The rain kept falling, heavier and heavier.
Above, no scattered stars could be seen—only a vast expanse of pitch-black cloud.
But unlike the shinobi world below, hidden within the moon was an unseen realm.
There were seas and land, flowers and birds, fish and beasts, villages and stone houses.
At a glance, it seemed no different from the shinobi world—only far more ancient.
The only difference was that this world was empty, nothing but ruins.
At the moon's very center, beneath a false sky, a "sun" shone with warm light.
Inside that "sun" was emptiness—endless emptiness. Islands of every shape floated suspended, as if fallen into a starless cosmos.
Everywhere the eye turned was hazy and indistinct; there was no ground beneath, only the illusion of a sky within reach.
Long residence in such a place blurred the line between heaven and earth. What filled the heart was a gnawing sense of void.
But for Ōtsutsuki Toneri, who had lived within this "artificial sun" since birth, this narrow world was everything. He had long since grown used to its cold desolation.
"Father."
The young Ōtsutsuki Toneri sat properly on his knees.
His skin was pale, his long hair blue-white. Lifting his empty eye sockets toward the man before him, he spoke softly:
"Grandfather Shōji hasn't come for a long time."
He wasn't really asking—it was more a statement.
He was only three years old. From birth he had no eyes, yet with the power of his bloodline, he could perceive the world before him with clarity.
The "Grandfather Shōji" Toneri mentioned was an old man who once spoke to him in a warm, gentle voice.
But like the other elders who had disappeared one by one over the last three years, Shōji too was gone.
"Toneri, Grandfather Shōji will not be coming again."
His father reached out, gently stroking his hair, speaking with calm softness:
"You must grow quickly. One day, I too will be gone."
"Like those other grandfathers?" Toneri asked.
"Yes." His father nodded slightly. "You were born to save the world. Right now you lack strength—but we will become your strength."
"Only a sword hanging overhead can make those who walk the wrong path—those who destroy the world's peace and order—truly awaken."
Toneri nodded vaguely, then raised his childish voice again:
"When that time comes… will you all return?"
There was no reply. After a long silence, he finally heard his father laugh faintly and say in a very soft voice:
"We have always been here. So what need is there to 'return'?"
The elder brother of Hamura, the progenitor—the Sage of Six Paths, founder of the shinobi sect—had created that shinobi world with his own hands.
The Sage's wish in founding ninshū had been to let chakra become the power that connected people, to transform chakra into bonds between hearts, to create a world without war, where all could live together in peace.
But after the Sage's death, humans turned chakra into a weapon of slaughter.
With each passing age, war only deepened—long, endless wars. Shinobi never ceased fighting, never ceased killing.
From the moment Ōtsutsuki Toneri was born, the branch family knew fate had chosen their side.
The shinobi of the world were destined for cleansing. Those war-hungry, bloodthirsty demons were a mistake!
Just as Toneri's father was about to continue instilling the branch family's extreme doctrine,,
Vmm!
A strange, formless surge rippled through the air. His father's eyes snapped open. He turned sharply toward the window.
The crescent-shaped floating island in the distance trembled with a resonant hum. Without hesitation, Toneri's father rushed from the palace and collided with two others mid-air.
The three exchanged a grave look, nodded, and together flew toward the crescent island.
The surviving Ōtsutsuki on the moon were now pitifully few.
All the women of suitable age had perished years ago in the war between the main family and branch family.
That battle's brutality had left only the old, the weak, and the broken behind.
These three—including Toneri's father—were charged with guarding the clan's supreme treasure: the Giant Tenseigan.
Buzz… buzz!
Through the passageway into the island's depths, the unseen energy grew stronger. The white robes of the three whipped wildly in the current.
At the end of the passage, they entered a vast hollow chamber.
At its center, upon concentric tracks, lay a golden eye tens of meters across.
This was the Giant Tenseigan's true form.
But the orbital rings that should have revolved smoothly around it were now thrashing chaotically, as if twisted by unseen hands.
"What's happening?!" Terror flooded Toneri's father's eyes. "Why is the Tenseigan suddenly unstable?!"
From its pupil, golden motes spewed like fireflies bursting from a broken dam.
They scattered like blood through veins, exploding into sparks upon striking surfaces, then flowing outward.
Though still an incomplete construct, never in years had such a phenomenon occurred.
One of the elders extended chakra, linking with the Tenseigan, trying to trace where its ocular power was flowing.
"Impossible!"
His eyes bulged, nearly bursting from their sockets. His voice cracked with horror:
"The Tenseigan is answering a call—from someone in the shinobi world!"
"Impossible!" Toneri's father echoed reflexively. "How could those demons possibly be worthy of the sacred treasure's response?!"
The third elder, calmer though no less shaken, forced his voice steady as he asked the brown-haired elder:
"Can you determine who it is, or pinpoint their exact location?"
"No." The brown-haired elder shook his head tightly, brows knotted. "The weather over the shinobi lands is interfering with my sight."
He hesitated, then closed his eyes again. His face paled rapidly.
Moments later, he snapped his eyes open, voice grave:
"Land of Fire! Somewhere near the Land of Fire!"
"Those cursed shinobi again!" Toneri's father snarled, veins bulging at his temples.
"Stealing the Demonic Statue wasn't enough—now they dare to covet the Tenseigan as well! Unforgivable!"
The Giant Tenseigan was meant for Toneri.
It had been forged from the sacrifice of countless clansmen, the amassed power of innumerable Byakugan—an unmatched holy relic. It could not be defiled by those shinobi demons!
If he learned who dared this blasphemy, he would make certain that person died without a grave!
"Hurry!" Toneri's father barked, raising his head sharply. "Lay the sealing formation at once! Sever the Tenseigan's link to the outside world!"
The other two exchanged a grim look, then nodded as if resigning themselves. All three sat cross-legged, eyes closing in unison.
"Seal!"
Their voices rang together. Chakra was drained from their bodies in torrents.
Faces withered, pallid and sunken, as flesh and spirit were consumed. Only then did the trembling Tenseigan slowly grow still.
Crack…
Back in his chamber, Toneri sat in silence.
He did not know how much time had passed when he heard the door creak open.
But unlike before, his father's breathing was ragged, wheezing like a broken bellows, thick with the stench of decay.
"Father…" Toneri whispered instinctively.
"Cough—cough!"
A calloused, wrinkled hand rested on his head. The voice was hoarse, nearly broken:
"Toneri… you have always wished to see the shinobi world with your own eyes, haven't you?"
At those words, Toneri's doubts fled. His heart leapt and he blurted eagerly:
"I can, Father?"
His father was silent for a long while. He thought of the two dead elders.
He thought of his own wasting body. He thought of Toneri's lonely future. He thought of the shinobi demons…
Hatred flickered in his eyes. At last, he nodded slowly.
"You can."
"Prepare yourself. In a few days, I will take you to the shinobi world."
"I will let you see with your own eyes… the ugliness and sin of the shinobi."