Long before time had a name… I was there. Nope, the First Spinjitzu Master didn't create the realms. Nope, the Oni and Dragon weren't there. Because nobody knows I'm here (Except for only one person in this universe.), your stories are 100% incorrect. Now, I will tell you what really happened. Prepare to be blown away.
But first, you need to forget everything you've learned about your world's past. Everything that you've heard is true… but there's so much more. So now, forget everything you know, and I will tell you the real story.
Ready? Let's begin.
Long before time had a name, I was there. And so was my counterpart, Life. We had just collapsed the last universe. Oh. Perhaps I shouldn't have said that. Well, Life will be furious at me for telling you this. I'm not supposed to. But, oh well, this will be our little secret.
Ninjago isn't the first universe. There have been countless universes that existed before Ninjago. Every hundred millennia or so, we destroy the universe as an opportunity to start new life in a new world. The last universe was only destroyed two or three millennia before Ninjago was created.
After the destruction of the previous universe, there was only empty space. Life and I fell into a deep sleep, and we woke up only when the new world was ready to be made. And so, during the course of a century, we built and left the new universe able to function without us.
It was called Oronai, but that is a name lost to the ages. People of your generation call it the "First Realm," or the "Realm of the Oni and the Dragon." That is a name formed only by the people of Ninjago. Oronai was formed as the first realm in the new universe. Although then, it was the only realm. We decided to create life.
Life created the Dragon, a race made of majestic creatures who could exhale waves of golden energy. She bestowed upon them the golden power, which is the very same golden power that the First Spinjitzu Master, Lloyd Garmadon, and the Overlord used millennia later.
But, you've always known about the balance, yes? It's not just good and evil. It's greater than that. It's life and death. So I created a race of my own to balance against the Dragon.
They were the Oni, towering demons who made the ground tremble before them. When they stepped, the ground rumbled. I gave them the three Oni masks, formed from pure dark energy; the same dark matter Lord Garmadon used to corrupt Ninjago.
With the three Oni masks and the golden power, the Dragon and Oni were always at war. Life and I watched, and I often visited Oronai, taking souls with me. Neither team was able to defeat the other, and their war was eternal. It was then that Life decided that one of the teams would need an advantage. And, the First Spinjitzu Master was born.
Life gave him both the powers of the Oni and the powers of the Dragon. He was born with the sacred golden power. But he was also born with hatred, the trait of the Oni. So, I separated him from his Oni mother and Dragon father. I flung him into the heart of Oronai, where he would learn the true balance.
He was perhaps the only person in this universe who knew I existed. He learned how to survive on his own. His family loved him, but it was only a matter of time before one side claimed him as their own. So here he was, in the center of Oronai. He braved through treacherous storms and vicious creatures. One day, the Oni came for him.
It was time for him to make his choice. I sent the Oni after him by providing them with some vital information. When he had been in captivity of the Oni for some time, the Dragon found out, and declared official war on the Oni. Even though they had been fighting for centuries before…
And that was how the Departed Realm was born.