Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

Chapter 581 Hero's Water

So you must save more people. The old man's image began to blur; it wasn't with a knife, nor with ninjutsu, but with your heart.

When you feel like you can't go on, think of the people you've saved—the girl you rescued from the slave market, now a healer in Amegakure; the old farmer whose land was confiscated by the daimyo, now running a new farm on the border of the Land of Earth; and so on.

The scene suddenly switched.

Byakuya saw himself carrying an injured caravan across the Land of Lightning's mountains in the snowy night. A young female healer smiled up at him as she bandaged the wounded. An old farmer handed him a bowl of hot porridge on the edge of a field, his calloused hands brushing against the back of Byakuya's hand. Further away, the children of Sunagakure chased after his bone wings. This time, there were no rockfalls, only the wind blowing through their hair.

These are all things you saved. Before the old man's voice faded away, a seed was planted in his consciousness: belief is not about perfection, but about perseverance.

Suddenly, a crack was torn open in the darkness.

Bai Ye suddenly opened his eyes and found himself lying in a cave covered with animal hides.

The campfire crackled on the right, and Granny Chiyo sat by the fire wiping her medicine bowl, her silver hair gleaming warmly in the firelight.

Ebizo squatted at the cave entrance, his back to him, stroking the hilt of his short sword. The Sunagakure clan crest on the hilt gleamed in the moonlight.

"Awake?" Chiyo's voice was weary, but her eyes shone with light. "You've been unconscious for three days."

Bai Ye tried to sit up, but a sharp pain pulled him back onto the animal hide.

He then realized that his whole body felt like it had been hit by a heavy hammer, and his chakra pool was so empty that he could hear the wind.

The mark on his chest had faded completely, leaving only a pale blue outline, like a piece of ice about to melt.

"Stone slab..." he asked in a hoarse voice, "Was the reversal successful?"

Ebizo turned around and swished his short sword back into its sheath with a click.

The Sand Village advisor, who always smiled with his eyes narrowed, was now frowning, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes like they were carved by a knife: You twisted the direction of the runes in the opposite direction, and now the ninja world's consciousness network is like a pond that has been thrown into a pebble, the ripples are still spreading.

The old man, Onoki, said that recently, people in Iwagakure, on the border of the Land of Earth, have been having the same nightmares; the situation is even more outrageous on the Raikage's side, with sentries from Kumogakure saying they saw their dead comrades wandering in the mist.

Chiyo put down the medicine bowl and walked to his side.

Her fingers rested on his wrist, and chakra seeped in like warm water: the power of the stone slab is essentially resonance. You transformed the resonance of war into reflection, but the aftershocks were too intense.

It's like you tear open a battlefield with your bone wings; although you stop the blades, the splattered blood is still falling.

Bai Ye stared at the stalactites on the cave ceiling, where water droplets were falling and forming small puddles on the ground.

He recalled the questions in his consciousness, and the people his master had told him about saving, and suddenly laughed: So I need to go and wipe the blood clean.

Your current state... Chiyo hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping herself.

"Grandma." Bai Ye grasped her hand, the warmth of her palm seeping through the calluses. "Three years ago, when I was assassinated in the Daimyo's mansion in the Land of Fire, I thought I was going to die."

Then the mark lit up, telling me that the time wasn't right yet.

Just now, in my consciousness, I saw my master. He said... his throat tightened, and he said that he had saved many people, but there were still many more who needed to be saved.

Ebizo suddenly snorted, stood up, and patted his clothes: "Alright, alright, stop making it sound like your last words."

Sister, that secret meeting place you mentioned before...

Chiyo's gaze suddenly sharpened, much like the female ninja who commanded the medical team on the battlefield back then.

She interrupted her brother and turned to Bai Ye: Some things need to be said face to face.

But before she left... she took out an engraved bronze bottle from her bosom and poured out a pill that glowed with blue light. This pill was made with the Snow Frog Tears, a secret recipe from Sunagakure, and could temporarily replenish your chakra.

Chapter 582 Using Blood as an Antidote? A Bunch of Madmen

But it can only last for three hours.

Bai Ye took the pill, tilted his head back, and swallowed it.

A cool sensation slid down his throat into his dantian, and ripples finally appeared in the pool of chakra.

He lifted the animal skin to get up, but Chiyo pressed his shoulder down: Don't rush.

The venue was deep within the Valley of the Wind; even Gaara, that child, didn't know its exact location. Her voice softened, "Inside... are people who know the origin of your mark."

Bai Ye's fingers unconsciously touched her chest.

The pale blue outline was faintly visible beneath the skin, as if responding to something.

The wind outside the cave suddenly picked up, whipping up a few withered leaves that hit the cave entrance.

Ebizo had already slung his ninja tool bag over his shoulder, and the short sword at his waist gleamed coldly: Let's go, kid.

Don't keep those old folks waiting too long—they don't have my patience.

Chiyo helped Byakuya to her feet.

His legs were still a little weak, but he had never been so clear-headed.

The moonlight outside the cave spread across the sand like scattered silver.

The distant hiss of sand scorpions could be heard, exceptionally clear in the quiet night.

"Let's go," Bai Ye said.

He gazed toward the Valley of the Wind, where the sand dunes undulated in the moonlight like the breath of the earth.

Some answers need to be revealed.

The sand dunes of the Valley of the Wind shimmered silvery-white under the moonlight, like crumpled silk.

Byakuya followed Chiyo and Ebizo, walking with uneven steps. The feeling of sand getting into the soles of his boots reminded him of the stinging sensation when he used to sneak out in the snow as a child—back then, he always loved to break the frost-covered ice shells and listen to the crisp cracking sound.

The same pain now carries a certain fatalistic weight.

We've arrived. Ebizo suddenly stopped.

Looking up at night, Bai Ye saw pale blue patterns appearing on the surface of the sand dunes, meandering and moving like living things.

Chiyo stretched out her withered fingers and pressed three times in the center of the pattern. The sand dune suddenly split open, revealing stone steps extending downwards.

A damp wind carrying the scent of earth rose up, mixed with a faint smell of blood.

Three years ago, when Gaara took over as Kazekage, I had Temari bury twelve puppets in the sandstorm. Chiyo's voice echoed in the stone path; the mechanisms of each puppet were connected to the seal here.

That child thought he knew all the secrets of the Wind Kingdom, but he was still too naive. She glanced back at Bai Ye, a sharp glint in her cloudy eyes, but the only reason I made an exception and brought you here was because of that mark...

At the end of the stone steps was a bronze door, covered with twisted incantations.

Indistinct voices came from behind the door, mixed with the crisp sound of metal clashing.

Ebizo drew his short sword and tapped the door seven times with the back of the blade. Immediately, a knocking sound came from inside.

The door hinges creaked as they turned, and the glimpse of the venue caused Bai Ye's pupils to shrink slightly.

Inside the circular stone chamber, twelve bronze lampstands stood along the wall, their flames displaying an eerie, ghostly blue hue.

Seven people sat around the obsidian round table in the center: the Fourth Raikage, A, was wrapped in a deep purple cloud-patterned cloak, his muscular arms resting on the table; the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was huddled in a tortoise-shell-like rock helmet, with only half of his wrinkled face showing; Ao from Kirigakure held a sake jug, while the Mizukage's seat was empty; Killer Bee from Kumogakure sat cross-legged, clutching a half-eaten sweet rice cake in his hand; and an empty chair sat at the head of the table, its back engraved with the Konoha symbol.

"You're late." Raikage A's voice boomed like thunder, making the lamplight flicker wildly. Is it now fashionable for the Sand Village's advisory council to have outsiders eavesdrop on Kage-level meetings?

This is Byakuya, who resolved the Blood Moon incident in Amegakure. Chiyo walked to the round table, her withered fingers tapping an empty seat. She had witnessed the methods of the Chosen Ones and it was time to hear their foolish words.

Onoki's rock helmet scraped against the ground, and his cloudy eyes turned toward the night: Blood Moon Incident?

Those Rain Village ninjas who were under the influence of genjutsu, were ultimately pierced through the brow by you with a bone blade? He suddenly laughed, the wrinkles under his rock helmet forming deep furrows. Interesting, a madman who uses his own blood as an antidote, my Land of Earth has a few like that.

When Bai Ye sat down, his palms touched the coolness of the stone table.

He noticed that each person had a palm-sized fragment of stone in front of them, with pale gold patterns on its surface, somewhat similar to the mark on his chest.

Chapter 583 They're nothing but a bunch of ambitious people.

The meeting began. Raikage A slammed his hand on the table, causing the sugar candy to fall from Killer Bee's hand. Three days ago, the heart of the Fire Country Daimyo was ripped out, and the culprit used Wind Release: Vacuum Ball—the same method used in the massacre at the border village of the Lightning Country three months ago.

The intelligence department discovered that all the victims had this... He picked up a fragment of the stone slab, a remnant of the will of the living.

So, what is Raikage's conclusion? Onoki scoffed, "To unite the Five Kage and destroy all the stone tablets?"

What else? A's pupils flashed with lightning. These broken stones could manipulate people's hearts, causing the guards of the Land of Fire to kill each other, and the villagers of the Land of Lightning to immolate themselves—

That's just treating the symptoms. Onoki interrupted him, tapping the table with his fingers beneath his helmet. "Didn't you notice?"

Each time the stone slab appears, it is in a place of divine punishment foretold by the messenger of destiny.

The blood-written note that guy left at the Fire Temple three years ago said that when the will of the living awakens, the old order will collapse, and now it has all come true. He suddenly stared at Bai Ye, and what's even more interesting is that the mark on this young friend's chest is exactly the same as the Mark of Destiny that I saw in the ancient books of Iwagakure.

The stone chamber fell silent instantly.

Kirabi's sugar cake fell to the ground with a thud, and the blue wine jug smashed on the table, splashing wine onto the stone slabs and sending up wisps of blue smoke.

Bai Ye's fingers unconsciously traced his chest, the pale blue mark flickering with each heartbeat.

He could feel the incantations carved on the stone table drilling into his body through his skin, like countless tiny snakes gnawing at his bone marrow.

"You're not fighting over the stone slab," he suddenly said.

All eyes swept over him. The Raikage feared the uncontrolled power, and the Tsuchikage feared being used as a pawn—but neither of them had hit the nail on the head. He stood up, his bone wings slowly unfurling behind him. The snow-white bone blades reflected the ghostly blue flames. Whether they were messengers of destiny or stone tablets, what they wanted was the will to unify the ninja world.

Like... He paused, recalling the emptiness in the eyes of the Fire Country's daimyo when he died, as if he had turned all living people into puppets.

A gasp of cold air filled the stone chamber.

Ai's lightning intensified, but he didn't refute it again; Onoki's rock helmet swayed slightly, as if he were thinking about something.

This kid... Qing took a swig of wine, then suddenly laughed out loud. This is interesting.

So we need to take action. Ai slammed his fist on the table, sending stone chips flying. Three days later, the Five Kage united to destroy all known stone tablet storage sites—

late.

An eerie laugh, like a rusty bellows, leaked in from the vent at the top of the stone chamber.

Everyone looked up at the same time and saw a dark shadow slide down the crack in the rock, bringing a foul stench as it landed.

It was a man in a dark green robe, his left cheek covered with black runes, and his right eye a spinning glass bead. He was the Destiny Messenger that Bai Ye had seen in Amegakure!

Do you think you're in control? The messenger of destiny raises the stone tablet fragment in his hand, and the fragment suddenly emits a dazzling golden light. Look at the living will before you—it has long been rooted in your chakra.

Bai Ye suddenly looked down and discovered that the stone slab fragments in front of him were seeping out golden threads, which crawled up the stone table to the back of his hand.

The golden threads seemed to burrow into his skin as if they were alive, and his chakra pool suddenly surged, as if someone had gripped his heart.

"Runic array!" Onoki roared.

Bai Ye then noticed that the floor tiles in the stone chamber had somehow formed a complex array, and the ghostly blue flames suddenly turned scarlet, making everyone's faces contort in horror.

Welcome to the Consciousness Space. The voice of the Destiny Messenger echoes from all directions. Here, your chakra will be infinitely amplified... and infinitely consumed.

Bai Ye's bone wings unfurled uncontrollably, while his bone blades were as soft as noodles.

He felt hands pulling at his consciousness, and the scene before him began to distort—the Raikage's lightning turned into flowing purple liquid, the Tsuchikage's rock helmet melted into brown mud, and Chiyo's face appeared to be near and far in front of him, her mouth shaped as if she were shouting to run away.

"Form hand seals!" Ai's voice pierced through the distortion, his body suddenly swelled, his muscles bulging like small mountains, and a chakra barrier enveloped everyone like a golden cocoon. "Run!" Veins bulged on his forehead, "I can hold out for half a quarter of an hour against this broken formation!"

Byakuya grabbed Chiyo's wrist, and the Bone Wings finally regained some of their strength.

He led the group towards the door, only to find that the bronze door had somehow turned into a mirror, reflecting their distorted images.

Chapter 584 The Seal of Destiny

Ebizo's short sword struck the mirror, only sending up a few sparks.

Towards the ventilation shaft! Onoki's rock helmet cracked open, revealing a full head of white hair. He raised his hand and shot out a rock pillar. I used Earth Release to clear the way!

The distortion of consciousness space became more and more intense, and Bai Ye felt his soul being torn apart.

He gritted his teeth and protected Chiyo, catching a glimpse of the cold light flashing in the Destiny Messenger's glass eyes—it wasn't an eye at all, but a fragment of a stone slab embedded in flesh and blood!

As his last shred of consciousness was about to fade away, Byakuya saw the scene outside: in the intelligence room of Sunagakure, a huge map of the ninja world suddenly lit up with a red light.

A red dot flashes deep within Iwagakure Village, marking the abandoned Forbidden Altar.

That was... before his consciousness completely sank into darkness, he heard his own hoarse murmur.

After an unknown amount of time, Bai Ye awoke on the sand.

The moonlight was still as bright as ever, and the sand dunes of the Valley of the Wind continued to undulate like breathing.

Chiyo was squatting beside him, bandaging Ebizo's arm wound; Raikage A was kneeling on the ground, his chakra barrier on his chest shattered, revealing charred skin; Onoki's rock helmet was split in two, and his white hair was stained with blood.

That guy... got away. Ai coughed up blood, but I tore a hole in his consciousness space.