"Moon Country..." Mizukage Mei Terumi murmured and repeated the name, "I have seen this record in the ancient books of Kirigakure."
"What did you say?" Naruto asked eagerly.
"It is said that people from Moon Country master the art of 'Tsukuyomi' and can hide the entire country in an illusory space."
Mei Terumi frowned and recalled, "But that's just a legend, no one believes it to be true."
Sasuke continued to flip through the scroll, his expression becoming more and more solemn. "What is recorded here is not a legend."
The scroll is densely filled with ancient texts and is accompanied by detailed illustrations. Sasuke and Rinnegan can interpret the meaning.
"Moon Country did exist, and it was in the depths of this sea." Sasuke pointed to a map on the scroll, "Hozuki Castle was just one of its outposts."
Nagato came over and Rinnegan scanned the contents of the scroll. "These Runes records are Fuinjutsu, very old ones."
"Seal what?" Konan asked.
"Seal Gatekeeper." Nagato's voice was deep, "The people of Moon Country used the entire country as Sealing Array to trap Gatekeeper deep under the sea."
Karin took a breath of cold air. "Doesn't that mean that Shadow Organization's experiment on Hozuki Castle is actually weakening the seal?"
"That's right." Sasuke closed the scroll, "They deliberately led us to attack Hozuki Castle, just to let us destroy the key to the seal Node."
Raikage struggled to sit up from the ground, his body still shaking.
"These bastards are using us as gunmen!"
Naruto clenched his fists. "What should we do now? If Gatekeeper really wakes up, can we fight him?"
Nagato did not answer immediately. His Rinnegan was sensing changes in the surrounding Chakra.
Under the sea, there is indeed something ready to move. That aura is ancient and powerful, more terrifying than any Tailed Beast.
"Retreating is a wise choice." Nagato said, "But retreating will not solve the problem."
"Then fight!" Naruto said without hesitation, "We have to face it sooner or later, so why not solve it now?"
"Are you crazy?" Tsuchikage Ōnoki stared at him, "That's a Otsutsuki level existence!"
"Otsutsuki, so what?" Naruto was unconvinced, "Kaguya, wasn't Ji also sealed?"
Sasuke shook his head. "Kaguya Ji was sealed by the Sage of Six Paths brothers, and she had just been resurrected at that time, and her strength had not yet been fully restored."
"This Gatekeeper is different. It has been sleeping on the seabed for thousands of years, and its power has long reached its peak."
While everyone was arguing, the sea suddenly calmed down.
Eerily peaceful.
Even the waves stopped crashing, and the entire sea area was as smooth as a mirror.
"Something's wrong." Kisame poked his head out of the sea, "Chakra's reaction on the bottom of the sea disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Nagato frowned.
"Yes, it's like it has never existed." Kisame's expression was very confused, "But I clearly feel that there is something down there."
Sasuke's Rinnegan glanced at the sea surface and suddenly his pupils contracted.
"Everyone, be careful, it has not disappeared, but..."
Before he finished speaking, the sea surface suddenly split.
It wasn't an explosion, it wasn't an impact, it was the space itself that was torn apart.
A huge crack extends from the sea floor to the sky, dividing the entire world into two.
On the other side of the crack is a silver-white space.
There is no sea water, no sky, just countless suspended building ruins.
"That's..." Mei Terumi's eyes widened.
"Moon Country." Sasuke said, "The real Moon Country."
A voice came from the crack, ancient and majestic.
"After thousands of years, someone finally found this place."
The owner of the voice slowly walked out of the crack.
It was a tall humanoid creature with silver-white skin and a huge Byakugan on its forehead.
There are six pairs of wings behind it, each pair emitting light of a different color.
The most eye-catching thing is the mark on its chest - a crescent moon surrounded by nine stars.
"Gatekeeper." Nagato clenched his fists.
"No, I am not Gatekeeper." The creature shook his head, "I am the last king of Moon Country, Tsukimi."
"King?" Naruto was stunned, "Aren't you from the Ōtsutsuki Clan?"
Tsukimi smiled, with endless sadness in that smile.
"Ōtsutsuki Clan? Those invaders have left this planet long ago."
"We, Moon Country, are the victims of their destruction."
The whole place was dead silent.
This information subverted everyone's understanding.
"You are lying." Tsuchikage Ōnoki questioned, "It is said that Moon Country masters the technology of gods, how could it be destroyed?"
Tsukimi's expression turned painful.
"God's technology?" He smiled bitterly, "Those technologies were originally stolen from the Ōtsutsuki Clan."
"Thousands of years ago, Ōtsutsuki Clan came to this planet, preparing to harvest the fruits of God Tree."
"But they discovered that the life force on this planet was stronger than expected."
"So they changed their plans and decided to train local 'reapers' to help them."
"Moon Country is their experiment."
Tsukimi raised his hand, and a small ball of light appeared in his palm.
Ancient images appear in the ball of light.
It was a glorious city with towering buildings and all kinds of strange creatures walking on the streets.
"This is Moon Country back then." Tsukimi said, "We have the technology to transform life and can create all kinds of powerful warriors."
"Ōtsutsuki Clan was very satisfied with our progress, so he gave us more technology."
"But we didn't know that it was all a trap."
The scene in the image changes suddenly.
The sky was torn apart, and countless black tentacles stretched out from the cracks, dragging the entire city into the Void.
"When our technology reaches a certain level, Ōtsutsuki Clan will reveal its true colors."
"They want to sacrifice the entire Moon Country to God Tree, using the vitality we have accumulated over thousands of years to ripen the fruit."
"But our late king was prepared."
"At the last moment, he activated 'Moon Hiding Technique' and transferred the entire country to a different space."
"The price is that Moon Country will be isolated from the real world from now on, and all citizens will fall into eternal sleep."
Tsukimi's voice is getting heavier and heavier.
"And I, as the last guardian, must wait here."
"What are you waiting for?" Nagato asked.
"Waiting for the person who owns Rinnegan to appear." Tsukimi looked at Nagato and Sasuke, "Only the power of Rinnegan can completely destroy the 'Harvesting Program' left by the Ōtsutsuki Clan."
"Harvesting Program?" Sasuke frowned.
"That's the Gatekeeper you almost woke up just now." Tsukimi explained, "That's not a living thing, but the automated system left by the Ōtsutsuki Clan."
"Once a strong enough Chakra Wave movement occurs on this planet, it will wake up and start harvesting."
"And your act of breaking into Hozuki Castle happened to trigger the activation conditions."
Naruto scratched his head. "So we are being plotted again?"
"Not exactly." Tsukimi shook his head, "Shadow Organization is indeed using you, but their purpose is different from the Ōtsutsuki Clan."
"They want to control Harvesting Program and turn it into their own weapon."
"But they don't know that once Harvesting Program starts, it won't stop."
"It will swallow all life on this planet, including Shadow Organization himself."
Nagato said coldly, "Then why didn't you stop it earlier?"
Tsukimi smiled bitterly, "I have been trapped in a different space for a thousand years and can only observe the outside world through weak connections."
"It wasn't until today that the seal was broken and I could reappear."
"But it may be too late now."