Deep beneath the moon, in Hamura Palace
Only a few dim, yellow lamps burned inside the hall. Their wavering light barely pierced the gloom, leaving the vast palace shrouded in murky shadows.
A massive Cold Jade Bed stood at the center of the hall. Ōtsutsuki Hamura lay upon it, barely clinging to life.
Time had long since drained the vitality from his body. His aged face was as wrinkled as dry bark, and his once-clear eyes had grown cloudy and dim. He looked utterly spent, like a lamp running out of oil.
Judging by the background, there were still quite a few Otsutsuki on the moon.
The vast palace lay silent. Hamura was all alone, waiting for the final chapter of his life.
"Alas..."
An old, mournful sigh drifted softly through the cold air.
Feeling the life force rapidly ebbing from his body, Hamura knew he had little time left. A trace of unmistakable regret crossed his cloudy eyes as he murmured, "It's a shame I never got to see Big Brother again..."
He was thinking of Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, far away in the Ninja World—his brother, bound to him by blood.
In that moment of utter silence, a familiar, indifferent voice suddenly rang out from the depths of the darkness, breaking the stillness of the hall. "Hamura, it's been nearly a thousand years since we last met. You've grown old, too..."
The voice was like a key, unlocking memories Hamura had kept sealed away for a thousand years.
His cloudy eyes flew wide, blazing with disbelief—
How could that person possibly still be alive?!
Two eerie purple lights pierced the darkness inside the hall: a pair of Rinnegan, their depths swirling with violet radiance.
Then a figure slowly emerged from the shadows.
It was Manji!
"Hamura, you've gotten so old."