Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

Chapter 786 Who exactly do you want to resurrect?

He suddenly remembered the puppet virus incident that broke out in Sunagakure three years ago. At that time, Chiyo had said, "That thing can spread along water sources and even contaminate the senses of slugs." His fingertips unconsciously traced the wood grain on the table. He waved to the Anbu and said, "Send more medical teams to test all the wells. Notify the Aburame clan to cover the air with parasitic insects."

At this moment, Bai Ye was squatting by the old well in the West District, with pale blue sap seeping from the vines on his sleeves, slowly sliding down the moss on the well wall.

He could clearly hear a faint hissing sound coming from the bottom of the well—that was the puppet spores consuming the natural energy in the water. "Fugaku used the earth's ley line energy to catalyze his Sharingan, so I'll use the water from the earth's ley line to stir things up." He chuckled softly, wiping the water stains along the edge of the well with his fingertip. "Even the most discerning dogs in the Anbu can't smell the scent of something washed with a virus."

As the moonlight climbed the high walls of the Uchiha clan's territory, Byakuya's figure was already pressed against the shadows of the shrine's back window.

He gazed at the faded clan crest on the lintel, the First Hokage's hair on his neck burning—a sensation of the lingering Wood Release chakra. "Madara's shrine, the First Hokage's traces..." He narrowed his eyes, his fingernails lightly tapping the window frame, rustling wood chips falling to reveal newly filled mithril—Fugaku had recently reinforced this place.

The moment the window latch clicked softly, a strong sandalwood scent wafted over.

Bai Ye flicked out three puppet threads to stabilize himself, and scanned the interior of the ancestral hall by the moonlight: the headbands of the past clan leaders were placed on the offering table in the center, but the murals on the walls were covered with black cloth.

His gaze lingered on a crack at the base of the east wall, where the patterns of half a Wood Release chakra remained—exactly the same as the site of the battle between the First Hokage and Madara that he had seen three years ago at the Valley of the End.

"Tear--"

The moment the black cloth was torn by the puppet's silk, Bai Ye's breath suddenly stopped.

On the mural, Hashirama Senju's Wood Release and Madara Uchiha's Susanoo are clashing fiercely. The ground beneath their feet cracks open into a bottomless fissure, and in the chakra orbs of their clash, a Rinnegan with six tomoe is floating.

On the lowest stone wall, a line of ancient text was highlighted with vermilion: "Blood-red eyes can reflect the beginning of reincarnation."

"So the Sharingan isn't the end..." Byakuya's fingertips traced the three tomoe marks on the mural, "It's splitting."

The First Hokage's Wood Release and Madara's bloodline limit clashed, creating a vessel that could hold their wills. He suddenly remembered Itachi's words, "The Puppet Virus can evolve the Sharingan," and a metallic taste rose in his throat—the virus wasn't an evolutionary agent at all, but a glue, a medium that could reassemble the split wills.

"white night!"

The loud shouts shook the beams and pillars of the ancestral hall, causing dust to fall in a flurry.

Fugaku Uchiha burst through the window with five elite ninjas. His Sharingan glowed an eerie red in the darkness, and the kunai in his hand was dripping with the guard's blood: "You think you can steal the Uchiha's secret?"

Three years ago, they killed my spy in Daming Prefecture; three months ago, they intercepted the virus sample; and today...

"Today I need to confirm who you are resurrecting." Bai Ye interrupted him, placing his right hand on the Rinnegan spot on the mural.

The red sand core trembled in his arms, and puppet threads, like living things, darted out from his sleeves and burrowed into every brick and stone through the cracks in the wall.

He could feel the virus devouring the shrine's chakra, turning the wooden pillars, stone slabs, and offering table into the limbs of a puppet.

"Form the formation!" Fugaku's pupils shrank to pinpoints. "Don't let him activate it..."

"Too late." Bai Ye chuckled, and the vines at his fingertips suddenly sprouted emerald green buds—the Wood Release chakra of the First Generation Seedling, resonating with the Puppet Virus.

The entire ancestral hall shook violently, the roof beams transformed into giant arms, the tiles solidified into scales, and the headbands on the offering table strung together into chains.

Chapter 787 This power must be controlled by Konoha

As the first ray of moonlight pierced through the roof, the ancestral hall transformed into a twenty-meter-tall puppet statue, bursting out by stepping on broken bricks and smashing through the walls.

"Chase!" Fugaku's kunai grazed past Byakuya's ear. "The secret in that mural is about the Uchiha and Senju... Ah!"

The colossus's stone leg slammed heavily at his feet, and the flying debris knocked him to the ground.

Byakuya stood atop the giant statue, watching the ninjas chasing below. The wind lifted his robes, revealing the shimmering First Generation Sprout on his neck.

In the distance came the sirens of the Hidden Leaf Village's Anbu. The Third Hokage's statue on the Hokage Rock cast a shadow in the moonlight, while the Red Sand Core in his arms emitted a rhythmic hum as the puppet statue moved—the virus was deciphering the ancient script codes on the murals.

"The truth..." Bai Ye stared at the fragments of paper being tossed about by the colossus. One of them floated before him, bearing Fugaku's notes: "Earth ley line energy × virus = Sharingan mutation. When the mutation reaches a critical threshold... Lord Hamura's plan can be activated." He crumpled the paper into pieces, letting the wind carry them into the night sky. "So, the one you've always wanted to revive wasn't Madara, it was..."

The giant statue gradually disappeared into the night sky of Konoha.

In the ruins of the Uchiha Shrine, Fugaku knelt amidst the rubble, staring at the Rinnegan section torn from the mural, a suppressed growl escaping his throat: "He took the most crucial part... Lord Hamura's prophecy is about to come true."

Moonlight climbed over the Hokage Rock, and Hiruzen Sarutobi stood at the highest point, gazing at the dark shadows on the distant horizon, his fingers unconsciously clenching the headband on his chest.

Unbeknownst to him, at this very moment, on a mountaintop thirty miles away, Byakuya was pressing the Crimson Sand Core onto a boulder engraved with six lines. In the light of the resonance between the virus and the core, half of the incomplete Rinnegan phantom appeared—and this phantom was about to unleash the most violent storm in the ninja world.

Moonlight carved cold, hard edges into the rocks on the mountaintop. White Night's boots crushed the gravel, his knuckles turning white from the force—the core of the red sand was burning hot in his palm, and every vibration traveled through his meridians into his sea of ​​consciousness.

Three days ago, when he tore off half of the Rinnegan mural in the Uchiha Shrine, he thought he had finally touched the edge of the truth. But now, the resonance coming from the depths of the earth's veins is like a poisoned knife, dissecting all his speculations.

"The temperature is rising." He stopped, panting, and tasted rust in his throat.

The rocks in the core area of ​​the earth's veins were dark red, like boiling blood, and scorching chakra surged from the ground, condensing into visible heat waves in the air.

The first seedling throbbed around his neck, its emerald green intertwined with the scarlet of the red sand core, casting dappled light and shadow on his skin.

Three days ago, the phrase "Earth ley line energy × virus = Sharingan mutation" from Fugaku's notes suddenly exploded in my mind—it turns out that the ultimate goal of those crazy experiments was to use the earth ley lines as a furnace to refine the chakra of the entire ninja world into the virus.

"Reporting, sir!" A sharp shout suddenly came from the foot of the mountain.

Bai Ye looked up and saw twenty chakra light blades slicing through the night sky, crashing towards the leyline altar like a meteor shower.

The figure at the head of the group, treading on lightning chakra, with lightning crackling around his muscular arms, was none other than the Fourth Raikage, A.

Behind him followed earth-style ninjas from Iwagakure. Onoki rode on a giant tortoise formed from rocks, his murky eyes gleaming with calculation.

The figure at the very front, draped in a golden cloak and holding a scepter inlaid with nine Tailed Beast Balls, was none other than Hamura Shinobu, the new acting daimyo of the Land of Fire.

"Byakuya!" Hamura Shinobu's voice, like a poisoned silver bell, echoed through the valley. "You think you can control everything by devouring the ley lines?"

This power must be controlled by the state! He slammed his scepter heavily on the ground, causing all nine Tailed Beast Balls to tremble simultaneously. "Tear down the altar!"

Chapter 788 A Caged Bird That Cannot Fly

Whoever manages to seize the puppet's heart embryo will be granted a fiefdom and become a marquis!

The Raikage's chakra blade had already slashed down, the wind from the blade lifting the stray hairs on Byakuya's forehead.

He dodged to the side, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Iwagakure ninja blocking their retreat with an earth wall.

"These old foxes..." Bai Ye sneered inwardly.

The Raikage appeared irritable, but was actually waiting for the Iwagakure to wear him down first; Onoki seemed to be cooperating, but his Earth Release technique concealed a deadly Rock Strike.

They didn't genuinely submit to Hamura; they were merely afraid of being excluded from the new era—just like during the Five Kage Summit when they fought for the distribution of the Tailed Beasts. Their greed has never changed.

"Boom!" The ley line altar suddenly trembled violently.

Bai Ye staggered two steps, the red sand core in his palm almost burning through his skin.

Two figures emerged from the red light: one wore a short robe embroidered with hibiscus flowers, with fragments of the Kusanagi sword wrapped in his hair; the other had six-tomoe Sharingan eyes rolling in their sockets, with the phantoms of nine tailed beasts floating behind him.

The puppet forms of the First Hokage and Madara were completely revealed through the resonance of the virus.

"Why do you refuse to become a part of us?" The First Hokage's voice was like a new budding Wood Release tree in the spring breeze, yet it carried an undeniable sense of oppression. "The virus within you, the First Hokage seedlings, and the Hyuga bloodline are all vessels born for fusion."

"Your choice is futile." Madara's voice was even deeper, and the red light of his Sharingan swept across Byakuya. "The wills of the Senju and Uchiha were destined to coexist since the time of the Sage of Six Paths."

Do you think that killing the daimyo of various countries and overthrowing ninja villages can sever the karmic ties?

Bai Ye took a half step back, his back pressed against the scorching hot rock.

He could feel the virus boiling in his blood vessels, and the vitality of the first seedling was frantically suppressing this erosion—this was a method of restraint he had collected in the black market over three years, using the Gentle Fist sealing technique of the Hyuga bloodline to lock the node of the virus's spread.

At this moment, the sealing techniques were faintly visible beneath the skin, like a spider web embroidered with chakra threads.

“I am not your vessel.” He looked up and stared at the two illusory figures. The wind lifted the stray hairs on his forehead, revealing a pale scar below his left eye—a scar left three years ago when he assassinated the daimyo in the Land of Water. “I am the one who will end you.”

Before he could finish speaking, Hamura Shinobu's scepter suddenly burst forth with dazzling golden light.

The nine Tailed Beast Balls exploded simultaneously, and the shockwaves sent the Raikage's chakra blade flying and shattered Onoki's rock turtle shell.

The white night was slammed against the altar wall by the shockwave, and the red sand core fell to the ground with a clang, sparking a string of sparks on the rocks.

Just as he was about to pick it up, the phantoms of the First Hokage and Madara simultaneously reached out their hands—two orbs of chakra enveloped the core and began to drill into the phantoms' chests.

"No!" Bai Ye roared and lunged forward, pressing his right hand onto the ball of light.

The virus and Wood Release chakra exploded into a blinding white light the moment they came into contact, and his skin began to bleed, but his consciousness suddenly cleared: it turned out that the cycle of the puppet virus was not the continuation of the will of the First Hokage and Madara, but that these two ninjas who once stood at the pinnacle were also trapped in the cycle of reincarnation by an even more ancient power.

What he wanted to end was never the will of any one person, but the cocoon woven by the ambition and desire of the entire ninja world.

"Grab him!" Hamura Shinobu's voice pierced through the white light. "Don't let the core be fused!" The Raikage's chakra fist had already struck his back, and Onoki's rock spike pierced from the ground.

Bai Ye gritted his teeth, his left hand pressed against his chest, and the sealing technique of Hyuga Hiashi lit up with pale blue lines under his skin—it was a life-saving technique that he had forced Hiashi to carve out using kunai when he infiltrated the Hyuga ancestral home half a year ago.

Chapter 779 The Core of Improvement

At this moment, these techniques are spreading along the blood vessels, piercing the location where the virus is gathered like ice picks.

The phantom images of the First Hokage and Madara suddenly froze.

Their gazes pierced through the chaotic crowd and landed on something Bai Ye was holding in his left hand—half a crimson core, its edges still stained with scorpion venom.

Three days ago, Granny Chiyo handed him this in the ruins of Sunagakure, saying, "This is Sasori's final improved core; perhaps it can..." "Enough," Byakuya said in a low voice, pressing half of the core against the heart of the First Hokage's phantom. "It's time to end this."

The earth's veins suddenly emitted a deafening roar.

Bai Ye felt something cracking deep within his consciousness, like a mirror sealed for a thousand years finally shattering into starlight.

The phantoms of the First Hokage and Madara began to fade, the light of Hamura Shinobu's scepter dimmed abruptly, the Raikage's chakra blade fell to the ground, and Onoki's rock cone turned into rubble.

The moonlight shone on the altar once more, and the red sand core lay quietly at White Night's feet, its surface shimmering with an unprecedented clarity.

"This is impossible..." Shinobu Hamura's voice trembled with tears as the Tailed Beast Balls on his scepter extinguished one by one. "My plan... my country..."

Bai Ye bent down to pick up the core, tracing the engravings on it with his fingertips.

Birdsong came from the direction of Sunagakure in the distance, and he suddenly remembered the look in Granny Chiyo's eyes when she handed him the core—there was expectation, relief, and a hint that he hadn't understood at the time.

Hiashi Hyuga's sealing technique was still burning hot under his skin, while Sasori's core was chillingly cold in his palm.

He knew that the real battle had just begun.

"White Night!" Raikage's voice came from behind, tinged with uncharacteristic hesitation, "That was just now..."

Bai Ye did not turn back.

He gazed at the pale dawn breaking in the east and carefully put the core away close to his body.

The sealing technique of the Hyuga bloodline and the coolness of the Red Sand core are forming a delicate balance within him—just like the reconciliation between the Senju and Uchiha clans back then, but this time, he is the one in control.

"It's time to see Granny Chiyo," he said softly, his voice carried away by the morning breeze.

Byakuya stood in the center of the altar, where aftershocks still lingered. The crimson sand core in his palm intertwined with the dark blue patterns of the Hyuga seal beneath his skin, like two equally matched flames vying for power within his body.

He gazed at the gradually solidifying phantoms of the First Generation and Madara, his Adam's apple bobbing—the words "perhaps it can break the deadlock" that Granny Chiyo had given him three days ago when she handed him half a core finally resonated in his mind.

It turns out that Sasori of the Red Sand improved not only the core strength, but also left a final "key" for this body that was eroded by the virus.

"Use the puppet silk as a lock." He suddenly shouted, his left hand forming a snake seal, and the thin steel wire hidden in his wrist snapped straight, shooting into his heart along the blood vessels.

The sealing technique beneath the skin lit up instantly, piercing the dark web of virus congealing like icicles; the red sand core in the right hand seeped out scarlet mist, crawling along the fingertips towards the chest.

Onoki's rock turtle made a muffled sound ten feet away, the Raikage's chakra blade hung in mid-air, and even Hamura Shinobu's hand, which was gripping the scepter, was trembling—they finally realized that this was not a robbery, but... a sacrifice.

"By blood!" Bai Ye gritted his teeth and dug his right hand into his chest.

The sound of tearing fabric mingled with the dull pain of bones rubbing together. He ripped open his blood-stained clothes, revealing a heart glowing with an eerie green light—an embryo formed from the fusion of the puppet virus and the first seedling, contracting at a strange frequency, each beat causing the ley line altar to tremble slightly.

The hibiscus-patterned robe of the first phantom suddenly billowed up, and Madara's Sharingan shrank to pinpoints: "You're insane!"

This will destroy your container!

"You're the ones who're crazy." Bai Ye grinned, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

He pressed the red sand core onto the embryo, and blue and red light instantly engulfed his upper body.

Chapter 780 Let him sleep

A rumbling sound like muffled thunder came from the depths of the earth's veins, and fragments of memories that had been eroded by the virus surged in the sea of ​​consciousness: the face of the Daimyo of the Land of Water with a kunai stuck in his throat, Chiyo's trembling hands in the ruins of Sunagakure, the unwillingness in Hiashi's eyes when a kunai was pressed against his throat... All the fires ignited by ambition now flowed along the core patterns toward the tiny crack in the center of the embryo.

"End all of this!"

The last three words were almost shouted out.

The embryo suddenly burst forth with a blinding white light, like a small sun rising on the altar.

The phantom of the First Hokage emitted a shrill cry as if the new shoots of Wood Release were being scorched. Madara's Sharingan shattered into fragments, and the two chakra orbs were pulled towards the embryo by the white light, disappearing completely like moths drawn to a flame.

Hamura Shinobu's scepter clattered to the ground, the nine Tailed Beast Balls lost their luster, and he staggered back three steps, his boot heels wedged in a crevice as he fell, his gold-embroidered cloak stained with pebbles: "No... my country... my power..."

The Raikage's chakra blade slammed to the ground with a thud. His eyes widened, veins bulging on his neck, but he couldn't utter a sound. Onoki's rock turtle cracked open with a spiderweb-like pattern. The old kage straightened up, supporting himself on the turtle's back, his cloudy eyes surging with unprecedented shock—the rocks of the leyline altar were fading from their dark red color, like skin drained of blood. The scorching chakra that filled the air gradually dissipated, replaced by the coolness of the morning mountain breeze carrying dew.

The most terrifying thing is those remaining puppet viruses.