Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

The blood-written words on his palm were particularly glaring in the moonlight: "Ninja, live in the moment."

Before the words were finished, the phantom vanished like morning mist.

Ban glanced at Bai Ye one last time, a cryptic smile playing on his lips, before disappearing as well.

Chiyo's puppet finger was finally pulled out of Byakuya's heart.

The old woman's half-face aged ten years in an instant, while the wooden half-face cracked with spiderweb-like lines—her soul shattered completely as the spell was completed.

"Thank...thank you." Her voice was as soft as sand. The puppet body turned into wood chips before hitting the ground, leaving only a scarlet thread floating at Bai Ye's feet.

"Byakuya!" Mei Terumi rushed over to support him.

Her water-style chakra enveloped his wound, but blood still spilled from the corner of his mouth—the sealing technique had drained two-thirds of his chakra.

Gaara's sandstorm enveloped the two of them.

The red light in his mechanical eyes gradually faded, and the golden sand condensed back into his skin. However, a dark red curse mark appeared on his forehead, crawling like a snake towards the back of his neck: "There's movement... underground."

Bai Ye forced himself to kneel on the ground.

His fingertips touched the sand, and he suddenly opened his eyes wide—the golden quicksand that had seeped into the ground had not dissipated, but instead was gathering again deep underground, and he could vaguely sense the outline of the bronze throne being reconstructed.

What sent chills down his spine even more was that a familiar figure had appeared on the throne.

It's Obito. No, or rather... an even more ancient being.

“Next time…” he heard a faint whisper carried on the wind, “I won’t give you another chance.” The moonlight was stained dark red by the blood mist, and Bai Ye knelt on the sand, his fingertips sinking into the scalding sand.

He could clearly sense the unusual activity three thousand meters underground—the golden quicksand that should have dissipated was re-converging along the trajectory of some ancient runes, each grain of sand resonating as if piecing together some forbidden container.

"Cough..." He covered his mouth, and the blood that seeped from between his fingers fell onto the sand and was instantly absorbed into the earth's veins.

His pupils suddenly contracted, and the moment the outline of the bronze throne took shape underground, the curse mark on the back of his neck suddenly burned—a pain connected to Gaara's bloodline. What made his hair stand on end even more was the chakra fluctuation of the figure on the throne.

Chapter 692 Taking Shape!

It's not Obito, but a darkness that is older and more murky than Obito, like a stubborn rock that has been soaking in a pool of blood for thousands of years.

"Container..." A hoarse female voice suddenly exploded in my ear.

Bai Ye suddenly looked up, only to see Chiyo's lingering soul image solidify beside him. A faint golden light emanated from half of her wooden face, and shattered puppet threads coalesced into fine needles at her fingertips. "The puppeteer's 'vessel' needs..."

The words stopped abruptly.

A hurricane carrying red sand burst forth from the ground, and Rasa's soul appeared from within it.

His armor was riddled with cracks, his left eye still held the fury of his life, while his right eye gleamed with the eerie blue unique to the dead: "Shut up, you old bastard!" he roared as he rammed into the core of the throne, the red sand transforming into countless fine blades upon contact. "My Sand Village is not for some broken vessel to desecrate!"

A piercing, metallic shriek echoed from underground.

The phantom images of the First Hokage and Madara appeared almost simultaneously, hovering on either side of the throne.

The First Hokage's Wood Release chakra condensed into green vines that entwined the throne, while Madara's right eye began to peel away black gears. With each gear that fell away, his figure solidified a little more: "True eternity?" he scoffed. The broken gears crashed into the green vines, corroding them and creating charred holes. "It's about making ninjas slaves to history!"

They will only repeat hatred, war, and death—this is the most stable cycle!

Bai Ye's puppet armor suddenly trembled.

He looked down and saw the Sharingan markings on his breastplate glowing with a greedy red light. Madara's chakra was seeping into the gaps in the armor along the earth's veins, like a snake burrowing into his heart. "This is..." He gritted his teeth, clearly feeling that power reshaping his meridians, the pain causing veins to bulge on his forehead. "Madara's chakra... is actively fusing with my armor?"

"Byakuya!" Gaara's voice came down from above.

The boy's sandstorm swept around his waist and lifted him up, the red light of his mechanical eyes almost piercing the night—Gaara had no physical form at this moment, his soul was fused with the golden sand, and the dark red curse mark on his forehead extended to the back of his neck, "Grab me!"

At the same time, Chiyo's puppet threads suddenly pierced through Byakuya's palm.

The old woman's soul was so transparent that it was almost invisible, with only half of her wooden face still showing a fierce expression: "Use your chakra to activate my silk!"

The throne bears the cursed seals of puppeteers throughout history at its base; it must be...

"boom!"

A sudden explosion occurred deep within the underground palace.

Byakuya felt as if his eardrums were about to burst, and countless familiar chakra fluctuations surged from the ground—the souls of the Five Kage throughout history!

The Third Raikage's rage, the Second Mizukage's ruthlessness, the First Hokage's magnanimity... all the chakra converged into a torrent, crashing against the base of the throne: "The true meaning of the Twin Sacrifice—is to sever the cycle of reincarnation!"

These words struck Bai Ye like a hammer blow to the heart.

He suddenly remembered the baby's cry from the pendant, and the ancient covenant that surged in his blood when he resonated with Gaara.

It turns out that the so-called "twins" were never sacrifices, but keys—keys used to sever the cycle of reincarnation over a thousand years.

The throne beneath the earth suddenly trembled violently.

Ban's right eye gears all fell off. Before his phantom disappeared, he took a deep look at Bai Ye. His eyes contained resentment, mockery, and a hint of expectation that he himself did not realize.

The First Hokage nodded slightly to him, and the green vines transformed into specks of light that disappeared into his chakra pool.

"Byakuya!" Gaara's spirit suddenly solidified, and a hand made of golden sand pressed against his back. "That thing is about to take shape!"

Chapter 693 Even the Wind Must Obey Command

Bai Ye looked down and saw that the sand was cracking open like a spider web around him, and the spire of the bronze throne had pierced the ground, revealing half a foot of rusty patterns.

The face of the figure on the throne gradually became clearer—it was Obito's face, but his eyes were pure black, without pupils, like two bottomless black holes.

"Next time..." the voice was clearer than before, carrying the stench of rotting flesh, "I will personally crush your soul."

Bai Ye's fingers unconsciously touched the bronze pendant on her chest.

The pendant felt hot in his palm, and a dark golden light seeped through the fabric, making the veins on the back of his hand glow golden red.

He could hear a faint hum coming from the pendant, like some kind of ancient ballad, resonating stronger and stronger with the underground throne.

“It must…” He coughed up blood, but then laughed, “It must be embedded.”

A final roar echoed from underground.

The bronze throne emerged completely from the ground, revealing brand-new dark gold runes where the rust had peeled away. Each rune seemed to be yearning for something—yearning for the pendant in his palm, yearning for the golden blood boiling in his veins.

The moonlight was suddenly obscured by dark clouds.

Byakuya stood in the shadows, watching the black shadow on the throne slowly rise, watching Gaara's golden sand gradually dissipate as he fought against the shadow, and watching Chiyo's puppet threads break into stardust in the wind.

His fingers tightened as he reached for the pendant, his knuckles turning white.

“This time…” he said in a low voice, blood and sand clinging to the corner of his mouth, “I’ll give you a chance.”

A thin crack appeared in the pendant's palm.

Dark gold light seeped from the crack in the pendant, crawling along Bai Ye's palm towards his wrist like a living thing.

He could hear the hungry hum emanating from the core of the throne, and the dark gold runes were spreading along the cracks in the ground, causing the sand to condense into bronze scales wherever they passed, even corroding Gaara's gold sand into honeycomb-like holes.

"Don't touch that thing!" Gaara's spirit suddenly gripped his wrist tightly.

The boy's golden sand arm emitted a white mist the moment it touched the pendant, but he still held tightly to Bai Ye's pulse point. "This is a trap!"

The shadow is guiding you—

"I know." Byakuya took Gaara's hand in return.

The sensation of the gold dust flowing in his palm reminded him of his childhood, when this boy, always shrouded in sandstorms, first let down his guard and touched his burning cheeks.

At this moment, Gaara's soul is even fainter than before, as faint as a dandelion about to be swept away by the wind. "But if we don't do this, when it awakens next time, there will be more children like you being used as containers."

Gaara's mechanical eyes flashed with a fierce red light.

He suddenly let go, and the gold dust turned into chains that wrapped around Bai Ye's waist, pulling him in the opposite direction: "Then I'll take you away!"

The underground palace in Sunagakure also has a backup exit—"

"Enough!" Luo Sha's roar shattered half the sky.

The Fourth Kazekage's soul pierced through the golden sand chains, and a hand made of red sand directly gripped the back of Bai Ye's neck. "You think I've lived all these years just to see you desert?" The rage in his left eye almost burned through the night, while the eerie blue in his right eye was unusually gentle. "When I sealed you in the sand back then, I knew that one day I would have to teach you to face something heavier than death."

A sneer echoed from the depths: "Foolish bloodline." The black eye on the throne suddenly spun, and two jet-black chakra beams pierced Rasa's chest. "Your struggles will only make the vessel more stable—"

"Shut up!" Rasa's red sand suddenly expanded into a cocoon, enveloping Byakuya completely.

The corrosive pain traveled through his soul, but he laughed even more fiercely, "My Sand Village, even the wind has to obey my orders!"

"You think this red sand is ordinary sand?" Golden particles seeped from his fingertips—sacred sand nurtured by the chakra of successive Kazekage for a hundred years. "With my puppet eyes—" he bit through his own soul, blood splattering onto Bai Ye's brow, "see clearly the fatal weakness of this broken throne!"

Bai Ye's vision was suddenly stained crimson gold.

He saw a giant black serpent coiled at the center of the throne, with the word "reincarnation" engraved on each scale, and from the crack in the pendant, a thin golden thread was wrapped around the serpent's seven-inch mark.

That was... the "severed contract" that the First Hokage and Madara deliberately forgot when they signed the contract?

Chapter 694 Ninjas, Always Moving Forward

"I see." He chuckled softly, blood splattering onto the red sand cocoon. "You used twin bloodlines as a key, but forgot that the key itself can also become a blade."

The shadowy figure's chakra bundle suddenly grew tenfold.

The red sand cocoon was torn in half, and Rasa's soul began to become transparent, like water stains dried by the scorching sun: "Quick!" he roared, his soul trembling, "Embed the pendant!"

Bai Ye's fingers gripped the pendant.

The dark golden light in the crack suddenly became scalding hot, so hot that his palms were steaming. But it reminded him of the first time he met Gaara, when the boy's sealed tailed beast chakra was burning his skin in the same way.

He wanted to save people then, but now he wants to completely sever all ties that require "saving."

"Catch it." Chiyo's voice floated down from above.

The old woman's lingering soul appeared atop the throne at some unknown time. Broken puppet threads pierced through the shadowy figure's chakra bundles, shredding them into fragments. "My last thread is tied to the regrets of puppeteers throughout the ages." A smile finally appeared on her half-carved wooden face. "They say puppets have no heart, but the heart is never in the wood, but in the hands of the one who manipulates it."

The puppet's silk suddenly taut.

The dark figure let out a piercing scream, and the chakra bundle instantly collapsed.

Taking advantage of the moment, Byakuya broke free of the red sand cocoon and, supported by Gaara's golden sand, leaped onto the throne.

The bronze pendant fits perfectly with the dark gold runes at the heart of the throne, like two puzzle pieces that have been waiting for a thousand years.

"laugh--"

The sound of golden blood spreading along the runes was more deafening than any ninjutsu.

That was the blood that Byakuya squeezed out from his slit wrist, mixed with Rasa's holy sand, Chiyo's puppet silk, Gaara's gold sand, and the chakra of countless ninjas who had been hurt by this cycle of reincarnation.

The shadowy figure's body began to disintegrate, each fragment screaming as it tried to escape back into the earth, only to be firmly trapped by a net formed from golden blood.

The phantom of the spotted figure suddenly burst into laughter before it dissipated.

His broken gears crashed into the golden blood net, creating half a black flower: "Interesting... an even crazier kid than Senju." His gaze swept over the scroll that suddenly appeared in Bai Ye's arms—the First Hokage had somehow slipped half a scroll of Wood Release techniques into it. "Next time we meet, I'll use this move to cut off your madness."

The original phantom smiled gently.

His green vines transformed into specks of light and entered the pool of chakra in the white night, condensing into a small sapling at the heart: "The future of the ninja is in your hands."

As the last shadow was swallowed by the golden blood, the morning light pierced the dome of the underground palace.

Byakuya knelt on the ruins of the throne, watching the bronze fragments scatter like stars in the wind, watching Rasa's soul turn into red sand and fall into his palm, watching Chiyo's puppet threads leave a thin mark on the back of his hand before dissipating, watching Gaara's soul re-enter the curse mark on the back of his neck—that curse mark had somehow become a fusion pattern of the Konoha headband and the Sand Village crest.

"Awake?" Gaara's voice came from inside him.

The boy's chakra flowed through his meridians, as if confirming his completeness. "You slept for three days and three nights, scaring Kankuro so much that he almost tore down the entire underground palace to find you."

Bai Ye looked down and saw the bronze pendant lying in his palm.

The newly engraved blood characters on the inside gleamed pale gold in the morning light: "Ninja, always move forward." He reached out his fingertips to touch the characters and suddenly felt a surge of heat from the fusion emblem on the back of his neck.

The heat surged up his spine and into his brain, like someone gently knocking on the door of his memory—

"Byakuya!" Kankuro shouted from afar, "Lady Tsunade said the Five Kage need to have an emergency meeting. If you keep sleeping in, I'll tie you up with my puppet strings and take you there!"

Bai Ye stood up with a smile.

The wind lifted his clothes, revealing a half-roll hanging at his waist—the scroll the First Hokage had given him, the wood-style patterns on the cover gleaming slightly.

He touched the burning crest on the back of his neck, his gaze fixed on the distant Sunagakure village bathed in the golden light of dawn.

There were children's laughter, the shouts of ninjas training, and the warmth of rising smoke from chimneys.

In his palm, the blood-red characters on the inside of the bronze pendant were still burning hot, as if foreshadowing a new story about to begin.