Chapter 134: Terra's Pulse

“Is it somewhere near here?”

Uchiha Li heard Shisui speak and began to search carefully. Unfortunately, he could not detect any chakra energy response.

Shisui spoke again, “That lake seems to have a concealment function. Unless you go directly into the lake, you won’t be able to sense its special nature.”

“I see.”

Uchiha Li nodded, then followed Shisui toward a mountain hollow. The surrounding snowy, desolate landscape suddenly gave way to a vast lake before them.

Though the area around the lake was frozen solid, the lake itself remained unaffected. Standing at its edge, there was no ripple or movement to be felt. Yet, in such a frigid, northern place, the lake water showed no sign of freezing—a clear abnormality.

“I wonder how Shisui ended up on a mission in a place like this,” Uchiha Li mused inwardly, already certain that this was the so-called ‘Moon Lake.’

This lake appeared to be water, but in essence, it was a condensation of a very unique space-time chakra. Thus, it was not true water; even stepping into it would not wet the body.

As a gateway connecting the ninja world and the moon, control of the lake lay in the hands of the Otsutsuki descendants on the moon.

At this moment, the passage was sealed, which explained why no chakra response could be detected.

“But this is all just speculation. It would be best to have someone test it with me,” Li thought, suddenly glancing at Itachi, who was resting nearby.

Itachi was unaware of Li’s attention. He was still watching the lake’s surface, trying to detect anything unusual.

Suddenly, sensing Li’s gaze, Itachi instinctively felt a hint of unease.

Before Itachi could speak, Li smiled slightly and said, “Itachi, get ready. We’re going in.”

Then Li turned his eyes to Shisui. “Shisui, you handle recording the surroundings.”

Itachi twitched his eyelids, hesitating, “Just go in like that?”

Seeing this, Shisui spoke up, “Li, I should go instead. I have experience.”

He felt reluctant to let Itachi go alone, considering Itachi still somewhat weaker in his eyes.

But Uchiha Li shook his head decisively, “No, Itachi going in is better. I’ll follow right behind him. If anything happens, I can rescue him immediately.”

“Shisui, you can protect yourself well enough. You provide support from the surface.”

“Besides, don’t forget my abilities. You stay on the surface and give me a coordinate.”

In truth, Shisui’s remaining on the surface was insurance. If they got trapped by the space-time passage of the Moon Lake, Li could use Terra to lock Shisui’s location.

Then he could bring Itachi to Terra and teleport back to Shisui’s side.

Hearing this explanation, Shisui immediately understood Li’s plan and turned to Itachi, “Listen to your teacher. His arrangements are sound.”

Itachi was speechless. Seeing Shisui so quickly persuaded by Li and seemingly ‘betraying’ him left Itachi feeling helpless.

Fortunately, his teacher was going with him, so the danger shouldn’t be too great.

Taking a deep breath, Itachi hesitated slightly, “Shouldn’t we do some preparation? It would be more reasonable to be ready.”

Li reviewed his memories and shook his head, “There’s no problem. The lake water seems normal on the surface; only upon entering can one sense the difference.”

He paused, then added, “Besides, I’ll be right beside you. Are you scared?”

Though knowing Li was provoking him, Itachi snorted coldly, “Who’s scared? Let’s go.”

Without further hesitation, Itachi activated his Sharingan and stepped decisively into the lake.

Li nodded to Shisui, “No matter what happens, don’t enter the lake. Only then can I lock your position.”

“I understand,” Shisui replied seriously, knowing what Li meant.

Li no longer hesitated and jumped into the lake after Itachi.

As soon as they entered, both sensed the difference.

Though the so-called ‘lake water’ flowed around them, they did not feel as if they were submerged.

They could even breathe normally in the lake.

This further confirmed Li’s earlier guess—the lake water was not real water but a collection of chakra.

Suddenly, an anomaly occurred. The calm lake began to ripple without wind, forming an eerie rhythm.

Li immediately activated his Mangekyo Sharingan to observe closely.

The lake seemed to resonate with Li’s chakra, emitting a low humming sound around them.

After a moment, a silver light appeared at the bottom of the lake, shooting upward through the surface toward the sky.

There was no need to look up. Even with towering mountains and dense trees blocking the view, Li knew the light was directed at the moon.

“Such intense space-time fluctuations… This energy seems to be a ‘tonic’ for Terra as well,” Li’s expression grew excited.

His left Mangekyo eye danced with delight. The last time he experienced this was during the Nine-Tails Incident.

Terra’s reaction clearly showed how useful the Moon Lake was to it.

With this in mind, Li discarded all other concerns. Such an opportunity was rare.

Even if the lake was connected to the Otsutsuki descendants or higher beings, he could not care less.

Summoning all his strength, activating the successor Karoso’s absorption ability fully, Li’s eyes devoured the surrounding ‘lake water’ like a ravenous beast.

“Teacher...?”

Itachi snapped back to reality, eyes wide with shock.

He had been cautiously worried about dangers after entering the lake, but the biggest disturbance came from his teacher’s side.

Li now exuded a terrifying aura.

Seeing Li’s devouring gaze, Itachi instinctively wanted to distance himself.

But recalling Li’s instructions, he suppressed the impulse and stayed.

“More, faster!”

Li no longer cared about Itachi’s small movements, fully dedicating himself to absorbing the Moon Lake’s chakra source.

At that moment, Li’s frantic actions seemed to trigger something.

A silver-white whirlpool formed at the lake’s bottom, generating an exponentially strong gravitational pull, drawing in Li and Itachi.

Worried about danger, Li quickly stopped absorbing.

But it was too late. The massive gravitational force was impossible to resist.

Soon, both were sucked into the silver whirlpool...