Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

She remembered the first time she met Byakuya, when he squatted under the broken wall of Amegakure, using the back of his knife to give a stray cat half a rice ball; she remembered the bloodstains at the corners of his eyes that were hotter than the gleam of the blade when he said that some knives were born to sever the cycle of reincarnation.

"Listen to me." Bai Ye suddenly grabbed her hand and placed it against his heart.

Chapter 532 Even a Knife Can Become a Bridge

The heartbeat there is so weak it's like a spider's thread. If I die, go to the side courtyard of the Land of Fire and find that little girl, and tell her... her father is a hero.

"Don't say such things!" Ziyuan's nails dug into his palm. "We've already resolved so many obsessions, clearly—"

A thunderous roar interrupted her.

Suddenly, the array in the center of the altar burst forth with blinding white light, and all the remaining illusions vanished in an instant.

The figure of the messenger of destiny was torn to shreds, and the final curse, accompanied by thunder, exploded: You will regret this... The real game has only just begun—

As the white light faded, Shion's vision suddenly blurred.

She saw countless tiny particles of light drifting out of Bai Ye's body; they were the life force that had been drained.

His bony wings had completely disappeared, and the skin on his back was scorched black by the golden patterns.

Darui fell five meters away, his headband split in two, the cloud pattern of the Land of Lightning still crackling with electricity.

"Success?" Bai Ye coughed up blood and forced a smile.

Just as Ziyuan was about to speak, she suddenly heard a faint tearing sound in the air.

The moment she turned her head, her pupils contracted sharply—countless sharp blades formed from lightning were piercing out of the void, each one aimed directly at Bai Ye's heart.

That was the messenger of destiny's final killing move, a backup plan hidden in the illusion of obsession.

Be careful!

She lunged at him.

The moment the blade pierced her body, Shion didn't even feel any pain.

She only saw Bai Ye's eyes, like the night sky split open by a thunderstorm, filled with a panic she had never seen before.

She wanted to reach out and touch his face, but found that her arm was turning transparent, like mist being blown away by the wind.

Ziyuan? Bai Ye's voice trembled. He wanted to hug her, but the aftershocks made him kneel on the ground.

"Go..." Shion's voice grew softer and softer. She could feel herself merging into this space. The people of the Land of Fire were coming... You promised me... you would sever the cycle of reincarnation alive.

"No!" Bai Ye roared.

He crawled over and grabbed her hand, but could only touch nothingness.

Before Shion's figure completely disappeared, the last wisp of chakra pierced his ear: Yuro's words... weren't finished... When the chains broke... the boundary between gods and men shattered... but... even a sword can become a bridge...

The sound of horses' hooves outside the altar grew closer.

Bai Ye knelt on the ground, the warmth of Zi Yuan's body still lingering in his palms.

He looked at his trembling hands and suddenly laughed, a laugh that was more painful than crying.

Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth onto the ground, mingling with the golden patterns that had drifted down before Shion disappeared.

"A bridge?" he said softly, his fingers digging deep into the soil.

The shouts of the Fire Country's guards could be heard in the distance, and the crisp sound of armor clashing grew clearer and clearer.

Bai Ye raised his head, the blood in his eyes even more intense than the golden patterns on his bone wings.

He slowly stood up, each step feeling like he was walking on broken glass.

The wind lifted the corner of his blood-stained clothes.

He clenched his fists.

As Shion's last wisp of chakra dissipated in the wind, Byakuya's fingernails nearly pierced his palm.

He could hear the hoofbeats of the Fire Kingdom's guards crushing the rubble outside the altar, and the clatter of armor approaching like the hiss of a viper. But at this moment, all that remained in his world was the lingering echo of the words, "Even a sword can become a bridge."

"A very touching farewell."

Chapter 533 Thunder Spirit Stele

A sinister voice rose from the center of the altar.

Bai Ye suddenly looked up and saw that the blue stone slab array, which was originally covered with incantations, was now emanating black mist. A figure wearing a gilded mask walked out from it. The cloud pattern on the mask was exactly the same as the emblem of Yunyin Village, but it shone with an eerie purple light.

"Who are you?" Bai Ye's bone wings exploded behind him, and golden patterns crawled up his spine and onto his cheeks. "It was you...it was you who made Zi Yuan..."

"Her choice is merely a continuation of my plan." A soft laugh came from behind the mask. "Now, it's your turn to face the real test."

Before the words were finished, the array suddenly emitted a blinding blue light.

Countless fragments burst forth from the cracks in the rocks, each bearing a pale golden name—the Second Raikage A. Beryl, the Third Raikage A, the Fourth Raikage A… The names of the Raikages of each generation swirled in the air like stardust scattered by the wind.

“This is…” Darui’s pupils suddenly contracted.

He had somehow appeared beside Bai Ye, his lightning-patterned headband, unique to the Land of Lightning, billowing in the wind. "The 'Thunder Spirit Stele' of the Hidden Cloud Forbidden Land! Only when the Thunder Shadows of each generation fall do they seal their will within the array..."

“Perhaps the solution lies within.” Darui’s fingers traced the kunai at his waist, then, as if suddenly remembering something, he took out a bronze badge engraved with lightning patterns from his inner armor. “Lord Raikage once said that if faced with a desperate situation, use this ‘Lightning Contract,’ forged by the First Raikage himself, to awaken his remaining will.”

The moment the bronze badge touched the center of the array, the entire altar trembled.

Blue light condensed into a tangible image, and the phantom of the Fourth Raikage emerged from the lightning—his lightning armor was no longer as ferocious as it had been in life, but the scar at the corner of his eye was still clearly visible. "Those who can see these words have revealed the conspiracy of the Chosen One."

The phantom's voice echoed like metal scraping: "You've been misled. The true sealing technique doesn't require human sacrifice, but rather 'Thunder Resonance'—using the will of the Raikage of each generation as a guide to connect the power of belief of all ninjas." His gaze swept over Byakuya, "Including you, that kid with the bone wings, your chakra contains the lingering essence of Shion, that's the purest bridge."

"A bridge?" Bai Ye murmured, repeating Zi Yuan's last words, his Adam's apple bobbing.

He could feel something awakening within him, like a sealed string suddenly vibrating, resonating with the name of the Thunder Shadow in mid-air.

But when he tried to reach that power, the resonance slipped through his fingers like a fish swimming away.

“There’s a lack of a medium,” Darui suddenly said.

He took out an ancient scroll wrapped with the seal of Kumogakure from his bosom. The lightning patterns on the cover had faded to gray. "This was given to me by the Raikage before he died. He said, 'If that kid comes, this will be the last key.'"

Bai Ye unfurled the scroll, and the yellowed pages were covered with runes he had never seen before—a technique that refined lightning release to its ultimate form, each stroke imbued with the rhythm of lightning.

The moment his fingertips touched the four ancient characters “Thunder Returns to Origin”, his chakra surged uncontrollably into the scroll, and the runes seemed to come alive as they drilled into his meridians.

“This is…” Abby’s voice was filled with panic.

As the leader of the ANBU, he was always at the forefront, but now he took a half step back while holding a kunai. "Darui, why has that kid's chakra turned lightning purple?"

Bai Ye didn't hear it.

He only saw the phantom of the Fourth Raikage appear before him, teaching him hand seals—thumb against palm, index and middle fingers crossed, this is the starting position for summoning heavenly lightning; ring finger hooked to little finger, this is the lock to stabilize chakra.

Chapter 534 The Shattered Boundary

The golden patterns on his bone wings surged, overlapping with the lightning patterns in the scroll, and intertwined in mid-air to form a cocoon of lightning.

"It's done!" Darui whispered.

Suddenly, the array burst forth with blinding white light, and the names of the Raikage of all generations began to rotate, as if constructing some kind of resonant network.

But at that moment, Abby's lightning senses suddenly exploded: "Something's wrong! The rune pillars are absorbing our chakra!"

Before the words were even finished, the eight lightning-patterned pillars surrounding the altar simultaneously unleashed purplish-black lightning.

The lightning was no longer just pure energy, but had condensed into the shape of a thunder dragon, its fangs dripping with black liquid that corroded chakra, rushing straight at everyone's faces.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Armor!" Darui instantly donned lightning armor, his arm transforming into a lightning spear to meet the nearest lightning dragon.

Abby then threw out a lightning rope specially made by the Dark Guard, attempting to bind the other end of the dragon's tail, but was flung away by the lightning dragon and crashed into the altar wall, coughing up blood.

Bai Ye's bone wings were struck by the Thunder Dragon's tail, causing cracks to appear in the golden patterns.

He gritted his teeth and looked up, seeing the light at the center of the array being swallowed by black lightning—it turned out that the so-called resonance was a trap set by the Messenger of Destiny, using the Raikage's will as bait to lure them into actively transferring their chakra.

“Ziyuan said that a knife can become a bridge…” Baiye suddenly laughed.

He pulled out the chain from his back with a backhand motion. The chain was originally a weapon that sealed his power, but now it gleamed with the same golden light as the bone wings.

He hurled the chain at the nearest lightning pillar, its tip piercing precisely through the center of the rune.

"Come here!" he roared.

The golden patterns on the bone wings resonated with the chains, attracting the raging lightning like a magnet.

The thunder dragons that were originally about to tear everyone apart suddenly changed direction and surged into the array along the chains—they were no longer weapons of destruction, but instead became energy to fill the cracks in the array.

“A wise choice.” The Messenger’s voice rang out again, this time with obvious surprise. “But do you think you can win like this? The real game has only just begun…”

Before the words were finished, the white light in the center of the array suddenly condensed into a crack.

The crack was like a void cleaved open by a sharp blade, with wisps of lightning flowing inside, and a faint rumbling sound like a heartbeat could be heard.

Bai Ye wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stared at the crack.

He could feel the residual chakra of Shion burning his fingertips. The phantom of the Fourth Raikage had dissipated, but the tremor of "Thunder Resonance" still echoed within his body.

The shouts of the Fire Country guards had reached outside the altar, but at this moment his gaze was completely drawn to the crack—what was hidden there?

Why would the messengers of destiny risk exposing their plans to guide them here?

"Go!" Darui grabbed his arm. "The people of the Fire Kingdom are about to break in! This rift..."

"I want to go in." Bai Ye shook off his hand.

He gazed at the surging lightning within the crack and suddenly recalled what Shion had said before she disappeared: "When the chains break, the boundary between gods and men will shatter"—perhaps the answer lies beyond this torn boundary.

The sound of swords chopping at the wooden door came from outside the altar.

Bai Ye took one last look at the soil on the ground, mixed with blood and gold patterns—traces of Zi Yuan's existence.

He took a deep breath and stepped into the crevice.

Lightning instantly enveloped his body.

As the lightning surged around Bai Ye's body, he first heard a ringing in his ears.

Chapter 535 No Difference

The sound was very similar to the tremors of Hashirama Senju's Wood Release breaking through the ground, mixed with the crackling of Madara Uchiha's Fire Release scorching the air—but it was more fragmented and denser, like countless crumpled memories unfolding at the same time.

When his vision returned, he was standing under a dome woven from lightning.

Semi-transparent phantoms floated all around, including ninjas wearing blue armor from the Hidden Cloud Village, Jonin wearing goggles from the Hidden Sand Village, and even several samurai dressed in the attire of nobles from the Land of Fire.

Their faces were blurred, only broken whispers escaped their lips: Protect the village... We can't let war repeat itself... I could have...

Bai Ye's fingertips suddenly felt hot.

That was the remnant chakra of Shion resonating, drilling into his heart along his blood vessels, as if trying to use his chest cavity as a resonating chamber.

He then noticed that each phantom had subtle lightning patterns flowing across its chest—exactly the same patterns that surged within the Fourth Raikage's body when he used Lightning Resonance.

"Is this...the will of all ninjas?" he murmured.

Before the words were finished, the nearest illusory figure suddenly solidified a bit.

It was an old woman carrying a giant scroll, with a dried red camellia flower pinned to her white hair—it was Granny Chiyo.

Her voice was hoarse and gritty: "Boy, you have the blood echo of Thunder Shadow and that girl's fate lock on you... It's no coincidence that you can hear us."

Another illusory figure drifted over; it was Ebizo.

The puppet strings in his hands gleamed coldly in the lightning: We've been trapped here for far too long.

From the day the First Hokage founded the village, from the day the blood soaked the stone slabs at the First Five Kage Summit...

Bai Ye's breathing became rapid.

He remembered Shion's words about the broken chains, and the Fourth Raikage's words before he vanished that his will would not perish.

Those fragments pieced together a complete picture in his mind—the so-called rift was actually a container for the will of all the living and the dead in the ninja world; and the Messenger of Destiny had been using these wills to weave a larger scheme.

He raised his hand, and chakra flowed from his fingertips.

The temperature of Shion, the tremors of Raikage, and even the lingering malice of the enemies he had killed all converged into a tiny ball of lightning in his palm.

When the lightning ball touched Chiyo's phantom, the old woman's outline suddenly brightened, and her whispers ceased to be broken: Go where you are meant to go, let these wills... come alive.