Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

Bai Ye did not answer.

He squeezed through the crack into the door, and a damp, musty smell hit him.

The torches on the wall lit up automatically, illuminating the stone slabs on the ground covered with runes—the same as the one in the hands of the messenger of destiny.

It seems you are smarter than I thought.

A sinister laugh came from the deepest part.

Bai Ye turned around and saw a man in a black robe with red clouds leaning against a stone platform, holding a stone slab emitting purple mist in his left hand and lightly tapping the runes on another stone slab with his right index finger.

His face was half-hidden in the shadows, yet it reminded Bai Ye of the ambiguous smile on the face in the altar crystal shards—the Messenger of Destiny.

Unfortunately, you are too late. The messenger of destiny pressed the stone slab to the ground, and the entire forbidden area began to tremble violently.

The runes on the wall suddenly came to life, like countless black snakes swimming towards the ceiling, and the air was filled with the suffocating smell of chakra.

This is... an ancient ninjutsu incantation! Chiyo suddenly lunged at the nearest wall, her fingernails scratching sparks on the stone bricks—the lost core of a living person's will!

Once activated, everyone's consciousness will be pulled into the virtual space, and their real bodies will become puppets that can be controlled by others!

Bai Ye charged toward the Messenger of Destiny, but the wind blades generated by the bone wings were deflected by a transparent barrier.

He crashed into the barrier and tasted blood—the barrier was actually repelling his Bone Release chakra.

The true answer lies in your own hearts. The messenger's voice suddenly became very soft, as if telling an ancient story: when the First Hokage used Wood Release to seal the power of the Divine Tree, he actually left a backdoor.

He thought that the will of the living could ensure the village's eternal existence, but he didn't know... this thing would devour all freedom. He traced his fingertips across the stone slab, and the barrier suddenly split in two, separating Byakuya and Chiyo. Now, it's your turn to find the exit.

Bai Ye reached out to grab the barrier, but his fingertips sank into nothingness.

He saw Chiyo frantically forming hand seals on the other side, her mouth clearly telling him to be careful, but her voice sounded like it had been thrown into a deep pool.

The ground trembled more and more violently, and black snakes made of runes began to coil around his ankles. Suddenly, the stone slab beneath his feet caved in, swallowing him whole into darkness.

In the last moment before his consciousness sank into chaos, Bai Ye heard his own heart pounding like a drum.

The blood-patterned map on his chest suddenly glowed blindingly, outlining a luminous path in the darkness—it was... the entrance to another dimension.

Chapter 558 Gathering ten thousand thoughts into one soul, extinguishing a thousand ideas to preserve one will

When darkness enveloped his senses like thick ink in the white night, the first thing he noticed was the sound of his heartbeat.

The sound was so loud it hurt my eardrums, as if it were about to burst out of my chest.

The blood-patterned map burned on his chest, the bright light piercing through his clothes and tearing a thin slit in the void—when his consciousness refocused, he was already standing in a gray and white space.

The surrounding mist churned slowly, and suddenly tiny fragments of light rose from it.

First, there was a hillside covered in blue violets, where a woman with pigtails was bending down to tie a headband on a young boy. Her silvery laughter shattered in the wind: "Aya, remember, a ninja's sword is used to protect those who are important to you." The boy looked up, his eyes shining like stars, and replied crisply, "I know."

The next scene changes abruptly.

The firelight dyed the sky red, a broken blade pierced the woman's back, and blood splattered on the boy's face.

He lunged forward to grab his mother's sleeve, but his fingertips pierced through her gradually transparent body.

The sound of hooves came from afar. Cavalrymen bearing the emblem of the Wind Kingdom trampled across the scorched earth. The young man at the head lifted his mask—it was Luo Sha from twenty years ago, with sharp eyebrows and bloodstains still hanging at the corner of his mouth.

For the sake of the sand mines of the Wind Kingdom, the caravans of the Fire Kingdom must disappear. The young man's voice, mingled with the sound of the wind, reached the boy's ears: War... is, after all, a redistribution of resources.

Fragments of memory cut into Bai Ye's nerves like sharp blades.

He took a half step back, his lower back pressed against the cold stone wall—only then did he realize that the fog had dissipated at some point, and he was standing in a familiar ruin.

The words "Konoha" remain on the broken wall. When he was taken away by the ninja rescue team, he was still clutching half of his mother's headband.

"Enough." Bai Ye shouted, his bone wings unfurling behind him, the tips of the bone spikes oozing a ghostly blue chakra.

Those fragments of memory continued to surge: the Sand Village's ANBU sent by Rasa to assassinate Gaara during the Chunin Exams, the sudden increase in Wind Country caravans on the border of Rain Country, and even the secret letter from the Wind Country discovered in the secret chamber of the Fire Country's Daimyo's mansion three months ago—all the clues were strung together in his mind.

It turns out that Luo Sha had been stirring up trouble among various countries all along.

He used war to deplete the resources of other countries, and then sold the sand iron of the Land of Wind at a high price as a mediator; he recruited ninjas from various villages in the name of the will of the living, but in reality, he wanted to control the war machine more efficiently.

The so-called "disruption of will" by the messenger of destiny was nothing more than an attempt to make him lose his mind in hatred and become a war maniac like Rasa.

You think you can defeat me with memories? Bai Ye licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, and his bone wings suddenly retracted into spear tips. You've chosen the wrong opponent.

At the same moment, on the other side of the barrier, Chiyo was biting her fingertip and drawing a talisman on the stone wall.

Her chakra seeped into the rune array along the bloodline, and the originally flowing black snakes suddenly froze, revealing a line of ancient cuneiform script underneath—"Will of the living, gather all thoughts into one soul, extinguish a thousand thoughts and preserve one will."

The first generation's backup plan... Chiyo's pupils constricted sharply.

She recalled Hashirama from her youth, the man who always smiled gently, never imagining he would leave behind something so divine.

What chilled her to the bone even more was the annotation on the edge of the array diagram: "The Great Lord of the Wind Kingdom, Luo Sha, is willing to exchange the taxes of three cities for the right to activate the spell."

The ground suddenly shook violently, and Chiyo staggered and grabbed the stone wall for support.

She gazed at the dark area separated by the barrier, her wrinkles beneath her white hair filled with anxiety: If that child is trapped by memories... no, he won't. Before she could finish speaking, a crisp tearing sound rang in her ears—spiderweb-like cracks suddenly appeared in a corner of the barrier, and Bai Ye's bone wings pierced through them.

Chapter 559 The Future of the Kingdom of Wind

"Grandma!" Byakuya grabbed Chiyo's wrist, and chakra flowed into her body through her skin, helping her stabilize her swaying body.

The two had only taken two steps back when the entire barrier shattered, revealing the grim-faced Messenger behind them.

Impressive willpower. The messenger of destiny tapped the stone slab with his fingertips, but you think that's all?

As soon as he finished speaking, a muffled thunderous roar came from the depths of the forbidden area.

The ground, which was originally covered with runes, cracked open, revealing a rotating gear mechanism underneath. Countless black snake-like runes emerged from the cracks and coiled around the two of them.

Further away, the figure of the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, emerged from the dust. Gold dust surged beneath his feet, forming armor, but his eyes were colder than the desert night wind.

White Night, Chiyo. Rasa's voice was like sandpaper rubbing together; you know too much.

Byakuya noticed that his hand holding the ninja tool was trembling slightly.

The daimyo, who always talked about the interests of the Land of Wind, had a hint of struggle flash in his eyes at this moment—as if he had been stung by some memory.

"Lord Rasa," Byakuya deliberately raised his voice, "when you were on the border of the Land of Fire, watching the children in the caravan crying for their mothers, did you ever imagine this day would come?"

You sent the ninjas of the Land of Wind to be executioners, and now you want to push the entire ninja world into a cage of the will of the living... Is this the future of the Land of Wind you want?

Rasa's gold-plated armor suddenly developed cracks.

He abruptly turned his face away, his Adam's apple bobbing: Shut up... Everything I did was for the Kingdom of Wind!

Should the people of the Land of Wind lose their freedom for the sake of the Land of Wind? Chiyo took a step forward, her cane slamming heavily on the ground. When Sasori betrayed Sunagakure, I didn't beg anyone; now that Gaara is the Kazekage, I'm not afraid of anyone.

But if it were you, Rasa, I would be the first to stand up and stop you!

The messenger's expression finally changed.

He slammed the stone slab to the ground, and countless runes shot into the sky, forming a huge vortex above his head.

The suction force erupted from the center of the vortex, and Bai Ye felt as if his feet were being pulled by a magnet, and even the chakra of the bone wings became somewhat unstable.

This is a spatial passage left behind by the Divine Tree. The voice of the Messenger of Destiny began to distort; once the vortex engulfs this place, all secrets will be buried in the spatial turbulence...including you!

Bai Ye looked up at the vortex.

The spinning runes suddenly resonated with the blood-patterned map on his chest, and glowing paths appeared and disappeared in the void.

He gripped Chiyo's hand tightly, his bone wings spreading to their limit: Grandma, hold on to me!

Luo Sha suddenly raised his hand, and a ball of gold dust slammed into the back of the Messenger of Destiny.

Although they were bounced off the barrier, it bought them a brief opening.

Bai Ye rushed in the direction indicated by the blood patterns, the suction force of the vortex pulling him from behind, and pebbles flying past the hem of his clothes.

Quickly! Chiyo's chakra surged into her palm, forming a protective barrier around the two of them.

Just as their figures were about to disappear into the edge of the whirlpool, Bai Ye glanced back.

Luo Sha was confronting the Messenger of Destiny, and the gold dust and runes exploded with dazzling light between the two.

At the center of the vortex, an even deeper darkness is taking shape, like a monster with its jaws wide open.

The vortex within the forbidden area continued to expand, engulfing everything around it. Bai Ye knew...

The roar within the forbidden area caused rocks to fall from the cliffs, and the darkness at the center of the vortex surged like a living thing, turning the air into a sharp whistling sound.

Chapter 560 The Battle of Beliefs

Bai Ye's bone wings trembled in the gale, and chakra flowed wildly along the blood-red veins on his wing bones—he could clearly feel the spatial turbulence from the Divine Tree seeping in along the edge of the vortex, like countless fine needles piercing his skin.

Rasa! He grabbed Chiyo's wrist with his backhand. The chakra in the old man's palm was warm and steady, forming a pale green barrier around the two of them.

The daimyo of the Land of Wind was kneeling on one knee, gold dust forming a spear at his fingertips, but he hesitated to throw it.

Bai Ye stared at the hunched figure and suddenly remembered the old woman who had been huddled on a straw mat in the Wind Country's house three days ago, crying and saying: "Our daimyo has exchanged all the grain for gold dust, and the children haven't had hot porridge for three days."

Luo Sha's knuckles turned white from exertion.

When he looked up, Bai Ye saw a greedy gleam in his pupils, the same color as the gold dust: What makes you think I'd help you?

Because you know better than anyone else that Bai Ye's voice was torn apart by the wind, and once the vortex swallows this place, the secrets of the Fire Kingdom will be buried in the turbulent flow of time and space, but your treasury, your gold mine... He paused deliberately, and they will all become nourishment for the divine tree.

Luo Sha's Adam's apple bobbed.

In the distance, the Messenger of Destiny stood in the very center of the vortex, his black robe billowing in the air currents, revealing a body wrapped in runes beneath—it was not human bones at all, each vertebra engraved with forbidden incantations from the era of the First Hokage.

Bai Ye noticed that when the placer gold vein was mentioned, Luo Sha's grip on the placer gold spear tightened noticeably.

Three breaths. Luo Sha suddenly let out a low shout, and the Sand Gold Spear transformed into a rain of gold, smashing towards the face of the Messenger of Destiny.

The golden particles formed from chakra were deflected by a transparent rune barrier the moment they touched the other party, but they successfully made the Destiny Messenger turn his head to the side.

opportunity!

Byakuya suddenly pushed Chiyo into the depression in the rock wall: "Grandma, hold the barrier!" With his bone wings spread to their limit, the twelve bone blades on his back pierced his skin like steel needles, and he could even hear the crisp sound of bones breaking—but there was no time for pain now.

The blood-patterned map burned on his chest, and the glowing paths suddenly materialized into physical forms, like countless red threads weaving a path in the void that led directly to the feet of the Messenger of Destiny.

He skimmed along the ground, his hair being cut off by pebbles, and a bloody gash appeared on his left cheek.

The messenger of destiny finally noticed the anomaly, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes as he turned around: Foolish. With a wave of his hand, the runes floating in the air suddenly transformed into thousands of silver threads, wrapping around Bai Ye's limbs like a spider web.

The moment his chakra was imprisoned, Byakuya heard a mournful cry emanating from his own bones.

He recalled that three days ago at the border of the Land of Lightning, the spirit of the First Raikage spoke to him through the rain: "The real fear is not death, but seeing the abyss clearly, yet not daring to admit that you too may fall."

You think this is just a little trick...? The messenger's cold laugh came to an abrupt halt.

Bai Ye closed his eyes.

The blood-patterned map on his chest suddenly began to heat up, and those patterns he had seen in the ruins of various countries—the burned-down shrine of the Land of Fire, the cracked riverbed of the Land of Wind, the giant rock split by lightning in the Land of Thunder—flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

He remembered the drowning child he had saved in the Land of Water, the smile on the face of the old ninja from the Land of Earth as he used his last chakra to guide him, and Granny Chiyo's words in the ruins of Sunagakure: "The living should always think of the living."

"So that's how it is..." he murmured softly, a drop of blood falling from his eyelashes to the ground.

When he opened his eyes again, his pupils shimmered with a crimson light the same color as the bloodstains.

The chakra on the bone wings suddenly surged violently, and the electric current unique to the Land of Lightning coursed through his body along the blood patterns—it was not just a simple lightning release, but the Lightning Resonance he had comprehended at the Raikage's former residence, a resonance between his will and all the chakra that had not yet dissipated in the world.

click!

The runic silver threads snapped inch by inch amidst a piercing crack.

Chapter 561 Reversing Spatial Turbulence

The messenger's pupils contracted sharply, and he finally showed a hint of panic: Impossible!

You didn't understand at all...

I understand. Bai Ye wiped the blood from his face, his voice as soft as a sigh. The will of the living is not a tool to control others, but... He looked at the Destiny Messenger who was temporarily held back by Luo Sha with gold dust. Every living person has the right to choose not to be defined by the past.

The bone wings unfolded once more, and this time the chakra fluctuations were purer than ever before.

He charged toward the Messenger of Destiny like an arrow. The latter hastily formed hand seals, only to see that Bai Ye's palm pierced directly through his rune barrier—it was chakra condensed from the will of a living person, closer to the origin of life than any forbidden technique.

"Grab the stone slab!" Chiyo's voice came from behind.

Bai Ye then noticed that the stone slab engraved with divine tree patterns on the stone platform beneath the feet of the Messenger of Destiny was emitting a faint blue light.