Hearing Shinju's words, Naruto snapped out of his daze.
Then, curiosity crept onto his face.
"Shinju, you can fall for genjutsu too? Weren't you even immune to Infinite Tsukuyomi back then? ∑(✘Д✘๑)"
Shinju shrugged.
"I just happened to dodge the light of Infinite Tsukuyomi. Who told you I'm immune to illusions? ┐(´-｀)┌"
"Let's keep going down. This place is seriously weird."
The two swam deeper. The further Shinju went, the more he felt something was off—the gravity in this stretch of water was twisted.
He and Naruto had very clearly dived downward… yet after swimming for a bit, he couldn't feel gravity anymore.
And stranger still—directly ahead of them, where the bottom of the water should've been, an exit appeared.
Splash—
They burst out from the surface, staring blankly at the rocky walls around them…
Naruto: "This place feels… indescribably strange."
Shinju nodded.
"The water we passed through might've been a passage to another world. And where we are now… is that world."
But when Shinju finished speaking and Naruto still didn't reply, Shinju frowned.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
He turned—and saw Naruto staring wide-eyed at a corner of the cavern.
"A… a huge lobster! (≖╻≖;)"
Shinju followed his gaze—only to find a massive crab, over ten meters tall.
Half a second later—
The crab was dead.
Roasting one of its legs over a fire, Shinju said helplessly,
"Even if your eyesight's bad, you can't mistake a crab for a lobster."
Naruto argued,
"They both have hard shells and big pincers. What's the difference? (Ő∀Ő)"
"If that's your logic, then we each have two eyes and one mouth—so we're the same person now?" Shinju retorted.
Naruto: "…"
After sending the giant crab off to the afterlife, the two found a passage behind it.
Since there was nowhere else to go, Shinju led Naruto inside.
After walking a few hundred meters through the cavern, a faint light appeared ahead—and then a vast forest stretched out before them.
Stepping onto this land, Shinju carefully analyzed the world.
At first glance, the environment resembled the Shinobi Continent: clouds and a sun overhead, plants on the ground…
But the surface curved inward.
If he previously lived on the outside of a planet—then this was the inside.
"…A world beneath the surface?" Naruto asked, stunned.
Shinju shook his head.
"Doesn't look like it…"
He raised both hands toward the ground.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
Shua!!
A massive pillar of Dust Release shot out, drilling through the ground and blasting toward what should've been the planet's core.
But the beam didn't travel long—after several dozen meters, the "core" broke open.
And the Dust Release pillar poured into the pitch-black void of space.
Naruto: (✘Д✘๑)
"What is this place?!"
Narrowing his eyes, Shinju peered through the hole carved by his technique. With a glance, he saw a blue planet.
Unsurprisingly, it was the world of the Shinobi Continent.
Which meant he and Naruto were likely… on the moon. (°ー°〃)
"We're on the moon—outer space. That waterway is a secret shortcut from the Shinobi Continent to the moon…" Shinju said quietly.
"We swam for just a little bit and ended up hundreds of thousands of kilometers away? (´°Δ°`)"Naruto's eyes stretched wide.
Shinju shrugged, finding it perfectly reasonable.
"Ōtsutsuki Hamura lived on the moon. If you're not flying here the normal way, having a shortcut makes sense. ┐(´-｀)┌"
"Speaking of which—Kumogakure is firing the Chakra Cannon in two hours to blast the moon and its fragments… Now that we're inside the moon, we need to stop them."
...
Kumogakure.
After returning to his office using Heavenly Transfer Technique, the Raikage immediately informed the entire village of the Five Kage Summit's results.
The giant Chakra Cannon began powering up.
Observers monitored the moon in real time, adjusting plans based on any changes…
Suddenly, one observer's expression shifted.
"The moon… there are words appearing on the lunar surface!! Σ( ° △ °|||)︴"
The message was instantly relayed to the Raikage's office.
A, the Raikage, rushed over and took the instrument.
On the moon's rugged surface, massive Wood Release trees were sprouting—forest after forest connecting or standing alone—forming enormous characters visible even hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the Shinobi Continent.
[DON'T FIRE]
[Shinju]
Raikage: "…"
"Couldn't he just call me? Why write on the moon? (๑°⌓°๑)"
"Wait—he's on the moon!! !!!∑(°Д°ノ)ノ"
"Notify everyone! Suspend the lunar bombardment!"
"Secretary! Call Konoha. Find out what's going on!"
The Raikage hurried out.
Killer B glanced up at the moon and rapped,
"Yo yo~ writing on the moon is cool as ice, only Shinju could pull that off, tight and nice~"
...
Konoha.
"Everyone, look at the moon! Hurry!"
"There are words on it! (⌯︎¤̴̶̷̀ω¤̴̶̷́)✧︎"
"It looks like it says he likes me, and it's signed 'Shinju.' Is the Sixth confessing to me?! (´◊ω◊｀)"
"Dream harder but at least stay realistic!"
"Even if you can't read the first two words, you should at least recognize the last two!"
"So you're the one named 'Don't Fire,' huh!! (′д｀σ)σ"
"Wait—those Wood Release words… they cover nearly one-fifth of the visible lunar surface!"
"A quick estimate… that's about the size of the Land of Wind—over ten million square kilometers!!"
"T-This is terrifying…"
...
Meanwhile, inside the moon.
After sending his message using Wood Release, Shinju flew onward with Naruto.
Naruto: "What if they didn't see it and just blasted us? ◝₍ᴑ̑ДO͝₎◞"
Shinju waved a hand.
"As long as they can see the moon, they'll see what I wrote."
As they flew, Naruto shivered.
"The sky really is colder… (｡í _ ì｡)"
Shinju:
"The cabin's sealed, why are you cold—"
Halfway through speaking, he remembered Naruto was still naked.
So he rummaged through his summoning scroll… And found only a shirt.
"Just make do. My spare clothing stock is gone… (ー ー゛)"
After flying tens more kilometers, Shinju spotted a sprawling cluster of buildings—likely a settlement.
"Could this be the city built by the moon's shinobi? The ones who made the moon's interior resemble the Shinobi Continent…" Naruto asked.
Shinju nodded and guided the aircraft downward.
"Good point. Let's go take a look."