Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

Kidomaru wore a faded cloak from the Sand Village Anbu, his hair was stained with dark red liquid, and the puppet strings in his hands gleamed with a metallic sheen.

His left eye was wrapped in bandages, and his right eye, which was exposed, looked like a piece of obsidian that had been tempered with ice: "You shouldn't have come here."

Bai Ye's long staff instantly moved horizontally in front of his chest, and all six magatama lit up at the same time.

He could feel the tremors of the earth's veins suddenly intensify, as if something underground had snapped its last chain. "You betrayed Sunagakure?"

“Betrayal?” Kidomaru pulled off his cloak, revealing three puppet cores engraved with “Rings of Contract” at his waist. “Back then, my master was cheated out of his chakra glue by the Minister of Finance and worked to death in the workshop; last autumn, my sister stole half a bag of grain to change our seriously ill mother’s medicine—” His voice suddenly choked up and then immediately turned cold, “She was hung at the village entrance and kept calling out ‘Kidomaru-nii-san, save me’ until she breathed her last.”

What are the higher-ups of Sunagakure doing?

They are making a golden puppet for the daimyo's favorite concubine!

Chiyo's puppet arm burst forth with several steel needles, but they were entangled in Kidomaru's puppet strings before they could reach him. "You were once our most skilled puppeteer." Her human hand gripped the kunai bag tightly, her knuckles turning white. "Even if you were disappointed in the village, you shouldn't have joined such a shady organization!"

“The new order doesn’t need to see the light of day.” Kidomaru snapped his fingers, and three black-robed puppets crawled out from behind the tower gate.

Blood and sand seeped from their joints, and in the empty eye sockets beneath their masks, the same contract cores as those around his waist throbbed. "When the things beneath this tower awaken, all the decaying old eras will be crushed—including you."

Chapter 812 Sending You On Your Way

Bai Ye's toes lightly touched the sand.

He could feel a subtle vibration beneath the sand; it was the wriggling of the puppet spores he had scattered before setting off that morning.

The tremors of the earth's veins mingled with the resonance of the spores, weaving a web in his mind. "So you lured us here so that what lies beneath the tower would devour us?" he asked, the magatama on the long staff beginning to rotate clockwise.

"No." Kidomaru's puppet strings suddenly snapped, and the three black-robed puppets simultaneously raised their arms. "I'm here to send you on your way."

As the sandstorm raged again, Bai Ye's long staff slammed heavily onto the ground.

The sand grains suddenly condensed into sharp spikes that broke through the soil, but then scattered when they touched Kidomaru—those were his puppet spores, which were quietly crawling along the gaps in the sand grains toward the joints of the black-robed puppet.

A muffled sound came from beneath the earth's veins, as if something had finally broken free of its last chain.

Chiyo's puppet eyes reflected the dark shadow that flashed behind the tower gate, and she suddenly grabbed Baiye's sleeve: "Go quickly!"

The tower below...

Before he could finish speaking, the three black-robed puppets simultaneously let out a shriek.

Their face masks were washed away by the blood and sand, revealing what lay beneath—

They are three faces that look exactly like Chiyo's when she was young.

Three faces, identical to Chiyo's in her youth, emerged from the blood and sand, the blood vessels beneath the skin glowing with an eerie bluish-purple hue, even the position of the beauty mark at the corner of her eye was exactly the same.

Chiyo's puppet arm needles clattered to the ground, her human hand clutching the camel hair thread on her chest, her knuckles almost digging into her flesh—it was the keepsake her mother had placed in her palm before she died, and it was now trembling with her violent heartbeat.

"It was...made using my genetic sample?" Her voice sounded like it had been sanded clean. "The wound I was stabbed with thirty years ago when the Iwagakure ninja massacred the village..."

The white night's long staff, the magatama, suddenly accelerated its rotation, casting flickering shadows on the three puppet faces with its eerie blue light.

He could clearly sense the chakra fluctuations mixed in with the earth's tremors—a fluctuation that closely matched Chiyo's life imprint. "They're stimulating your emotions," he whispered, his left hand quietly pressing against the sand, puppet spores seeping into the ground through his fingers. "The chakra resonance will make it easier for whatever is under the tower to lock onto its target."

Kidomaru's puppet strings suddenly tightened, and all three puppets simultaneously raised their arms, their fingertips gathering into spikes formed from blood and sand. "This is your old ninjutsu, Lady Chiyo." A cruel glint flashed in his right eye. "Using your own blood sacrifice to strengthen the puppets, and now you're tasting the backlash from what you created?"

Bai Ye's boots left a shallow half-circle in the sand, a miniature trap laid by the spores. "When your sister was executed, she called out 'Kidomaru-nii' (older brother Kidomaru)," he suddenly said, his voice like a knife dipped in ice. "Will these puppets call out 'Chiyo-neechan' (older sister Chiyo)?"

Kidomaru's pupils suddenly contracted.

Simultaneously, broken whimpers emanated from the throats of the three puppets, the sound distorted like rusty gears: "Sister...Sister..."

Chiyo's puppet eyes suddenly burst forth with a blinding red light.

Her human hand slammed into the ground, the chakra gathered in her palm shattering the sand within half a meter: "Shut up!"

The moment the blood-red sand spikes pierced the air, Bai Ye's long staff slammed heavily into the center of the trap.

A muffled rumble came from underground—the spores he had scattered that morning had already seeped into the fissures of the chakra vein, and the energy that was now detonated surged like an undercurrent, blasting the lower bodies of the three puppets into a shower of sand and gravel.

Chapter 813 Now that you're here, don't leave.

"Now's the time!" He grabbed Chiyo and lunged to the left, sweeping his long staff to knock away the last blood-sand spike.

Kidomaru's cold laughter, mixed with the sandstorm, entered his ears: "You think you can win like this?" But the next second, his figure flashed into the stone gate of the Blood Sand Tower, and the last puppet dragged its broken body in after him, the door closing heavily behind him.

"Should we chase after them?" Chiyo wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and the puppet arm sprang out steel needles again.

Her human hands were still trembling, but her gaze had already refocused on the knife.

Bai Ye's fingertips touched the stone door, and he could feel the chakra fluctuations coming from inside: "They want us to go in." He flicked his finger, and a spore slipped through the crack in the door. "But since we're here, we should see what they've hidden."

The space inside the door was more spacious than expected.

The luminous pearls embedded in the wall emitted a ghostly green light, illuminating the scrolls scattered on the ground—some of the Sand Village emblems on the covers had faded, but the words "Puppet Forging Technique" and "Chakra Resonance Array" were still clearly visible.

On the stone table at the deepest part of the room lay a half-rolled tattered page, the ink still wet on the words "Puppet Reincarnation Technique - Living Core," which made Chiyo's pupils shrink sharply.

"This is the technology that Ebizo proposed destroying back then!" She staggered, grabbing the corner of the table for support, the metal joints of the puppet arm thudding against the wood. "He said these forbidden techniques would cause Sunagakure to repeat the blood sacrifice tragedy, so the Joint Elders Council burned all the data..."

Byakuya's fingertips traced the wax seal on the edge of the tattered page—the same pattern as the seal on the letter Chiyo had shown earlier. "Someone is continuing their research in the shadows," he said, his voice like that of someone immersed in a cold spring, "and using Sunagakure's resources."

Suddenly, the sound of rustling paper turning filled the stone chamber.

When Ebizo emerged from the shadows, the puppet token in his hand gleamed with a warm luster.

He was still wearing that faded consultant's robe, his hair stained with the dark red juice unique to Bloodshata, and his smile was as gentle as when he used to hand medicine to Chiyo: "Sister, there are some truths you shouldn't know."

Three steel needles shot out from Chiyo's puppet arm, but were deflected by a chakra barrier before they could touch Ebizo. "You...when did you..."

“From the day my father allowed me to enter the workshop.” Ebizo traced the patterns on the token with his thumb. “He always said, ‘Ebizo is most like me,’ but he didn’t know that I understood better than him—puppetry shouldn’t be bound by morality.” He looked up at Byakuya. “As for you, the inheritor of the first bloodline…”

Byakuya could feel the first generation cells in his body getting hot, and his chakra surging through his blood vessels like a living thing.

His long staff was held horizontally in front of his chest, and the six magatama lights up at the same time, cutting Ebizo's shadow into pieces: "You lured Kidomaru into the game and used his hatred as a pawn."

“What a clever child.” Ebizo’s lips curled into a smile. “But you shouldn’t be worried about me—”

His voice was suddenly interrupted by the sound of machinery turning.

The luminous pearls inside the stone chamber went out at the same time.

In the darkness, countless subtle metallic scraping sounds came from all directions.

The spores of the White Night transmitted back images: dozens of puppets crawled out of the hidden compartments in the wall, their joints oozing the same blood and sand as the Oni-doroki puppets, and their empty eye sockets pulsating with the same eerie green light as the core of the "Ring of Contracts".

Ebizo's command token glowed eerily in the darkness. "Welcome to the beginning of the New Order," he said. "But now that you're here..."

"Don't leave."

Chapter 814 Mind Control

In the darkness, the faint light of Ebizo's command token swirled in his pale palm, illuminating the undried blood and sand in the fine lines at the corners of his eyes.

The dark red liquid dripped down his chin onto the stone bricks, making a very soft "plop" sound—just like the traces left when he knelt before Chiyo's sickbed and wiped the medicine stains from her lips, after the medicine bowl was overturned and dripped down.

“My sister always says that puppetry should have warmth.” Ebizo’s voice was tinged with a certain damp warmth, but it suddenly turned cold and hard at the end. “But can warmth protect Sunagakure?”

Was the blood sacrifice calamity of that year caused by the magic being too vicious, or by the person who used the magic being too weak? He raised his hand and waved it lightly. Dozens of soft clicks came from inside the stone wall, and the movement of dozens of puppets crawling out along the cracks in the wall was just like the clamor of ants migrating before a storm.

Chiyo's puppet arm needles vibrated and hummed in her palm.

She stared at the eerie green light flickering in the puppets' eye sockets, a metallic taste rising in her throat—the traces of blood and sand seeping into the puppets, the kind only found on Kidomaru. "You used the village's secret ore..." she suddenly stumbled, the puppet's toes carving deep marks in the ground. "Three years ago, the Wind-Eroded Valley mining disaster killed eighteen miners..."

“Their blood seeps into the ore, nurturing purer blood sand.” Ebizo pressed his thumb heavily on the center of the command token, and chakra fluctuations rippled outwards. The nearest puppet suddenly raised its arm, its bronze fingertips brushing against Chiyo’s ear and embedding themselves into the stone wall. “Compared to the commoners who are swept away by the wind into grains of sand, their deaths at least have value.”

White Night's pupils shrank to thin slits in the darkness.

He could clearly sense the chakra fluctuations emanating from those puppets—the same eerie energy as the core of the Contract Ring, but with a more vibrant, sticky quality.

The First Generation cells burned along his spine, forcing him to instinctively take a half-step back, only to have his back collide with Chiyo's taut puppet shoulder armor. "You lured me here to test the First Generation bloodline's resistance to puppetry?" His voice was low, the long staff twirling half a circle in his palm, the six magatama gleaming with a faint blue light on his wrist.

“A test?” Ebizo suddenly laughed, the faint light of the token making his eyes appear bluish. “What I want is a witness.”

Witness how the rules of the old era are crushed, witness what kind of new order true puppetry can build. "Before he finished speaking, all the puppets' joints simultaneously emitted a sharp metallic screech, and their originally mechanical movements suddenly became fluid—as if they had been infused with the consciousness of a living person.

As soon as Bai Ye's spores touched the nearest puppet, they were repelled by a sticky mental force.

That power carried a cloying, putrid stench, like a rotting datura flower, drilling straight into his consciousness.

He bit his tongue and backed away. The moment he tasted blood, his chakra sliced ​​through the mental force like a sharp blade: "It's mind control..."

"Finally found it?"

A cold, hard male voice came from above.

The moment Bai Ye looked up, he saw a dark figure descend from above—the raven feathers unique to the Dark Division fluttering in the wind, and the eyes beneath the mask glowing with a sickly red.

As the pieces scattered around Ebi's hiding place, the stone slab beneath his toes shattered with a crack. "The core of the Ring of Contracts has never been a puppet, but a vessel that carries will." He raised his hand, and chakra formed a thin chain at his fingertips, precisely wrapping around the nape of the nearest puppet's neck.

The puppet's head suddenly twisted 180 degrees, and the eerie green light in its empty eye sockets was replaced by crimson.

Its arm bent at an angle impossible for a human to achieve, and its bronze knuckles tapped its chest—where a blood-red curse mark identical to that in Zero's palm was embedded.

“Each of these puppets seals the consciousness of a Chunin,” Zero’s voice was like a rusty gear. “Their fear, anger, and obsession become the fuel that drives the puppets.” He turned his wrist, and the puppet suddenly let out a sharp screech, mimicking a human scream. “Now, their will is in sync with the puppets, and they can even resist chakra interference.”

Chapter 815 Luring Kidomaru into the Trap

Chiyo's puppet arm was trembling.

She stared at the puppet's contorted posture, suddenly remembering the three genin who had disappeared last month—their headbands were now hanging from the waist of another puppet, gleaming coldly in the eerie light. "You...you killed your own people?"

“They are sacrifices.” Ebizo’s tone was as if he were talking about the weather. “Only with enough sacrifices can Sunagakure stand at the top of the ninja world.”

Once I control the Five Kage with these puppet armies, the war will become a puppet show—no casualties, only obedience. "His gaze swept over White Night," and the First Generation cells within you will be the final cornerstone.

Once I extract your bloodline, I can give these puppets regenerative abilities...

"So that's why you lured Kidomaru into this trap." Baiye interrupted him, slamming his long staff heavily on the ground. The six magatama simultaneously shone brightly, causing the three nearest puppets to stagger backward. "His hatred can cover up the traces of your collection of sacrifices, and his puppetry can help you perfect your experiments with the living core." He stared at the blood-sand sap on Ebizo's hair. "The Red Thorn Fruit of the Blood Sacrifice Tower only bears fruit on the fifteenth of each month—the sap you just touched means you went to the laboratory today."

Ebizo's smile froze for a moment.

Almost simultaneously, Zero's chakra chain suddenly grew rapidly.

Bai Ye felt a chill on the back of his neck as the chain blade grazed his earlobe, leaving a charred mark on the stone wall. "Too much talk." Zero's mask cracked with spiderweb-like lines. "It's time to end this."

The shrieks of the puppet horde suddenly rose in pitch.

Bai Ye could feel the sealed consciousness frantically pounding against his mental barrier—fear, resentment, and despair surged in like a tide.

He gritted his teeth and formed hand seals, the power of the First Hokage's cells erupting like a volcano, burning away all the negative emotions. "Mind control doesn't work on me," his voice was metallic and cold, "but these sealed ninjas..." He suddenly looked at Chiyo, "Grandma, use chakra resonance!"

Chiyo's puppet arm slammed into the ground.

Chakra rippled outwards, and the puppets froze instantly—the cursed seals on their chests glowed faintly with the resonance, revealing the barely visible markings on their headbands. "It's...it's the village's ninja tool markings!" Her voice trembled. "These puppets use a special mechanical core made by Sunagakure..."

"That's why Rasa noticed the anomaly." Lightning crackled at the tip of Byakuya's staff. "He sent his ANBU to investigate the higher-ups, and you..."

Suddenly, a soft sound of tiles breaking came from outside the tower.

Everyone stopped moving at the same time.

Zero's mask cracked completely, revealing a bluish-gray face underneath.

He listened for a moment, then suddenly sneered, "The Wind Shadow's dogs arrived quickly."

Ebizo's gaze instantly turned as cold as a knife.

He crushed the command token, and the puppet horde's movements became violent again. "Take care of them." He turned to Zero. "You go deal with the outsiders."

Zero's figure darted towards the top of the tower like a ghost.

Bai Ye gazed in the direction where he disappeared, lightning condensing into spikes at the tip of the staff.

He could sense a familiar chakra fluctuation outside the tower—it was Crow, Rasa's most trusted ANBU squad leader.

But at this moment, there was a hint of panic in the fluctuation, as if it were being chased by something.

"White Night!" Chiyo's puppet arm grabbed his shoulder. "The joints of these puppets are their weak points!"

Chapter 816 The wind will not stop, the sand will not stop

Bai Ye withdrew his gaze.

He stared at the puppets that were closing in again, a sweet, metallic taste of battle rising in his throat.

The first generation of cells pulsates in the blood vessels, as if responding to some ancient force.