Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

Below, Mei Terumi's ice spear had pierced through the sand and mist, Kakashi's fire release was creating a mushroom cloud in the east, Ebizo's puppet strings were entangled with enemy soldiers attempting a sneak attack, and Chiyo's telescope was always locked on the right hand of the black-cloaked figure—there, a thinner curse mark was crawling out from the cuff, like a snake spitting its tongue.

The blood crystal chains exploded in mid-air, and red and silver light tangled together.

Before Bai Ye's consciousness sank into darkness, the last thing he saw was the curse mark on the inside of the black cloak's right wrist—which bore a striking resemblance to the chain mark on his neck.

"So... you also bear the mark of a mineral spirit..."

In the last moment before his consciousness faded, he heard his own voice, mixed with the roar of the ore vein about to collapse.

The screams of the figure in the black cloak were gradually swallowed by the sand as the vortex trembled violently.

Baiye's consciousness floated in the darkness, the chain pattern on his throat feeling as if it were being licked repeatedly by tongues of fire.

He could hear his own rapid breathing, mixed with the buzzing sound of the mine vein before it collapsed—the sound came from the sand under his feet, crawling up his ankles and into his bones.

"Does it hurt?" a hoarse voice asked from the depths of my consciousness.

He suddenly opened his eyes, and before him was a swirling sandstorm. The figure in the black cloak was still twisting in the center of the vortex, and black blood was seeping from the cursed mark on his right wrist.

It turned out that the "darkness" he had just experienced was simply his tightly closed eyelids.

Cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck and into his collar. He bit his tongue to try and clear his head.

Three months ago, the scene in the mine suddenly flashed back: the old miner's trembling fingers touched the birthmark on his neck and said, "This is the mark of the mine spirit, born with a life connected to the mine."

The birthmark was now burning his skin red, like an invisible thread, one end tied to his flesh and blood, the other plunged into the churning blood crystal vein underground.

"The root of the ore vein lies deep within the caster's incantation..." Yukino's words suddenly became clear.

He stared at the distorted lines on the right side of the black cloak's face—they bore a striking resemblance to his own chain-like markings.

So the so-called "same root" means that the two of them share the mark of the mineral spirit.

The unspoken part of the old miner's statement may be hidden in the blood crystals deep within the mine, or within this self-proclaimed "messenger of destiny."

"I know what to do." Bai Ye's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing. He raised his hand to his forehead, and the light leaking through his fingers made his pupils contract slightly. "But I need everyone's cooperation."

Before he could finish speaking, Chiyo's cane slammed heavily against the shield formation at his feet.

The old woman's pupils shrank to pinpoints, but her wrinkled hands were as steady as iron: "Ebizo, take twenty Jonin to guard the village entrance!"

Those spies hidden in the sandstorm have been watching us for three days. Don't wait until they sneak into the barrier to cry for help!

Ebizo's puppet strings snapped taut, the bronze puppet's eyes darted around, and he pulled off the veil from his face and tied it to his wrist: "Don't worry, I'll have Kankuro bury the crow puppet in the sand pile at the village entrance—" Before he could finish speaking, he ducked and rushed into the sandstorm, leaving only the soft sound of the puppet's joints colliding.

"Mizukage-sama!" As Byakuya turned, Mei Terumi's ice blade rose from her palm, its cold light making the rouge at the corner of her eyes appear even more vibrant. "The flank?" She raised an eyebrow, twirling the ice spear between her fingers. "Perfect for showing the Kirigakure kids how Fire Release and Water Release work together." Before she finished speaking, she spun around and swung her arm, sending a curtain of icy blue water, wrapped with shards of ice, exploding towards the sandstorm on the left, freezing the Iwagakure ninja who was charging towards her, causing them to stumble and fall into an ice crevice.

Kakashi's Sharingan lit up on the other side, and the three tomoe slowly rotated.

He drew his kunai and slashed his palm, forming hand seals with lightning speed: "Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!" Crimson waves of fire, carrying the smell of burning, rushed toward the edge of the whirlpool, catching the enemy soldiers who were forced back by the water curtain.

The firelight illuminated half of his face, and his eyes, hidden beneath his headband, curved into a smile—this was his usual fighting rhythm, using wide-range ninjutsu to disrupt the opponent's formation.

"Here you go." Yukino's voice suddenly came from beside her.

Bai Ye turned his head and saw that she was holding half a piece of blood crystal ore in her arms, and her fingertips were still stained with ink from the ancient book.

The little girl's hair tie came undone, and a few strands of hair clung to her sweaty forehead: "The ancient books say... it requires the blood crystal at the core of the ore vein to activate the power of the same root." She stuffed the ore into Bai Ye's hand, its temperature as cold as if it had just been taken out of an ice cellar, "This is the last piece, in the sandproof cabinet on the bottom floor of the library."

The moment Bai Ye's fingers touched the blood crystal, the chain pattern suddenly burned intensely.

He groaned, and patterns identical to the birthmark on his neck immediately appeared on the surface of the blood crystal, like living snakes slithering up his arm and towards his heart. "Form the hand seal!" Chiyo's voice pierced through the sand and mist, "According to the sealing meridian seal in the 'Forbidden Techniques Manual,' I'll count to three—"

Chapter 621 Like the Eye of the Devil

"one!"

Bai Ye gritted his teeth and raised his hands, the blood crystals burning hot in his palms.

He could feel the power of the mineral vein surging into his body along the chain pattern, like countless small snakes swimming in his blood vessels.

"two!"

Suddenly, cracks appeared in Mei Terumi's water curtain, and the black-cloaked figure's shrill laughter pierced through the ice wall: "Foolish!"

"You think... Ah!" The second half of the sentence was shattered into pieces by Kakashi's Lightning Blade, blue electricity grazed his right shoulder and exploded, the smell of burnt blood spreading everywhere.

"three!".

Chiyo slammed her cane heavily on the ground.

Bai Ye suddenly clasped his hands together, and the blood crystal exploded into red powder in his palms.

Chain patterns instantly covered his entire chest, emitting a dark red glow beneath his skin.

He could clearly sense that the wildly spinning energy vortex underground was being pulled toward him by this shared force.

The red light of the vortex began to sway, like a wild beast being choked.

A bloody gash suddenly appeared on the right side of the black-cloaked figure's face, and the cursed runes twisted into a bizarre spiral: "Impossible!"

The stone tablet said...that he should have been swallowed by the mine long ago! He staggered backward, but the curse marks on his right wrist grew more and more ferocious, and even resonated with the chain marks on Bai Ye's chest.

"Stone slab?" Bai Ye's voice was tinged with blood—he had bitten his lip until it bled.

But he ignored the pain, staring at the shrinking vortex, his heart pounding so hard he felt like it was about to snap.

Just hold on for three more seconds, just...

"boom!"

The ground suddenly shook violently.

Bai Ye staggered and knelt on the shield array, blood crystal powder flying everywhere from the shockwave.

When he looked up, the figure in the black cloak had been swallowed by a new red light—a light that was brighter and more violent than before, like the eye of a demon emerging from the ground.

"The game has only just begun..." A hoarse voice came from the center of the vortex, sharp and grating like metal scraping, "You think... you can stop destiny?"

Mei Terumi's water curtain shattered into ice shards with a "crack." She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and the ice spear re-condensed in her palm, her knuckles turning white from the force.

Kakashi's Sharingan spun even faster as he pulled off his headband to wipe his sweat: "The chakra fluctuation... is three times stronger than before."

Ebizo's puppet strings suddenly snapped. He cursed something, drew a kunai from his waist, and rushed to the front line.

Chiyo's telescope fell onto the shield array. The veins on her hand gripping her cane bulged as she stared at the expanding vortex. Her throat moved, but no sound came out.

Bai Ye knelt on the ground, the warmth of the blood crystal still lingering in his palm.

He could feel the chain patterns burning hotter than ever before—the vein was responding to his call, and also warning him that if he took another step forward, he might be torn apart by this force.

But when he raised his head, his gaze swept over Mei Terumi's blood-stained ice spear, over Kakashi's taut jaw under his headband, over Yukino's trembling hand clutching the ancient book, and over the fire in Granny Chiyo's eyes that was about to go out but then reignited.

“No matter the cost,” he said softly, his voice swallowed by the roar of the mine.

But his fingers dug deep into the sand, and the blood seeping from between his fingers dripped onto the chain pattern, as if setting the dark red lines on fire.

The black-cloaked figure continued to shriek, and a new energy vortex was expanding at a visible speed.

Bai Ye slowly stood up, the chain pattern on his throat had spread to his collarbone, gleaming eerily in the sunlight.

He gripped the short knife tightly, and the chain pattern on the blade lit up, forming an invisible bridge with the underground mine vein.

This time, he will not let anyone be devoured.

Chapter 622 Drawing Power from the Mineral Vein

The roar of the mine made my eardrums ache. Bai Ye knelt on the shield array, the chain patterns on his collarbone were almost transparent red.

He could hear his own heart pounding, each beat pounding against the taut string in his chest—the words "The game has only just begun" from before the black cloak disappeared were still echoing in his mind. But when his gaze swept over Mei Terumi's blood-stained ice spear tip, over the cold sweat seeping from under Kakashi's headband, over Yukino's white knuckles as she gripped the ancient book, that string suddenly snapped with a "clang," breaking into the sharpest blade.

"No matter the cost." He repeated, biting his bleeding lip, his voice ripped apart by the vibrations of the mine.

His left hand dug deep into the sand, and drops of blood seeped from between his fingers onto the chain pattern. The dark red lines immediately looked as if they had been doused with hot oil, climbing up his arm to his elbow.

It hurt, it hurt like hell, but he smiled instead—the pain meant the ore vein was responding, that he could still grasp that glimmer of hope.

"Granny Chiyo!" He suddenly looked up, the chain pattern now reaching below his Adam's apple, gleaming eerily in the sunlight. "Have everyone retreat to the edge of the shield formation!"

Chiyo's binoculars had long since fallen to her feet, and the veins on her hand gripping her cane were bulging, but she suddenly looked up when she heard those words.

The old woman, who always squinted and said, "I've lived for so many years," now had her clouded eyes pierced by a sharp light: "You want to draw upon the power of the mineral vein?"

"Yes." Bai Ye gripped the short sword so tightly it was burning hot, and the chain pattern on the blade lit up. "The resonance before was the key, now..." He paused, the chain pattern rising and falling with his Adam's apple, "Now we need a living sacrifice."

"Nonsense!" Ebizo's puppet strings suddenly snapped. He cursed and pulled out a kunai from his waist, but stopped abruptly after taking two steps.

The Sand Village advisor, who always loved to scheme, was now covered in sweat. "Are you crazy?"

The power of mineral veins can crush a person into dust!

"But it can crush the vortex." Bai Ye stood up, the chain patterns already spreading to his right arm. He could clearly feel something pushing upwards from underground, like countless hands gripping his bones and pulling him deeper. "You all hold the shield formation, wait for me to finish the hand seals—"

"Ebizo!" Chiyo suddenly struck the shield array heavily with her cane, the crisp sound drowning out the roar of the mine.

She turned to her old partner, who was still in a daze, her eyes cold and unyielding. “Take twenty Jonin to guard the back entrance of the village. You know better than me how to deal with those little bastards who sneaked in during the chaos.”

Ebizo's kunai tip sparked as it struck the ground.

He stared at the chain pattern on Bai Ye's arm for three seconds, then suddenly grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth: "Alright, old woman." He waved to the ANBU beside him, his knuckles cracking as the puppet strings rewound around his fingers. "You little brats, come with grandpa to teach those blind fools a lesson." Before he finished speaking, he and his squad had already disappeared into the dust.

"Mei Terumi!" Byakuya's voice suddenly rose, chain patterns already creeping up the back of his neck. "Press the water curtain to the left!"

Just as the ice spear hidden in the mist and water was halfway solidified, she heard the command and her right wrist suddenly twitched.

The chakra that was about to solidify into ice cones suddenly exploded, weaving a pale blue water curtain in the air to the left.

The water curtain, barely formed, was distorted by the whirlpool, but it blocked the three poisoned kunai that shot from the dark corner. "Thanks." She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and as the ice spear condensed again in her palm, her fingertips turned bluish-white from chakra overload. "But next time, let me know in advance."

Kakashi's Sharingan spun even faster.

He knelt on one knee, his left hand pressing against the ground to sense the flow of chakra, while his right hand's Lightning Blade crackled: "The core of the vortex is ten meters underground, chakra fluctuations..." He suddenly frowned, "...searching for the resonance point of Byakuya's chain pattern."

Chapter 623 Man Will Conquer Nature

"So I need to be distracted." Bai Ye's hand seals became faster and faster, and with each seal, the chain pattern extended a little further towards his fingertips.

He could feel the power of the mineral vein, like molten lava, surging and crashing through his veins. "Yukino!"

The girl, who was flipping through an ancient book, suddenly looked up.

Her hair tie had long since come undone, and a few strands of hair clung to her sweaty forehead. She was still clutching a half-finished copy of "The Record of Ancient Seals" in her arms: "Here!"

Do you need blood crystal powder?

still..."

"No need." Bai Ye's thumb pressed on the hilt of the short sword, the chain pattern just reaching his fingertip. "Give me the amber from your neck."

Yukino was startled, then hurriedly touched her neck.

Inside the amber she had worn since childhood was sealed half a fossilized butterfly wing. "This... was left to me by my mother." Her fingertips trembled, but she still took it off and handed it over. "Can... can it help you?"

"Yes." Bai Ye took the amber and could feel the faint natural energy dormant inside.

He pressed the amber against the blade of the short knife, and the chain pattern instantly seemed to come alive, drilling into the amber. The dark red patterns intertwined with the golden butterfly wings inside the amber. "This is the fuse."

The roar of the mine suddenly changed.

Bai Ye's pupils contracted sharply—the red light at the center of the vortex began to distort, and the black-cloaked man's hoarse laughter seeped out again: "Useless... Fate cannot be defied!"

"Then let fate see what it means for man to conquer nature." Bai Ye shouted, and his short sword plunged into the shield formation.

The chain pattern spread wildly along the blade, covering the entire shield array in the blink of an eye, and even the ground glowed with a dark red light.

He could feel the power of the mineral vein surging into the dagger along the chain pattern, like thousands of fiery snakes writhing wildly within his body. The pain made the veins on his forehead bulge, but he gritted his teeth, staring at the gradually shrinking vortex, and recited the sealing incantation word by word: "Nine-linked Earth Lock, seal!"

"Crack!"

A crisp sound like shattering glass came from the center of the vortex.

The red light instantly shrank into a small dot, and the figure in the black cloak was thrown out, crashing heavily into the edge of the shield array.

His runes had all cracked open, like ripped rags, and black blood kept gushing from his mouth: "Impossible... The stone tablet clearly said..."

“The stone tablet speaks of a dead end.” Bai Ye pulled off his headband and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. The chain marks were slowly fading, but his hands were still trembling. “But the living can write new scripts.”

As Mei Terumi pressed her ice spear against the black-cloaked man's throat, he finally breathed his last.

The battlefield suddenly fell silent, with only the aftershocks of the mine still gently shaking the ground.

Yukino slumped onto the ancient book, burying her face in her knees; Kakashi leaned against the shield barrier, his Sharingan slowly closing; Granny Chiyo walked over, the tip of her cane tapping on the ground with a "thud".