Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." Bai Ye threw out three puppet kunai, creating a poisonous fog barrier between the two of them.

Looking at Raikage's reddened eyes, he suddenly remembered what Hyuga Hiashi said three days ago in the secret passage of the Land of Fire before he was turned into a puppet: "The real enemy is never the one standing in the open."

He pulled out the secret letter he had hidden under the stone tablet, the Hamura family crest still covered in fresh soil on the cover. "This was found in Hiashi's corpse in your laboratory." He tossed the letter to the Raikage, then turned and leaped into the secret passage. "If you truly want to protect the Land of Lightning, you should see who the real enemy is."

The moment the Raikage caught the letter, the Eight-Tails' chakra suddenly subsided.

He stared at the words "using the power of various countries to weaken the Land of Lightning" in the letter, his knuckles turning white from gripping them so tightly.

Darui crawled over, clutching his ribs, his short silver-gray hair stained with blood: "My lord... the spies from Iwagakure said that the instructions they received also included the Hamura family's code..."

"Chase!" Ai's lightning release enveloped his entire body again, but he stopped at the entrance of the secret passage.

He gazed in the direction where Bai Ye had disappeared, his Adam's apple bobbing several times before finally tucking the letter into his robes. "Pass on my orders: seal off Shen Gui Peak, and have all Anbu retreat to Yunyin Village."

As the moonlight once again bathed the border of the Land of Lightning, Byakuya stood before the border marker of the Land of Fire.

He touched the hot rubbing in his arms and suddenly frowned—the air smelled of burnt paper ash, even stronger than it had three days ago.

In the distance, towards the capital of the Land of Fire, a dark red light flickered faintly beneath the clouds, resembling...

"Hamura Shinobu." He murmured the name, and the chakra threads in his sleeve suddenly straightened.

The first seedling trembled rapidly in my chest, as if warning me of something.

The wind whipped up ashes that hit his face, on which he could vaguely make out the emblem of the Daimyo's mansion in the Land of Fire.

Chapter 778 What a great sharing!

The moonlight cast a layer of frost on the border marker of the Land of Fire, and a metallic taste rose in White Night's throat.

The smell of paper ash that I smelled three days ago at the Divine Turtle Peak in the Land of Thunder is now so strong that it's almost choking, mixed with a faint smell of burnt wood—the unique scent of agarwood from the Daimyo Prefecture being burned to ashes.

He touched the first seedling hidden under his collar; the vines were creeping up his collarbone toward his heart—a restlessness it only showed when it was warning of danger.

"My lord, the envoy's token for the emergency meeting of the Land of Fire." A crow from the Dark Guard landed on his shoulder, clutching a wooden plaque carved with a vermilion bird pattern in its claws.

The card was still warm, clearly indicating that Granny Chiyo had just intercepted it from the Sunagakure intelligence network.

Byakuya's knuckles turned white as he gripped the wooden plaque—Hamura Shinobu's timing in convening the Five Nations Conference tonight was impeccable.

He gazed at the churning dark red clouds in the direction of the capital and suddenly recalled the string of Hamura clan secret text reflected in Hyuga Hiashi's pupils before he was transformed into a puppet: "When the moon is full, burn the old laws and establish a new covenant."

As the disguise spread across his face, Bai Ye's fingertips trembled slightly.

He had intended to expose Hamura's disguise with his true self, but when he saw the words "Attendees must wear black brocade robes" embroidered on the back of the token with puppet thread, he suddenly laughed.

Hamura Shinobu wanted a respectable "peaceful consultation," so he gave him plenty of face—after all, when things fall apart later, the more respectable the pretense, the louder it will shatter.

The venue was set up on the third floor of the castle tower in the Land of Fire. The scent of sandalwood mixed with the smells of the representatives from various countries wafted in: the sulfurous smell of the Raikage, the rocky ash smell of the Tsuchikage, the dry wind of the Sand Village, and the salty, fishy smell of the Kirigakure.

Byakuya stood in the corner, the chakra threads in his sleeve quietly disappearing into the cracks in the floor.

He could feel Sasori's core burning hot on the sole of his boot. It was the puppet's heart that Granny Chiyo had repaired over three days and three nights, and it was now transmitting signals throughout the wooden beams of the castle tower along the net array he had laid.

"Gentlemen," Shinobu Hamura's voice, like honey-soaked silk threads, came from the head of the table.

He wore a moon-white brocade robe, the tassels of the jade pendant at his waist swaying gently with his movements. Where was the trace of the historian who bowed his head and recorded at the Five Kage Summit back then? "The Land of Fire is willing to share its ancestral puppet improvement technique with other countries, on the condition that..." He lightly tapped the bronze box on the table with his fingertip, "that each country send three Jonin to the Land of Fire to study together."

Ebizo squinted, his fingertips tracing the rim of the teacup.

The Sunagakure advisor could smell the lacquer from the wooden box—the same smell as the puppets that attacked Sunagakure three years ago when the village was massacred.

Onoki condensed his Earth Release chakra into fine sand in his palm. He stared at the screen behind Hamura Shinobu, on which were embroidered the four characters "天下大同" (Universal Harmony), with dark red seeping into the stitches, like blood.

Rasa's pupils contracted slightly. Ever since Byakuya broke free of his mental control, he had become exceptionally sensitive to chakra fluctuations. The technique in the wooden box... how come it looks so much like the cursed seal from when Kirigakure suddenly fell into internal strife?

“What a wonderful sharing.” Bai Ye took a step forward, and the chakra threads under his black brocade robe suddenly tightened.

He could feel the red sand core vibrating beneath his boots, the entire wooden beams of the castle tower resonating. "Lord Hamura, do you know why the puppet virus suddenly vanished?" He flicked his sleeve, and a dog-shaped puppet landed with a thud before him, its mouth wide open, revealing writhing green threads within. "Because it changed hosts—"

The civil official from the Land of Fire in the corner suddenly clutched his throat.

Bluish-purple lines rose from beneath the skin of his neck, like countless small snakes crawling; veins bulged on his forehead; his fingernails dug deeply into the table, leaving five bloody scratches on the sandalwood surface. "Help...help me..." his voice was like a broken bellows, "This...this is what I copied for Lord Hamura the other day..."

Chapter 779 Elimination Plan

Hamura Shinobu's pupils suddenly contracted.

He stood up abruptly, the jade pendant tassels tangling around the corner of the table. "You're spouting nonsense!" But his fingertips were trembling, causing the water in the teacup to splash out.

Ebizo's teacup cracked with a "crack." He stared at the lines on the civil official's neck and suddenly remembered the night Sunagakure was massacred. The villagers who were poisoned by the puppets had the same experience—first, worms crawled under their skin, and then they bled from all seven orifices and died.

Onoki's fine sand "whooshed" into sharp spikes, piercing the wooden box. The box lid cracked open, and what rolled out was not a technical scroll, but a stack of blood-stained names, with the words "Iwagakure Jonin Elimination Plan" written at the top.

"The host is human." Bai Ye's voice was as cold as a knife. "You sent Jonin from various countries to the Land of Fire to 'study,' but in reality, you infected them with the virus and then brought them back to their respective ninja villages."

"When the virus breaks out..." He looked at Rasa, "Lord Kazekage should remember how many people died in Kirigakure when the Fourth Mizukage lost control."

Hozuki Gengetsu's knuckles turned white from clenching his fists.

He stared at the official's distorted face and suddenly remembered the secret letter intercepted by the Hidden Fog Division three days ago. The sealing technique and the virus pattern... matched perfectly.

Rasa suddenly stood up, the chair scraping against the floor with a screeching sound. "Hamura Shinobu!"

Is the mind control you've placed on me also related to this virus?

"Enough!" Hamura Shinobu suddenly overturned the table, and shards of teacups splashed at Byakuya's feet.

His moon-white brocade robe was stained with tea, and the jade pendant tassels were broken into several pieces. Where was his composure? "Do you think the Land of Fire is an easy target?"

How many people from the Land of Fire died in the Fourth Shinobi World War...?

"So you resort to such underhanded tactics?" Onoki's voice was like thunder. He slammed his fist on the table and stood up, his Earth Release chakra causing dust to fall from the rafters. "I've lived for almost a hundred years and I've never seen a ruler use the lives of ordinary people as pawns!"

The meeting room instantly descended into chaos.

The representative from the Land of Lightning rushed in, clutching the secret letter left by Hiashi. A kunai from the Hidden Mist Village's Anbu grazed Hamura Shinobu's ear and was pinned to the wall. The puppeteers from the Hidden Sand Village had already untied their chakra threads and were ready to act at any moment.

Bai Ye retreated to the window, gazing at the torches that had suddenly lit up below—his woven network array had been triggered; the entire wooden beam of the castle tower was now entangled in puppet threads, ready to be activated with a mere flick of his finger...

"Byakuya!" Shinobu Hamura suddenly turned around, his eyes bloodshot. "You think you've won?"

So what if he's a descendant of the first generation...?

"I've never won." Bai Ye interrupted him, gently tugging at the chakra threads in his sleeve.

The vibrations from the red sand core spread throughout the entire castle tower along the weaving array. Suddenly, all the torches downstairs went out. In the darkness, countless puppet threads as thin as hair gleamed coldly in the moonlight. "I'm just letting the pieces see who's playing the game."

Onoki pressed his hand on the Earth Release seal, his gaze sharp as a knife; Rasa's sandstorm condensed in his palm, ready to unleash at any moment; Hozuki Gengetsu's cold laugh was chilling, his fingertips already gripping a kunai.

Looking at the suddenly tense chakra around him, Hamura Shinobu finally understood—the scheme he had set up for ten years was about to collapse today.

The sandalwood incense from the castle tower was splashed by the overturned teacup, and the burnt smell lingered in my throat.

The grains of sand in Onoki's palm suddenly condensed into sharp cones, piercing through the table beside Hamura Shinobu's feet with a "crack," causing the other party to stagger backward: "Betrayal."

Ten years ago, when you knelt before the Five Kage begging for food, you never said you wanted to use other countries' Jonin as Gu worms! His eyebrows trembled like rock dust blown by the wind, and his turbid eyes burned with rage—the most elite Earth Release squad of Iwagakure had been "accidentally" killed half a year ago on the border of the Land of Fire. It turns out that this poisonous plot had been laid all along.

The sandstorm from Luo Sha swirled in his palm, and golden sand leaked through his fingers, drawing the totem of the Land of Wind on the ground.

He abruptly ripped off the jade belt buckle representing the alliance at his waist. "When the Kazekage was mind-controlled and signed unequal treaties, you said it was 'for the peace of the ninja world'; when the Sand Village villagers were devoured by puppet poison, you said it was 'a necessary sacrifice'—" His voice suddenly went hoarse as he recalled the day Byakuya broke the curse, seeing green threads crawling through his pupils in the mirror. "Now I declare that the Land of Wind withdraws from all alliance agreements with the Land of Fire!" The golden sand vortex exploded with a "boom," blowing away half of Hamura Shinobu's moon-white brocade robe.

Chapter 780 Greed Has Never Changed

Hozuki Gengetsu leaned against the pillar, a chilling smile creeping across his lips.

The kunai on his fingertips gleamed a ghostly blue in the moonlight; it was a poisoned blade unique to Kirigakure. "Human greed has never changed," he said, the last syllable still lingering on his tongue, before suddenly thrusting the kunai into a wooden pillar behind him—the one embedded was a flying needle coated with paralyzing poison, its end embroidered with the Vermilion Bird crest of the Land of Fire's Anbu.

He glanced sideways at the civil official from the Land of Fire huddled in the corner. The official was scratching his throat with his fingernails, and bluish-purple lines had crept up his cheeks. "The madness of the Blood Mist Village back then is not as disgusting as the high-sounding scheming of today."

Byakuya stood by the window, the chakra threads in his sleeve slightly warming with the vibrations of the red sand core.

He could clearly sense the threads of the net array moving along the wooden beams of the castle tower, each thread entwined with the chakra fluctuations of the participants—the Raikage's violent electric current, Onoki's heavy rock release, Rasa's scorching golden sand, and even the cold sweat seeping from Hamura Shinobu's fingertips carried the stickiness of conspiracy.

This data is being sent to intelligence agencies in various countries at a rate of one hundred per breath via puppet carrier pigeons modified by Granny Chiyo.

He gazed at the sudden burst of light below—it was the puppeteer from Sunagakure who had triggered the location markers he had planted, marking the locations of all the poisoned civil officials with red dots on the map, like drops of blood.

“You’re not here to talk about peace.” He leaped onto the windowsill, his black brocade robe fluttering in the night wind. “You’re here to divide the spoils.” The nobles of the Land of Fire downstairs suddenly stirred—they had just been holding teacups and agreeing with Hamura Shinobu’s “sharing plan,” but now, seeing their own son’s name prominently listed on the bloodstained list that rolled out of the wooden box, they immediately grabbed the short swords at their waists and rushed forward.

Hamura Shinobu staggered backward, the jade pendant shattering into several pieces at his feet, and his moon-white brocade robe was torn in several places, revealing the lining embroidered with curse patterns.

"white night!

"You can't—" His scream was drowned out by the nobleman's angry curses.

Someone grabbed his collar and held a dagger to his throat: "My son is going to the Land of Fire to 'study' tomorrow!"

You dare touch a single hair on his head—

Byakuya turned and leaped onto the roof of the Tenshukaku.

The tiles crunched softly under his feet. He touched the first seedling under his collar; the vines were creeping up his fingertips and into his palm, trembling with excitement.

The commotion below seemed to be filtered through a thin veil. He could hear his own heartbeat, clearer than when he assassinated Hanzo in Amegakure three years ago—back then he was just a puppeteer driven by hatred. Now he finally understood why the First Hokage planted the Divine Tree sapling in the Valley of the End.

"The true purpose of puppetry is not to manipulate people." He looked down at the chaos inside the castle tower, his voice carried by the wind into the night, "It is to awaken people."

The moonlight was suddenly obscured by clouds.

Bai Ye paused at the edge of the roof, his gaze sweeping across the direction outside the capital—there, faint chakra fluctuations lingered, like a snake's tongue licking his senses.

That wasn't the aura of any particular ninja; it was more like... the remnants of a cursed technique.

The first seedling tightened around his neck, the vines piercing his skin, and the blood that seeped out fell into the cracks of the tiles, blooming into a tiny white flower on the bluish-gray tile.

He touched the core of the red sand on the sole of his boot; it was even hotter than before.

The cries of night crows came from afar, their sounds carrying a metallic scraping sound—they were no ordinary crows, but rather intelligence birds from Sunagakure. However, the luster of their feathers was off, as if they had been modified by some kind of secret technique.

Bai Ye took one last look at the chaos inside the castle tower, then turned and walked in the opposite direction.

The hem of the dark brocade robe swept across the tiles, leaving a pale golden puppet thread that shimmered in the moonlight before blending into the night.

On a mountain road outside the capital, a figure wrapped in a black cloak was looking up in the direction of the castle tower.

The bronze bell hanging from his waist suddenly jingled softly, its sound mingled with the vibrations of tiny puppet strings. "Finally here..." he chuckled softly, turning and walking into the woods, leaving a trail of charred footprints on the ground, like charred ash from a high-temperature fire.

In a more distant place, beneath the remnants of the first divine tree, two faint wisps of will are entwined with the wind and drift away.

"In the end, he chose his own path..."

"But this journey has only just begun."

Chapter 781 Loyalty Potion

As the moonlight once again bathed the eaves of the castle tower, Bai Ye's dark brocade robe had already blended into the shadows of the noble mansion.

He pressed his ear against the blue brick wall, listening to the footsteps of the night patrol guards approaching from afar—a rhythm of three long and two short steps, a code commonly used by the guards of the Land of Fire, but they suddenly stopped on the seventh step.

"Strange, why does this wall smell sweet and fishy?" The sound of the scabbard scraping against the bricks and stones brushed past his ear.

Bai Ye's fingertips lightly touched the protruding brick seams on the wall, and vines meandered out from her sleeves, weaving an extremely fine puppet net on the brick surface.

The guard's steps froze abruptly three feet away. His Adam's apple bobbed twice, and he suddenly turned and walked in the opposite direction. The crisp sound of his sword striking his waist badge gradually disappeared around the corner.

"The mimicry ability of the first generation bloodline is indeed more concealed than ordinary illusions." He chuckled softly, and as the vines retracted into his sleeves, they brought down two pieces of wall dust, which landed on the puddles at his feet, creating two tiny ripples.

The study's window frames were made of double-layered cypress wood, with a chakra barrier sandwiched in between to prevent eavesdropping—Hamura Shinobu's caution exceeded his expectations.

Bai Ye pressed a single finger against the window crack, the red sand core burning hot against the sole of his boot. Puppet threads seeped out from his fingertip, burrowing into the wooden crack like tiny red ants.

The barrier glowed blue the moment it touched the silk, and his pupils contracted slightly—it wasn't an ordinary defensive spell, but a curse refined from the heart of a living person.

“No wonder he dared to expose the cursed pattern on the lining of the castle tower.” He bit his tongue, and blood mixed with chakra sprayed onto the silk, causing the blue light to shatter.

The sound of the window being opened was as soft as the fluttering of a butterfly's wings.

The candlelight on the desk flickered twice, illuminating a half-open sandalwood box in a hidden compartment at the base of the wall.

Byakuya's breath hitched—the box contained thirty-three parchment sheets, each stamped with the nine-petaled chrysanthemum pattern unique to the nobles of the Land of Fire, and the name on the top sheet was written in vermilion, making it particularly eye-catching: "Uchiha Fugaku".

“Hamura Shinobu isn’t just courting the old nobles.” His fingers trembled slightly as he held the list. A chill ran down his neck, and vines crawled up his collarbone and into his sleeve. “If Fugaku, as the head of the Uchiha clan of Konoha, were to be controlled by the puppet virus…”

Suddenly, the shrill cawing of crows came from outside the courtyard.

Bai Ye spun around and disappeared into the dark cabinet behind the desk. Through the gaps in the wooden lattice, he saw two dark figures flash into the study.

The leader lifted his cloak, revealing the distinctive red-gold headband of Sunagakure—he was Ebizo's personal guard.