Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

After the dust settled, Bai Ye stood atop the ruins, gazing at the gradually brightening flames outside the window—the torches lit by people from various countries after receiving the video recordings, and the shadows of intelligence crows fluttering across the sky.

Chapter 896 The Assassination Attempts Continue

"I am not a savior," he said softly to the wind, his black robe billowing in the sand to reveal the distinctive blue markings of the First Hokage's bloodline on his neck. "I am just a ninja who no longer wants to see people being manipulated."

As dusk settled over the city walls, he turned and walked into the shadows.

In the distance came faint cheers, mixed with the cawing of intelligence crows.

Meanwhile, at an abandoned border post station a thousand miles away, the roof tiles on the dilapidated eaves suddenly trembled—the first raindrop was sliding down the crack, spreading out tiny watermarks on the dusty windowsill.

The night rain fell like needles, piercing the dilapidated eaves of the abandoned border post station.

Shuiyue's fingertips traced patterns of charred beams and pillars, the rain-soaked chakra lines shimmering with a ghostly blue hue in her palm—the embers left behind when the "Shadow Silk" puppet was shredded, carrying the unique spore tremors of White Night.

She squatted on the dusty windowsill, her wet hair sticking to the back of her neck, and suddenly chuckled softly: "He's jumping around quite happily. Looks like that guy hasn't gone far."

Before he could finish speaking, a dark figure was swept in by the wind.

Bai Ye wore a black robe stained with sand, and rain dripped from the brim of his hat onto the ground, spreading into small clumps of mud between the two of them.

His gaze swept over the unburnt scroll fragments in the corner, the charred ash still stained with gold dust, the kind of secret letter material used by the Daimyo's mansion in the Land of Fire.

“Utara’s claws run deeper than I thought.” He raised his hand, revealing a tattered wristband lying in his palm, its surface adorned with scratched earth-land rock patterns. “The path fed back by the spore network… leads to the old ninja training camp on the third underground level.”

Shuiyue's pupils contracted slightly.

She recognized the wristband—it was the same one worn by the envoy Onoki sent to the Land of Fire three days ago.

"The hideout of the Stand ninjas?" She drew a short sword from her waist, the blade reflecting the faint blue markings on Byakuya's neck. "You mean they're going to copy Onoki?"

“More troublesome than copying.” Bai Ye closed his eyes, the tremors of the spores seeping into the ground with the rain, weaving a spiderweb-like pattern in his mind. “The ley lines of the old training center have been altered, the flow of chakra carries the dull hum of mechanical gears… What they want isn’t a substitute, it’s control.” When he opened his eyes, the dark clouds in the rain reflected in them. “If Onoki doesn’t sleep well tonight, there will be a few more marionettes under the table at tomorrow’s Five Kage Summit.”

At a border outpost a thousand miles away, a tallow lamp sways in the wind.

Onoki slammed his cane heavily on the wooden table, causing the pages of the Five Kage Summit agenda to flutter wildly.

"The old woman's letter?" He held the secret letter in his hand, the edges of the parchment still tinged with the distinctive scent of mugwort from Chiyo. "'The assassination has not stopped, they have only changed their clothes'—does she think I'm someone who's easily frightened?"

“But if Utara’s ‘All Things’ can be disguised as a ceasefire agreement, who knows what it will be disguised as next?” Ebizo stood in the shadows, his fingers lightly tapping the puppet scroll at his waist.

The fine lines at the corners of his eyes tightened as the oil lamp flickered. "The Kazekage agreed to a ceasefire, but the Sunagakure Anbu intercepted three corpses in the Land of Rain, their throats stuffed with rocks from the Land of Earth."

Onoki's eyebrows twitched.

He recalled Utara's distorted face in the water mirror three days ago, and how, when Iwagakure was shrouded in blood mist, the villagers' throats were also stuffed with the same rock particles—forced in by earth-style techniques to make the dead "speak for the murderer."

He suddenly ripped off the sealing wax from the secret letter, the parchment crackling in his palm: "Shadow Guard! Move the camp three miles into the ravine!" He turned and roared at the silent Tsuchikakushi ninja behind him, "Have the Iwa ninja set up three layers of rock shield barriers around the perimeter, and release all the Earth Listening Insects!"

"Old Ying, do you believe it?" Hai Bizang stroked his beard and smiled, but there was no warmth in his eyes.

Chapter 897 Consciousness Transplantation Workshop

“Whether you believe it or not is not important.” Onoki grabbed the rock-patterned sake cup from the table, spilling the sake onto the agenda, blurring the ink stains. “But I’ve lived this long, and I never give the enemy a second chance.” His gaze swept across the deepening night outside the window, then suddenly stopped—on a distant mountain ridge, an intelligence crow was flapping its wings and skimming through the rain, a spore shimmering with blue light still clinging to its claws.

The rain at the border post station was getting heavier and heavier.

Bai Ye put the wristband into his pocket and turned to walk towards the dry well behind the post station.

The moss along the well's edge was slippery from the rain, and when he stepped on it, a hollow echo came from the bottom of the well—that was the entrance to the third underground level.

"Do you want me to come along?" Shuiyue shook the rain off her knife, the tip of which lifted a strand of hair that had fallen down.

“No need.” Bai Ye’s hand pressed against the dark patterns on the well wall. As chakra surged in, the stone bricks made a mechanical clicking sound. “Go to the outpost and keep an eye on Onoki’s barrier. If I don’t send a message in three quarters of an hour…” He paused, turned his head to look at her, the blue patterns under his black robe gleaming faintly in the rain, “then burn down the ley line nodes of the old training center.”

The stone steps at the bottom of the well were faintly visible in the rain.

As the white night descended the steps, the damp air carried the smell of rust—the smell of a chakra furnace in operation.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Behind the stone door at the bottom, came the hum of gears meshing.

And then, faint human voices.

It wasn't a voice, but a whisper, like a scream shoved into a clay pot, with a metallic screech.

Spores gathered at Baiye's fingertips.

He pressed himself against the stone door, the coolness seeping into his bones through the cracks—the red light inside was crawling on the ground through the cracks, just like the color of the core of "All Things" when it was activated.

He reached out and placed his hand on the doorknob.

The sound from inside the door suddenly rose, mixed with the crisp sound of shattering glass.

"welcome."

The synthesized voice carried the lingering tone of Utara.

The red light from inside the stone gate, mixed with the smell of rust, wafted towards us.

Byakuya's pupils contracted into thin lines in an instant—it wasn't ordinary chakra light, but the crystallization reaction unique to the core of "All Things," resembling the color of the Fire Country's council hall when Utara used this thing to shred it three years ago.

The underground space was more spacious than he had imagined. In the center was a semi-circular pool with a diameter of ten feet, with pale golden chakra liquid floating on the surface, and dozens of puppets standing still in it.

They wore the Raikage's cloud-patterned battle suit, the Kazekage's beast-patterned cloak, and even the royal robes of the Fire Country's Daimyo. Crystallized conduits were inserted into the back of their necks, each conduit connected to silver cables hanging from the dome, weaving a glowing net in mid-air.

“Consciousness Transplantation Workshop.” Bai Ye’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

The most insane puppetry he had ever seen was sealing the consciousness of a living person into a puppet, but what he saw before him—the chakra fluctuations flowing through the conduits were clearly those of a living person. "They're pouring the consciousness of the Kage from various countries into the puppets, waiting for the Five Kage Summit..."

The mechanical hum suddenly rose in pitch.

The spores of the White Night seeped into the main control panel along the cable, and a memory image exploded on the retina: a masked youth knelt on one knee in front of a charred altar, and the remnant soul of Utara was faintly visible in the brazier.

"The teacher made the ninja world tremble with fear, but those who tremble will not submit." The young man removed half of his mask, revealing the three-tomoe Sharingan in his left eye. "I will make them raise their heads in fear and see the only one who can dispel the darkness—the Lord of Order."

Chapter 898 Clever enough, but not ruthless enough

"It's him!" Bai Ye's nails almost dug into her palms.

The "Black Face" who was ambushed and killed in Amegakure six months ago was actually still alive.

His knuckles turned white from the force, and the spore network throbbed wildly in his mind—this was not a simple assassination, but an attempt to replace the Shadows of various countries with puppets on the spot during the talks, so that they could launch a war under the identity of "Shadow."

The alarm blared, tearing through the air.

Three "pseudo-White Nights" fell from the ceiling, their long black hair curled by electric current, and their waists were wrapped with puppet strings identical to his.

Their pupils shimmered with a deep blue, a characteristic of those corrupted by the "Myriad Phenomena".

"You even stole my puppetry technique." Bai Ye sneered, the First Hokage's Wood Release bone fragment in his sleeve reflecting a cold light.

He thrust his hand into the ground, and his chakra exploded like a living thing, instantly wrapping around the knee joint of the nearest puppet with bluish-gray roots.

Suddenly, the fake Byakuya's arm stretched out, and a poisoned needle wrapped in silk thread pierced his throat—this was a killing move he had used three years ago in Kusagakure, and even the arc of the change was exactly the same.

"Smart enough, but not ruthless enough." Bai Ye used the power of the roots to leap into the air, the bone fragments spinning in his palm, and the wood release chakra flowing back along the roots.

The puppet's joints emitted a piercing metallic scraping sound, the threads suddenly snapped, and one of the pseudo-White Night's heads fell to the ground with a "click," revealing the densely packed crystallized chips inside.

He seized the opportunity to inject spores into the main control core, and data flowed through his eyes—the coordinates of the signal source pointed precisely to the outpost thousands of miles away, and the receiver's identifier was "Earth Shadow Guard Captain Iwazo".

"How long have you been replaced?" Bai Ye tore off the last spore from the wristband and flicked it into the ventilation duct.

The spores, moistened by the rain, flew straight toward the outpost with the airflow.

As he burst through the wall, the beeping of the microchip came through the rain – a warning from Blackface that the core had been compromised.

Inside the outpost, the tallow lamp spun in the wind.

Shuiyue leaned against the door frame, her gaze sweeping over the guard captain who was walking towards the conference room.

His toes touched the ground at the standard "three steps, one breath" of Iwagakure ninjas, but his breathing... She squinted, her scabbard gently tapping the ground: "Captain Iwagakure, wait a moment."

Izang stopped in his tracks.

As he turned around, a faint blue light flashed behind his ear—a sign that the crystallization chip was activating.

"What are your orders, Lord Mizukage?" His voice was steady, but his Adam's apple was throbbing. "The Great Kage is still waiting for the agenda..."

“Yesterday when you were cleaning the sword, you were breathing two breaths in and one breath out.” Shuiyue’s fingertips traced the hilt of the short sword. “Now it’s three breaths in and one breath out.” She suddenly took half a step forward, the scabbard pressed against Iwazo’s chest. “The chakra fluctuations are also wrong. There’s a dull mechanical sound in your body.”

Iwazo's pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints.

His right hand flashed towards the kunai at his waist, but before he could touch the hilt, the wooden door to the conference room creaked shut.

Onoki, with his back to the door, was tapping the map on the wooden table with his cane: "Report the troop deployment of the Land of Wind again." His shadow was stretched long by the candlelight, curled up in a ball on the ground.

"Great Shadow!" Shuiyue's short sword sliced ​​through the air.

A fine needle popped out from Iwazo's sleeve, but it was caught by a blue shadow midway—it was White Night's spores, which had arrived ahead of time through the ventilation duct and wove a net around Iwazo.

At the same time, deep within the dungeon of Sunagakure.

The damp stone wall was seeping water, and Chi Xing's wrist was pierced by the bronze chains of the "Thousand Machine Lock Array".

She looked up at the dome, where dozens of crystallization conduits hung down, just like those in the pool at the old training center.

The chains suddenly vibrated, and a distant voice drilled into the eardrums through the tube: "Ready to welcome your new master?"

Chapter 899 Taking Charge of the Overall Situation

Blood seeped from her fingertips as she drew twisted runes on the chains—a forbidden technique that could connect to the earth's veins.

From the deepest part of the dungeon came the soft sound of stones cracking, as if something that had been sleeping had awakened.

As the musty smell mixed with the smell of rust entered her nostrils, Nanaho's boot heels were grinding against the puddles on the dungeon floor.

She clutched the torn pages of the secret letter she had found in Akahoshi's clothes, the edges still stained with dried blood. The three characters "Sōjirō" were half-covered by blood scabs, but enough to make her bite her back teeth until they ached.

Akahoshi, behind the iron bars, raised her head.

His wrist was pierced by a bronze chain, and the blood seeping from the wound dripped down the chain, accumulating into dark red pits on the bluestone slab.

The chin of the Sand Shadow Squad leader was still stained with dried blood, but his eyes shone unusually brightly, like two flames burning too brightly: "The spy chief is personally interrogating prisoners?"

Lady Nanaho, what you should be worried about is the court of the Land of Fire—"

“You’re not loyal to the Finance Minister,” Nana interrupted him, slamming the torn page against the iron bars.

The edge of the paper scraped against the rusty iron bar, making a hissing sound. "It's Sojiro."

Akahoshi's smile froze for a moment.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and a bead of blood slid down his collarbone and into his collar: "Guess."

Footsteps echoed through the dungeon passage.

It was very light, like a feather brushing against a stone wall, but Nanami's fingertips still paused on the scabbard—this was a pace only someone who had traversed a thousand assassination paths could walk.

As she turned her head, she saw Bai Ye emerge from the shadows, carrying a miniature puppet about half the height of a person.

The puppet's face was exactly the same as Sojiro's, even the three-centimeter-long scar on its left eyebrow was accurately replicated.

Nana stared at the puppet's wooden fingertips and suddenly remembered that three days ago, outside the new mansion in the Land of Fire, Sojiro had used this very finger to slam a teacup into the sandalwood table: "Rebuilding the authority of a daimyo requires military might."

"Captain Akahoshi's spores haven't been completely cleared yet." Bai Ye placed the puppet in front of the iron bars and tapped the back of the puppet's neck with his knuckles.

Several strands of silver thread floated out from his sleeve and wrapped around the crystallized interface behind the puppet's ear—the listening device he had secretly replaced with a strand of the puppet's hair three days ago while Sojiro was taking a nap.

Nana took a half step back and saw that the puppet's eyes suddenly turned a ghostly blue.

"We don't have to win this war." The puppet's voice was exactly the same as Sojiro's, mixed with the clinking of teacups. "As long as we fight, I can use military supplies to devour the national treasury."

Once they're tired of fighting... "after a crackling of electrical static," they'll naturally ask me to "take charge."

Akahoshi's pupils suddenly contracted.

He suddenly struggled violently, the bronze chains striking the stone wall and sparks flying: "Shut up!"

How could you possibly...?

“He left spores in Sojiro’s teacup,” Nanaho finished for him.

Her nails dug into her palms, the torn pages of the secret letter making a soft tearing sound between her fingers. "This person doesn't want order." She stared at the curve of the puppet's lips, an expression exactly like that of Sojiro when he pretended to wipe away tears at the court assembly. "What he wants is an empty seat."

The sound of stone slabs scraping came from the deepest part of the dungeon.

Chiyo lifted her cloak, which was covered in dirt, and tapped the tip of her cane in the puddles: "The Kazekage has postponed his campaign." Her gaze swept over Akahoshi and then landed on Byakuya's face. "But Sojiro has mobilized the border troops of the Land of Fire, disguised as a 'self-defense counterattack'—he needs a chaotic situation that he can control."