Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

"Naive." Onoki scoffed. "Three years ago, I had someone study the fragments. The runes on them were carved using the cells of the First Hokage."

Who else could control such power but...? His gaze suddenly swept to the corner of the hall—where stood a gray-robed man wearing a straw hat, the veil hanging from the edge of the hat obscuring his face.

The man in the gray robe raised his hand, and the wind lifted a corner of the gauze curtain.

Everyone gasped – his left eye was a cloudy grayish-white, clearly the same eye color as the late Second Hokage, Tobirama.

"It seems you've finally realized it." The gray-robed man's voice turned like a rusty gear: "I am the messenger of destiny, here to send the ninja world on its final journey."

He raised his hand, and the stone slab fragment in his palm suddenly burst forth with a blinding white light.

The luminous pearls on the dome of the venue went out at the same time, and were replaced by a huge array of runes that appeared on the ground.

Byakuya instinctively unfolded his bone wings, only to find that his chakra was like a drained spring—the dark purple mist gushing from the rune array was wrapping around his ankles.

This is the entrance to the realm of consciousness. The voice of the Messenger of Destiny resounded in everyone's minds. Did you think you were discussing the future of the ninja world?

No, you are merely pawns struggling on my chessboard. His figure began to blur, and once your consciousness was completely devoured, the ninja world would become a gigantic puppet, controlled by me... no, by an even greater being.

The Raikage suddenly sprang into action, his entire body covered in blue lightning chakra, crashing towards the Chosen Ones like a bolt of lightning. "Get back, all of you!" His roar shook the rock walls, causing rocks to fall. "Killer Bee, lead them through the secret passage!"

Onoki's Earth Release: Rock Pillar rose from the ground, smashing the long table to pieces. "You brat, don't think I'll hold you back!" His body suddenly swelled, transforming into a five-meter-tall rock giant, his fist slamming into the condensing dark purple mist.

Byakuya grabbed Chiyo's wrist, and his bone wings suddenly unfurled—wherever the bluish-gray feathers swept, a crack was torn in the mist. "Ebizo, take the advisor and leave first!" He turned to look at the Raikage, whose lightning barrier was struggling against the black mist, and beads of blood were already seeping from his skin.

"Let's go!" The Raikage gritted his teeth. "To Iwagakure... the abandoned altar... there's..." His voice was suddenly swallowed by the black mist.

When Bai Ye led everyone out of the tunnel, the morning mist had already dissipated.

Ebizo unfolded a map of the ninja world and was about to activate the locator with chakra when a red mark suddenly appeared on the map—in the deepest mountains of Iwagakure, an altar icon that had been crossed out was glowing.

That was... the Ten-Tails altar sealed after the First Hokage's battle with Madara. Onoki's voice suddenly became hoarse. It had been buried by Iwagakure with earth and stones three hundred years ago, how could it...?

Bai Ye stared at the mark, the feathers on his bone wings standing upright.

He could sense a familiar yet dangerous chakra surging there—much like the dark abyss Kojiro had seen in the other's consciousness before his death.

He prepared to go to Iwagakure. He turned to look at the crowd, his gaze sweeping over the fragments of the Lightning Release headband left by the Raikage. No matter what's there, he would personally sever this thread.

The mountain wind whipped up the edges of the map, and the red markers flickered in the morning light, like an eye just opening.

Chapter 578 The Controller of Power

The mountains deepest in Iwagakure Village resemble a barrier cleaved by a giant axe, with snow-covered ridges appearing and disappearing in the morning mist.

Byakuya stepped onto the rock bridge solidified by Onoki's Earth Release technique, and the fragment of the Raikage's headband left a red mark on his palm—the fragment still retained a faint trace of Lightning Release chakra, like the last pulse of a dying person.

"We've arrived." Ebizo's voice suddenly tightened.

As everyone looked up, they saw a stone altar, buried in the mountainside, slowly emerging between two sheer cliffs.

The earthen and stone statues that originally covered it were peeled away by an invisible hand, revealing the broken walls and pillars engraved with ten-tailed patterns.

Around the central altar, black mist surged into a semi-transparent barrier, within which countless dark purple runes swam, as if they were alive.

This barrier… Onoki’s pupils contracted. It overlapped with the aura of the technique he used to seal the Ten-Tails three hundred years ago, but… it was even more sinister. He raised his calloused hand, and the moment his fingertips touched the black mist, they were scorched. It was a seal strengthened with the blood sacrifice of living people.

Bai Ye's bone wings slowly unfolded behind him, the joints rubbing together and making a soft, crisp sound.

As he gazed at the black mist, the fragments of the forbidden scroll from Konoha suddenly flashed through his mind—he had seen similar rune patterns three years ago when he deciphered the Gate of Life and Death left by the First Hokage.

At that time, he used the Thunder Resonance to trigger chakra resonance, unexpectedly simulating the First Hokage's Wood Release sealing technique.

At this moment, those memories are creeping up my spine to the back of my neck.

"Step back." He gave a low shout, and the lightning patterns on his bone wings suddenly lit up.

The lightning gathered at his fingertips traveled along the veins of his bone wings, outlining a complex spell mark in mid-air—a simplified version of the Chibaku Tensei that the First Hokage used to suppress the tailed beasts during his battle with Madara.

As the last arc of lightning connected, the black mist suddenly trembled violently, and the runes twisted as if they had been splashed with hot oil.

laugh--

The barrier cracked open with a spiderweb-like fissure, revealing the scene inside the altar: a huge yin-yang fish pattern was carved on the central altar, and a stone slab with a dark blue hue was embedded in the deepest part; on both sides of the altar, a figure wearing a dark patterned kimono stood with his hands behind his back, his long gray hair was lifted up by black mist, and his face was seven parts similar to the Second Hokage Tobirama in his memory, but with a more mechanical and cold hardness.

Beside him stood the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, with his head bowed, his skin a bluish-gray like that of the dead, and two eerie green flames flickering in his eye sockets.

Welcome, White Night. The messenger's voice was like the scraping of metal. I've been waiting for you for a long time.

Bai Ye's bone wings folded slightly as he glanced at Luo Sha: "You resurrected him?"

It was merely a temporary anchoring of this greedy body using necromancy. The Messenger flicked his finger, and a rune entered between Luo Sha's brows. Feng Ying's head suddenly rose, a glint of clarity flashing in his turbid eyes. He craved power, so I gave him the opportunity—just like all living people driven by desire.

Before the words were finished, the runes above the altar suddenly began to spin wildly, and countless silver threads emerged from the runes, coiling towards the crowd like serpents.

Bai Ye's pupils contracted. The veins of these threads perfectly matched the Yin-Yang Twin Array Diagram he had seen in Amegakure three years ago—at that time, that array almost drained the life force of the entire Amegakure village to feed some unknown entity.

So your real plan was to feed on the will of the living. Byakuya's voice was as cold as an icicle, weaving the desires of the daimyo and ninjas of various countries into a net, and then using these threads to extract their life force to nourish the Ten-Tails altar.

The messenger of destiny gave a mechanical smile: You are smarter than I thought.

The so-called will of a living person is nothing more than a collection of greed, ambition, and obsession.

When these emotions are intense enough, they can transform into a power even greater than that of the Tailed Beasts—and I will become the master of this power. As he raised his hand, the threads suddenly accelerated, and Onoki's earth shield, which had just been erected, was shredded into dust. Ebizo's wind blades struck the threads, but were as slow as if they were cutting into a quagmire.

Bai Ye's bone wings instantly transformed into dozens of bone blades, their tips enveloped in lightning chakra, precisely slashing at the nodes of the silk threads.

Chapter 579 I Ask You, Is This Enough?

Each time a thread is severed, black mist surges out from the broken point, emitting a sharp, mournful cry.

But there were just too many threads, and soon several of them wrapped around his ankles. The feeling of chakra flowing through the threads made him break out in a cold sweat.

Interesting. For the first time, the Destiny Messenger's gaze flickered; your bone wings can actually mimic the sealing technique of the first generation.

No wonder Tobirama called you a variable—if he had your wings back then, he might have lived ten years longer. He suddenly spread his arms, and the stone slab in the center of the altar burst forth with a blinding blue light. The entire space, like clay being kneaded by a giant hand, began to twist and deform.

Byakuya felt his chakra draining away at a visible rate, and the lightning patterns on his bone wings dimmed.

He bit his tongue, the excruciating pain clearing his mind somewhat. The resonance of lightning surged wildly through his meridians, and the lightning arcs on the surface of his bone wings suddenly swelled by three inches. "Break!" he roared, his bone wings sweeping out, tearing a dark rift in the distorted space in their wake, the threads within the rift being shredded into pieces.

The messenger's expression finally changed.

But before Bai Ye could catch his breath, a whooshing sound suddenly came from behind him—Luo Sha had somehow circled behind him, his bluish-gray hand reaching for the stone slab in the center of the altar.

That was when Bai Ye was distracted and forced back to the edge of the altar by the silk threads.

"You're asking for death!" Bai Ye spun around and swung his bone blade, but he was still a beat too slow.

Luo Sha's fingertips brushed against his waist, leaving a bloody mark, before he grabbed the edge of the stone slab.

The Kazekage let out a beast-like roar: When Gaara was born, Sunagakure called me a jinx; later, when I waged war for the village, they called me a tyrant!

Now that I have this thing, I'm going to make everyone... kneel at my feet!

The stone slab suddenly glowed red, and countless tiny runes burrowed into Luo Sha's skin along his arm.

His roar abruptly ceased, his bluish-gray skin began to fester, revealing the stark white bone beneath. "No...this isn't what I wanted..." His voice trembled with tears, his entire being melting like a wax figure thrown into a furnace, starting from his fingertips, until finally only a wisp of black mist drifted toward the Messenger of Destiny.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Bai Ye snatched back the stone slab, but a burning pain shot through his palm—the stone slab was actively absorbing his life force.

He gritted his teeth and pressed the stone slab into the groove in the center of the altar, the operating route of the first sealing technique appearing in his mind. Reverse! He shouted, and the runes that were originally rotating clockwise suddenly flowed in reverse, and the black mist began to be sucked into the stone slab, emitting a desperate shriek.

You have no idea what you've done! The figure of the Destiny Messenger begins to blur. When the power of the living's will is severed, the ninja world will descend into something more terrible than war... Ah!

His voice was swallowed by the stone slab.

The space inside the altar gradually leveled out, and sunlight streamed down from the broken dome, illuminating Bai Ye's pale face.

He staggered and grabbed the altar, feeling his vision go black, as if the chakra in his body had been drained.

"White...night?" Chiyo's voice came from afar, trembling.

He managed to lift his head and saw the crowd stumbling and running towards him.

Onoki's Earth Release armor shattered into pieces, Ebizo's kimono was burned with several holes, and fragments of the Raikage's headband fell to the ground at some point, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

Is that... enough? His voice was as soft as a sigh.

Chiyo's eyes reddened. She wiped her face and revealed the sharpness she had displayed when she was a medical ninja in her youth: You did it, child.

But this is just the beginning... The future of the ninja world needs more people like you.

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Ye's vision went black, and he collapsed heavily to the ground.

At the last moment, he vaguely felt a burning sensation in his chest—there was a pale blue mark there, left three years ago when he was stabbed by an assassin in the Daimyo's mansion in the Land of Fire, shaped like a miniature map of the ninja world.

At this moment, the mark was fading at a visible speed, like a lamp about to go out.

Chapter 580 Broken Jade Cannot Be Rounded

As the dampness from the cave, carrying the scent of burning pine resin, entered his nostrils, Bai Ye was shrouded in chaotic darkness.

His consciousness was like crumpled cloth, swirling in nothingness.

The first thing that surfaced was the sharpest fragment of memory—the rainy night when I was seven, when a small village on the border of the Land of Fire was massacred.

When his mother stuffed him into the cellar, the warmth of her palm still lingered, but the moment she turned around, a chakra blade pierced his back.

His father's ninja tool bag hit him on the head, and rusty kunai rolled to his feet, the bloodstains on them turning blackish-red in the dim light.

He heard his father's final roar drowned out by the sound of the knife chopping, and saw moonlight shining through the broken window onto his mother's wide-open eyes, her pupils reflecting his trembling little face.

Is this your reason for persisting?

A deep sound came from all directions, like rusty chains rubbing against the rock face.

Bai Ye wanted to cover her ears, but found that she had no physical form.

The illusions began to overlap: the image of the genin from Guy's team who shielded him from kunai during the Chunin Exams, with a wind blade stuck in his chest; the peasant woman who cried uncontrollably while holding her daughter who had been blown to pieces during the accidental attack in Amegakure; and the old ninja who had his legs cut off by the daimyo's private soldiers on the border of the Land of Lightning three months ago, who clutched his clothes before dying and said, "Let me see the eyes of peace."

Belief? The voice sneered; it was nothing more than the sugar coating of self-comfort for the weak.

You've torn open battlefields with your bone wings and reversed runes with your chakra flow, but can you save them all?

Bai Ye's consciousness suddenly stung.

He saw himself standing in the center of the altar, the runes on the stone slabs gnawing at his skin like living creatures.

He clearly heard Chiyo shout to stop, and Ebizo shout that his chakra was about to run out, but he still poured his last bit of power into those twisted patterns—not to become a hero, but simply because he didn't want to see more people become fragments of memories.

You can't save everyone. The voice grew closer, carrying a rotten, sweet stench: "When you were assassinating the daimyo in the Land of Fire, did you ever think of his wife and children?"

When you overthrow the tyranny in the mines of the Land of Earth, have you ever thought about the common people who depend on the mines for their livelihood?

The illusion suddenly changed.

He saw the youngest daughter of the Fire Country Daimyo kneeling before the mourning hall, her tears staining her mourning clothes with dark marks; the old foreman of the Earth Country mine holding up the ledger of the food shortage, with emaciated women and children behind him; the children of Sunagakure chasing after his shadow, only to be swallowed up by a sudden rockfall as he turned around—those vibrant little faces twisted in the dust, eventually becoming his mother's eyes before she died.

Enough! Bai Ye roared in his mind.

He didn't know where the strength came from, but a sudden burning sensation rose in his chest.

Although the pale blue ninja world map mark was dim in reality, it shone like a star in the space of consciousness.

Memories flooded back like a tidal wave: three years ago, when he was stabbed by an assassin, he saw the mark emerge from the wound as he was dying, merging into his skin as if it were alive; later, every time he was on the verge of death, the mark would heat up, giving him the strength to tear through the predicament.

What is this...? He reached out to touch the ball of light, but the moment his fingertips touched it, he was pulled into another illusion.

This time it wasn't a bloody battlefield, but a grassland full of blue flowers.

A boy dressed in coarse cloth shorts was squatting by the well, wiping his muddy hands on his tattered clothes.

His face was reflected in the well water—it was himself, at twelve years old, before he had learned to use his bone wings.

An old man with a white beard sat on the edge of the well, drawing a map of the ninja world on the ground with a twig: "Little Night, do you think these five great nations look like five pieces of broken jade?"

Broken jade cannot be pieced back together perfectly, but the human heart can.

Master... Bai Ye's consciousness trembled.

He had long thought that this memory had been burned away by the war, but it turned out that it was hidden in the imprint.

The old man was his mentor, teaching him basic ninjutsu in a small village on the border of the Land of Fire. Three months later, he was killed by passing mercenaries near a well.

As he held the old man's gradually cooling body, he awakened his bone wings for the first time and tore the entire mercenary group to pieces.

Your power does not come from hatred. The old man's voice came from your memory, completely different from the deep voice in your current consciousness. It came from the suffering you have witnessed, from your obsession with preventing that suffering from happening again.

But they said I couldn't save everyone!