In the ninja world, the bright moon hanging in the sky was not a natural object, but something that had been artificially created by the ninjutsu Chibaku Tensei.
The surface of the moon looked like nothing but jagged rocks, a barren and lifeless scene, with neither the moisture of water nor any sign of life.
Yet inside, there was a whole other world.
Inside the hollow core of the moon were vast oceans, islands scattered like stars, and even an artificial light source as dazzling as the sun.
This place was covered with lush vegetation, but in sharp contrast to that, the number of living creatures was extremely small.
Although there were towns that had been built here, they were completely empty.
From the trees growing wildly here, and the rusted shuriken on the ground, it was easy to tell.
No one had been here for a very long time.
Or rather, the people who once lived here had, for some reason, all disappeared.
This place was like a world that had been forgotten, running on its own.
The key that supported everything here was a super massive formation that covered the entire moon space.
And the core of this mysterious formation was a divine object created by the descendants of Hamura's clan through extremely bloody and cruel means.
This divine object was placed inside an ancient temple, old and full of the weight of history.
Stepping into the temple, all that met the eye were crisscrossing giant stones, as if telling the long story of time and change.
In the very center of this land of piled rocks stood a massive altar, and on it sat that one of a kind divine object.
The Giant Tenseigan.
At the moment when the ninja world once again fell into raging war, an old man with snow white hair and beard and a bent, frail body quietly appeared here.
He shuffled his way to the Giant Tenseigan, slowly stretched out his withered hands, and placed them on it.
In an instant, a vast and surging energy poured out from the Giant Tenseigan, flowing like a tide along the old man's arms and endlessly into his body.
As the energy kept gathering, the old man closed his eyes and focused his mind.
Using the unfathomable power of the Giant Tenseigan, he began to carefully examine the entire ninja world.
This person was the Great Elder of the descendants of Otsutsuki Hamura who lived on the moon, and also one of the very few survivors.
Ever since the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had mysteriously disappeared, the Great Elder had taken on the task of searching for its whereabouts.
Whenever some time had passed, or whenever war erupted in the ninja world, he would rely on the enormous Tenseigan and do everything he could to look for any trace of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Yet frustratingly, even though the Great Elder had searched tirelessly time and again, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path seemed to be under some powerful seal and remained completely without any sign.
Countless failures did not make the Great Elder lose heart. Instead, they only strengthened his resolve to retrieve the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
This time, when the three great ninja villages joined forces to besiege Konoha, the Great Elder once again, as usual, began to carry out his routine inspection of the movements in the entire ninja world.
But who could have guessed that in that mysterious region called the Mountain's Graveyard, a faint yet extremely familiar aura would suddenly enter his range of perception.
In that instant, the Great Elder's eyes, which had been tightly shut, flew wide open, filled with disbelief.
"This… this is?"
The Great Elder muttered in shock, his voice trembling from the sheer surprise.
After long ages of searching, he had actually found traces of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. How could he not be overjoyed?
For a moment, uncontrollable excitement filled his chest, and his tone trembled with emotion.
"I finally found it, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!"
Along with this violent surge of emotion, the chakra in the Great Elder's body began to boil and churn like a raging flood, pouring outward without stopping.
But just then, a sudden bout of violent coughing cut off his excitement.
He clutched his chest tightly, his body bending forward on its own, coughs bursting from his mouth one after another.
The truth was, the Great Elder was already quite old, and now he was at the very edge of his life.
Such violent emotional swings were a heavy burden on his aged body, and the slightest slip could lead to fatal consequences.
After he finally managed to stop coughing, the Great Elder panted heavily and calmed himself down.
'Thank goodness. The ancestors have blessed me, letting me find traces of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path in this final time.'
After letting out a long breath of relief, he quickly turned his head and issued an order to a lifelike puppet beside him.
"Hurry, go at once and bring the Second Elder here. Tell him we have found the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!"
On this moon, there were many puppets of all kinds.
But the one in front of him was especially special. Other than its lower half being like a round ball, its figure and appearance were no different from a real human.
The puppet moved at the command. It first bowed respectfully to the Great Elder, then turned without hesitation and dashed out the door.
The Great Elder then gently reached out and stroked the enormous Tenseigan.
He knew that this would be the last time he used this powerful force.
But it did not matter. After he died, his own eyes would eventually merge with the Tenseigan.
Next, his hands began forming seals at high speed. In an instant, massive amounts of chakra surged out of his body like raging waves, churning and boiling violently.
Along with a deep and forceful low shout.
"Activate!"
That vast chakra instantly moved like living serpents, quickly winding their way toward the Giant Tenseigan.
In the blink of an eye, the Giant Tenseigan began to slowly give off a soft yellow glow, and the light grew brighter and brighter, as if a brilliant star were rising.
Just then, the Second Elder rushed to the scene at full speed.
When he saw at a glance that the Great Elder was continuously pouring his own chakra into the Giant Tenseigan, he was shocked out of his wits and cried out.
"Great Elder? What are you doing? Stop it, quickly! You will not be able to endure it!"
The Second Elder, like the Great Elder, was also white haired and very old.
Seeing this scene, how could he not know how dangerous it was.
The Great Elder's eyes now seemed to be shooting out dazzling light.
His mental state and the chakra inside his body were both as if ignited, in an extremely excited state.
"Second Elder, ever since the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was lost, I have not had a single day of peaceful sleep."
The Great Elder stared straight ahead, his voice slightly trembling.
The Second Elder nodded slightly, showing that he understood the Great Elder's feelings.
"Now that we have finally found the whereabouts of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, no matter what, I cannot let it slip out of my hands again."
The Great Elder's tone was firm and resolute.
Then the Great Elder turned to look at the Second Elder and instructed him solemnly.
"My life has already reached its end. You must carefully raise Toneri and make him grow into his role."
"Help him complete the sacred mission that our ancestor Hamura entrusted to our clan."
[T/N: I hope you all are enjoying and if you are, please do give some reviews, be it bad or good, and keep commenting in the chapters to let me know that there are actually people reading it. It makes my day and I really read every single comment that comes on every one of the books. Have a nice day, y'all~]