Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

These fragments churned in my consciousness, eventually coalescing into a single sentence.

“I’m just an ordinary ninja.” He looked up, his eyes still misty, like obsidian soaked in morning dew. “But now I understand, the real power is not in the Star Iron Fragments, nor in the chains of destiny.” He paused, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “It’s in those… people who are willing to entrust their backs to me.”

Mei Terumi's pupils dilated slightly.

When she saw Byakuya say the word "back," her gaze swept lightly over herself, over Kakashi, and finally settled on Granny Chiyo's faded puppet emblem.

The Mizukage suddenly remembered three days ago at the port of Kirigakure, when the blood-covered boy carried the unconscious Yukino out of the waves. At that time, she asked, "Do you need help?" and he said, "No, I'm taking her to see a doctor."

Looking back now, the tone he used when he said "no need" and the calmness he showed when he said "ordinary ninja" were actually the same thing.

"So what do we do next?" Mei Terumi's voice softened a bit, her fingers loosening her cuffs, revealing the Samehada wristband on her wrist gleaming with a deep blue hue in the morning light.

Granny Chiyo's puppet strings were quickly retracted into her sleeve.

The old advisor bent down to pick up the lead box from the ground. The textured surface of the iron sheet had faded completely, like an old piece of iron worn smooth by time. "First, we need to find a safe place." She tapped the lead box with her knuckles. "The mechanisms in the underground chamber of Onikaku Castle haven't been completely destroyed yet; the remnants of the Chosen Ones might have a backup plan." Ebizo immediately nodded, reaching out to take the lead box, but Chiyo gently blocked him with her puppet strings: "You guard the exit, don't let those Sunagakure brats wander in."

Chapter 612 The Three Kingdoms Allied Forces

Just as everyone was about to set off, hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside Ghost Cry Fortress.

The sound shattered the silence of the morning mist, like a pebble thrown into a deep pool, startling several crows into fluttering up from the broken wall.

"Report——!"

A ninja wearing the uniform of the Sunagakure ANBU rushed into the ruins, his headband askew beside his ear, and his calves covered in brown mud, clearly having run all the way from a great distance.

He knelt on one knee, his chest heaving, the words forced from his throat: "The border of the Land of Fire..."

"Take your time." Kakashi stepped forward, placed his hand on the other's shoulder, and channeled chakra through his palm.

The ANBU ninja took a couple of breaths, his Adam's apple bobbing: "A coalition of forces from Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure has been discovered gathering in the Land of Rivers, on the border of the Land of Fire!"

The force numbers at least 30,000, and the vanguard has already crossed the Frostmoon River!

"What?" Ebizo's puppet bag fell to the ground with a "thud," and the tassels wrapped around his ankle.

Mei Terumi's fingertips gripped her sleeve again, this time so tightly that her knuckles turned white: "The army of Kirigakure?"

I never issued a mobilization order!

Bai Ye paused in breathing.

He recalled the corpse with a dagger stuck in its chest at the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Fire the previous night—his veiled face reflected in the Daimyo's unseeing eyes.

The rumors that various countries wanted to wage war against the country were not unfounded.

“And…” The ANBU ninja looked up, his eyes reflecting the sudden change in everyone’s expressions, and his voice lowered, “The Allied Forces’ flag… is embroidered with the same chain pattern as the Messenger of Destiny.”

On the broken wall of Ghost Cry Castle, the last crow flapped its wings and flew away.

The morning breeze brushed through everyone's hair, carrying the scent of pine from the distant mountains and forests, but it couldn't dispel the sudden chill that had settled in the air.

Bai Ye stared at Ran Chen's headband, the lock mark on his palm starting to burn again.

He heard a very faint "click" sound, like some kind of gear starting to turn.

Meanwhile, in the mountains outside Ghost Cry Fortress, a figure draped in a black cloak stood in the shadows of the trees, his fingertips tracing the golden lines on his palm.

He gazed at the sudden commotion in the ruins, his Adam's apple bobbing as he chuckled, his voice mingling with the soft rustling of pine needles falling to the ground: "The game has only just begun..."

The wind swept through his cloak, revealing the chain emblem embroidered on the inside.

Beneath the broken walls of Ghost Cry Fortress, the voice of the ANBU ninja was like a heavy hammer blow, causing the air to tremble.

When Ebizo's puppet bag fell to the ground with a "thud," the sensation of the tassel brushing against the instep made him take a half step back. His Adam's apple bobbed, but he didn't make a sound—he suddenly remembered the caravan he had seen at the village entrance three days ago. Could the armor of the Allied Forces be hidden under the gray cloths covering those carriages?

Mei Terumi's fingertips were still pinching the cuffs of her sleeves, and this time even the water sleeves were wrinkled.

She stared at the Sand Village insignia on the headband of the Anbu ninja, the words "Hidden Mist Army" ringing in her ears.

During the last meeting of the Hidden Mist's high-level officials, the Third Elder patted his chest and said, "We will never wage war against the Land of Fire." Could it be...? Her fingernails were almost digging into her palms. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Bai Ye's hand hanging by his side—the tiger's mouth of that hand was gleaming with a pale golden light.

"Let's go back to Sunagakure first." Granny Chiyo's cane slammed heavily against the rubble, sending dust scattering from the broken walls.

Her eyes, brighter than ever, swept over the crowd as the wrinkles around them deepened. “The movements of the border coalition need to be confirmed by the intelligence network. Ghost Cry Fortress is too remote; the Sand Village’s messenger crows are faster.”

Kakashi bent down to pick up Ebizo's puppet bag, and as he handed it over, his fingertips brushed against the cold wooden puppet's arm.

He noticed that the headband of the ANBU ninja was broken in half and was barely tied with a straw rope—this was a type of grass commonly used in Iwagakure, but it didn't grow on the road from the Land of Rivers to Sunagakure. "Let's go." He patted the ANBU ninja's shoulder, and as he transferred his chakra to him again, he made sure to press on the other's pressure points to ensure there were no traces of tracking techniques.

Chapter 613 The Tragedy of a Small Country

On their return journey, the five men kicked up dust with their footsteps on the sand.

Bai Ye walked at the front, the sand and gravel crushed by the soles of his boots making a soft crunching sound.

He could hear that Mei Terumi's wooden clogs were three times louder than usual behind him, Ebizo's puppet joints occasionally made a soft "click" sound, Kakashi's breathing was as even as a timer, and Granny Chiyo's cane would tap the ground every seven steps—this was her habit when she was thinking, and he remembered it very clearly.

“We need to contact other villages.” Granny Chiyo’s voice, carried by the wind and piercing through the air with grains of sand, said, “The combined forces of Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure can’t be held up by Sunagakure alone.” Her cane carved deep furrows in the sand. “That old geezer Onoki is a master at reading the winds; Raikage A is all talk and no action, and Mei Terumi…”

“I’m going to Kirigakure.” Mei Terumi interrupted her, sweeping away the sand and mist in front of her with a flick of her sleeve. “Even if the army really does mobilize, my orders as the Mizukage are more effective than the Third Elder’s private army.” As she turned her head, her earrings swayed, the sapphires reflecting a cold light in the sunlight. “But it will take time; it will take at least three days to bring back news.”

Ebizo touched the puppet in his arms, his fingertips tracing the buttons on the mechanism: "The fortifications also need to be repaired."

The quicksand traps north of the village need to be filled, and the watchtower on the south wall… He suddenly stopped, his gaze sweeping over Bai Ye's back—the figure appeared somewhat frail in the sandstorm, yet he had personally witnessed this man crush the rock pillar of Yan Yin with his bare hands last time. “Move another twenty puppet squads to guard the village entrance, that should…”

“Konoha will provide support.” Kakashi took out a Flying Thunder God kunai and ran his fingertip along the spiral pattern. “I’ll have Guy’s team bring the medical team over first. The Hyuga clan’s Byakugan can monitor chakra fluctuations within a ten-mile radius.” He looked up at the sky, where several crows were flying over the clouds. “At most two days, Lady Tsunade’s orders will reach you.”

When the earthen-yellow walls of Sunagakure came into view, Byakuya's palm suddenly burned.

He looked down at the lock pattern, which was rising and falling with his heartbeat, as if something alive was crawling under his skin.

The last time he felt this way was at the Daimyo's mansion in the Land of Fire. When he lifted the deceased's clothes, he found the same chain tattooed on his chest—at the time he thought it was a coincidence, but now he realized...

"We've arrived." Granny Chiyo tapped her cane on the stone lion at the village entrance, causing the copper bead in the lion's mouth to roll out with a "glug".

The guard hurriedly bent down to pick it up, only to see several adults walking quickly towards the conference room without even removing their chakra headbands.

The tatami mats in the meeting room still carried the warmth of last night, and half a dried chrysanthemum floated in the teacup on the table.

As soon as Mei Terumi sat down, she tore off the silver thread on her water sleeve and pulled out a secret message tube hidden inside: "This is an emergency communication talisman from Kirigakure, sealed with my blood." She bit her fingertip and pressed it to the mouth of the tube. The moment the blood seeped into the pattern, the bamboo tube snapped open. "The messenger is to depart now, riding the fastest desert lizard."

Kakashi leaned against the windowsill, sunlight filtering through his headband and casting shadows on his face. "I need to borrow the crows from Sunagakure." He took a scroll from his ninja tool pouch. "The Flying Thunder God Mark has already been placed in the Hokage's office. The crows can send the message when they arrive."

Byakuya stood in front of the map, pointing his finger at the location of the River Country.

There were three circles in red pen, marked with the words "Iwagakure," "Kumokakure," and "Kirikakure." "The chain pattern on the Allied Forces' banner..." He turned to Granny Chiyo, "You said that in the legend of the Messenger of Destiny, chains are the mark of sealed objects."

Chiyo pulled a yellowed ancient book from her bosom, its pages stained with tea. "I looked it up in 'Studies on Ancient Battlefield Ruins.' There was a small country called 'Suoguo' during the Warring States period, and their emblem was a chain." She turned to a page with a tattered mural. "Later, Shuoguo was destroyed by the Five Kage Alliance, supposedly because they used living people to refine cursed stone tablets..." Her finger paused at the corner of the mural. "These ores have the exact same patterns as those on the stone tablets."

"Report--!".

Chapter 614 We'll reach the village entrance in three days!

"Report--!"

The moment the wooden door was smashed open, the Sand Village Jonin's headband flew past the door frame.

As he knelt on the ground, his knees crushed two newly sprouted blades of grass: "The vanguard of the Allied Forces has crossed the Frostmoon River!"

The scouts said...they brought a Rock Release scroll that could break the Sand Village's quicksand formation, and they'd be at the village entrance in three days...three days!

One of Ebizo's puppet strings snapped with a "snap," and he stood up abruptly. The puppet's arm slammed onto the table, causing the teacup to jump and shatter.

Mei Terumi's hand rested on the hilt of her Water Blade at her waist, her knuckles white as snow; Kakashi's Flying Thunder God Kunai had somehow appeared in his palm, its spiral pattern gleaming slightly; when Granny Chiyo closed the ancient book, her fingernails left crescent-shaped marks on the pages.

Bai Ye walked into the middle of the crowd.

He could hear his own heartbeat, pounding against his ribs like a war drum.

The unseeing eyes of the Fire Country's daimyo suddenly appeared before him, and chain-like patterns crawled from his palm to his wrist, then spread along the veins to his arm. "Three days," he said, his voice like sandpaper scraping against iron, "enough for us to set up three lines of defense."

“That cursed stone tablet…” Ebizo stared at Baiye’s wrist, “If the allied forces are after…”

"Whatever they want," Bai Ye interrupted him, the burning pain from the lock marks making him squint. "Anyone who dares to cross the Sand Village's defenses will leave behind a corpse."

Mei Terumi suddenly laughed, the clear sound of her water blade being drawn mingling with her laughter: "It's been a long time since I've seen such an arrogant kid." She flicked her water sleeves, the sapphire in her hair flashing coldly, "Even if Kirigakure's reinforcements don't arrive in time, I can still cut down five thousand people."

Kakashi tucked the kunai back into his waistband, a faint, almost imperceptible smile appearing on his lips: "The copy ninja of Konoha won't let the sands of Sunagakure fly alone."

Ebizo bent down to pick up the broken puppet string, his fingertips quickly forming hand seals: "Twenty puppet squads, plus my salamander puppets... that's enough to give them a run for their money."

Granny Chiyo touched the cover of the ancient book, her gaze sweeping over Byakuya's wrist: "Yukino and I are going to the secret room." As she stood up, her cane tapped crisply on the tatami mat. "The use of the ore... I'll have to check the 'Forbidden Technique Fragments' again."

As dusk settled into the conference room, everyone gradually dispersed.

Mei Terumi's flowing sleeves swept across the lantern at the doorway, causing the flame to flicker and then stabilize; Kakashi's Flying Thunder God Kunai sliced ​​through the air, leaving a pale blue afterimage; Ebizo walked out carrying a puppet bag, the puppet's wooden fingers still stained with tea.

Byakuya stood by the window, watching Granny Chiyo and Yukino's figures disappear at the end of the corridor.

As the door to the secret room creaked shut, he heard the sound of pages turning inside, mixed with Yukino's soft exclamation: "Grandma, the annotations on this page... are they the handwriting of the First Kazekage?"

The wind whipped up sand that lashed against the window paper, and the burning pain from the lock's creases suddenly intensified.

Byakuya gazed at the darkening horizon outside Sunagakure, where the Allied Forces' flags fluttered in the wind, much like the blood mist outside the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Fire.

He touched the short sword at his waist; the chain pattern on the scabbard gleamed coldly in the twilight.

The game has just begun.

As dusk settled over the rammed earth walls of Sunagakure, the sandalwood scent mixed with the musty smell of the secret room wafted into Yukino's nostrils.

She knelt opposite Granny Chiyo, the tatami mat beneath her knees creaking softly, her gaze following the old woman's wrinkled fingers as they traced the yellowed pages of a book.

“Here.” Chiyo’s fingernails paused on a page of the Forbidden Technique Fragment, the cinnabar runes imprinted on it glowing dark red under the oil lamp. “The First Kazekage’s annotation says that the resonance of the Blood Crystal ore requires the new moon phase and the star position to be in the Ghost Constellation—”

“Grandma!” Yukino’s fingertips touched the open “Study of Astrology” beside her, and the curled pages trembled. “Today at three-quarters past midnight, the Ghost Constellation is passing through the zenith!” The silver chain around her neck swayed. It was a fragment of the star chart that her father had given her before his death, and it was now burning hot against her collarbone.

Chapter 615 Hanzo the Salamander Puppet!

Chiyo tapped her cane twice on the bluestone slab, causing the candlelight to flicker.

The old woman lifted her sleeve, revealing a spiral pattern on her wrist identical to the one on the cover of an ancient book—the mark of successive Sunagakure advisors. "The First Hokage used this method to suppress a rampaging Tailed Beast," she said, her voice like sandpaper scraping against a shard of pottery, "but it requires the blood of a living person as a catalyst."

Yukino's breath hitched suddenly.

The sound of wind whipping up sand came from outside the window, mixed with the shouts of Ebizo in the distance as he arranged the puppet troupe.

She recalled the chain-like markings spreading across Bai Ye's wrist three days ago when she was sorting through old things in the library—the same markings as the curse on the ore, as if they had been carved by the same knife.

"I'll go get the blood crystal." Chiyo helped Yukino up by the shoulder, the tip of her cane leaving a white mark on the ground.

Suddenly, the floor tiles of the secret room made a soft "click" sound. Yukino looked down and saw a dark red liquid seeping from the cracks in the stone, like crushed pomegranate juice.

At the same moment, on the watchtower north of the village, Kakashi's Flying Thunder God Kunai floated in his palm.

Chakra flowed along the spiral pattern, and an image of the Hokage's office in Konoha appeared on the surface of the kunai: Hiruzen Sarutobi's white beard was lifted by the wind, and the banner of the Will of Fire behind him fluttered in the wind.

“The Sand Village’s defenses need at least two thousand troops.” Kakashi’s thumb rubbed the handle of his kunai, a fragment of Obito’s headband. “But Byakuya said three days would be enough.”

"The Konoha Jonin squad has set off." The Hokage's voice was mixed with static like electricity. "But..." His gaze suddenly froze, and a scene suddenly appeared in the image—in the forest on the border of the Land of Fire, the Allied Forces' flags swept over the treetops like a blood-red tide.

Kakashi's pupils contracted slightly.

He tucked the kunai back into his waistband, gathered chakra in his feet, and with a few leaps, he arrived at the training ground south of the village.

Mei Terumi stood in the middle of the dried-up riverbed, her azure chakra condensing into a blade at her fingertips. A water mirror floated in front of her, reflecting the Coral Palace of Kirigakure.

“I said this during the Five Kage Summit.” Mei Terumi’s water blade cleaved through a boulder, sending shards flying and hitting her headband. “The Allied Forces don’t want the Land of Fire, they want the Blood Crystal mine.” The voice of the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, came from the water mirror: “The Kirigakure navy has crossed the Sea of ​​Demons and will arrive in three days.”

"Three days?" Mei Terumi's water blade suddenly grew three feet long, shattering the water mirror. "Enough for the Allied Forces to raze Sunagakure three times!" She flicked the sapphire in her hair, water droplets splashing onto Kakashi's headband. "Go tell Ebizo to retreat the puppet squad behind the sand dunes at the village entrance. I'll use water transformation to cover them."

As Kakashi nodded, he heard a crisp sound of wood breaking coming from the east.

He turned his head and saw Ebizo standing in front of the newly erected barricades, the puppet strings in his hand gleaming with a metallic sheen.

The ninjas of the 20th Puppet Squad squatted in the sand, applying lubricant to the joints of the wooden puppets—a special formula that could corrode chakra.

“The venom sacs of the salamander puppet have been checked three times.” Ebizo’s fingers flew between the puppet strings, the thickest one suddenly snapping, pulling the giant puppet in the distance to raise its forepaw. “Every trap has an explosive tag, the trigger wire connected to the alarm bell at the village entrance.” He glanced at Kakashi, a sly smile playing on his lips. “But you’d better remind Byakuya that those kids who infiltrated behind enemy lines… I picked the most troublesome ones.”

Chapter 616 Not Fear, But Excitement

As the wind whipped sand against Bai Ye's face, he was kneeling in an open space outside the village.

Chain lines crawled from the palm to the forearm, like being branded by a red-hot iron, every inch of skin felt burning hot.

He gazed at the dark red horizon—the Allied flags were closer than yesterday, like a pack of wild beasts with gaping jaws.