Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

Originally attached to the cracks in the rocks and suspended in the air, they now surged toward the white light of the embryo like iron filings attracted by a magnet.

The earth cracked open with spiderweb-like fissures, and the virus burrowed into the ground along the cracks, turning into nothingness in the blink of an eye, like snow thrown into a furnace.

As the white light faded, Bai Ye was already kneeling on the ground.

His mask had cracked open at some point, revealing a pale scar below his left eye.

The embryo shrank back into his chest cavity, and his skin scabbed over at a visible speed, but his breathing became shallower and shallower—that one blow had drained all the chakra he had suppressed with the Hyuga bloodline for the past three years, and even squeezed out eighty or ninety percent of the life force of the first seedling.

"This is... true power?" The Raikage's voice was hoarse, like a broken bellows.

He crouched down, his rough knuckles almost touching Bai Ye, but pulled back at the last moment—this man, whom he always regarded as a threat, looked more vulnerable than the frozen homeless children in the snow of Kumogakure.

Byakuya looked up, his gaze passing over Raikage's shoulder and landing on Onoki.

The old figure was staring in the direction of the leyline altar, the clear spring seeping from the rock crevices shimmering with silver edges in the morning light.

He suddenly laughed, a relieved, hoarse laugh: "It's over...the cycle...finally..."

Before he could finish speaking, his body leaned backward.

The shattered mask fell off completely, revealing a surprisingly young face—the brow bone still retained the gentleness of a boy, but there were two very faint wrinkles at the corners of the eyes, as if they were marks left when the face was always tense.

His fingers unconsciously dug at the ground, blood seeping from under his nails, but his consciousness seemed to be slowly sinking as if immersed in warm water.

"White... Night?" Raikage called out, reaching out to help, but was stopped by Onoki's Iwate.

Old Ying shook his head, a complex emotion flashing in his cloudy eyes: "Let him sleep."

As the morning light spilled over the eastern mountain peaks, Bai Ye's consciousness had already blurred into a white mist.

In a daze, he heard a soft rustling in the wind, like the sound of flower petals unfolding.

With his last ounce of strength, he turned his head and saw a golden flower quietly blooming on the horizon—the luster flowing on its petals was just like the pure light of the core of the red sand at its purest.

Before his consciousness completely faded, he heard his own heartbeat, one beat, two beats, slow but clear.

This time, it wasn't the commotion of the virus, nor the roar of the containers, but... his own heartbeat.

Chapter 781 The Hidden Stone Clan!

As the morning light spilled over the mountaintop, Bai Ye's eyelashes cast a very faint shadow beneath her eyes.

His fingers were still digging into the soil, and beads of blood seeping from between his fingers meandered along the lines of his palm, spreading a small patch of dark red on the ground.

Consciousness, like cotton wool soaking in warm water, softens and sinks inch by inch, until the sound of leather boots crushing gravel is like a fine needle piercing into a chaotic fog.

"Good means."

A voice with a rusty tone brushed past his ear, forcing Bai Ye to open his heavy eyelids.

The first thing that caught his eye was a dark green brocade robe embroidered with gold patterns, and the tassels of the sword hanging in front of his eyes swayed so fast they made him dizzy.

He looked up through the brocade robe and saw Hamura Shinobu, the new acting daimyo of the Land of Fire, bending down and staring at him with a sinister smile. "You killed the old daimyo, overturned the coffin of the first daimyo, and even burned the remnant soul of Uchiha Madara—we who huddled behind the scenes have become the most useless trash."

A muffled groan came from the left.

Bai Ye turned his head and saw the Fourth Raikage, A, kneeling five steps away, his bulging fist slamming into the ground. The sound of shattering rocks was mixed with a suppressed growl: "You dare touch him—"

"Lord Raikage." Onoki's voice was like sandpaper rubbing against rock. The old knight stood ten paces away, his cloudy eyes reflecting the morning light. "The affairs of the Land of Fire are none of Kumogakure's business." He gently pointed his withered fingers toward the direction of the leyline altar. "Besides... this kid's life no longer belongs to him alone."

Ai's Adam's apple bobbed twice, his knuckles clenched until they turned white, and finally he released his fist and let it hang down at his side.

Hamura Shinobu's laughter grew louder as he crouched down, his jeweled fingers about to touch Byakuya's face.

His senses were exceptionally sharp when he was near death. Bai Ye smelled the strong scent of agarwood on his body, mixed with the metallic stench—it was freshly stained blood, perhaps from the old ministers of the Land of Fire who refused to submit.

“Now,” Hamura Shinobu’s fingernail pressed against Byakuya’s chin, “hand over the secrets of the ley lines, and the virus-eating embryo inside your body.”

Something was gently trembling in Bai Ye's chest.

He looked at the greed gleaming in Hamura Shinobu's eyes and suddenly laughed.

Blood trickled down his chin, congealing into a dark red bead: "You... thought this was the end?"

He subtly twitched his right little finger.

The puppet threads hidden in the sleeves had already seeped into the ground during the earlier melee, and were now moving along the rock crevices, hooking onto the fragments of puppet hearts that remained after being devoured by the embryos.

Three years ago in Sunagakure, when he was learning puppetry from Sasori of the Red Sand, the old madman always said, "For a true puppeteer, even death is a trap"—now he finally understood. The mechanism Sasori left in the core of the puppet was not decoration, but a coffin nail prepared for all those who looked down on him.

The ground glowed with a very faint blue light, like dew on grass leaves on a spring night.

Onoki's pupils suddenly contracted, and he raised his hand, his withered voice tearing through the air: "Iwagakure!"

Dust Release: Particle Style - "

Five bluish-gray beams of light shot towards the ground at Bai Ye's feet almost simultaneously.

But the moment the beam of light touched the soil, countless translucent spores suddenly burst forth from the ground, like a spider web that had been punctured.

The chakra flow of Dust Release was entangled by spores, causing the beam to deviate by three inches—enough to deflect the attack from its target and instead strike the Iwagakure ninja on the left.

The explosion was so loud it hurt people's eardrums.

Chapter 782 Taking advantage of someone's serious injury to kick them when they're down

Byakuya watched as the Iwagakure Jonin, thrown by the shockwave, crashed into a tree, the sound of shattering armor mixed with Hamura Shinobu's screams.

He pushed himself up from the ground, a piercing pain shooting through his ribs—at least three of them had broken when he was enduring the First Generation's will.

But at this moment, a dark fire burned in his eyes, and the fragmented energy that flowed along the puppet threads was drilling into his limbs and bones along his blood vessels.

“Old man,” he stared at Onoki, his laughter tinged with the stench of blood, “Three years ago when I stole the puppet manual in Iwagakure, you sent thirty-seven Jonin to chase after me.”

"Back then you said, 'If you dare touch anything from Rock Fortress, I'll turn you into nourishment for the earth's veins'—" He coughed up blood, "Now, you're feeding me that nourishment yourself."

Onoki's face turned bright red. He waved his hand, and the remaining Iwagakure ninja immediately surrounded him in a fan shape.

But suddenly Raikage's roar came from outside the crowd: "Stop it, all of you!"

White Night turns its head.

Ai stood still, his black cloud-patterned cloak billowing in the wind. His right hand was pressed against the thunder blade at his waist, veins bulging from his wrist and spreading down to his neck.

This man, who always spoke of "the glory of the Hidden Clouds," now had eyes like a beast drenched in a downpour, wanting to pounce and tear the enemy apart, yet afraid to shatter the last bit of warmth in his palm.

"Ai..." Bai Ye called him softly.

Raikage's Adam's apple bobbed, and the hilt of his Raikage left a red mark on his palm.

In the distance came the order from Hamura Shinobi to regroup, and the Fire Country's elite troops approached, kunai in hand; the Iwagakure ninja, clutching their wounds, got up, the aftershocks of Dust Release still crackling in the air.

In the morning light, deep within the pupils of the white night, a faint golden light was gathering—the light from the core of the red sand, the last cold laugh left by Scorpion in the human world.

Ai's fingers gripped the knife handle tightly.

Looking at Bai Ye's blood-stained face, he suddenly remembered that three days ago in Kumogakure, this man, whom he always regarded as a threat, had squatted in the snow and shared roasted sweet potatoes with the homeless Shinobu.

Back then he said, "The strong don't climb up by stepping on others, they make it so that those behind them don't have to climb uphill"—now, this man who always burns himself out is surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves.

The Thunder Blade hummed as it was drawn half an inch from its sheath.

Onoki's gaze swept over the Raikage, then over the Iwagakure ninja scattered in disarray, and he suddenly narrowed his eyes: "A, you'd better think this through—"

"Think it through my ass!" Ai's roar startled the birds in the treetops. He raised his hand, gripping the lightning blade, and lightning crackled on the edge. "All I know is that anyone who takes advantage of someone's injury and kicks them when they're down is no hero!"

Bai Ye looked at the lightning surging in Raikage's eyes and suddenly smiled.

His fingers tugged at the puppet threads again, and a subtle vibration came from the ground—the sound of Sasori's mechanisms being fully activated.

Further away, the golden flower he had seen in his hazy state was slowly unfolding its second petal with the help of the wind.

As the hum of the Thunder Blade being drawn tore through the morning mist, blue-purple lightning danced in Ai's pupils.

He could hear his own heart pounding like a drum—this was the most absurd decision of his life, to become an enemy of both Iwagakure and the Land of Fire for a mysterious ninja who had repeatedly overturned the order of the ninja world.

But when he saw the blood droplets on Byakuya's eyelashes as he coughed up blood, he suddenly remembered the warm aroma of roasted sweet potatoes in the snow in Kumogakure, and the light in that kid's eyes when he said, "The strong must protect those behind them."

"Get out of my way!" he roared, and lightning chakra surged up his legs like a living thing, causing spiderweb-like cracks to appear on the ground beneath his feet.

But just as he took his first step, he caught a glimpse of Bai Ye's fingertips trembling slightly out of the corner of his eye—a small gesture unique to puppeteers before forming hand seals.

"Watch out!" Ai's instincts kicked in before he could think, and it was too late to stop.

A tiny puppet needle, as thin as a mosquito's leg, pierced the crevice in the rock beneath his feet with a "ding." As dark purple chakra spread along the stone's texture, quicksand surged forth from the ground.

The Raikage's right leg sank into a half-foot-deep sand pit, a low growl of shock and anger stuck in his throat: "You—"

Chapter 783 Don't rush, everything's on its way

"I'm sorry." Bai Ye's voice was stained with blood, yet strangely calm. "If you force your way in, Onoki's Dust Release will crush you along with him." He pushed himself up from the ground, the sharp pain from his broken ribs making his breath come in gasps. "This trap won't hold the Raikage; it'll give you three more breaths to live."

Ai's lightning release exploded in his palm, instantly turning the sand grains into glass shards by the high temperature. But as he pulled out his right leg, Bai Ye had already turned to the other side.

Hamura Shinobu's gold-embroidered brocade robe was so bright in the morning light it hurt the eyes. The new acting daimyo was charging forward, kunai in hand, surrounded by twenty-seven fire country ANBU in a goose formation. The poison on the tips of the kunai gleamed a dark blue in the sunlight.

“Kill him!

"Take the earth's ley line embryo!" Hamura Shinobu's voice trembled with excitement, and he even forgot to hide the thirst in his throat—a greed for power that was stronger than the agarwood fragrance on his body.

Bai Ye looked at the approaching blade of light and suddenly smiled.

His left hand pressed against his chest, where he could feel the still-warm fragments of the embryo—the last vestiges of energy left after being burned by the First Generation's will, and the final mechanism Sasori had hidden within the puppet's core. "Sasori said that a puppeteer's funeral should include the death of his enemies," he murmured, his fingertips drawing a dark line in the soil. "Now, it's time to lift the coffin lid."

A muffled rumble, like thunder, came from the direction of the leyline altar.

Onoki's old face turned deathly pale instantly. He roared, "Retreat!", but the Iwagakure ninja's chakra perception was too slow—the fragments of the puppet's heart underground exploded at the same time, mixed with the earth vein energy that the embryo had devoured, and the shockwave it generated was like an invisible giant hand, blowing away all the ninjas who approached.

The kunai of the Land of Fire's Anbu fell to the ground one after another. Hamura Shinobu was hit by the shockwave and slammed into a tree. His brocade robe was torn open, revealing his blood-stained inner garment.

“This is impossible…” Onoki staggered and grabbed the rock for support, his fingernails almost digging into the cracks in the stone.

He finally saw the fragments shimmering in the shockwave—each one was engraved with the unique puppet patterns of Iwagakure, fragments of puppet manuals that he had personally destroyed three years ago.

It turns out that what this kid stole wasn't the score, but the seed of revenge.

Bai Ye used the force of the air blast to roll toward the edge of the altar, where there was a hidden channel he had carved out three days ago with puppet silk.

He could hear the footsteps of his pursuers approaching from behind, and feel the blood seeping into his clothes from the broken ribs. But what was clearer was the call coming from the ground—the energy that had not been completely devoured from the depths of the earth's veins, the resonance between him and Sasori of the Red Sand.

"This battle is not for you." He stood at the entrance of the culvert, turning to look at the stunned crowd.

In the morning light, blood still clung to the corner of his mouth, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness. "It was for myself... to understand why I could simultaneously contain the bloodline of the First Generation, Scorpion's puppetry, and this virus-eating embryo."

Before he finished speaking, he leaped into the culvert.

The musty smell from the passage hit him, but he couldn't care less—his scream came from behind him as Onoki's Dust Release beam grazed his clothes and slammed into the rock wall, sending boulders raining down on him.

He groped his way forward in the darkness, his right hand always tightly gripping the pulsating fragment of the puppet's heart. He could clearly feel the heat emanating from the fragment, like another heartbeat.

I don't know how long I ran, but the noise overhead gradually became blurred.

Bai Ye slid down against the damp rock wall and, by the dim light of his phone, saw a line of tiny puppet script appear on the surface of the fragment—it was Scorpion's handwriting: "To those who come after: When you read this line, it means that Lao Tzu's coffin lid has been opened again."

Remember, a puppeteer's life is in their own hands.

He chuckled softly and pressed the shard to his chest.

In the darkness, faint footsteps came from deeper within, mingled with the dripping of groundwater.

Bai Ye took out the last kunai, his fingertips brushing against the blade, and heard himself whisper hoarsely, "Don't rush, what's meant to come is on its way."

The wind from deep within the tunnel suddenly changed direction, bringing a faint, sweet fragrance—very similar to the Puppet Fragrance that Sasori of the Red Sand loved to use.

Bai Ye leaned against the rock wall to stand up. Blood was still flowing from his wound, but his steps were more steady than ever.

In the darkness, his shadow was stretched long by the firelight, gradually merging into the deeper shadows...

Chapter 784 Virus Evolution

The authentic musty smell mixed with the smell of rust wafted into his nostrils. Bai Ye's fingertips dug deeply into his palms, and the blood seeping from his wounds left dark red marks on the rock wall.

He could clearly feel the heat of the puppet heart fragment in his palm rising—it was like a piece of warm jade a moment ago, but now it was so hot it almost burned his skin. The puppet runes on its surface flickered with the heartbeat, as if it were breathing.

"The scorpion fragment...is absorbing the earth's energy?" He leaned against the damp rock wall, panting. The stinging pain from his broken ribs made each breath feel like a knife cutting into him, but what sent chills down his spine was another kind of energy emanating from the fragment.

It was an energy completely different from puppetry, carrying an ancient and profound feeling, like tree roots piercing into his sea of ​​consciousness—the First Hokage's Wood Release bloodline was restless, Madara's Sharingan remnant soul was churning, and even the dark substance he named "Virus Embryo" began to slowly wriggle.

“So it wasn’t destroyed after all…” he chuckled, blood splattering on the fragments. “It just fell into a different kind of slumber.”