Chapter 181: The Road To The Moon
The Valley of the End’s night was filled with the vast sound of rushing water.
The roar echoed between the towering Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara stone statues, stirring up a sky full of fine, cold mist.
“Uchiha, Kaguya, Uzumaki…” Hizashi Hyuga’s gaze slowly swept over the four people behind Shura, ultimately landing on the young Kimimaro.
“The Byakugan that Shura took… was it transplanted into a Kaguya clan member?” He was all too familiar with those Byakugan eyes; they were the ones Shura had dug out from the Main Family elders’ eye sockets right in front of him.
Hizashi Hyuga’s figure, like a lone goose soaked by this heavy water vapor, quietly slid down from the shoulder of the Hashirama Senju stone statue.
He landed steadily several steps in front of Shura, his dark casual wear clinging tightly to his tense body, the bluish-gray “Caged Bird” curse mark on his forehead standing out like a shameful brand seared into his soul under the moonlight and water vapor.
He took a deep breath of the air carrying the scent of water, knelt on one knee, lowered his head deeply, and adopted a respectful posture: “Lord Shura.”
Menma slightly lifted the White Three-Eyed Fox Mask, his two deep gazes falling on Hizashi’s bowed head.
“You’ve come.” Without excess words, Menma gave a slight nod, the Nine-Face Sūvarṇa pattern on his cape fluttering in the wind.
Then, he turned, his black robe cutting a sharp arc through the damp night wind, leading the way toward the deeper roar of the waterfall, into the darkness swallowed by the ancient forest.
Uchiha Hikari, Shisui Uchiha, Uzumaki Kushina, and Kimimaro Kaguya followed like shadows, silently keeping pace.
Their movements were swift and light, passing over wet rocks and twisting tree roots, weaving through the forest.
During the rapid movement, Shisui Uchiha’s gaze uncontrollably swept over Hizashi Hyuga not far ahead once more.
That back.
The Branch Family head of Konoha who was the least likely to betray…
Shisui tried to find traces of coercion on Hizashi, but saw only a near-absolute silence.
Hizashi seemed to sense this piercing gaze on his back, his steps imperceptibly pausing, his spine straightening even more, yet he never looked back.
Between them stretched the surging river water, the roaring waterfall, and more profoundly, the bottomless chasm named “stance.”
Ultimately, all complex emotions turned into silent heaviness, swallowed by each and buried deep beneath their hurrying steps.
Deep in the forest at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass, the waterfall’s roar was deafening.
The group advanced with Shura, parting thick, curtain-like slippery vines, as a cold wind carrying the scent of moss and rock rushed toward them.
The cave entrance was like the slightly open mouth of a giant beast, emerald-green spring water quietly emanating a mysterious, cold glow from the cave bottom, casting the uneven contours of the cave walls like ghosts.
“Follow.” Shura’s low voice came through the mask.
He jumped first into the icy spring water, the surface rippling only slightly before his figure rapidly sank.
Uzumaki Kushina followed closely, her red hair like burning flames in the water, vanishing in an instant.
Uchiha Hikari, Kimimaro, Shisui, and Hizashi submerged one after another.
Bone-chilling cold instantly enveloped their bodies.
After diving several meters, the light suddenly changed, and the group surfaced.
Before them was what could be called a suddenly opening, bizarre passage.
Pale green faint light permeated from somewhere, filling the entire space, soft yet carrying an unnatural eeriness.
The passage had lost normal gravity, countless fist-sized bubbles emitting soft pale yellow light floating and drifting silently like jellyfish in a dream.
Grayish-white round stone balls of various sizes had also lost weight, scattered and drifting among the light bubbles like frozen stars.
The group adjusted their postures, stepping onto the floating stone balls.
A hard sensation came from underfoot; with a light push, their bodies leaped up lightly like feathers, drifting toward the passage depths.
Silence surrounded them, only the sound of their own heartbeats and blood flow amplified in their ears.
“What is this place?” Uzumaki Kushina watched a pale yellow light bubble drift silently past her, emanating faint yet alluring mental fluctuations.
“Be careful, these are all illusion technique traps.” Menma warned the group.
Hearing this, Shisui Uchiha cautiously avoided them, his sharp gaze scanning ahead.
However, when his gaze met a bubble, his eyes seemed drawn by some force.
Buzz!
Shisui’s gaze instantly scattered, losing focus.
The fantastical passage scene before him distorted and faded, replaced by a blood-red sky and burning clan territory!
Piercing screams, the cold sound of blades cutting flesh, clan members falling, Sasuke’s heart-wrenching cries…
Every detail of the Night of the Uchiha Clan Downfall, carrying pain and despair stronger than reality, overwhelmed him like a surging tide!
He was as if back in it, gripped tightly by that bone-deep powerlessness and heart-rending guilt, unable to breathe, his body trembling slightly in weightlessness like a drowning man on the verge of death.
Almost simultaneously, Hizashi Hyuga was captured by another pale yellow light bubble.
Hizashi’s Byakugan instinctively detected the abnormal mental energy fluctuations, but the heavy shackles of the “Caged Bird” and his endless worries deep in his heart for Neji’s future became the perfect breeding ground for this illusion technique.
The scene before him suddenly changed; upon reopening his eyes, he was in the rain curtain before Konoha’s memorial stone.
He “saw” his own corpse being buried.
And the young Neji nestled in his mother’s arms crying, rainwater mixing with tears washing his tender yet distorted face.
In those eyes that should have been pure Byakugan burned searing hatred toward the Main Family, toward fate, toward Konoha!
That gaze made Hizashi feel more suffocated and terrified than any torture!
As if the son he had done everything to protect was ultimately pushed by the fate he couldn’t escape into the abyss of hatred.
Immense pain left him rigid on the stone ball, his soul as if extracted.
“Wake up!”
A low shout like thunder piercing the fog exploded in their souls!
Shura held a bamboo scroll in his hand, emanating a faint red glow.
This light spread rapidly like water waves, forming a translucent pale red light shield that steadily enveloped the entire team.
The instant the light shield formed, Shisui and Hizashi were yanked out of the deep sea by an invisible giant force!
Their gazes instantly cleared, their heavy panting clear in the silent passage.
Cold sweat soaked their undergarments; the bone-deep pain and despair from moments ago had been so real.
The two subconsciously looked at the Book of Crimson Moon in Shura’s hand, their eyes filled with shock and gratitude.
Uchiha Hikari’s cold gaze swept over their pale faces, and she spoke: “This kind of illusion technique trap activates based on the intruder’s strongest inner emotions or weaknesses, constructing corresponding illusions. The intensity isn’t top-tier, but it excels in concealment and precision. Those whose will is not firm enough, or who have lingering concerns, are extremely vulnerable to being captured and lost in it.”
Hearing this, Shisui and Hizashi’s hearts both jolted; they pursed their lips tightly, suppressing the surging emotions, their gazes becoming unprecedentedly solemn and focused, not daring to be distracted in the slightest.
Under the protection of the pale red shield, the team continued leaping forward along this dreamlike yet dangerous passage.
In the weightless state, every jump off a stone ball required precise control; the passage seemed endless, only drifting light bubbles and silent stone balls.
After an unknown time, a dense green glow finally appeared ahead again, another pool of spring water emanating the same aura.
“Exit.” Shura was concise.
The group hesitated no longer, leaping into the green light one by one.
Splash! Splash!
The sounds of breaking water rang out successively.
The scene before them changed dramatically; the intense light made everyone who had just emerged from the dim passage instinctively squint.
A space vastly larger and more fantastical than the previous passage cave presented itself!
The cave walls were no longer rough rock but densely embedded with countless huge, translucent cylindrical crystals!
These crystals varied in length and thickness, silver light flowing within like natural giant lamps, illuminating the entire cave brightly with a surreal, psychedelic feel.
In the air, the pale yellow light bubbles were more numerous and denser, like countless lazy eyes drifting silently in this space.
The team had just steadied themselves, vigilantly surveying this bizarre sight.
Suddenly!
Boom!
The crystals on one side of the cave wall exploded without warning!
Countless colorful crystal fragments shot out like a rainstorm!
Accompanied by harsh metallic friction and rock-cracking sounds, an enormous shadow burst through the wall, carrying gravel and violent airflow, charging ferociously at Shura at the team’s forefront!
It was a giant crab with a hideous, terrifying form, its carapace gleaming with multicolored metallic sheen, two house-sized giant claws raised high, joints emitting teeth-grinding “creak” sounds, with air-tearing screeches like two massive siege hammers smashing down viciously!
Before the giant claws arrived, the gusts they stirred made everyone’s clothes flutter wildly!
“Careful!” Uzumaki Kushina reacted the fastest.
“Adamantine Sealing Chains!” With a sharp cry, several chakra chains as thick as an adult’s arm, covered in golden runes, materialized from thin air!
The chains, as if alive, wrapped precisely around the giant crab puppet’s descending giant claws!
Powerful restraining force erupted, locking the ton-heavy claws rigidly in midair; no matter how the puppet struggled and roared, its metal joints groaning harshly, it couldn’t descend a fraction!
In the instant the giant claws were locked, a cold figure shot out like an arrow from the side!
Kimimaro Kaguya’s pale face showed no expression, his Byakugan eyes holding only pure killing intent and battle focus.
“Ten Finger Bullet!” With a low shout, the skin at his fingertips split instantly, ten stark white, razor-sharp finger bones gleaming with metallic chill shooting out like cannon shells, with sharp air-tearing whistles, becoming ten white streaks invisible to the naked eye!
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Precise! Ruthless!
The ten bone spikes hit the giant crab’s shell without deviation!
Crack—
Boom!
A teeth-grinding crack accompanied by a muffled explosion rang out.
The giant crab puppet’s massive body stiffened abruptly, the light in its eyes extinguishing instantly, all struggling motions halting.
Its multicolored shell pierced through, the giant crab collapsed like a crumbling hill, crashing to the ground with broken groans, kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Puppet.” Kimimaro landed lightly, his voice flat and emotionless, as if he had merely crushed an insect.
Menma stepped forward slowly, the icy fox mask looking down at the lifeless puppet wreckage underfoot.
If memory served, this puppet was the guardian responsible for producing the illusion bubbles, the final guardian of this passage.
His gaze swept over the giant crab’s shattered structure, his low voice transmitting through the mask: “It seems the Otsutsuki Clan inside the Moon already knows of our arrival.”
As Menma spoke, an invisible sense of crisis instantly permeated everyone’s hearts.
The team did not linger here.
Led by Menma, they maintained high alertness, cautiously navigating this eerie cavern filled with glowing crystal pillars and drifting light bubbles.
Finally, ahead was no longer an endless crystal jungle; a huge cave mouth appeared, invigorating everyone’s spirits as they quickened their pace toward it.
The instant they stepped out, the intense light made everyone instinctively raise hands to shield their eyes.
“This is…” Once their vision adapted, the scene before them unfolded like a divine painting, instantly captivating everyone’s minds and halting their breaths!
Vast! Boundless!
A vast, calm sea occupied nearly the entire view, stretching to the limits of sight!
Opposite the sea appeared a mountain range, and behind it another sea, but with a massive, upward-curving arc defying all reason!
This arc was so pronounced that the blue-gleaming sea surface was clearly visible like the inner wall of a giant bowl, extending and converging toward the upper dome!
On this curved ocean, several islands covered in dense green vegetation of various shapes were held as if by an invisible divine hand, quietly and steadily “floating” above the curved “sea surface”!
“This… how is this possible?!” Uzumaki Kushina was the first to cry out in shock, her face full of astonishment.
“Islands… islands floating in the sky?!”
Menma stood silently, his black robe slightly rippling in the wind.
“Not floating.” He looked up toward the extreme heights of the dome, that “sun” emanating warm, gentle light.
“We have now arrived inside the Moon. The ‘sea surface’ you see curving upward is no illusion but the inner shell dome of this massive enclosed space. Those ‘islands’ are landmasses adhering to the Moon’s inner wall. The ‘sky’ we see is merely the opposite inner wall.”
“And this—” He pointed toward the blazing “sun” at the dome’s center: “This is the target of our journey.”
Inside the Moon?!
Those four short words exploded in everyone’s minds!
In the Ninja World, they had looked up at the sky countless times, even viewed the Moon through telescopes, knowing only that it was a massive lifeless sphere, never hearing that its interior held such a world.
Was this the secret realm guarded for a millennium by the Sage of Six Paths’ brother, Otsutsuki Hamura’s descendants?!
Everyone looked up in unison, gazes focusing on the warm-glowing “sun” at the dome’s center.
“Nine-Face Sūvarṇa!” Menma formed hand seals, two arrays appearing behind him.
The masked Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird leaped out from the arrays.
