Konohamaru and Herbert were reading from the Necronomicon. attempting to find new ways on halting Cthulhu and stopping an Outer God. Both rituals were the same and after some reading Herbert began to laugh.
"That is priceless, a way to go to another universe. The damn book is actually telling us our best shot at beating an Outer God is to evacuate the universe ASAP. Look to open the portal you have to actually put out a star. This is just rich", said Herbert laughing.
"The Book was written by..Uhhh..Outer Gods do you relly expect them to show you how to defeat them", said Konohamaru.
Herbert raised an eyebrow at that.
"What was with that pause", asked Herbert.
"It's nothing, unless..."
Before Konohamaru could say anything more Naruto walked through the door with a smile. He waved at them before clearing his throat.
"So whats our status", asked Naruto.
"Well I am about to put the prototype Gauntlet together, though it is still a little rough around the edges, I plan to improve it later but first I want to see how it works. Stitches and Ice boy are going to be stopping by soon for their masks and to give us whatever they found. Other than that The Devine Flowers are going to bloom soon and I plan on making more reagent than the real Herbert West ever even dreamed of", said Herbert.
"Other than that we have successfully infiltrated Snow and Sky though everything else is progressing slowly. We sent a new team to check on the meteorite and have prepared a safe way to transport it in the event it does hold a color. Other than that It seems as If Orochimaru has been successful in Invoking Yig, Konoha has had a recent snake epidemic. I believe they are drawn to Yigs power", said Konohamaru.
"Damn, I was hoping he wouldn't know enough about Yig to do anything, this makes him much more dangerous. What of ROOT", asked Naruto.
"I have never seen an orginization more effective at hiding. We have found nothing other than officially it should be shut down. Unofficially it still runs in secret", said Konohamaru.
"I say we catch one and interrogate them, they don't even need to talk. We have a psychic fishy frog thing", said Herbert.
Naruto nodded.
"I'll consider it, though not until we can find one alone", said Naruto.
Konohamaru nodded before turning back to his book. Naruto summoned Xel.
"Welcome back my lord", said Xel.
"Thanks Xel, so there is a few things I need to ask you about Eldritch Form"
Konohamaru was once more reading fom the Necronomicon, going through the list of the Outer Gods that existed. Clones working around him. He pased at a moment when he found a name he did not recognize. Which was strange, he had prided himself on the fact he knew the names of every Outer God and Great Old One. Confused he decided to read more on this Outer God who he did not know. As he read the passage his eyes widened only slightly before he calmly closed the book. Konohamaru then went around the base.
He found Naruto with Xel speaking about some way to hasten his progress to gain his Eldritch form.
"Excuse me, but I would like you, me, the scientist, and the Deep One to speak with the fox. I think I have an interesting theory involving the fox that I would like to talk about", said Konohamaru.
Naruto looking confused only nodded before sending a clone to find Herbert. After several moments he came.
"This better be good, I was busy with my social experiments and I want to finish before the clones figure out which one has explosives hidden in his mask", said Herbert.
"Why are you...Never mind Konohamaru wants us to speak with the Fox", said Naruto.
Herbert removed his mask and strapped it to his belt.
"Well why didn't you say so, so which fox yours or mine", asked Herbert.
"Naruto's, I will explain once we get inside", said Konohamaru.
Hebert Shrugged.
"I have no objections, though I am surprized filth such as yourself would invite me as well", said Xel.
"This concers all of us, and your psionic powers are necessary to smooth over the process for all of us to enter, now lets begin", said Konohamaru.
Standing in a massive arena under the mindscape of the library. They all stood patiently around Kurama's cage though there anticipation was obvious on their faces. Herbert looked like an exact replica of Naruto in the mindscape while Konohamaru looked like a Yithian something that caught Kurama by surprize.
"Why are you all here. And what is that thing", asked Kurama.
"Konohamaru wanted us to speak to you, something about a theory", said Naruto.
Konohamaru stood motionless for a moment before he slithered to Naruto. While it was hard to guess do to his appearance Naruto believed he looked nervous.
"That is not entirely true, this is just the only place the shadowed man cannot find us. This is something that concerns all of us and must be addressed", said Konohamaru.
"What are you talking about", asked Herbert.
"While reading from the Necronomicon I discovered a name of one Outer God I have never heard of. I believe that when my mind was erased, it was done far to well. He did so because I discovered his true identity, however he erased all knowlege of him from my mind. That is my theory anyway. It seems even Gods can make mistakes", said Konohamaru.
Everyone stood silent waitig for something to be said. It was Xel who broke the silence.
"Are you sure he cannot find us here", asked Xel.
Konohamaru lifted his tentacles and pointed to Kurama.
"With the fox as well as the being who represents Naruto's eldritch powers should the Shadowed man try to read our mind he will have trouble focusing. If he decides to enter his very presence should become known to us by his mere existace, we are safe for now", said Konohamaru.
"You sneaky bastard, you just outsmarted an Outer God, I knew I liked you for some reason", said Herbert.
"I fail to see what is going on, and why you all heve interrupted my slumber", said Kurama.
"Sorry Kurama I'll explain later. So Konohamaru who is the Shadowed Man", asked Naruto his eyes focused on the Yithian..
"Not yet, I am creating a special. I suppose chamber is a good word for it. This way we can only remember the Shadowed Man's identity while in this mindscape. So we do not let him know outside of it", said Konohamaru.
A soft glow in the corner of the room gave birth to a highly sealed door covered in locks and chains.
"A bit excessive don't you think", asked Herbert.
"No, in fact I am not sure if it will be enough", said Konohamaru as he slithered to the door, inspecting it.
"That should work for now, this is where our memories shall be stored while we are away", said Konohamaru.
"Good so tell us already, we have much work to do", said Xel.
"The Shadowed man is a deity who is not mindless, he is actively malicious seeing that one of his forms is the Murder God Jashin. I belive that the Shadowed man is the Crawling Chaos", said Konohamaru.
Everyone even Herbert stood still. Kurama just watched in confusion.
"Nyarlathotep", said Naruto.
"Yes, after reading the book I did not recognize the name, but his information was still in the book and after learning he was the writer of the book, it became obvious after all I should have known the creator of the book", said Konohamaru.
"The Shadowed Man it the son of Azathoth, perhaps the strongest Outer God baring Azathoth himself and his siblings. I was hoping we would be dealing with almost anything other god than him", said Naruto.
"The God of a thousand forms is a crafty one, I am not entirely surprized. He was alway the pettiest of Gods despite his great power, and the one who more than likely would meddle in the affairs of mortals. The fact he made a mistake is alarming, but not unexpected. As an Outer God who can view every possibility his plans will take he would be arrogant. So long as we do not know in the real world, we can be safe from his wrath", said Xel.
"So he wants to turn Naruto into another form of his using the original purpose of the Necronomicon, I can get that. It's all mysterious and stuff and that's cool and all, but the question is why does he want to do that ?", asked Herbert.
"That is our great mystery, more so than his identity. His methods and identity are known to us now, it is his goal that illudes us. He can create new forms at will. Why he wants Naruto is unknown. As is why he wishes for Naruto to combat Cthulhu", said Konohamaru.
"Well it is a test, one I don't think I can win", said Naruto.
"Our goal was never to win, it was to break even. With Nyarlathotep our new problem is figuring out what his goal is. After that we can figure out what to do", said Xel.
Konohamaru nodded.
"I think it is time we leave, our memories on this discussion will be stored here and will return to us when we come My memory of why we came here shall also be stored for obvious reasons", said Konohamaru.
"But, if we don't know about this secret, how would we even know to come back", asked Naruto.
"This is your mindscape, when you return you will always know and you will forget when you leave. I trust you to use that in some way to bring us here. It will be difficult but not impossible", said Konohamaru.
Naruto nodded.
"Alright let me just implant the knowledge in Kurama so that he will know what we are talking about then we leave", said Naruto.
"Finally, I thought you forgot about the giant fox in the room", said Jurama.
Naruto woke with Xel, Konohamaru, and Herbert surrounding him.
"Uhh, what just happened", asked Naruto.
"I thought we were going to talk to foxy", said Herbert.
"I seem to have forgotten what I wished to discuss with the fox", said Konohamaru.
"I told you the Yithians were useless", said an irate Xel as he walked off.
"I'm with fish face...", said Herbert when he heard an explosion.
"Aww I missed their reactions, now I need new clones and bomb, thanks allot shorty", said Herbert as he walked off.
"Don't worry Konohamaru I'm sure it will come back to you, until then we should get back to work", said Naruto.
Konohamaru nodded.
"I am going to watch over the clones. Until then I heard you earlier talking to the Deep One on a possibility of using your eldritch form at will, am I correct", asked Konohamaru.
"Yes, I need to access it as soon as possible", said Naruto.
"I will talk to the scientist and the Deep One on possibilities, until then our visitors should be here by tomorrow, you should prepare for them", said Konohamaru.
Naruto nodded.
"I know, after I get done checking on the status of everything I am going to invite my teammates here, I plan on learning more on their curse marks and improving them. It should be interesting", said Naruto.
"Good to hear, the summoning contracts are safely in the module for when they arrive", said Konohamaru as he left.
Far from the labs a man wearing a black cloak with red clouds holding a scythe with three blades stood. He waited patiently. He smiled as a thick mist flowed around them. He bowed.
"I am at your command Lord Jashin"
Whispers flowed around the man as another man covered in Shadows stepped from the mist.
"Hidan, my most faithful servant. I have a task for you. It seems as if a puppet of mine has grown in power unexpectedly. I need you to help me gauge just how powerful to see how useful he is"
Hidan rose with a smile on his face.
"As you command lord Jashin"
And like that the mist and Shadowed man was gone. Laying where he once stood was a picture of Naruto.