Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

Bai Ye's vision went black, and when he opened his eyes again, the entire throne had enveloped him and sunk into the sand.

In the last moment before his consciousness faded, he saw the masked figures made up of puppets raise their hands, and the chakra at their fingertips and the golden light in Gaara's eyes connected in the blood cloud to form a scarlet chain.

As the golden quicksand enveloped the white night and plunged into darkness, he heard his own bones groan as they were being crushed.

The suffocating sensation of sand getting into his nasal cavity was more distinct than the pain—this was not an ordinary escape technique, but more like some living thing was devouring his body.

Just as consciousness was about to dissipate, the fusion emblem on the back of the neck suddenly erupted, scalding as if doused with boiling oil, instead twisting the chaotic thoughts into a thin thread.

"cough..."

Bai Ye coughed up a mouthful of gold dust, his knees slamming heavily onto the ground.

The darkness before him was being stripped away, and golden sand surged outwards like receding tides, revealing a figure curled up in the center—himself?

No, the skin of that body was oozing fine golden spots, exactly like the curse mark on the back of Gaara's neck.

Further away, the outline of the puppet horde was fading from its blurry shadows, and the vortex mask cracked open with spiderweb-like patterns, revealing half a pale face.

“Obito…” Byakuya’s voice was hoarse.

He recognized the Sharingan's markings; the three tomoe were slowly rotating. "How long have you been hiding inside the puppet?"

"From the day the First Hokage sealed the contract with Hashirama cells," Obito's voice was laced with a metallic hum, and the Hashirama cell buds at the puppet's joints grew wildly into vines, wrapping around his waist, "You think Granny Chiyo could really sever the connection?

Chapter 675 A Reminder Across Time

Her golden sands already bore a tracking curse mark planted by Ban.

Before the words were finished, a reddish-brown sandstorm suddenly erupted from the ground.

Rasa's phantom was torn in two. The first half, wrapped in sand grains of the Grave Guardian Seal, shot towards Byakuya like sharp arrows, while the second half condensed into a giant sand hand, supporting Gaara as he fell.

Golden-red blood vessels cracked around the Fourth Kazekage's eyes, and tiny particles of soul light floated within his chakra: "Use our souls... to sever the cycle of reincarnation!"

"Lord Rasa!" Byakuya's pupils shrank suddenly.

He saw the faces of the Kazekage of past generations rising from the grains of sand—the Third Hokage's headband, the Second Hokage's ninja sword, and the First Hokage's Shukaku crest—it turned out that the so-called "grave guardian seal" was actually a soul sealing technique.

Rasa's phantom image is fading, each grain of sand stripping away his chakra. "Are you crazy?"

This will cause Sunagakure to lose all its heritage!

"It's better than letting Madara's Rinnegan devour the entire ninja world!" Rasa's roar shook the crystal shards falling from the ruins. "What Chiyo concealed back then was that the contract between the First Hokage and Madara was not a reconciliation at all, but rather a lock made of the souls of the past Kage, sealing the power of the Rinnegan within the throne!"

"And you and Gaara..." His voice suddenly choked, and his sand hand gently stroked Gaara's blood-stained face, "It's the key."

"enough."

Obito flicked a black rod from his fingertip, instantly piercing through Rasa's phantom.

The moment the sand exploded, Byakuya saw Chiyo's afterimage rise from the dust.

Her long, golden hair no longer faded; instead, it shone brighter than the sun. Countless puppet threads shot out from her sleeves, piercing the golden sand patterns at the bottom of the throne like fine needles: "This is the last thing I can do for Sunagakure."

Two ancient echoes suddenly came from the depths of the underground palace.

One voice, gentle as spring water, said: "True eternity is not about making the Uchiha or Senju immortal." The other, hoarse as a knife, said: "It's about making all the fools obsessed with bloodlines become footnotes in history."

Bai Ye suddenly looked up.

The golden sand on the throne was spinning wildly, creating a hurricane that threw him to the ground.

When the sandstorm subsided, seven crystal coffins stood in the center of the open space.

Each coffin lid is engraved with the dual crests of the Kazekage and Hokage. Inside the transparent coffin walls, the First Hokage's smile, Madara's crimson Sharingan, and the headbands of the Kazekage of each generation... all have their eyes closed, as if they are asleep.

"So... this is the truth about the Eternal Throne." Bai Ye propped himself up on his knees, the bronze pendant dangling in front of his chest.

He then discovered that the particles of light from the souls sacrificed by Luo Sha were drilling into the crystal coffin along its patterns, condensing into pale golden soul fire inside.

Meanwhile, in the distant sky above Sunagakure, a new puppet army was being reorganized—this time it wasn't the phantom of the First Hokage, but rather the image of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha standing side by side, their chakra pressing down like dark clouds, even staining the blood clouds a purplish-black.

"white night!"

Mei Terumi's shout came from the water mirror.

Byakuya turned his head and saw that the Mizukage's chakra shield was enveloping Gaara.

The child's empty crimson eyes had faded, and he was grasping the fingertips of the Sand Hand in a daze.

Further away, Asuma's chakra blade was slashing at Obito's puppet leg. Although each slash caused his hands to crack, the ferocity in his eyes was brighter than the blade's flash.

"Your pendant." Mei Terumi's water mirror suddenly reflected the inside of the bronze pendant. "Look inside!"

Bai Ye reached for the pendant, his fingertip touching a newly carved indentation.

In the instant it flipped, the blood-red characters seemed to seep out of the metal like they were alive: "Ninja, always live in the present." The strokes of the characters had a familiar sharpness, like...like what Granny Chiyo had carved with her puppet needles.

Chapter 676 Living in the Moment

A burning sensation suddenly came from the back of my neck.

Bai Ye's fingers froze on the pendant.

The fusion emblem was climbing up the collarbone, and the blood vessels under the skin bulged like green worms, each one pulsating, as if echoing the soul fire in the crystal coffin.

He heard Obito's low laughter pierce the wind, saw the chakra blades raised by the new puppet army, and saw Gaara reaching out from Mei Terumi's protective shield, the golden sand gathered in his palm shimmering in the sunlight—pure sand that only the Kazekage who has complete control over Shukaku can condense.

"Live in the moment..." Bai Ye stared down at the blood-red words, his Adam's apple bobbing.

He could feel the two forces within his body no longer tearing each other apart, but instead flowing slowly towards his heart along the veins of the fusion emblem.

The clicking sound of puppet joints turning came from afar. Obito's Sharingan shone brightly in the shadows, but Byakuya suddenly laughed, his fingers lightly tracing the blood-red words, "Then I'll destroy your Rinnegan first."

The burning pain in the back of my neck suddenly intensified, as if a knife was slicing upwards along my spine.

A flash of gold and red light appeared in Bai Ye's pupils. He released the pendant, letting it hang in front of his chest and sway.

Above the blood-red lettering on the inside of the pendant, a very shallow crack was spreading at a visible speed—that was the shape of the fusion emblem protruding under the skin.

The blood-red characters on the bronze pendant seeped warmly from his fingertips, and the burning pain in Bai Ye's neck suddenly turned into sharp thorns, shooting straight up his spine to the top of his head.

He staggered half a step, and when his palm pressed against the stone wall, he could clearly feel the raised patterns—the fusion emblems surging under his skin, like living things gnawing at his bones.

"Twin offerings are used to complete the ritual."

A hoarse roar tore through the air.

Looking up, Bai Ye saw the puppet army that had been floating in the air twisting and reassembling: the Wood Release phantom of the First Hokage overlapped with Uchiha Madara's Susanoo, and the bronze thrones held by the two suddenly burst out with dazzling golden light. The golden sand in the air was dyed blood red and condensed into crooked runes, each stroke dripping with liquid resentment.

"Dodge!" The old man's strength gripped his wrist.

Chiyo's afterimage appeared beside him at some unknown time. Her fingertips pierced through Byakuya's sleeve, but brought with them a chilling wind—the surging of the chakra left behind by her soul.

Crimson runes were reflected in the white-haired old woman's pupils. Her withered fingers pointed to a hidden door in the corner of the underground palace. "The throne requires the chakra resonance of a twin host, but you must first find..."

"boom!"

A deafening explosion erupted overhead.

Byakuya was pulled back by Chiyo, and when he looked up, he saw a golden sand pillar piercing through the chest of the first phantom.

The sand grains solidified into chains in the air, shredding the broken puppet fragments into dust, while in the center of the sand pillar, Luo Sha's phantom emerged, stepping on the golden sand.

The Fourth Kazekage's eyes were bruised and dark, the result of the pain left from his sacrifice, but a wild smile curled at the corner of his mouth: "My Sunagakure is none of your business, puppets!"

"Look at the bottom of the throne!" Chiyo's voice suddenly became sharp.

Bai Ye followed her trembling fingertips and saw seven thumb-sized crystal shards shimmering with runes on the base of the bronze throne.

Each crystal contained a blurry human figure—the Third Tsuchikage's rock helmet, the Fourth Raikage's arm armor, and even a young Tsunade. Their mouths were all repeating the same sentence, but they were completely drowned out by the roar of the runes.

The burning pain in the back of my neck suddenly turned into a burning sensation.

Thin beads of blood appeared on Bai Ye's skin where the emblem had been fused. He could feel two forces surging along his blood vessels toward his heart, like two snakes entwining and shedding their skin.

The blood-red words "Ninja, always live in the present" on the inside of the pendant suddenly became hot, burning a red mark on his collarbone—it was carved by Granny Chiyo's puppet needles. Before she exhausted her chakra to save Gaara, she had also used this force to carve "Live on" on the back of his hand.

Chapter 677 Dying in the Same Place

"Use the First Hokage's Wood Release, but first cut..." Chiyo's afterimage suddenly blurred, her fingertips almost touching the Fusion Emblem on Byakuya's back, but her voice was interrupted by the overwhelming sound of metal clashing.

Gear rain.

Hundreds and thousands of bronze gears fell from the blood-red clouds, each one engraved with the patterns of the Rinnegan.

The phantoms of the First Hokage and Madara were shredded into pieces, and even Rasa's gold dust was slashed open with countless wounds by the gears.

Bai Ye raised his hand to shield his eyes, and a gear flew past his ear, cutting his cheek. In the instant, he saw Obito's Sharingan totem engraved on the inside of the gear—those puppets were never the remnants of the First Hokage, but merely marionettes controlled by Obito using his Rinnegan!

"Bai Ye-kun, your expression is really interesting." A familiar, hoarse voice, laced with malice, entered his ears.

The rain of gears suddenly stopped, and the tips of all the metal pieces pointed towards the white night. In the center of the gears, Obito's half-body was squeezed out of the void.

His right eye was a rotating Sharingan, and the hollow of his left eye glowed with a ghostly blue light. His mouth stretched to his ears: "You think you can break the throne by finding Chiyo's afterimage?"

Have you forgotten... this puppet army was raised on the souls of past Kage.

Luo Sha's golden dust suddenly exploded at Bai Ye's feet.

The phantom of the Fourth Kazekage pierced through the rain of gears, using his body to smash aside two gears that were about to pierce Bai Ye's throat. His voice echoed with broken sounds: "You brat, don't just stand there like an idiot!"

The crystal shards of the throne... are the sealing keys to the past Kage!

"Shut up, you old man." Obito's Sharingan shrank to the tip of a pinhead.

Rasa's phantom suddenly froze, and golden sand fell from between his fingers, revealing his chest pierced by gears—those gears were gnawing at his chakra from the inside.

The burning sensation on the back of my neck reached its peak.

Bai Ye could hear the cracking of his own bones. The cracks in the fusion emblem had already crept up behind his ears. The blood vessels under his skin were like burning red ropes, and with each throb, a scalding power surged into his limbs and bones.

He gazed at the throne that had reformed behind Obito, at the remnants of past kage struggling within the crystal shards, and then looked down at the bronze pendant swaying on his chest—the crack above the blood-red lettering had spread into the shape of a lightning bolt.

"Twin Sacrifice..." The roar of the crimson runes suddenly became clear.

The gold and red in Bai Ye's pupils began to merge, and he heard his own voice speaking, as if from a very far place: "So... Obito and I are twin hosts?"

“Clever.” Obito’s laughter was tinged with madness. “As long as your blood and my blood drip onto the throne at the same time, the cycle will restart—the fate of all ninjas will return to the day of the final battle between the Senju and Uchiha.” He raised his hand, and the rain of gears began to turn again. “And you will watch your comrades die in the same place once more.”

“But Granny Chiyo said…” Byakuya touched the pendant, the warmth of the blood-written words burning through his skin into his heart, “A ninja must live in the present.” He suddenly smiled, revealing bloodstained teeth—blood was dripping onto the pendant from the gears that had cut his cheek earlier, “So, I’m going to make your reincarnation… shatter into pieces today.”

Amidst the earth-shaking roar, Luo Sha's golden sand suddenly transformed into a giant hand, enveloping Bai Ye as it crashed into the bronze throne in the air.

The phantom of the Fourth Kazekage gradually became transparent in the sand's hands, yet it still roared: "Use your Wood Release!"

"Crush all those crystal shards...!" The moment Bai Ye's back slammed into the throne, he felt a sweet taste in his throat and coughed up half a bloody gear—a shard of gear that had splashed into his mouth from the gear rain earlier.

Obito's pupils contracted violently.

He saw the crack in the pendant on Bai Ye's chest suddenly burst open, and golden and red light gushed out from the crack like two knives, one stabbing towards the crystal shards of the throne, and the other... aimed directly at the vital point of his Sharingan.

The moment Luo Sha's giant golden sand hand, carrying Bai Ye, crashed into the bronze throne, the sound of metal colliding with flesh and blood caused stone chips to fall from the underground palace.

Bai Ye's back bones were almost shattered. Blood and foam from his throat mixed with the half-gear sprayed onto the throne armrest, but were sucked into the patterns the moment they touched the metal—like a thirsty beast licking the breath of a living creature.

"Use my soul as bait!" Rasa's phantom trembled violently in Sand's hand. The dark circles under his eyes were fading at a visible speed, replaced by the same golden-red markings as Byakuya's nape, spreading from the depths of his pupils to his brow bone. "If those crystals devour my chakra, the seal on the throne will loosen by half an inch!" Before he finished speaking, the golden quicksand at the core of the throne suddenly surged like boiling water, as if countless golden hands were pulling Rasa's phantom downwards.

Chapter 678 Always Protect What to Write

The Fourth Kazekage's Sand Village headband fell from the phantom and shattered into dust in mid-air, but he laughed out loud, "I failed to protect Gaara back then... This time, I'll have to protect something."

Byakuya's fingertips dug deep into the bronze crevices of the throne, and he could feel Rasa's chakra flowing along the lines in his palm, burning hot.

The fusion emblem on the back of his neck suddenly stopped burning, and instead felt as if it had been infused with cool spring water—it was Rasa's soul sharing the torment of the twin powers for him.

He stared at Luo Sha's silhouette being swallowed by the quicksand, his Adam's apple bobbing: "You son of a bitch... you should have said you wanted to die together, I would have gone with you!"

"Baiye-kun—" Chiyo's puppet silk suddenly wrapped around his wrist, chilling him to the bone.

The white-haired old woman's afterimage was now only half a body, the lower half of which was dissipating like a piece of paper being swept away by the wind. "The puppeteer's 'eternity' requires a living vessel, but the true seal is..." Her withered fingers trembled as she pointed to the seven crystals at the bottom of the throne, but as soon as she finished speaking, seven blood-red beams of light shot into the sky from the crystals.

The beams of light pierced the dome of the underground palace, each one precisely striking the crystal coffins bearing the shadows of past dynasties on the walls.

The Third Tsuchikage's rock helmet shattered within the pillar of light, blue arcs of electricity crackled from the Fourth Raikage's arm armor, and afterimages of the Rasengan appeared on Tsunade's crystal coffin—the remnants of souls trapped within the crystal finally spoke, their voices hoarse, angry, and sorrowful, like countless needles piercing White Night's eardrums: "Break the seal!" "Kill this monster!" "Tell the children...don't repeat the same mistakes!"

Byakuya's temples throbbed. He watched as the pillar of light coalesced into a blood sphere atop the throne, and suddenly saw the phantom within the blood sphere—the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha, standing opposite each other in completely solid form.

Hashirama's Wood Release raincoat was stained with fresh green leaves, and Madara's Susanoo was still dripping with blood. Yet, their gazes were both fixed on Byakuya, as if looking at him through a thousand years of time.