In the valley of Shosenkyo, a valley once known for its marvelous and majestic array of peaceful parades for the lands past Emperors and for its Noblemen, now damp with the blood and fresh graves of numerous corpses and bodies of armor. Standing in the midst of this bloodbath stood the breathless and exhausted vessels of two of the most powerful sons of the Great Shogun, Shirakawa-Tengu No Jashin. The older brother, Sukunabiko who was a great general and warrior was jealous of his younger brother, Ōnamuji's good fortune of receiving his father's blessing and right of succession.
His younger brother also a great warrior was more devoted to the arts and ancient scriptures. He spent less time in expeditions unlike his brother Sukunabiko who would help his father conquer enemy lands striking them down and instilling fear into his adversaries. Onamuji spent all his time in the temples located in the mountains with the priests of the heavenly realm. The Great Shogun wanted to select his older son to succeed him as was the norm but instead gave his birth right to Onamuji after having a dream of a rabbit deity promising his son would be one of the greatest rulers of Earth and Heaven, a God among men. Onamuji being the son of a concubine, was despised and looked down upon by the Nobles and the blood relatives of the Shogun and his rightful and pure royal son, Sukunabiko.
They had planned to lock him away in one of the many temples scattering the lands, as a priest. Seeing his love for the scriptures, they thought themselves rid of him for good, until this great omen came upon them. The Great Shogun, a ruthless ruler, called the God of War by his enemies and allies alike, cared not for scriptures but the thought of his bloodline ruling as Gods was his dream. Upon his deathbed he declared his son Onamuji, the Honorable Heavenly Shogun of all the Six Land.
After his father's death, Sukunabiko left to his blood relatives and his allies and gathered an army far greater then has ever been summoned in the lands of his father, an army not even his enemies would dare stand against. Onamuji, shocked and confused as to his father's sudden decision, tried to send letters to his brother trying to solve the matter diplomatically. His brother denied all of his letters and continued to march towards the Palace.
Onamuji gathered his fathers men, and marched towards the outskirts of the city, the valley of Sonsenkyo. At last, the battle had reached its end. Onamuji stood before the corpse of his brother Sukunabiko. The last seconds of their battles flashing back to him in succession as it they were demonic visions from Hell. He could have allowed his brother to kill him, and his brother would have realized his wrong and would have ruled righteously among men. Instead his new found status had corrupted him into loving life selfishly, against all the ideals he had learned in the temples, in the scriptures of the ancients. "A man who wears the blood of his own brother out of selfishness and hunger for power will forever wander the earth for eternity reliving his act of treachery in never ending cycles." say the ancients. So the one who was once declared the Rikudo Ashihara Shogun, Lord of the Six Lands, left the Empire of his father to those relatives who fought against him and became a wandering hermit, endlessly scouring the lands in pursuit of redemption.
As Onamuji wandered the earth for years mourning the death of his brother Sukunabiko, everyday he would remind himself of his purpose and of his hope of redemption, as every other day of life that came began to feel like another day not worth living. "How will I find redemption" he thought to himself. It felt as if nights would stretch for longer and longer periods, as if to torture him. But he kept steadfast hoping throughout the lands he would one day stumble upon a way to redeem his soul from the ghosts his brother. As he continued, he wandered through the woods until he came upon an area spanning miles and miles dyed red with blood and what appeared to be corpses of dead animals. He could not believe his eyes. It is as if it was a monument to the battle of the valley of Shosenkyo.
"Who could possibly do such a thing?!" he wondered in disgust. As he continued further he noticed something streak past him almost like a flash. He looked around noticing a rabbit running towards the surrounding bushes. He could hear the voices of a crowd of men in close pursuit , laughing as they hunted it. As they galloped past him on their horses, one of them looked back at Onamuji, with a dark grin on his face. "That is the face of a demon" he thought.
He tried to go on his way but before he turned, something stuck his feet with extreme speed. He looked down only to see it was the rabbit now injured and exhausted. "Damn it, its that monk hes managed to catch it." he heard one of the men remark as they approached. "Be careful, hes quite the escape artist." They said, now directly in front of him. As he held it in his arms, its eyes glared at him with agony, telling a tale of its cruel predicament. He felt a rage burn within him. " A world that treats life as a game, life that is sacred." he thought.
"Don't tell me monk, you want to come between hunters and their game!?" they said, clamoring to themselves. He knew if he opposed them, a conflict would ensue, having taken a vow of pacifism to the gods, denouncing all violence, he could not fight back and would surely be killed. "If you will make game of life, sacred life why must you cut down and shed the blood of all the forests inhabitants for that purpose?!" he asked the men. "If life is to be taken, it should only be so to sustain other life, that is the balance of nature. Must you disturb this balance?" he said, trying to calmly plead with them.
"Listen monk" shouted one of the men, now dismounting from his horse. "We are not here to listen to your sermons, if you want followers return to the east." he pulled out his dagger and approaching Onamuji. "Now give me the rabbit, maybe I will make a good stew out of it or simply enjoy its cries as I gut it slowly for giving me such trouble."
"I will not give him to you" Onamuji replied, holding the rabbit close to his chest. "Take my life if you wish, but you will not have it before striking me down first."
The man smiled, "Fine monk, I will add you to the many trophies of thieves and money lenders who their heads I have put on my wall for daring to defy me." As he rushed towards Onamuji, a clap of thunder struck them, killing the man with the dagger and a few others instantly and making the rest flee. Onamuji frightened by this, rushes to the nearest tree, trying to take cover from the assaults of thunder and lightning.
"Is this the wrath of the gods?" he thought to himself, shaking in utter horror. "Has my time to pay the ultimate price come?!" As he closed his eyes, praying insistently, he felt the rabbit moving around in his arms trying to break free. As he tried to restrain it he noticed it was shining. He thought perhaps the lightning had disoriented him, but the light increased around the rabbit now not a single wound on it. It freed itself now standing before him as the thunder subsided.
"Onamuji, your prayers have been heard." said a commanding voice. "I am Ninigi, the grandson of the Queen of Heaven and I have come to grant you a path to redemption. I am sending you to the distant mountains of Hiba, where you will encounter the source of the corruption and darkness in the hearts of men, tempting them to lust for war and destruction. There you will find a beast of great energy and power. He is the Juubi. He was created as a result of the war between the Great gods and he was locked away after peace had been established.
You must become its host, you must learn to overpower it and change it. It will be your greatest trial. If you overcome it, you will become God among men and you will establish the art of the gods. Through it you will give way to a path of peace. A world where people will come to truly understand one another, a world where they will come to love each other. Your legacy will be twofold. One of lust for power and one of Jiraiya. The day, the two suns shine upon the whirlpools, then shall the one who will complete your vision come. He, the embodiment of Jiraiya will do what you could not. Through a selfless act, he will accomplish what you could not. I will give you a number of tokens that will help you overcome the Juubi, this staff, this magatama necklace, this mirror mask to protect your from its dark influence and the sword of Kusanagi. From this day forth you shall no longer be called Onamuji of the great Uzumaki clan, but Rikudo Sennin, the Sage of the Six Heavenly Paths. May your path remain illuminated. The rabbit deity disappeared, leaving behind the tokens of his redemption.