Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

Chapter 528 The Second Tobirama

The sky after the thunderstorm was like a washed bluestone slab. When the sunlight pierced through the gaps in the clouds and fell on the altar, the originally dull runes suddenly shimmered with golden light.

Darui pressed the thunderblade at his waist, his fingertips brushing against the gash torn open by the thunder dragon in his armor. Blood was still seeping out, but he paid no heed to the pain—the array in the center of the altar was growing at a visible speed, with countless tiny golden patterns climbing up from the ground and intertwining in mid-air to form a rotating crack, like an inverted hourglass, with stardust-like particles of light churning at the opening.

Where...where does this lead? His Adam's apple bobbed. The Cloud Ninja of the Land of Lightning were naturally sensitive to spatial fluctuations, but at this moment, the oppressive feeling emanating from this crack made his shoulders feel heavy. Could this be the lair of an evil god?

No. Bai Ye's voice was like a knife dipped in ice water. The golden patterns on his bone wings flowed faster with the changing array diagrams. The traps of the Messenger of Destiny never meant to kill directly. He crouched down, his fingertips almost touching the golden patterns on the ground. Suddenly, those patterns seemed to come alive, climbing up his fingertips and leaving a fleeting mark of light on the back of his hand.

Ziyuan's short blade was still stuck in the soil at her feet. She stared at the small words that had just appeared on the edge of the array diagram—"The will of the living can only be relieved through resonance." A bitter feeling rose in her throat.

These eight words pierced her memory like a fine needle. The blood from the Rain Shadow Altar, Youluo's dying smile, and the true chess game spoken of by that hoarse voice—all of these were now swirling in her mind.

She reached out and pressed her hand against the edge of the array diagram, the heat emanating from her palm was astonishing: Perhaps... this wasn't a trap, but the answer?

The words had barely left his lips when a hoarse chuckle suddenly emerged from the crack, like sandpaper rubbing against rock: "The little girl is quite clever." The messenger's voice, mixed with the crackling of electricity, said, "You've found the last key—but whether you can catch what's thrown from behind the door depends on your skill."

Bai Ye's bone wings suddenly trembled; he instinctively felt that the crack was calling to him.

As he probed the tip of the bone wing toward the crack, the attraction was stronger than he had expected, as if countless hands were trying to drag his soul out of his body.

Ziyuan cried out and rushed over, but her fingertips had just touched his wrist when she was burned by the golden patterns on the bone wings and pulled her hand back: Bai Ye!

Are you crazy?

"If you don't go in, you'll never know what he's hiding." Bai Ye took her hand in return, and the warmth of his palm startled Zi Yuan—this man, who always seemed like a cold piece of jade, was surprisingly hot at this moment. "Keep an eye on Darui for me, don't let him come in."

Why? Darui held down his Thunder Blade and was about to charge forward when Shion grabbed him.

She watched Bai Ye's figure disappear into the crevice, a burning unease rising in her throat: He was right, the blood of the Yunren should not be shed here in vain.

The space inside the crack was far more vast than I had imagined.

When Bai Ye landed, he stepped on a ground woven with lightning. The light threads scattered upon contact, yet kept reforming beneath his feet.

Countless translucent shadows floated all around, some wearing Konoha headbands, some adorned with Sand Village wind patterns, and even some bearing the long-vanished ANBU uniforms of Amegakure—each shadow whispered, its voice like shattered stars: "Protect the village... I should have stopped the war... I couldn't save my comrades."

Is this... the will of a ninja? Bai Ye reached out and touched the nearest shadow, and the phantom suddenly trembled violently, actually drilling into the golden patterns of the bone wings along his fingertips.

More phantoms sensed something and surged forward like moths to a flame. The light within the golden patterns spun faster and faster, and he heard his own bone wings make a crisp cracking sound—not pain, but the pleasure of some kind of shackle being broken.

As all the phantoms converged into a pillar of light, Ziyuan's exclamation came from outside the crack.

Darui stared wide-eyed as the golden light pierced through the crack and shot straight toward an unseen point in the sky.

At the end of the pillar of light, a figure slowly emerged—white hair, green robe, and a bandage wrapped around his left eye; it was none other than Tobirama, the Second Hokage, whom they had seen in ancient texts.

Chapter 529 So-called power is nothing more than the sum of wills

The resonance of thunder. The messenger of destiny (or rather, the remnant soul of Tobirama) clapped his hands and laughed. It seems you finally understand that so-called power is nothing more than the resonance of countless wills.

But do you know what? With the moment he raised his hand, countless phantoms suddenly appeared all around him: there were Fire Country ANBU members who had been killed by Byakuya, there were Iwagakure Jonin who died under his bone wings, and even... Shion?

These are all pieces crushed by your will. The voice of the messenger of destiny is devoid of emotion; you think you are breaking the cycle, but you are merely repeating it.

Every instance of resonance is like imprinting someone else's will into your own soul—until you can no longer distinguish which parts are yours and which belong to someone else.

Bai Ye's bone wings suddenly grew three feet in size, and he could clearly hear the shouts of those phantoms surging within the bone wings.

When he infused the first phantom with the power of resonance, the shadow let out a painful scream and then melted away like snow meeting the sun.

The second, the third... the phantoms collapsed faster and faster, but the smile of the Messenger of Destiny grew deeper and deeper.

"Stop!" Ziyuan's voice suddenly came from outside the crack, choked with sobs, "Your bone wings... the chains are broken!"

Bai Ye then realized something was wrong.

The golden chains that were originally wrapped around the base of the bone wings had broken off inch by inch at some point, shattering into specks of light that seeped into his body.

Power surged through his limbs like a flood bursting its banks, but at the same time, his vision began to blur, and a metallic taste rose in his throat—his life force was rapidly fading away.

The price of the will of the living must ultimately be borne by the living. The voice of the messenger of destiny suddenly turned sorrowful: Now you know why those who have wielded the power of resonance throughout history have all become living sacrifices?

Tell me, White Night—are you willing to trade your life for an uncertain future?

Ziyuan didn't know how she rushed into the crevice.

All she saw was Bai Ye kneeling on one knee, the golden patterns on his bone wings still frantically absorbing the phantoms, his hair turning white, and the blood droplets seeping from the corners of his eyes falling onto the light ground, instantly being absorbed cleanly.

"Are you crazy!" She lunged forward to hug him, but the golden patterns on the bone wings burned her so badly that she trembled and stopped!

We can find other ways—

There was no other way. Bai Ye wiped away her tears, the warmth of his palm making her heart race. "Zi Yuan, do you remember in Amegakure, you asked me why I wanted to be this sword?" He smiled, blood dripping from the corner of his eye down his chin. "Now I know... some swords are born to sever the cycle of reincarnation."

The figure of the messenger of destiny began to blur, and his last words, accompanied by a thunderous explosion, rang out: "Very good, this game of chess... is finally getting interesting."

When Ziyuan rushed out of the rift carrying Baiye, the array on the altar had already completely gone out.

Darui trembled as he reached for Baiye's neck—the pulse was still beating, but as weak as a candle flame in the wind.

What alarmed him even more was that the golden patterns on Bai Ye's bone wings were now tinged with an eerie blood-red hue.

His life force... was being devoured by the bone wings. Zi Yuan's voice trembled as she gazed at Bai Ye's gradually closing eyes, suddenly recalling You Luo's dying words: When the chains break, the boundary between gods and men will also shatter.

The wind outside the altar suddenly picked up.

A few blood-stained gold patterns drifted off the bone wings, landed at Ziyuan's feet, and instantly burrowed into the soil.

In the distance, from the direction of the Land of Fire, came the sound of rapid hoofbeats.

Chapter 530 A Mere Blacksmith

Lightning exploded into tiny golden specks on the altar dome, and Bai Ye's bone wings trembled behind him. The patterns that had originally flowed with holy golden light now turned dark red, like spider silk soaked in blood.

He could clearly feel that every golden vein was drilling into his meridians, drawing life force—something more fundamental than chakra, even his soul was being peeled away.

"Stay calm." Shion placed her hand on his lower back, and chakra flowed into his palm, only to be instantly swallowed up by the bone wings like a mud ox sinking into the sea.

Her fingertips were trembling, and tears still clung to the corners of her eyes. Darui, how long can the barrier last?

The Cloud Village Jonin was kneeling on one knee, forming hand seals. Lightning Release: False Darkness condensed into a dark blue light blade in his palm, cleaving the incoming lightning phantom into pieces.

The shattered phantoms did not dissipate; instead, they transformed into smaller particles of light, reforming into sword-wielding ninja figures—a young genin gripping a broken kunai, an elderly jonin clutching a bloody hole in his abdomen, and even Ebizo, the younger brother of Granny Chiyo from Sunagakure, with the kunai that Byakuya had pierced his neck the day before.

These... are the obsessions of the deceased. Shion suddenly whispered.

Her pupils reflected the burning light in the phantom's eyes. It wasn't hatred, but unfinished regret—the children of Amegakure were crying for their mothers, the ANBU of Kirigakure were clutching their blood-stained headbands, and the white-armored ninja in the front row was clearly the captain of the guard who had been killed by Byakuya in front of the Daimyo's mansion in the Land of Fire. The wound on his chest was still bleeding blood that did not belong to this space.

They were reliving the scenes of their deaths. Shion grabbed Baiye's wrist, her nails almost digging into his skin. The messengers of destiny used the will of the living as vessels, but in reality, they were using the obsessions of the dead as fuel!

To defeat the illusion, their regrets must be resolved—

Before the words were finished, a streak of lightning pierced through Darui's lightning blade and stabbed straight at Baiye's throat.

Bai Ye turned his head to avoid it, but his bone wings flapped uncontrollably. The moment the golden patterns brushed past the phantom, the captain of the guards suddenly trembled violently.

He gazed at Bai Ye, a broken sob escaping his throat: My daughter... she's still in the outlying courtyard of Daming Prefecture. I promised to take her to see the cherry blossoms.

Bai Ye's breath hitched.

Three days ago, when he assassinated the daimyo of the Land of Fire, he did see a little girl, about five or six years old, hiding in a wardrobe in a side courtyard, holding a rag doll with a missing ear.

His knife pierced the dam's throat, and blood splattered on her face. She didn't even dare to cry out.

"I will take care of her," Bai Ye blurted out.

The phantom's movements stopped.

The captain of the guard's face gradually became clear, the bloody holes in his body began to heal, and the obsession in his eyes was like mist blown away by the wind: Really?

"Really." Bai Ye's voice was hoarse, and the golden patterns on his bone wings suddenly burned, though less intensely than before.

He could sense that the phantom's power was dissipating.

So that's how it is! Shion's eyes lit up. These phantoms don't need a fight, they need a response!

They died with unspoken wishes, which is why they were manipulated by the messenger of destiny.

"Then we'll take them down one by one!" Darui shouted, his Lightning Release: Lightning Armor covering his entire body, with blue-purple electricity coursing across his skin.

He charged toward the Misty Shadow Phantom on his left and roared: "Did you carve the cloud pattern on your headband yourself?"

I've seen similar craftsmanship in Hidden Cloud Village!

The Dark Phantom froze, and sure enough, a faint cloud pattern appeared beneath the mist-covered mark on his headband.

He removed his headband, tracing the engraving with his fingertips, his voice hoarse: "My father was a blacksmith in Kumogakure... He secretly gave me this headband when he defected to Kirigakure..."

Chapter 531 So He Didn't Blame Me

He's still forging iron in Kumogakure. Darui was panting, but Lei Kai's electric current softened. Last month, I passed by the blacksmith's shop, and he was still talking about when Archer would be able to come home—your real name is Archer, right?

The phantom's body began to become transparent.

Archer smiled, the cloud pattern on his forehead protector glowing warmly: So... he didn't blame me.

Bai Ye's bone wings suddenly felt a little lighter.

He then realized that whenever the regret of a phantom was resolved, the golden patterns that eroded his life force would dim slightly.

He took a deep breath and turned to the nearest phantom of the Rain Village child.

The child was squatting on the ground, drawing crooked houses in the mud with a twig: "Mom said...when the rain stops, we'll move to a place where there's no war."

The rain in Amegakure stopped. Shion knelt down and gently touched the top of the child's head with her fingertips.

Her chakra carried the damp scent unique to Amegakure. When I left the village, Hanzo's body was still hanging at the village entrance. Now the new village chief is building a school, and the classroom windows are large enough to see the sun.

The child looked up, the bloodstains on his face fading, revealing a small face covered in mud: Can I really see the sun?

"Yes." Ziyuan smiled, but tears fell onto the back of the child's hand. "When you grow up, you can still run on the playground, and it doesn't matter if your shoes get dirty."

The moment the phantom completely vanished, the altar array suddenly emitted a bright light.

The dispelled obsessions transformed into golden particles of light, flowing along the patterns on the ground into the core of the array. The previously extinguished runes lit up again, forming a line of blurry text: Only through sacrifice can one find liberation.

"That same old nonsense again." Bai Ye twitched the corner of his mouth.

He could feel that only a few of the golden patterns in the bone wings were still tinged with blood, and although the figure of the Messenger of Destiny was still there, its outline had become so thin that it seemed to melt into the air.

He recalled Youluo's dying words—when the chains break, the boundary between gods and men will also shatter. Suddenly, he reached out and tore open his clothes, revealing the hideous scar on his chest.

There was a half-piece of golden chain embedded there, which had broken into the flesh when it broke earlier.

"What are you going to do?" Ziyuan exclaimed.

Sending these obsessions on their final journey. Bai Ye clutched the fragments of the chain, blood seeping from under his fingernails.

He could feel the chakra of the Second Hokage still lingering on the chains, chilling him to the bone. The messenger of destiny said this was a game of chess, so he overturned the chessboard.

He forcefully pressed the chain fragments into the core of the array.

The entire space began to shake violently.

The rune pillars on the altar emitted a piercing roar, and the originally soft golden light instantly turned violent, spreading along the ground like a lit fuse.

The figure of the messenger of destiny finally cracked, and for the first time, there was a fluctuation in his voice: Are you crazy?

This will destroy all the sealed wills!

Even you yourself will be—

Backlash? Bai Ye interrupted him, the last few golden patterns on the bone wings suddenly shattered, blood droplets splattered on the array diagram, "I've already gambled my life."

It all started when I picked up that sword in Amegakure, and when I decided to sever the cycle of reincarnation.

Ziyuan suddenly grabbed his arm.

Her chakra sensed danger—the energy at the core of the array was reversing, frantically devouring everything around it like a punctured balloon.

Darui's lightning armor was shattered by the impact. He rushed forward, spitting out blood, trying to use his body to block the shattering rune pillar: Retreat!

This thing is about to explode!

No retreat! The white night's pupils reflected the rampaging lightning; just three more seconds—

"We'll all die in three seconds!" Ziyuan's voice trembled with anxiety.

She could see the stones falling from the altar dome, each one crackled with lightning powerful enough to tear chakra apart.