the remains of the village. It was in ruins with bodies hung from the ruins and impaled on trees, punished for refusing to submit to the Great Cult. The clones walked through the village searching for anything of use. If this cult got their hands on any tomes of Eldritch lore it could spell the end of all things far sooner than expected. Luckly it seemed as if Wilbur Whateley had not come here. No clued to show that anyone brought any of Yog-Sothoths teachings with them. Though it only begged the question as to where Wilbur was. He was by far the most dangerous bein on the planet, and an enemy who ould not be ignored. Even with an incomplete Necronomicon his power far surpassed any Ninja, his power over Time and Space wold also be a problem. It made him practically immortal, though so long as the Great Cult never got their hands on his Necronomicon all was well. One thing good about Wilbur was, even though he had the key to summon the Eldritch forces he would refuse to do anything if his father was not involved. He would want Yog-Sothoth to destroy the world.

However if these cultists got their hands on his book, it would end disastrously. The clones pushed those thoughts from their minds, for now the had to assess exactly how dangerous this Great Cult was.

Kakashi stealthily snuck through the mansion. He had used several seals to put his chakra so low that even the best chakra sensor would be unable to sense him. It was a precaution he took careful not to put it to low. Without access to Chakra he would have to sneak around the old fashioned way. He made his way through the house easily avoiding detection. He had slowly made his way to his Hokage's looked as Danzo slept. He was almost tempted to put a knife through his heart, but he had a mission to do. He carefully reached into his pocket and took out the wrapping with the seal on it. He deactivated one of the seals on himself. Just enough to do what he was doing next.

He put his hand to the seal and added some chakra to it. He took his lightly lowing hand and put it to Danzo's chest. Slowly the seal was inked into his skin. Kakashi then lifted his forehead protector and looked. He did several hand signs and pushed a small amount of Chakra into the mark It vanished, hidden by a simple but effective genjutsu that Kurenai helped him make. It was so well made it even fooled his Sharingan. He nodded, there would be no way Danzo would see it coming. He quickly got out of the mansion taking the same way he came in. Once he made it outside he took out his book and walked nonchalantly down the streets giggling to himself at random intervals.

His job was now done, all that was needed was for them to tell Naruto that everything was ready, it shouldn't be difficult. In fact when Kakashi saw a blonde cat in a tree wink at him, he knew Naruto probably already knew. He idly wondered if Jiraiya had made progress finding and convincing Tsunade. He shrugged as he made his way down the street.

Jiraiya made his way into the bar he had heard his old teammate was spotted. He walked up to the door and was ready to enter when he heard a sound that made him smile.

"Oink"

He entered the bar. Sure enough he saw little Tonton in familiar arms. Jiraiya lifted his arm and waved. This caught the attention of Shizune who at first smiled then flinched as her gaze slowly went over to the sound of someone beating their fists on a table.

"I said leave the bottle"

"I'm sorry mam, but you are already finishing your fifth bottle", said a waiter.

She grumbled. Jiraiya walked over to the table but did nothing but stand still. Shizune seemed nervous.

"Long time no see, Hime", said Jiraiya.

Tsunade sighed. She turned to glare at Jiraiya.

"What do you want", asked Tsunade.

"I was just in the neighborhood when I heard that a certain blonde was making a mess of things, so I figured it as you and thought I'd come and see how you were doing", said Jiraiya.

"Bull", said Tsunade.

Jiraiya sighed, this was not going to be easy, well maybe it would, but it would defiantly be a headache. He sat across from Tsunade who just stared at him.

"Well", she said as she took a gulp of sake.

"The Old Man sent me to get you, I assume you have heard of the state of Konoha", asked Jiraiya.

"No, havent heard anything about nothing", slurred Tsunade.

"Orochimaru Invaded", said Jiraiya.

Tsunade froze she put her bottle back onto the table before she looked at Jiraiya. She said nothing.

"Sensei lost his arm in the attack, was in a coma for a while, but he got better. Danzo took over made it hard to leave the village after a fail assassination attempt cased a village wide lockdown. He even labeled Minato's legacy a missing nin", said Jiraiya.

Tsunade's eyes went wide for a moment she only looked at Jiraiya in disbelief.

"Thats not all, Naruto escaped the village, on a giant mechanical flying skull, probably built it himself. Kids smart really smart", said Jiraiya.

"Wait...That skull everyone been talking about. Was made by a kid", asked Tsunade.

"Yep, and thats not all. Danzo made Naruto a missing nin for a medical breakthrough one that puts everything we know to shame", said Jiraiya.

Tsunade looked at Jiraiya seriously for a moment before downing the rest of the Sake. She then put the bottle down and breathed heavily.

"Didn't ever think the kid would become a medic-nin", said Tsunade smiling.

"He didn't, he considers himself a scientist or scholar. Kids probably smarter than you, me, and Orochimaru combined", said Jiraiya.

Shizune just focused on her master. Not thinking of what to say, but was pleasantly surprized by Tsunade's behavior.

"So what did the kid make, cure for cancer", asked Tsunade.

Jiraiya shook his head. He knew this next revelation would probably have quite the reaction on his old teammate.

"He made a formula, calls it the reagent. It...Well it brings the dead back to life", said Jiraiya.

Silence. Even the other patrons of the bar were silent from something coming off Tsunade. None of them knew exactly what it was. It wasn't killing intent, it was just, something. Jiraiya looked at Tsunade's face who only stared wide eyed back at him, her face frozen into one of shock. Shizune was much the same, not sure if she heard Jiraiya correctly.

"What?" asked Tsunade softly.

"Danzo got his hands on it, judging from what we have heard he can't get the stuff to work. But Naruto has found a way to bring the dead to life, without sacrifice", said Jiraiya.

Tsunade closed her eyes. She focused her mind on burning out every ounce of alcohol in her body. When she opened them she was sober, more sober than she had been in a long time.

"One last thing. The reason I'm telling you this. You see the Old Man is trying to get Danzo off the Hokage seat and get you on it, he wants Naruto to return home", said Jiraiya.

What happened next was a shock to everyone involved. Not in a million years could Jiraiya have predicted this reaction. Tsunade reached down and held onto the necklace around her neck. She stared off into space for only a moment before looking at Jiraiya.

"Lets go", she said.

Kin had arrived back at the base after a nonstop trek lasting days, one of the advantages to being dead. The clones had already handed over who knew how much of Orochimaru's medical equipment and documents. She escorted the clones carrying the prisoners herself. She brought them right to the Shinigami where more clones took them away. She sighed after that, until Konohamaru walked up to her.

"Good, you are back. Naruto has requested that I show you to where your old teammate is", said Konohamaru.

Kin's eyes widened as she smiled and gleefully followed Konohamaru. It was looking to be a good day.

Naruto tied each of the four unconscious prisoners to the floor sing chains that were nigh indestructible. Nothing short of a tailed beast would be able to escapee the chains. They were a simple design created by studying Kushina's jutsu. It proved that such strength could be replicated for what he had in mind. Xel stood next to him watching the four and being there for general unease in the prisoners.

Slowly one by one, they were given chemicals to wake up. The first to awaken was Karin who only groaned a bit before screaming at the sight of Xel. This helped the others wake up surprisingly quickly. Karin ws very very wary of Xel. Even sealed she should be able to see something, but Xel was entirely devoid of Chakra. When her eyes turned to Naruto she almost flinched. His chakra was the strongest she had ever seen. A waving maelstrom of blues, reds, and some purple that could not really be called Chakra. Whats more there was a strange fluctuation in it, as if something was hidden that she ould not see. It was unnerving.

"Naruto", said Kabut as he regained conciousness.

"So, several of Orochimaru's deserters. Interesting turn of events. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Naruto Uzumaki, creator of the CDA, and you are currently trapped in our greatest weapon, The Shinigami. A flying fortress with enough power to level a village. This is Xel, a Deep One, Keeper of Forbidden lore and scrolls older than the very land of which we stand", said Naruto.

"Whats going on here is you four are about to be interrogated by me, your knowledge on Orochimaru's habits can prove most useful. After that you will be detained" said Naruto.

Naruto noted Suigetsu was not paying attention. His eyes were focused on Xel more specifically on the Sword on Xels back.

"You know of Samehada then good. It to may prove useful", said Naruto.

Before anyone could say anything they watched in horror as Naruto's form changed into some beast with too many eyes, nine tentacles, and a purple aura that almost caused Karin to faint. Naruto walked up to each of them. He lifted all four arms and placed one on each of their heads. He drank their memories and sorted through it. The information was quite useful. It proved that Orochimaru was planning to capture both Sasuke and Naruto. He apparently wanted Naruto so that he could see the illusions of the Eyes of Azathoth and gaze once more at Yig.

The man was obsessed with Yig, to the point where shockingly,he had earned Manda's favor. Now the sadistic summon was no longer a threat to Orochimaru. Apparently Manda himself had seen, and been altered by Yig himself. That was worrisome. Naruto studied much of Manda, and he was undoubtably powerful, and at the rate of improvement, Manda was quickly crossing the threshold power where he was equal to Shukaku, possible greater. Should this continue he could pose a problem even against the likes of Dagon and Hydra. It was a long way off, but it was a defiant possibility.

Naruto shifted through their memories more as he came to many realizations. He dug deep until he took every thought and every memory they ever had. It wold prove useful. He took his hands from their heads and shifted back to normal. He turned to Xel.

"It seems Orochimaru is much more devoted to Yig than I originally thought. We need to keep that in mind. He formed an alliance with both Jashinists and a new Cthulhu cult. Together they form what they call the Great Cult. Each faction has a leader. The head of the Yig faction is Orochimaru, the Cthulhu faction is headed by the former leader of the Land of Demons named Shion, and the Jashinists are lead by our old friend Hidan, though it seems as if he keeps this information hidden from the Akatsuki. These three are high-profile targets on par with Wilbur Whateley, notify everyone of this new threat", said Naruto.

"Thy will be done my lord", said Xel as he left the room. Naruto looked back to the four.

"You will be detained for now, you will have company from time to time", said Naruto.

A squad of clones came to drag them to the cells below. Truthfully absorbing them into the CDA was a possibility, but it would be moot if they knew that was a possibility, they would lie. And Naruto hated lies. He would gauge their character, their faults, flaws, good sides, and he would see if they were worth the trouble.

Naruto left the room to check up on the newest project. He had been working on it ever sinc he found the lab in the sewers. A remarkably complex weapon of untold power. He looked down at the metal skeleton of the gun. It was still a long ways off, but it would be worth it. Yithian Technology was not easily replicated, and it could not be rushed. Naruto began to tinker with what he hoped would one day be a plasma cannon.

Sakura found that puppets were quite interesting to use. Her dextarity had been improved to near inhuman levels, and Ivy was quickly becoming herfavorite possession. She kept the puppet in a sealing scroll on her belt, made for easy use. She found that her hand would unconsciously grab the scroll as if to protect it, something Sasori said was a small sign she was on the road to becoming a great artist and puppeteer.

Sasori was training her in the intricacies of using puppets. He had showed her how more than any other technique, a puppet user had to always stay calm. If you got nervous your hands could shake and the performance would suffer, as he often put it. She took the lesson to heart and was currently doing several exercises to improve her dextarity. Simple ones such as flipping a coing between her knucles, drawing and writing, and wood carving very small figurines. It was a simle yet effective way to improve her preformance with puppets. When they would allow their puppets to fight, Sasori was always careful not to damage Ivy, always saying that a puppet master should never intentionally destroy a work of art by his students.

Sasori really was obsessed with art, and it had shown when he would use puppets with barely any weapons, and yet was still winning every single fight between them. Usually for these bouts, he would use his Scorpion body seeing as it had all the seals that contained a lot of puppets, both human and normal.

"you are improving quickly Sakura", said Sasori.

"Thank you Sasori-sensei", said Sakura.

Sasori nodded his face ever stoic.

"I suppose you do not wish to learn how to make human puppets", asked Sasori.

"Uhhh...no", said Sakura.

Sasori shrugged, but his face betrayed no emotion.

"Pity, in any event you have learned all I can teach you with standard puppet mechanics. Continue increasing your dexterity, practice with Ivy often. Make the performance your own, not a copy of mine. Should you require further assistance merely seek me out", said Sasori.

And like that he turned and left. Sakura still found his near emotionless state disturbing, but he was a good sensei. She idly wondered how Sasuke was doing with his training. If she remembered right he started improving a lot faster than before. Her hand unconsciously cradled the scroll where Ivy was as she left to go see how he was doing.

Sasuke was passed out on the ground, surrounded by the popped husks rubber balls. Minato was impressed, after finishing the second part and been told how the third part of the training went, he seemed to instinctively understand how to combine the two processes together. It was impressive, still thouh he was showing progress he had yet to finish the final part of the rassengan, though he was very close. He let Sasuke rest for now, he deserved it. Though he was probably going to be in for a shock if that spider crawling up his face decides to make a web there.

"AHHH", came a short scream followed by Sasuke smacking his own face, which caused the spider to jump an impressive distance to a nearby tree.

Minato smiled. Seems that spider would have to find another place to make it's web. He got up and walked to Sasuke who just laid there with his glasses in his hand.

"I must say I am impressed, you are so near to completing the rasengan. In such a short time to", said Minato.

Sasuke breathed heavily crushing his glasses, they fixed themselves in an instant.

"I hate glasses, balloons, and balls", said Sasuke more so to himself than anyone else.

"I already knew you hated balloons, though to hear you hate balls. What kind of man would you be without them", said Minato with a small chuckle.

"Please, shut up", said Sasuke.

Sasuke found staring at the clouds a very relaxing way to cool off and get his second wind. Well more accurately his fifth wind. He could see why Shikamaru found them so interesting. That one looks like a cow.

"Sasuke-kun", said the familiar voice of his pink haired teammate.

"Troublesome", said Sasuke.

His eyes widened for a second. He shook his head. Maybe cloud watching was not good for his health. He limply put his glasses back on before just laying down.

"Please Sakura, I know we are outside, but use your indoor voice, at least until the world decides to stop moving. Wait I think I'm dizzy, how long have I been asleep since I passed out", asked Sasuke.

Minato looked to the sky.

"You were up for three days, fell asleep for ten minutes", said Minato.

"What! Sasuke you need to get some sleep, you to Minato", said Sakura.

"I already am, I am just a shadow clone. Have been for some time. I leave one when I get ready to sleep. Sasuke here refuses to do so, so I just decided to see how long he would stay up. Reminds me of when I trained Kakashi, always was the oddball who over did it, going on about the flames of youth and such", said Minato.

Sasuke glared at him but said nothing. Though he was glad he did not live in that universe with insane Guy version of Kakashi.

"In any event, Sasuke is very close to using the Rasengan, I'd say after some sleep he'd be right as rain", said Minato.

As if by some strange coincidence the sound of thunder was heard and it began to rain. Minato chuckled before he dispelled. Sakura stepped under a tree, Sasuke only laid down. Sure the rain would be cold, sure he might get hypothermia, sure he would probably get sick, sure there was a small puddle that was forming around his head ready to drown him. So what, right now the ground had never been more comfortable.

Sakura lifted Sasuke and started to walk back to the village.

"You over do it you know", said Sasuke.

"No talk. Sleep", said Sasuke.

Sakura sighed. She started to realize that her boys may have been crazy. Well Naruto was defiantly crazy, and so was Sasuke now that she thought about it. She smiled, she probably wasn't far off either.

They dug deep. Each shovel full of dirt and the clouds above rumbled with thunder, as if nature itself was against the very act being performed now. Finally they hit it. They dug around the box and fastened roped to it.

"Heave", said the clone.

The pine coffin was raised into the air. Slowly pulled from the ground. Once on the surface it was opened. Laying in the box was one of the worlds most infamous ninja. Madara Uchiha. He was in surprisingly good shape. The clones began examining the body.

"Mangekyo Sharingan confirmed, and...Mokuton, what", said a clone.

All of the cloned looked at the body. Sure enough there were some physiological differences similar to the senju clan. Also there was a face on his chest.

"Huh, don't see that every day", said a clone poking at the face.

"True, but it could come in handy. Though why does Madara Uchiha have mokuton in the first place", asked another clone.

"Maybe he hasn't been as dead as long as we believe, it's a possibility", said the first clone.

"Oh my, ou guys are not going to believe this", said the clone checking Madara's eyes.

They went over to it. The clone had pushed a small bit of chakra into the eyes. The shape took the form of the rinnegan. They gaped.

"No way", said a clone.

The clone checking the eyes quickly took out a scroll and sealed away the body. He turned to the others.

"Bury the coffin, leave no trace we were here. Something big is going on and I do not like it", said the clone.

The others nodded. They quickly pushed the coffin back into the ground and filled the hole. The clone put away the scroll containing the body.

"What are you thinking"

The clone with the scroll looked one last time at the scroll before puting it away.

"Two things, one is that there is something going on that we have to know about, the other is that Sasori is probably really going to like his new puppet", said the clone.

Deidara sat on his clay whale. His head in his hand. He looked on the sea. Strangely there was not a cloud in the sky at the moment, which sucked because the endless blue of the sky and blue of the sea was really boring.

"If something does not happen in five minutes, I am going to dump several tons of alkaline metals into a village well", said Deidara.

He ment it in jest. He had no idea where to get that much highly reactive metals. Sure if he had it the explosion would be nice, but several tons of explosive clay would work just as well. He looked at the endless sea that did nothing to help his mood. He commanded his clay whale to turn around and search another area. Now he was going another direction in the endless blue. And right now he just wished something would happen. As it just so happened something did.

While looking idly to the side he say something leap out of the water. His whale stopped as he tried to process exactly what he just saw.

"Oh my god, it's a mermaid", screamed Deidara.

He could still see the shadow of the supposed mermaid under the water. He pointed at it.

"Follow that mermaid, un", said Deidara to his whale. It did just that.

Danzo looked on at the progress of replicating the reagent. So far all those resurrected by the incomplete formula would become mindless and violent beasts who were not much more than cannon fodder. Though their inability to tell friend from foe was troubling. The only thing they were not aggressive against were others that were undead. Danzo only watched as they shuffled around in their cages. He sighed. The nightmares were kept at bay thanks to his summons, but more an more he began to feel weary in his old age. However he could not stop, not when he was so close to uniting the world under Konoha's banner.

Even after some of the villagers began to despise him, it mattered little. As Hokage he had absolute rule, Hiruzen was the one who played diplomat, Danzo would play dictator. A necessary evil one he could do until he could perfect Naruto's formula and begin his campaign. Still the flying skull showed that the fox child was not to be taken lightly. He had the cunning of Orochimaru and striked more fear in Danzo's heart than Itatchi ever could. If the boy could build something like that without anyone noticing then there was no telling what else he could do.

Danzo looked away from the corpses, he could not bear to see leaf shinobi in that state, but it had to be done. For peace to reign sacrifice must be made. There was probably a spot in hell reserved for Danzo, but if he could accomplish his dream then it would all be worth it. At least he hoped so. Danzo left the room scratching at the unseen mark on his chest.