Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

Ziyuan turned around abruptly and saw that the deepest rune pillar was oozing a black, blood-like liquid, a sign that the seal was loosening.

She grabbed Bai Ye's arm: Let's get out of here first!

Youluo, come with us!

No. Youluo suddenly sheathed his sword, turned, and rushed towards the crumbling rune wall. "I need to activate the backup seal; it should hold them off for at least three days." As he turned back, his headband was broken by falling rocks, and his black hair fell down, obscuring half his face. "Baiye, if you can really find the answer..." His voice was drowned out by the roar, and the last few words, mixed with the sound of the wind, crashed into Baiye's ears: "Don't keep me waiting too long."

Bai Ye watched as You Luo's figure disappeared into the dust and smoke, then suddenly grabbed Zi Yuan's waist.

The bone wings burst forth with a final golden light, carrying the two of them as they broke through the collapsed altar.

As soon as they flew out of the cave, a deafening roar shook the earth behind them—the entire mountain was sinking, and the dark clouds unique to Amegakure were overturned, revealing the long-lost blue sky.

Ziyuan lay panting on his shoulder, blood droplets clinging to the ends of her hair: Youluo...

He'll be alright. Bai Ye gazed at the mountain peak gradually swallowed by dust. The new patterns beneath his bone wings were burning hot, and dark red and gold streaks of light crawled up his arm to his neck. He would be fine for at least three days.

So now...

"Let's go to Kumogakure." Bai Ye looked down at the person in his arms. A stray lock of hair at Zi Yuan's temple was stuck together with blood. He reached out and tucked it behind her ear. The forbidden area that the First Hokage mentioned should be in the deepest part of Raikage Mountain.

But the defenses of Kumogakure...

"Ten times more ruthless than Amegakure." Shion interjected, then suddenly laughed, "But the way you look now..." Her fingertips traced the lines on his neck, making him resemble a demon clad in golden-red armor.

If the Raikage saw this, he might think the First Hokage had been resurrected.

Bai Ye didn't reply.

He gazed at the churning clouds in the distance, where he could vaguely see the iconic lightning-patterned spire of Kumogakure.

The wind whipped up dust that stung his face, but he could smell the rust—blood, the blood of the First Generation, the blood of Youluo, the blood of all those bound by the chains of fate.

Shion. He said softly, "If we reach Kumogakure..."

"I won't hold you back." Ziyuan interrupted him, placing her hand on his chest, and... her voice suddenly lowered. I had a feeling that Youluo hadn't finished saying his last sentence.

He said not to keep me waiting too long, maybe...

He might know something. Bai Ye finished speaking for her, then his bone wings flapped suddenly, the resulting shockwave sending pebbles flying from his feet, but for now, they needed to deal with the immediate problem.

Thunderstorm clouds were already churning on the horizon above Kumogakure, like a wild beast poised to pounce.

Bai Ye gazed at the dark cloud, the newly grown lines on his skin pulsating as if responding to some ancient call.

He didn't know if what awaited them was a demon-suppressing monument or another trap, but at least—

One chain has already broken. He will tear the rest, one by one, to shreds.

Chapter 526 Cloud Hidden Forbidden Land

The thunderstorms in Kumogakure arrived earlier than usual.

Bai Ye stood in the mountain valley, looking up at the surging bluish-purple clouds in the sky. The Thunder-Patterned Spire appeared and disappeared under the cloud curtain, like a sharp blade stuck upside down between heaven and earth.

Ziyuan, who was beside him, wrapped her cloak tighter around her, and the ends of her hair were covered with fine raindrops—not rainwater, but tiny fragments of lightning that had struck the clouds and left pale blue burn marks on her skin.

"The entrance is on the eastern cliff," Ziyuan whispered, her fingertips brushing against the short blade at her waist. She recalled seeing three squads of seven men patrolling the area during her earlier scouting.

Bai Ye didn't reply.

His gaze fell on the dense forest below the cliff, shrouded in thunderstorms. That should have been the entrance to the Cloud Hidden Forbidden Land, the burial place of the Raikage of past generations.

But at this moment, faint flashes of lightning appeared in the dense forest, like a taut net.

Stop!

The shout pierced through the thunderstorm's roar.

Seven figures leaped out of the forest. The ninja in the lead wore the cloud-patterned armor unique to Kumogakure, and his forehead guard reflected lightning—it was Darui.

His Thunder Plow Blade pointed diagonally at the ground, the crackling electric arcs on its blade scorching the surrounding air: Anyone who trespasses into the Cloud Hidden Forbidden Area will be killed without mercy.

Ziyuan's hand rested on Baiye's arm, her knuckles turning slightly white.

Bai Ye took a half step forward, his bone wings unfurling slightly behind him, golden patterns flowing beneath his skin like living things: "We need to find a way to break the seal on the evil god." His voice was calm. "The altar in Amegakure exploded three days ago; you should have received the news—it wasn't an accident."

Darui's pupils contracted slightly.

The anomaly in Amegakure three days ago did indeed shake the Five Kage Summit. The Cloud Village's intelligence department intercepted a few words: a sealed evil god was buried under the altar, and the loosening of the seal caused the earth's veins to collapse.

But this man in front of me is saying he wants to break the seal?

The entire ninja world is bound by the chains of the evil god. Byakuya continued, his gaze sweeping over the amulet at Darui's waist—the symbol of the Fourth Raikage. The Raikage must have seen similar chains when he stopped the Eight-Tails from going berserk.

Darui lowered his Thunder Plow Blade slightly.

He recalled his teacher's dying words: The real threat is not the tailed beasts, but those who use them as pawns.

Abby. Darui suddenly spoke.

A red figure immediately darted out of the dark forest. It was Abby, the leader of the Cloud Village's Dark Division. His short sword was already drawn, the tip pointing directly at Shion's throat: "Boss, this woman is a rogue ninja from Amegakure!"

She even robbed our supply convoy during our last mission—

"Step back." Darui commanded, then turned to Baiye. "I can lead you into the forbidden area, but I must guide you." He pointed to the faint flashes of lightning around them. "The lightning traps here were sealed with chakra by the successive Raikage. One wrong step, and you'll be charred to death."

Abby gritted her teeth and sheathed her sword, but didn't retreat far, always hovering three steps behind the group, the short sword whistling through her palm.

The entrance to the forbidden area was more cramped than I had imagined.

After passing through a bamboo forest shrouded in thunderstorms, the group arrived at a cliff carved with lightning patterns.

The rune pillars on the cliff face are half-buried in the rubble, each pillar glowing with a ghostly blue light, like a sleeping beast.

Darui took out a bronze key and inserted it into the indentation in the cliff face. With a click, the entire rock face suddenly trembled, revealing stone steps extending downwards.

Watch your step. Darui warns that the third and seventh tiers are alive and can bite chakra.

As Shion stepped onto the stone steps, she indeed felt a faint electric current coursing up her shoes, like countless tiny snakes nibbling at her chakra.

She frowned and channeled her chakra to protect her entire body, causing the electric currents to hiss and recede.

The further down you go, the brighter the lightning becomes.

When the group arrived at the underground altar, the rune pillars around them suddenly lit up simultaneously, and blue arcs of electricity leaped at the top of the pillars, forming a huge net of lightning that completely surrounded the altar.

This is it. Darui's voice was deep; the chakra of all the Raikage had been sealed within the core of the altar.

But...is what you're looking for really here?

Bai Ye did not answer.

His gaze fell on the stone platform in the center of the altar, where intricate array diagrams were carved, with a charred crack at the core of the array—as if it had been forcibly torn open by some force.

Be careful!

Abby's roar erupted almost simultaneously with the lightning.

The outermost rune pillar suddenly emitted an arc of electricity as thick as a bowl, which slashed straight down at Bai Ye!

Ziyuan spun around and pushed Baiye aside, her short blade slicing out a wind blade to meet the lightning, but it was easily shattered by the lightning.

At the critical moment, Bai Ye's bone wings suddenly unfolded, and golden chains shot out from his fingertips, accurately piercing the nearest rune pillar.

zizi——

Amidst the sickening crackling of electricity, the chains, like greedy snakes, frantically devoured the lightning energy of the rune pillars.

Bai Ye's pupils glowed gold, the golden patterns beneath his skin flowed even faster, and even his bone wings were tinged with tiny lightning bolts.

"You...you're absorbing Lightning Release?" Darui took a half-step back in shock.

Chapter 527 This is not absorption, it is resonance

"This is resonance," Bai Ye whispered.

The chains suddenly hummed, and he followed their pull toward the altar, pressing his fingertips against the cracks in the array. The thing left behind by the Raikage needed lightning-attribute chakra to awaken it.

Before the words were finished, the altar suddenly emitted a blinding white light.

Everyone instinctively closed their eyes, and when they opened them again, a transparent image floated in mid-air—it was the Fourth Raikage!

He wore the battle robes of the Hidden Clouds, with the Thunder Plow and the Hot Blade on his shoulder, but his gaze was more somber than he remembered: If anyone saw this footage, it meant that the Messenger of Destiny's conspiracy had been exposed.

"A messenger of destiny?" Ziyuan blurted out.

She remembered what Youluo had said about them before she died, and her throat tightened.

True sealing techniques do not require human sacrifice. The Fourth Raikage's image continued, "During my investigation into the Tailed Beast rampage, I discovered that the seal of the evil god had been altered."

The true solution is the resonance of lightning—using the power of the beliefs of all ninjas to re-weave the seal.

The power of belief? Darui frowned. How?

A medium is needed. Bai Ye suddenly interrupted him.

His chains were still stuck in the rune pillar, and he could clearly feel the fluctuations coming from the core of the altar. Something was missing, and the resonance could not be activated.

Darui paused for a moment, then took out a badge engraved with lightning patterns from his pocket.

The badge has a chipped edge, clearly indicating it has been through a fierce battle: it was entrusted to me by my teacher before he died, who said it might be the last key.

Bai Ye took the badge and could feel a stinging pain from his fingertips—it was the chakra left over from the Fourth Raikage, carrying a scorching heat.

He pressed the badge against the crack in the array, and the altar suddenly roared as the crack began to heal at a visible speed.

Something's wrong! Abby's voice was filled with panic. These rune pillars... are draining our chakra!

Only then did everyone realize that the lightning energy that Bai Ye had absorbed was now flowing back through the chains.

The lightning on the rune pillars became frenzied, the arcs of electricity intertwined and coalesced into a menacing thunder dragon, which opened its massive maw covered in electric spikes and lunged at the crowd in the center of the altar!

Lightning Release: Lightning Armor! Darui shouted, his chakra forming a blue lightning armor on his body as he simultaneously formed hand seals: Lightning Release: False Darkness! A bolt of lightning as thick as a bowl shot out from his fingertips, striking the lightning dragon's eye precisely.

The Thunder Dragon, in pain, swung its tail horizontally.

Shion spun around to dodge, and a wind blade condensed in her palm: Wind Release: Great Breakthrough! The wind blade collided with the lightning dragon, bursting out with a blinding white light.

Bai Ye did not move.

He stared at the array diagram on the altar and noticed that the patterns on the diagram were flashing in sync with the golden patterns on the bone wings.

He suddenly bit his fingertip, drawing a blood line on the bone wing. The golden pattern instantly came to life, piercing the altar like a living chain!

Give me—lead!

The roar of the white night mingled with the rumble of thunder.

The originally raging lightning energy suddenly changed direction and surged into the altar along the golden patterns on the bone wings.

The thunder dragon let out a mournful cry, its body gradually becoming transparent, and finally exploded into a sky full of lightning with a loud bang.

The white light at the core of the altar grew even brighter.

Smart choice.

A familiar, hoarse voice suddenly rang in everyone's ears, as if it had been squeezed out from the void from all directions.

Ziyuan's short blade clattered to the ground—this was the sound Youluo heard at the Rain Shadow Altar before her death!

But do you think you can win just like that? The voice chuckled softly; the real game has only just begun...

Before he finished speaking, the white light from the altar suddenly disappeared.

The thunderstorm stopped sometime later.

The group looked around, panting heavily. The lightning from the rune pillars had subsided, leaving only the array on the altar still glowing faintly, like some sleeping behemoth just opening its eyes.

Darui wiped the blood from his face—his lightning armor had been torn open when the lightning dragon swept over him.

He looked at Bai Ye, who was staring down at his bone wings, the flow of golden patterns clearer than before.

"What should we do next?" Ziyuan asked softly.

Bai Ye did not answer.

He gazed at the gradually clearing array on the altar, the patterns on which perfectly overlapped with the golden patterns on his bone wings.

A certain intuition told him that this was no coincidence.

Sunlight pierced through the gaps in the thunderstorm outside the clouds and shone on the altar.

The array suddenly glowed with a warm golden light.