Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

The next second, all the afterimages began to flow.

They were like fireflies scattered by the wind, yet they gathered again in mid-air, eventually condensing into a dazzling pillar of light that pointed straight to the deepest part of space.

There was a dark shadow taking shape, its outline gradually becoming clearer, resembling the Destiny Messenger—only his pupils no longer held a cold gray, but rather a surging mass of countless ninja faces, as if the memories of the entire ninja world had been stuffed into them.

Not bad. The messenger's voice had several overlapping syllables, as if dozens of people were speaking at once. You've finally learned to use other people's will as a weapon.

But do you know what? He raised his hand, his fingertips tracing across his brow. The essence of Thunder Resonance is to use the souls of the living as strings on a musical instrument.

The more comfortable you are with it, the more it resembles the old days...

"Shut up." Bai Ye interrupted him.

Bone wings unfolded behind him, with purple lightning crackling on the black bone fragments.

He could feel the will of those phantoms drilling into his body through the bone wings, as if trying to dye his bones the color of lightning. I don't need to know the past; I only know that you killed the daimyo of the Land of Fire, started a war, and exploited everyone's suffering.

The messenger of destiny smiled.

His laughter was grating, like metal scraping against metal, and with a wave of his hand, the surrounding space suddenly distorted.

Countless familiar faces flashed before Bai Ye's eyes: Zabuza from Kirigakure, Deidara from Iwagakure, and even the captain of the Anbu from the Land of Fire whom he had personally killed—each phantom carried the same chakra fluctuations as the original, and even the location of the wounds was exactly the same.

These are the real pawns. The messenger of destiny pointed his finger at the nearest Zabuza phantom, and the ninja immediately charged forward, brandishing his Executioner's Blade. You think you're resisting?

No, you're just repeating their patterns.

Driven by hatred, proving existence through killing... there is no difference between them, me, and all those bound by the chains of will.

White Night's bone wings trembled violently.

The moment he met the decapitation blade, the power of the Thunder Resonance suddenly erupted.

The floating phantoms simultaneously emitted a clear whistle, and chakra flowed into the phantoms' bodies through his bone wings—Zabuza's sword paused in mid-air, the curse seal on the greatsword suddenly shattered, and the phantom's body dissipated like a burst bubble.

The second phantom is Deidara.

The clay bomb had just materialized in his palm when Bai Ye was already in front of him.

The purple lightning on the bone wings pierced directly into Deidara's chest. This time, as the illusion dissipated, Bai Ye heard a clear "thank you"—it was Deidara's voice, carrying a sense of relief and lightness.

The third, the fourth... the phantoms shattered one by one under the power of resonance, and with each one that disappeared, the eyes of the Messenger of Destiny dimmed a little more.

But when the last phantom disappeared, he suddenly laughed, laughing so hard he almost fell over: You think you've won just like that?

Fool, every time you use resonance, you ingest another part of someone else's obsession.

Those things will gnaw at your soul until you become someone else...

Chapter 536 Come on, the final round

enough.

An aged voice descended from above.

Bai Ye looked up and saw the phantom of the First Raikage descending from the dome.

He wore the oldest animal hide armor in Kumogakure, and the lightning pattern on his forehead was even more rugged than that of the Fourth Raikage, but his eyes were as calm as a deep pool: Tobirama Senju, you said you would use rules to restrain ninjas, but you turned our will into a cage.

The Messenger of Destiny—no, at this moment, the mask on his face finally cracked, revealing a face underneath that was exactly the same as the Second Hokage's: Hashirama's ideals were too naive, and Madara's hatred was too insane.

I just wanted to...

Using the suffering of the living as fuel to maintain your so-called order? The phantom of the First Raikage raised his hand, and lightning, purer than any lightning release technique that Byakuya had ever seen, gathered in his palm. When we founded the village, we made a promise to let ninjas live for themselves.

You have broken this agreement.

Two bolts of lightning collided in space.

Byakuya could feel the air burning, and the cells on the surface of his skin were being evaporated by the high temperature of the lightning release.

He gritted his teeth and charged forward, his bone wings spreading to their maximum extent, pouring all the remaining phantom will into his chakra.

The stubbornness of the Third Tsuchikage, the decisiveness of the Fourth Kazekage, and even the last trace of tenderness from Shion all boiled within him, pushing the Thunder Resonance to an unprecedented peak.

The Second Hokage's body began to disintegrate.

But a strange smile remained on his lips until the very last moment when he said: You thought it would be over after you destroyed me?

Look at your feet...

Bai Ye lowered his head.

Black cracks had appeared all over the ground, like countless venomous snakes gnawing at the foundation of space.

His chakra was draining away wildly along those cracks, and even his bones were starting to make a cracking sound—this was the price of overloading his resonance power, something he should have expected.

white night!

The familiar shouts echoed throughout the space.

Darui burst out of the rift, his Cloud Village headband torn in two, half a black blade embedded in his left chest, blood dripping from between his fingers.

He lunged forward at the last moment, using his body to block the Second Hokage's final, all-out attack—a black lightning bolt powerful enough to tear Byakuya to shreds.

"Are you crazy?!" Bai Ye caught Darui's falling body.

The young man's body temperature was rapidly decreasing, and he could feel the other man's heartbeat growing weaker and weaker.

"Lord Raikage..." Darui coughed up blood, staining Byakuya's clothes. He had said... "If one day, someone can stand here carrying the will of all ninjas..." His hand touched Byakuya's brow, and chakra surged into him like molten lava. That person... must live.

Lightning burst forth from Darui's fingertips.

Bai Ye saw the young man's body becoming transparent, like a thundercloud being blown away by the wind.

He tried to grab it, but all he touched was a handful of electric sparks.

The moment the lightning merged into his body, the lost chakra suddenly surged back, making him more than three times stronger than before. But at the same time, his pupils began to turn grayish-white—a sign that his life force had been overdrawn.

Darui...

"Don't speak." Darui's voice faded into the background, a whisper to end it all.

For me...for all those who believe in you.

When the last wisp of lightning entered Bai Ye's brow, the entire space began to tremble violently.

The remains of the Second Hokage, the phantom of the First Raikage, and all the suspended wills were being torn apart by some kind of force.

Byakuya gazed at the purple lightning dancing in his palm, which contained his own chakra, the warmth of Shion, the will of the Raikage, and the resolute determination that Darui had given his life for.

He took a deep breath, and his bone wings spread out to their maximum extent behind him.

The cracking sound came from deep within his bone marrow. He knew he might not survive this blow, but it didn't matter—some things, someone has to risk their life for.

Come on. He gazed at the darkness that had not yet completely dissipated in the deepest part of the space, a blood-stained smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. The final round.

Unseen by him, from the black rift that tore through space, a hand covered in cursed seals slowly emerged.

Chapter 537 Reshaping the Order of the Ninja World

Amidst the roar of lightning tearing through space, Bai Ye's bone wings unfurled behind him, creating arcs of bluish-black light.

As the last ray of lightning entered Darui's brow, he heard a series of cracking sounds coming from his cervical vertebrae, as if an invisible giant hand was gripping his throat, and every breath he took tasted of rust.

What do you think their sacrifice will change?

A hoarse voice surged from the depths of space, and the figure of the messenger of destiny finally appeared—it was a skeleton wrapped in a tattered Hokage robe, with ghostly blue flames dancing in its eye sockets, just like the Second Hokage, Tobirama.

His withered knuckles tapped the transparent orb of light floating beside him. Inside, one could vaguely see the distorted face of the Fire Country Daimyo. The essence of the living man’s will is to devour and destroy. Look, the Fire Country Daimyo committed suicide in fear. The Raikage’s disciple is dying for you. Who will be next?

Chiyo of Sunagakure?

Tsunade of Konoha?

Bai Ye's pupils had turned half gray, and he looked down at his palm.

Purple lightning coursed through his skin, carrying the burnt scent unique to Darui chakra, as well as the lingering warmth of Shion's healing touch.

The warmth he once cherished now felt like red-hot iron, leaving winding scars in his veins.

Their will is not meant to be destroyed. He licked his cracked lips, his voice as soft as a sigh, yet it resonated in the trembling space—it was meant to be rebuilt.

Before he finished speaking, his body suddenly crackled with dazzling lightning patterns.

This is the Thunder Resonance ignited by Darui with his life—a lost secret technique of Kumogakure that can completely fuse the caster's chakra with the host's, at the cost of the host having to endure double the consumption of life force.

At this moment, the lightning patterns were climbing up his spine, pulsating into tiny sparks of electricity between his eyebrows.

The will-o'-the-wisps of the messenger of destiny suddenly contracted.

He could feel that the ball of light within Byakuya's body, formed from the wills of countless ninjas, was expanding. The First Raikage's madness, the Third Raikage's resoluteness, and even Shion's gentle warmth before her death were intertwined in a way he couldn't understand.

"You're courting death." The skeleton's fingers clenched tightly, and the Fire Country Daimyo within the sphere of light instantly turned into a bloody mist. Lightning Resonance requires precise chakra control; your body is already riddled with holes—

That's why it needs to be divided.

Bai Ye interrupted him.

He bit his tongue, and the metallic sweetness exploded in his mouth, but it also made him a little clearer-headed.

His left hand was pressed against his chest, where half a fragment of a golden chain was still embedded—he had picked it up in the ruins of Amegakure half a year ago. At the time, he thought it was just an ordinary fragment of a cursed seal, but now it suddenly emitted a scorching light.

"I see..." He chuckled softly. This was a fragment of the First Hokage's Wood Release seal, used to lock the tailed beast's chakra.

Before he finished speaking, the purple lightning at his fingertips suddenly split into thousands of hair-thin lightning lines.

The faint light of the lightning bolts wrapped in golden chains pierced the energy field surrounding the Messenger of Destiny like a swarm of bees.

The space suddenly emitted a crisp sound like shattering glass, and the transparent light spheres exploded one after another, the images of famous figures from various countries sealed inside turning into stardust and dissipating.

How dare you break the rules! For the first time, cracks appeared in the skeleton of the Chosen One, and will-o'-the-wisps danced wildly in its eye sockets. These wills should have been collected by me to reshape the order of the ninja world—

Order? Bai Ye coughed up black blood, but laughed even more fiercely. You sealed the daimyo's greed in a ball of light as an exhibit, and used the sacrifices of ninjas as fuel. Is this what you call order?

True order is about making the choices of the living meaningful!

As the last character for "righteousness" was uttered, all the lightning bolts simultaneously lit up.

The energy field of the Messenger of Destiny was torn open with spiderweb-like cracks, and his bones began to peel away piece by piece, revealing the writhing black mist inside—that was his true form, a curse condensed from negative emotions.

But the joy of victory lasted only a moment.

The black mist suddenly let out a sharp shriek, and all the lightning lines were pulled in the opposite direction, like steel needles piercing Bai Ye's palm.

He groaned and staggered backward, feathers falling from his bone wings, each one dripping with blood.

The real price is one you cannot afford.

The mist reformed into the shape of the Second Hokage, only his face was more blurred.

He raised his hand and drew a dark purple rune. The rune seemed to come alive and burrowed into the void. When it reappeared, it was hanging directly above Bai Ye's heart.

The excruciating pain surged forth like a tidal wave.

Bai Ye felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his soul and pulling him into a dark space.

Chapter 538 What Should Be Done

Countless images and shadows appeared all around him: Darui's last fading smile, Shion's body gradually cooling as she fell into his arms, the Third Raikage's back as he fought against thousands of enemies alone... those memories he thought were buried deep within him were now vividly dancing before his eyes.

This is a test of the will of the living.

The First Raikage's voice came from above.

Bai Ye looked up and saw the powerful man with the red afro standing in the darkness, the senbon needle that had pierced his body years ago still stuck in his chest. Only by facing one's own heart can one find the true answer.

Before he could finish speaking, a blinding golden light suddenly emanated from Bai Ye's chest.

The light grew brighter and brighter, eventually unfolding a semi-transparent map of the ninja world before him.

The outlines of the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Lightning are clearly discernible, but the key red marker is located deep within Konoha Village—that forbidden area shrouded in the shadow of the Hokage Rock.

It seems you've found the final answer. The voice of the messenger of destiny mingled with the wind and reached your ears, but remember, the price of your choices is always borne by yourself.

The dark space began to collapse.

Bai Ye felt warm liquid flowing from his seven orifices, and his consciousness was like a cocoon being unraveled, gradually becoming thinner.

He barely raised his hand, his fingertips brushing against the red mark on the map, where a familiar chakra fluctuation seemed to linger—like... the First Hokage's Wood Release?

white night!