Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

Chiyo's afterimage suddenly emerged from the crack in the ground.

Her puppet strings entangled the crystal pillar at the deepest part of the dungeon, and the golden sand seeping from under her fingernails burrowed into the joints of the rock-hidden puppet as if they were alive.

The mechanical arm of the Colossus suddenly stopped, and the metal shell at its core cracked with spiderweb-like patterns, revealing two phantoms floating inside...

One was dressed in a coarse linen outfit, with a dense forest of trees floating behind him; the other was draped in a scarlet battle robe, with the afterimage of Susanoo behind him entangled with a giant tree of wood release.

The chakra patterns of the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha overlapped, resembling two flames tearing at each other.

"This is... a fragment of chakra from the battle at the Valley of the End?" Byakuya's voice trembled.

He finally understood what the phrase "for those who break the balance" meant on the inside of the mask—the First Generation foresaw that someone would be pushed into the rift between two eras, and he, Bai Ye, was the chosen "container."

The colossal gear emitted a dying roar.

Chapter 699 Rock Hammer

Gaara's black sand has torn apart its three mechanical arms, while Rasa's gold sand is blocking the path of the poisonous fog.

But Bai Ye heard a deeper vibration, a sound like someone beating an invisible drum, each beat clearer than the last.

"Click."

The group of rock-hidden puppets suddenly turned around simultaneously.

Their joints oozed with a yellowish-brown chakra, and their previously dull eyes lit up with the same rock patterns as Onoki's.

Bai Ye stared at the empty eye sockets of the puppets, a chill running down his neck—among the overlapping images of hundreds and thousands of puppets, he saw a semi-transparent figure coalescing.

It's Onoki.

The Third Tsuchikage's chakra was being reassembled among the puppets, and his gaze pierced the battlefield, precisely locking onto the mask in Byakuya's palm.

But deep within those eyes, Bai Ye clearly saw a hint of manic laughter, as if to say: We've finally waited for this moment.

Outside the ruins of the underground palace, the distinctive "rock-piercing bullets" of Rock Village suddenly became more frequent.

Byakuya gripped his mask tightly, and sparks flew as the chakra of Wood Release and Sand Release clashed within his body.

This time, he was no longer a pawn being pushed around by the situation—when the handwriting of the First Generation overlapped with Madara's chakra on his retina, he suddenly smiled.

"You want me to be your vessel?" He smirked at the gradually forming phantom of Onoki, pressing his fingertip heavily on the center of the mask's vortex. "Let's see whose chakra can last the longest."

Suddenly, a blinding white light erupted from the core of the colossus.

The phantoms of the First Hokage and Madara turned their heads simultaneously, their gazes piercing through layers of chakra and landing precisely on the night.

Within this light, Onoki's spirit became increasingly clear, his lips moving as if uttering a name—

"moon..."

The rock-piercing projectiles at the entrance to the underground palace were already hurtling towards them.

Byakuya's Sand Release and Wood Release went berserk simultaneously, weaving a yellow-green barrier around him.

Outside the barrier, Onoki's spirit pressed his palm against the core of the colossal gear, the resonance between his chakra and the puppet horde reaching its peak.

This game has only just begun.

Within the cracks in the dome of the underground palace, Onoki's soul finally coalesced completely from the overlapping images of the puppet horde.

His body was translucent like mist, and earth-yellow chakra flowed around him, forming rock-patterned armor. The giant wooden mallet in his left hand was dripping fine rock fragments—it was the "Rock Hell Hammer," forged from the crystallized earth veins deepest in Iwagakure.

"The puppeteer's eternity requires sacrifices..." His voice was like two boulders colliding on the ground, and a mad light danced in his turbid pupils, "But what Iwagakure wants is eternal dominion!" The wind pressure generated by the wooden mallet blew away the black sand that Gaara had wrapped around him, and the hammerhead, carrying the force to crush the Three-Tails, smashed directly into the bronze-lustered mask in Byakuya's palm.

Bai Ye's molars clenched painfully.

He could clearly feel the First Hokage's words on the inside of the mask burning hot, and the lines carved with Wood Release chakra were slithering up his arm along the veins in his palm, like countless small snakes gnawing at his flesh.

Onoki's chakra fluctuations carried the putrid stench of the Iwagakure secret technique "Earth Soul Return"—it turned out that the old Tsuchikage had long ago divided his soul into seven parts and hidden them in the mechanisms of puppeteers in various countries.

From the assassination attempt at the Daimyo's residence in the Land of Fire onwards, all the chaos was designed to force him, the "key," to actively unlock the core of the Moon Wheel Array.

"Trying to use me as a vessel?" Bai Ye chuckled, his right hand suddenly gripping the edge of the mask.

The bronze pendant fragment hidden in his collar suddenly emitted a buzzing sound; it was a fragment he had found in the desert of the Land of Wind, a piece of the same origin as the mask.

The moment the two bronze pieces touched, the green of Konoha and the yellow of Sunagakure swirled in the air into a spiral of light. The life force of Wood Release and the sharpness of Sand Release exploded simultaneously on the surface of the barrier—Onoki's Rock Hammer struck the light band, sending up sparks of chakra fragments.

Chapter 700 The Core of the Moon Wheel Array

"Father!" Gaara's roar mingled with Shukaku's howl.

The curse mark on half of his face had spread to his neck, but suddenly a strand of black sand separated and precisely wrapped around the golden sand puppet that Luo Sha had left in the corner of the underground palace.

The puppet, sealed away for a century, made a clicking sound from its joints, and its previously empty eye sockets began to glow with the same crimson-gold luster as when Rasa was alive—the soul of the Fourth Kazekage was seeping into the puppet's body through the gaps in the sand.

"Onoki, have you forgotten that Sunagakure's golden sand can lock souls?" Rasa's hoarse voice came from the puppet's throat.

Tons of golden sand suddenly gushed out from the crack in the ground, binding Onoki's soul like living creatures.

Ancient sealing techniques emerged from the surface of those sand grains, each one absorbing Iwagakure chakra and dragging Onoki's body toward the core of the colossus gear.

The phantom images of the First Hokage and Madara at the core suddenly trembled violently.

The dense forest behind the First Hokage began to sprout new branches, while Madara's Susanoo afterimage unfolded the Rinnegan with six tomoe, and the two streams of chakra tore purple lightning in the void.

The moment Onoki's soul was pulled into the core, the mask in Byakuya's palm suddenly flipped over, revealing two lines of flowing light patterns on the inside—fragments of the First Hokage's chakra dialogue with Madara.

"Hashirama, you always say that Wood Release is a gift of life..." Madara's voice carried a hint of mockery, "But true eternity is allowing ninjas to choose whether to wield a sword or a hoe."

“Sandal, look at this tree.” The First Hokage’s laughter mingled with the sound of the wind in Konoha. “Its roots can penetrate rock, not because they are hard enough, but because they know when to bend.”

Bai Ye's breathing suddenly stopped.

He finally understood the true meaning of the phrase "for those who break the balance" on the inside of the mask—what the First Hokage and Madara left behind was never fused chakra, but rather the opportunity for those who came after to choose their own path.

Onoki and his ilk wanted to replicate the power of the Valley of the End, but they forgot that the final battle back then was actually two souls searching for the possibility of breaking the old order.

"boom--"

The supporting pillars of the underground palace let out their final mournful cry.

Onoki's Rock Hammer finally shattered the light barrier, but it also thoroughly enraged the ley lines.

The ground cracked open with a spiderweb-like deep fissure, revealing underground tunnels extending in all directions below—the walls of those tunnels were inlaid with the emblems of the five nations: the phoenix of the Fire Kingdom, the waves of the Water Kingdom, and the lightning of the Thunder Kingdom, connecting the five great nations into a whole like blood vessels.

"So... the core of the Moon Wheel Array is a network of earth veins connecting various countries." Chiyo's puppet strings suddenly snapped. She stared at the black liquid seeping from the depths of the tunnel, her pupils contracting sharply. "That liquid is... corroded chakra?"

Gaara's black sand suddenly froze in mid-air.

His curse marks were fading, and Shukaku's roar turned into a confused murmur.

A muffled tremor came from afar, like some enormous thing moving underground, mixed with a faint rumble of water-style energy—it was a chakra fluctuation coming from the direction of the Land of Water, carrying the uniquely sweet and pungent scent of water vapor that Mei Terumi possessed.

In a corner unnoticed by everyone, the destroyed rock golems were oozing golden blood rain.

Blood dripped into the cracks in the ground, meandering along the fissures of the underground tunnel. Wherever it passed, the corrosive chakra suddenly began to boil, emitting a sound similar to a creature swallowing.

Bai Ye gripped the mask that had regained its composure.

He could feel the chakra of the First Hokage and Madara intertwining inside the mask, but it was no longer tearing and biting; instead, it was like two trees with intertwined roots, planting a seed deep within his consciousness.

"The game has only just begun." He gazed into the depths of the underground tunnel, a cold smile playing on his lips. "But this time, I'll set the rules."

The distant roar of water-borne energy suddenly became clearer, as if a blue torrent was piercing through the rock strata.

The golden blood rain had already seeped into the underground water systems of the five great nations along the earth's vein network.

Chapter 701 Severing Boundaries

Amidst the rumbling of the earth's ley lines, Mei Terumi's water-style technique finally pierced through the rock strata.

As the blue torrent, carrying rubble, burst through the roof, Onoki was about to swing his Stone Hammer when the water condensed into an ice wall in mid-air—the Mizukage of Kirigakure leaped down, stepping on the ice crystals, the coral pendant in her hair clinking crisply, her fingertips still dripping with lingering Water Release chakra. "The earth's ley lines are corroding the chakra sources of all nations!" Her gaze swept over the churning black liquid in the tunnel, then landed on the golden blood rain at Byakuya's feet. "Those puppets... are they alive?"

Before the words were finished, the last batch of Rock Hidden Puppets suddenly emitted a buzzing sound.

The gold paint at their joints cracked, and the blood that flowed out was no longer a scattered drop, but gathered into a thin stream that flowed in all directions along the crack in the ground.

Chiyo's puppet strings left red marks on her palms. She stared at the direction where the blood rain disappeared into the underground water system, her throat tightening: "This is... a puppet core that has been nurtured for a thousand years with the chakra of living people."

"boom--"

Bai Ye's mask suddenly became hot.

He instinctively pressed his left cheek, only to see ripples appear on the mask's surface. The face of the Fire Country's daimyo appeared first, followed by the Land of Lightning, the Land of Earth... Each face was distorted, with a ghostly green light flickering between their brows. "They all have puppet hearts embedded in their bodies!" he blurted out, his voice trembling without him even realizing it—those light spots perfectly matched the fluctuations of the corrosive liquid in the earth's ley lines.

Mei Terumi's water sword was drawn with a "whoosh," its tip pointing directly at the ground: "So the Moon Wheel Array isn't about gathering energy, but about using the lives of the daimyo of various countries as a catalyst to turn the earth's veins into... a petri dish?"

Onoki's rock helmet cracked, and he stared at the eerie green light spots appearing on the back of his hand. Suddenly, he slammed his fist into the nearest rock wall: "I've been buried as fertilizer by those cowardly daimyo for decades!"

The tremors suddenly intensified.

Chiyo's afterimage became increasingly transparent amidst the tremors. Her puppet hand suddenly gripped Byakuya's wrist, her nails almost digging into his skin: "Listen, I used my last bit of chakra to lock down the quicksand of the underground palace." Her voice was filled with broken noise, like pieces of paper in the wind, "I've bound the First Hokage's Wood Release... with my puppet threads."

"Grandma, what are you doing?" Gaara's black sand suddenly wrapped around her, trying to pull her, but instead passed through the afterimage and plunged straight into the ground—Chiyo's body was already translucent enough to see the rock wall behind her. "Severing the boundary." Her puppet strings suddenly lengthened, one of them piercing Byakuya's heart with precision. The intense pain made him stagger half a step, but he saw the threads drilling into his limbs along his blood vessels. "Using the life force of Wood Release as a net, and the puppet strings as blades...severing the thousand-year-old karma within the earth's veins."

"Are you crazy?!" Onoki's rock fist grazed Byakuya's ear and struck Chiyo's afterimage, but only shattered a piece of air.

“That guy Rasa… figured it out long ago.” Chiyo’s afterimage suddenly laughed, her wrinkles glistening with tears. “The highest level of puppetry… is to make the manipulated believe they are making a choice.” She pointed to the depths of the earth’s veins. “Now, it’s our turn… to choose a way out for them.”

Before he finished speaking, golden light suddenly rose from the depths of the earth's vein tunnel.

Rasa's figure emerged from the light, not with the solid outline of a living person, but more like a shadow puppet formed from chakra.

As he raised his hand, all the eerie green puppet hearts suddenly flew out from the bodies of the various daimyo and reassembled in the center of the underground palace—the Moon Wheel, the light barrier that Onoki had broken, was now being reshaped, wrapped in blood and gold.

"Father?" Gaara's black sand suddenly softened into ordinary sand grains, which fell softly at his feet.

“Silly child.” Rasa’s voice carried the dryness characteristic of Sunagakure. “The true moon ring never needs a living host.” He raised his hand and pressed it against the center of the moon ring. The eerie green spots of light suddenly began to writhe wildly, as if trying to burrow into the mask of the White Night.

Bai Ye's mask suddenly became so hot it was scorching.

He could hear the voices of the First Hokage and Madara resonating in his consciousness, like the branches of two trees striking each other in the wind.

Chapter 702 Breaking the Balance

The moment Rasa's chakra touched the mask, the moon wheel exploded with a "boom"—not shattered, but turned into a shower of golden dust, each grain shining with the same light as the blood rain.

“So…” Luo Sha’s shadow puppet dissipated in the gold dust, and his last words, carried by the wind, reached Bai Ye’s ears, “You are… the one who broke the balance that the original generation was waiting for.”

The tremors from the earth's veins suddenly weakened.

Byakuya looked down at the puppet strings at his heart, which were glowing with the distinctive bluish-green hue of Wood Release, tangled with his chakra.

Mei Terumi's water sword was still pointing into the air, and Gaara's face was reflected in the water droplets dripping from the tip of the sword—the curse mark on the boy's forehead was so faint that it was almost invisible, but the sand at his feet was glowing, the color of Konoha's unique life chakra.

“That is…” Mei Terumi’s water sword drooped slightly.

Onoki's rock helmet fell to the ground with a "crack." He stared at the sand pile at Gaara's feet and suddenly laughed gruffly, "You brat, is that Senju guy's wood release chakra mixed in your sand?"

Gaara crouched down and gently touched the glowing sand with his fingertips.

Suddenly, the sand grains seemed to come alive, wrapping around his fingers and burrowing into the patterns of the curse mark along his skin.

When he looked up, his pupils reflected the sunlight streaming in from above—light that carried the scent of Konoha, the heat of Sunagakure, and... a new, emerging power.

Outside the underground palace, golden light simultaneously shone in the skies of the five great nations.

Bai Ye removed her mask, letting the wind tousle her bangs.

The engravings on the inside of the mask shimmered with a pale gold in the sunlight. He gazed at the gradually calming black liquid deep within the earth's veins, then at the glowing grains of sand at Gaara's feet, and a slow smile crept onto his lips.

The game has indeed only just begun.

But this time, every hand wielding a knife should decide for itself where to strike.

Just as the tremors of the earth's veins subsided, the sand around Gaara's feet suddenly emitted a dazzling golden light.

The softened sand grains rose up as if alive, condensing into thin chains at his fingertips. As they burrowed into his skin along the patterns of the curse mark, the boy's pupils suddenly contracted—the dark red curse mark on his forehead, which had accompanied him for half his life, was fading at a visible speed, replaced by a flowing cyan-gold luster, like the annual rings of the thousand-year-old sacred tree in front of the Konoha Shrine.

"This is..." Mei Terumi's water sword clattered to the ground.

She reached out and caught the golden sand that floated in front of her. The texture was even softer than the mist of the Hidden Mist Village. "Wood Release's life force... and Sand Village's Magnet Release?"

Onoki's rock helmet had long since fallen to the ground. Now, he bent down and crushed a grain of gold dust with his calloused fingers. From the dust, the unique scent of Konoha grass wafted out. "How did that old man Senju's chakra get mixed into the Kazekage's sand?" he muttered gruffly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Gaara's cursed seal had completely disappeared. His Adam's apple bobbed twice, but he didn't ask any further questions.

Bai Ye's attention was entirely focused on the bronze mask in his palm.

The metal, which had been cool when the mask was removed, was now scorching hot, the engravings on the inside like burning gold threads, climbing up his arm along the lines of his palm. "Crack—" The crisp sound startled everyone, who looked up to see a spiderweb-like crack appear between the mask's brows, revealing half a bluish-gray face emerging from the crack. It was Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, his eyes gentle as spring morning mist, yet carrying an undeniable determination.