The Deep Crawler.
At first glance, it appeared to be an ordinary cave, but lurking in its depths was an unknown danger.
The Deep Crawler is a subterranean species. An adult worm could withstand temperatures of up to 4000°C and usually inhabited the high-temperature zones near the planet's core.
Only wanderers, exiles, or those accidentally transported to the surface by volcanic eruptions would venture to the cold, human-populated upper world.
The larvae of these worms, however, were as small as earthworms and lacked the adults' heat resistance. A single lit cigar was enough to shrink and kill them, leading to theories that Deep Crawlers came to the surface primarily to lay eggs.
Adult worms derived their energy from the intense heat near the planet's core. If stranded on the surface, they lost access to this energy source and had to seek an alternative—absorbing the bodily fluids of animals, including humans.
From a taste perspective, human fluids were no more appealing than animal fluids, so the worms didn't deliberately target humans. However, if an explorer unknowingly took a Deep Crawler egg, the adult worm would track the thief down, triggering an earthquake and draining their fluids as punishment.
The Deep Crawler's formidable power, including its burrowing abilities and heat resistance, made it naturally immune to Earth Release and Fire Release techniques.
Furthermore, it possessed a telepathic ability that ignored distance. While primarily used for communication within its species, this ability could also control other creatures, including humans.
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By the campfire, Kakashi examined the Deep Crawler in the flickering light.
The worm's slender body, extending 10 meters on the surface, coiled to a height exceeding 6 meters. Its writhing tendrils towered above him, who had to crane his neck to see them.
Suddenly, one of the worm's appendages lashed out like a whip at Sasuke, who lay prone on the ground.
Kakashi moved in a blur, transforming into a shadow as he appeared beside the Uchiha, scooping him up and vanishing again.
Thwack!
The worm's tendril struck the ground, leaving a long, narrow scar on the solid earth.
He looked down at Sasuke in his arms and realized that Sasuke wasn't asleep. His eyes were wide open, darting frantically toward the Deep Crawler, signaling that he was fully conscious.
However, he seemed paralyzed, as if still trapped in the earlier state when Kakashi couldn't pull up his pants after relieving himself. His body was completely immobilized.
Kakashi glanced at the others lying on the ground. Their eyes were also wide open, seemingly awakened by the loud commotion, but their bodies remained stiff and unmoving, just like Sasuke.
This had to be some special ability of the Deep Crawler.
Kakashi recalled that he had broken free of this paralysis by forcibly overriding the brain's limits, using the First Gate.
But ordinary people and genin would be incapable of mastering such a technique.
What could he do? Even with the enhanced strength and speed from opening the First Gate, he couldn't possibly protect all four immobilized team members at once.
The only solution was to go on the offensive and distract the Deep Crawler, preventing it from attacking the others.
He gently set Sasuke down on the ground, then removed the mask over his left eye, revealing his Sharingan.
A mass of blue lightning quickly gathered in his right hand. The arcs of electricity crackled violently, striking the air with a dangerous intensity.
He chose Chidori not only because it was his most powerful offensive jutsu but also due to what he had deduced from the information earlier.
The adult Deep Crawler lived in underground magma and was naturally resistant to high temperatures. This made it immune to fire, which were lethal to most living beings.
And this creature resided underground.
Based on the chakra affinity chart, Lightning Release was the natural counter to Earth Release, which corresponded to this worm's environment.
Even though he wasn't entirely certain if this creature had chakra, his years of ninja experience led him to trust his instincts.
With terrifying speed, Kakashi dashed toward the Deep Crawler. At a distance of three meters, he leaped into the air and drove his Chidori into what appeared to be the worm's tumor-like brain at its top.
The sequence of actions was seamless, and with the speed boost from the First Gate, he moved so quickly that the Deep Crawler couldn't react in time.
The lightning flared upon contact with the worm's body, and Kakashi focused on piercing through the tumor's surface with Chidori's destructive force.
However, things didn't go as planned.
The moment his Chidori struck the worm, he felt the lightning's energy rapidly dissipating. Worse, the paralyzing effect typically associated with lightning seemed completely ineffective against the creature.
The worm's tendrils at its top still moved, reaching out to grab him.
Left with no choice, he quickly withdrew from its attack range and landed back on the ground.
As the lightning faded, Kakashi was shocked to see that the Deep Crawler had emerged unscathed despite taking a direct hit from his Chidori.
Impossible!
He stared in disbelief at the still-vigorous worm. Then his gaze shifted to the point where the worm's body was in contact with the ground.
At that moment, realization struck.
He had been too focused on chakra affinity theories and overlooked a basic scientific principle—the earth is a conductor.
The Deep Crawler itself has an extremely high tolerance for lightning. Additionally, most of the lightning was conducted through its body into the ground, so it did not cause significant damage to the creature's outer skin.
Kakashi finally understood: The theory of chakra counterbalancing did not apply to this monster because it was not of this world!
From the information that just came to his mind, the Deep Crawler was widely distributed in this world, even found in basalt layers beneath the oceans. However, these creatures were, in fact, otherworldly beings imprisoned in this world billions of years ago.
Their abilities bore no resemblance to any lifeform native to this world.
The concept of beings from another world was not new to him.
Years ago, a person named Yomi summoned the otherworldly demon Mōryō, which wreaked havoc across multiple nations. The crisis was only resolved when the shrine maiden of the Land of Demons used a powerful sealing technique to separate Mōryō's body and soul, neutralizing the threat.
This event made everyone realize that otherworldly dimensions truly exist.
Even earlier, during his exploration of the ancient city, he discovered murals depicting Cthulhu, an eldritch god that descended from another world.
The murals also mentioned beings like the Elder Things and the Mi-Go, all otherworldly entities.
In other words, creatures from other dimensions have existed in this world since times unrecorded by human civilization.
And the Deep Crawler was one of them.
Moreover, the evidence didn't stop there. From the information he had just learned, the Chthonians have a supreme overlord among them.
The most powerful, significant, and malevolent individual of the Deep Crawler species was called Shudde M'ell.
Shudde M'ell, also known as the "Great Chthonian" or "Cataclysm from Below," has a body length exceeding 1,000 meters and possesses the greatest burrowing ability among its kind.
Due to its prolonged activity in the Earth's high-temperature subterranean layers, its body surface was covered in heat so intense that anything approaching it was melted instantly.
Most importantly, Shudde M'ell was a Great Old One, existing on the same level as Cthulhu.
With this knowledge, Kakashi realized he now knew the names of two Great Old Ones: Cthulhu and Shudde M'ell.
Cthulhu's kin were known as Cthulhi, while Shudde M'ell's kin—or rather its subordinates of the same species—include the Chthonian before them.
Without a doubt, the Deep Crawler he faced was not an exceptional member of the Chthonian race, yet even so, it was still proving to be a dire challenge.
Currently, the Deep Crawler was using its telepathic abilities to paralyze the others, leaving Kakashi in a dilemma.
With his current speed, he could at most rescue two people and escape the creature's range of attack.
This raised the question of whom to save.
If he chose Gin, he would have to sacrifice at least two others.
If he didn't save Gin, he would sacrifice only one teammate, but the mission would fail.
Save more lives? Or complete the mission?
Although he had once resolved never to abandon his comrades for the sake of a mission, this time the mission involved protecting another life—a living, breathing human.
Faced with lives to weigh against one another, he couldn't make a clear decision. If he could only save two, the other two would be drained dry by the worm.
At that moment, the situation changed again.
The front limbs of the Deep Crawler, which had been flailing about, suddenly froze in place.
This stillness resembled the paralysis Kakashi himself had just experienced, but now the worm appeared to be actively sensing something.
Suddenly, all of its limbs stretched skyward, each one as straight as an arrow.
Although the Deep Crawler lacked a distinct head structure, if its limbs could be regarded as sensory organs akin to human eyes, it appeared to be gazing up at the sky.
In the next second, one of its limbs extended rapidly, seizing Gin, and its long, cylindrical body swiftly retreated underground.
At the same time, Kakashi felt a voice resonate in his mind.
The voice was peculiar—deep and indistinct, with no discernible gender. Yet he could faintly understand its meaning: Egg. Exchange.
Kakashi instantly grasped that this was the Deep Crawler's telepathic way of communicating with him. The message was simple: It wanted him to exchange the worm's eggs for Gin.
Under his stunned gaze, the worm's remaining body segments disappeared beneath the surface.
Moments later, a light rain began to fall, landing on the ground and on his face.
Kakashi looked up at the sky.
Tonight's weather was supposed to be clear, so why was it raining?
As the raindrops fell, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke regained their ability to move.
Even though the paralysis was lifted, the immense shock of encountering the Deep Crawler left the three of them speechless, their fear rendering them momentarily frozen.
Villagers from afar arrived at this moment, staring in terror at the enormous cracks and holes left in the ground. No one dared to speak.
Only Kakashi stood in the rain, deep in thought.
The rain didn't last long and soon stopped.
"Kakashi-sensei, we must save Gin!" Naruto shouted, determined to rescue the man who had been taken.
But Kakashi remained calm.
Although the Deep Crawler clearly harbored no goodwill toward humans, it was intelligent enough not to harm Gin before getting what it wanted.
And what it wanted, of course, were its eggs.
He walked over to a nearby bamboo basket, uncovering a white cloth to reveal the green mineral samples that Naoto had retrieved from the cave.
Examining the cluster of prismatic, crystal-like minerals under the firelight, he noticed something unusual.
The black particles within the green minerals, initially appearing as impurities, slowly sank downward over time when the samples were left still.
This meant the green mineral was a shell-like material, and the black particles inside were actually the Deep Crawler's eggs.
The earthquakes that struck the village and the draining of Naoto were acts of retribution by the Deep Crawler for humans stealing its eggs.