Chapter 83: The Toll of the Abyss (Patreon)

Whoosh... whoosh...

The sound of wind seemed exceptionally clear in the empty, dead silence and darkness.

The Kumogakure team had now entered the so-called "Abyss" described in the scroll. They had thought the term "abyss" was an exaggeration. But upon entering, they realized the word was perfectly suited to this place. Its shape resembled a fissure, as if the earth had been torn apart. Looking down from the surface, one could only see a profound, ink-like blackness. Even light couldn't illuminate its interior—a darkness that seemed to swallow even light itself.

Nevertheless, the group, including Yugito Nii, entered. They gathered chakra at their feet to adhere to the rock walls, a skill any ninja mastered.

"How far have we descended?"

Yugito led the group. Her cat-like eyes glowed faintly in the dark as she spoke.

Behind her, over a dozen elite Kumogakure ninja followed closely. Their breaths were heavy behind masks. The lamps in their hands were the only light sources in this boundless darkness. The dim, yellowish halos illuminated only a few feet around them. Deeper darkness greedily devoured the edges of the light.

"Lady Yugito, the depth is approaching one thousand meters."

A ninja responsible for surveying spoke in a low voice. His words echoed faintly in the narrow space, carrying a barely perceptible tension.

They had been descending this seemingly endless chasm for a long time. The air grew thinner, carrying an indescribable, stale odor mixed with rust and dust. Above was the unreachable sky, already swallowed by darkness. On either side were damp, rough rock walls, like the intestines of a giant beast.

"Mhm. According to Lord Raikage's estimated depth, we should be close."

Yugito didn't turn, merely giving a slight nod. The group advanced cautiously through the absolute darkness. The slippery footing required extra care with each step. Their vision was filled with dead, silent darkness, with only the light beams guiding their path. Remembering their initial ease upon entering, cold sweat broke out on their skins. They hadn't known it was this deep beforehand. From this height, even a ninja wouldn't survive a fall.

At that moment, Yugito's cat-like pupils suddenly contracted. She could feel the Two-Tail (Matatabi) chakra within her faintly stirring.

It wasn't a warning. More like... an instinctive fear?

"Halt." Yugito raised her hand, her voice calm and clear.

The team instantly froze. All light sources focused forward. The light beams pierced the darkness but seemed to hit an invisible wall. They had finally reached the deepest part of the abyss.

Tap... tap...

Releasing their hold on the rock walls, they fell briefly and landed on solid ground. No longer a narrow fissure, the space before them suddenly opened up and finally grew brighter.

"What... what is that?" a young Kumogakure ninja blurted out in a low voice.

The beams from their searchlights extended forward, outlining an awe-inspiring, colossal silhouette. The end of the abyss seemed to have been artificially excavated into a vast space. An enormous underground palace, beyond imagination, lay dormant in the darkness.

"Maintain vigilance." Yugito's voice was low and grave, breaking the deathly silence brought by the palace. "It seems this is our mission objective."

With that, she took the lead, stepping forward. The Kumogakure ninja behind her followed closely, silently tightening their grips on their weapons.

The overall structure of the palace was impossible to grasp at a glance. At the very least, the wall before them seemed endless, extending into the darkness beyond the reach of their light. As they drew closer, they saw the palace's surface clearly.

The main body of the palace seemed constructed from massive, dark-hued stones of an unidentifiable material. Its surface was covered with moss that glowed with a faint, eerie light and some kind of black, barnacle-like crust. The stone surfaces were covered with marks eroded by the torrent of time—rugged, ancient, exuding an aura from a primordial era.

The first impression it gave was that it had lain dormant here for a time far, far longer than the history of the Five Great Nations.

Most striking was the massive portal facing them.

"Is this... the door Lord Raikage mentioned? The one that... 'eats' people?"

Their lights flickered over the massive, silent portal, like tiny, uneasy fireflies swaying in the dead, dark silence.

The portal was set in the center of the palace's front, tightly shut. Over a hundred meters tall, its material was neither stone nor metal, presenting a somber bronze-like hue. Patches of verdigris were visible on the door, carved with enormous, twisted totems whose details were indistinguishable in the dim light.

One could only feel an overwhelming, heart-palpitating sense of oppression. Even without megalophobia, it made the Kumogakure team's scalps tingle.

"..."

Standing before the portal, Yugito Nii looked at the stone stele in front of it, covered in text she couldn't understand. But according to the scroll the Raikage had sent, the village had likely deciphered part of it, learning the origin and secrets of this palace.

Yugito frowned, looking up at the dark stains on the door. She could clearly feel the Two-Tails (Matatabi) within her becoming abnormally active again. But it wasn't excitement. It was more like a wildcat instinctively arching its back and issuing a silent snarl when facing an unknown threat.

The mission objective was to open this door. But she was at a loss for how to proceed. Feline instincts screamed warnings—it was absolutely not to be touched lightly. And the scroll had sternly warned...

As she pondered this...

Seeming to sense something, Yugito's cat-like pupils flickered slightly. Her eyes glanced toward the darkness behind her.

"Let's check the surroundings. See if there are other entrances," she said.

Hearing this, the Kumogakure team was momentarily taken aback but quickly caught on. They followed Yugito, disappearing into the darkness to the left.

Not long after they left, a figure silently approached. It wore a Kumogakure missing-nin forehead protector—clearly a bounty hunter.

"Even the Two-Tails Jinchūriki is here... plus Ōnoki's bounty from Iwagakure... Seems we've hooked a big fish this time."

A glint of calculation appeared in the missing-nin's eyes. But when he looked up at the portal before him, that calculation turned into greed. Driven by extreme tension and some inexplicable impulse, he took a step forward, as if bewitched, and stretched out his hand.

Tap...

His fingertip, trembling slightly, lightly touched the icy-cold surface of the door. He shivered involuntarily. Simultaneously, his previously foggy mind cleared instantly. He realized he might have done something foolish and tried to pull his hand back.

But it was too late.

Hum!

An incredibly faint yet bone-penetrating hum sounded, as if resonating from the door's very material. An eerily deep blue glow suddenly lit up on the door. An immense, irresistible pulling force instantly latched onto his palm.

"What... what is this?! This door... it's sucking my chakra?!"

The chakra within the missing-nin's body felt as if it were being torn by an invisible, colossal force. It began surging wildly from his seven orifices, even the pores all over his body. The deep blue glow on the door seemed to grow slightly brighter. But the process of draining chakra was breathlessly fast. The chakra in his body poured out like floodwaters through a breached dam, crazily extracted and devoured within mere seconds.

"Damn it! Damn it! What the hell is this thing?!"

The missing-nin screamed in agony, struggling frantically. But soon, the complete depletion of his chakra left him powerless. However, that was only the beginning. As if sensing his chakra was exhausted, the deep blue glow on the door abruptly extinguished. But a new, even more terrifying change followed immediately.

"No! No! No!!!"

Under his horrified gaze, the flesh beneath his skin visibly withered at an alarming rate, melting away as if corroded by strong acid!

"Ah!! Hel—"

A short, almost unrecognizable shriek of terror was squeezed from his distorted throat, cut off after a single broken syllable.

Pfft!

With a soft, grating sound of tearing flesh, his body collapsed like a punctured balloon! In less than two breaths, his skin clung tightly to withered bones. His eyes dried into two grayish-white glass beads. As a faint breeze swept by, the bones and skin, still clinging to the cold portal but utterly devoid of all flesh, turned to fine dust and scattered like ash.

"..."

In the distance, whether it was Yugito Nii and the Kumogakure ninja or the figures silently observing from the shadows, all were plunged into a deathly stillness!

An absolute silence enveloped everyone. The blood of every witness seemed to freeze at that moment. A bone-chilling cold, mixed with indescribable fear, crawled up each person's spine. A living ninja mere seconds ago had now become another stain on the door, resembling two terrifying, twisted murals. The entire process was swift, bizarre, and thorough. Not a single drop of blood fell, even the flesh and blood had been plundered completely!

The massive portal stood silently, exuding a palpable, silent horror that grew ever clearer in the air.

"What... what is that..."

The murmured words from a Kumogakure ninja behind Yugito trembled with uncontrollable fear.

Yugito's cat-like pupils had now narrowed to slits. She stared fixedly at the colossal door that had just devoured a life. Within her, the Two-Tails issued an unprecedented low growl. The unique flames of the Two-Tails, Matatabi, could scorch souls. Therefore, she could clearly sense that the human hadn't just been drained of flesh and blood; even his soul after death had been imperceptibly absorbed.

But amidst the terror, Yugito keenly noticed a change.

"That door..."

Her voice was hoarse and faint as she spoke. "...did it... open slightly?"