Moon Passage

A deep blue glow rose mistily from the spring, casting the surrounding rocks as though they were covered in flowing liquid starlight.

Minamoto Takuya stood by the spring, gazing at the strange source of light.

This was the mysterious passage to the distant moon that he had previously located by sending a Crow to track Otsutsuki Toneri and his father.

The sight before him vaguely overlapped with a fragment buried deep in his memories.

He clearly remembered that this seemingly sacred spring concealed a danger capable of drawing people into ruin.

It could lure those who entered into an Illusionary Realm prison formed from their deepest desires.

Minamoto Takuya's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. When facing the unknown, he never hesitated to exercise the utmost caution.

His hands formed seals.

"Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique!"

The earth beside him bulged, and a verdant sapling broke through the soil, growing rapidly in the wind.

Its trunk stretched and twisted, taking on a form identical to Minamoto Takuya's original body in an instant.

The Wood Clone abruptly opened its eyes. Without needing to exchange a word, it leaped without hesitation into the spring radiating its hazy glow.

When the spring water touched its body, there was none of the expected cold or suffocating sensation.

It immediately sensed something strange. Within this seemingly liquid space, it could breathe normally, crisp, clear air flowing into its lungs.

Even more strangely, its eyes needed no deliberate chakra protection. There was no irritation or blurriness from being submerged in liquid; instead, its vision was exceptionally clear.

Looking around, the scene before it completely overturned the very concept of a "spring."

Below lay a deep, boundless passage, as though it led directly to the center of the earth.

Countless spherical boulders of varying sizes floated silently around it