Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

His arms were crackling with lightning, his muscles bulging with veins, and every step he took on the bluestone slabs sounded like muffled thunder: "You said..."

Sojiro opened his mouth, but only exhaled half a breath of cold air.

As he watched the approaching figure of the Raikage, he suddenly recalled the words of the puppeteer he called "bastard" in the dungeon of the Land of Fire three days ago: "I killed the Daimyo only to stir up this filth; now I expose you only to let everyone see who is stirring up trouble."

The light from the curtain shone on his face.

This was the first time he had clearly seen how he appeared in other people's eyes—like a mouse hiding in the shadows, being dragged out into the sun by its tail.

Just as the Raikage's lightning fist was only three inches from Sojiro's face, the sound of flowing sleeves suddenly came from the side corridor.

Suigetsu stepped onto the slippery cobblestones, the silver ornaments in her hair clinking softly. "Lord Raikage, what's the rush?" She made a hand seal, and the water sphere floating in her palm suddenly expanded, reflecting an image clearer than the spore screen—Sōjirō was in a teahouse in a border town of the Land of Fire, stuffing a bag of gold coins into the hand of an Iwagakure scout, the coins bearing the Land of Earth's totem; another image showed him sneering at a secret letter, the ink still wet: "Send more refugees to storm the Land of Wind's checkpoints, and say it's Sunagakure's deliberate provocation."

Raikage's fist froze in mid-air, crackling lightning that scorched Soujiro's bangs. "This...this is a fake!" Soujiro stumbled into a stone pillar beside Suigetsu, his gold-embroidered robe catching on a stone edge and tearing a glaring crack.

His Adam's apple bobbed as his gaze swept over the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa—who was gripping his wind-patterned headband, his knuckles white from the force; then it swept over Onoki, the old Kazekage whose cane had already carved a three-inch-deep hole in the ground.

“The Water Mirror of Mist can reflect all water-related memories within the last seven days.” Suigetsu’s fingertips traced the surface of the water sphere, and the image suddenly froze on the scene of Soujiro plunging a dagger into Akahoshi’s heart. “The blood you splattered on the blade when you killed him is still congealed in the rain of the Land of Water.” She tilted her head to look at Soujiro, the beauty mark at the corner of her eye trembling slightly with the movement. “Should I summon that rain?”

A collective gasp filled the room.

The Raikage's lightning flashed into his palm, and he bent down to grab Sojiro's collar, the brocade tearing under his fingers: "I hate being made a fool of!" His nose was almost touching Sojiro's pale face. "Speak!"

Where have you hidden the keys to the coalition cabinet?

Sojiro's knees slammed heavily against the bluestone slab, and a sound like a sob came from his throat.

He looked at the dagger-like gazes of the shadows around him and suddenly recalled the conversation in the dungeon three days ago—the man in the black robe stood in the shadows, puppet strings forming silver rings on his fingertips: "You think you can rise to power by overthrowing the old order?"

But you're such rotten mud, you can't even fill the seams of a new ship.

"That's enough." Chiyo's cane tapped the ground with a sound that seemed to strike people's hearts.

She entered the venue, supported by the arms of a Sand Village guard, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes still lingering with the chill of the shadows cast by the rock wall. "Lord Kage, you've been chasing the shadow of Byakuya for three months, yet you haven't discovered the rat crouching at your feet." She turned to the Raikage, who released her hand, and Soujiro collapsed to the ground like a rag doll. "He's not the first, nor will he be the last."

As long as shady ledgers remain hidden in the vaults of various countries, and corrupt officials who only know how to count money still reside there...

Onoki slammed his cane down heavily, sending stone chips flying. "The old woman is right!" His cloudy eyes churned with yellowish-brown chakra. "When I get back to the village, I'll tear down the finance department's accounting office and leave all the ledgers to dry in the sun for three days!" Rasa's fingers rubbed his wind-patterned headband, then he suddenly ripped it off and slammed it on the table. "From now on, I'll personally review the Sunagakure caravan's travel permits." The Raikage's chest heaved twice as he bent down and grabbed Sojiro by the back of his collar, like he was carrying a sick dog. "You can handle the Land of Fire's affairs yourselves."

Chapter 905 Reconstruction Ceremony

But this bastard, I'm taking him back to the Land of Thunder for trial—"

"Wait a minute." Chiyo raised her hand to stop Raikage. Her gaze swept over the crowd and landed on the cliff at the top of the valley, which was dyed gold by the wind and sand.

There, a faint shadow was dissipating, like ashes swept away by the wind. "The real source of chaos isn't any one person, but the soil that breeds them." She turned to the Five Kage, her voice suddenly softening. "My lords, now it's time to think about how to let this soil bask in the sun."

The wind at the top of the valley whipped up sand that stung Bai Ye's face.

He gazed at the figures whispering among themselves in the hall, the slight itch from the spores still lingering on his fingertips—the Wood Release chakra embedded beneath the bluestone slabs had already fulfilled its mission as the images appeared.

Nanaho's shouts were torn to pieces by the wind: "Mr. Shiro!" He turned his head and saw the girl standing under the cherry blossom tree at the entrance of the valley, her hair ribbon fluttering in the wind, her eyes filled with unspoken worry.

Bai Ye gently shook his head.

He knew what Nana wanted to ask—whether to stay, whether to need help, whether... He touched the fragment of the secret order in his arms; Akahoshi's blood had long since dried, yet it still left a warm mark on his palm.

Three days ago in the dungeon of the Land of Fire, Soujiro's cold laughter still echoed in my ears: "So what if you killed the daimyo?"

The Kage of various countries will only fear you more and want to unite to annihilate you. "But now, the Raikage's lightning is no longer aimed at him, Onoki's cane is striking his own finance minister, and Rasa's wind-patterned headband is fastened again, concealing the wavering that once tacitly approved of smuggling."

"Enough," he murmured to the wind, then turned and walked into the depths of the sandstorm.

The faint glow of the spores, like the receding tide, slowly disappeared from the sky above the venue.

In the distance came Nanaho's sobs, which were broken up by the sound of the wind and carried away in the air.

In the underground chamber of the capital of the Land of Fire, a stone tablet engraved with names suddenly began to hum.

The wooden talisman mark that Byakuya left on the rock wall of the dark river trembled violently, triggering the mechanism at the bottom of the stone tablet.

The dust that had been buried for ten years fell away, revealing the newly engraved name at the bottom of the monument—Sōjirō.

Behind the stone tablet, a hidden door was slowly opening with the tremors. The chakra fluctuations surging out from behind the door resonated more clearly with the First Generation bloodline within Byakuya than ever before.

The wind in Iron Lotus Valley has stopped.

Three days later, in the morning mist, the messenger hawks of the Five Kage will simultaneously take flight—the hawk of the Land of Lightning will be clutching the order for the reorganization of the Ministry of Finance, the hawk of the Land of Earth will be holding the regulations for the public disclosure of accounts, and the hawk of the Sand Village will be covered with the map of the trade routes.

In a cave buried by sandstorm, Byakuya was putting the last spore into the puppet box. There was a note at the bottom of the box, which Nana had secretly slipped in: "I'll be waiting for you in Konoha."

He looked at the ink spreading across the note and suddenly smiled.

The wind whipped sand against the cave walls, much like the sound of rain outside the window on that night ten years ago when Akahoshi delivered the secret order.

The moonlight, like a thin layer of frost, covered the mottled brick walls of the dry well.

Bai Ye sat curled up at the bottom of the well, his back against the damp moss, a half-tattered spore wristband between his fingers.

The silvery-blue light flickered in his palm like dying fireflies, yet stubbornly formed a thin chain—following this chain, he could clearly sense the chakra fluctuations at the seven nodes underground in the capital, spreading like the spitting tongue of a venomous snake.

“They’re not hiding…they’re rebuilding the ceremonial site,” he murmured, his Adam’s apple bobbing as the old scar on his throat trembled.

Ten years ago in Amegakure, he had seen a similar fluctuation—when Utara-sensei activated the national vein array with a human blood sacrifice, the chakra in the earth veins was like this, carrying a pungent, rotten-flesh-like sweetness.

Chapter 906 The Five Shadows' Orders

Very light footsteps came from outside the well, like a fallen leaf brushing against withered grass.

Bai Ye's pupils suddenly contracted to thin lines, but slowly relaxed after he saw who it was.

The black cloak billowed in the night wind, revealing the short sword with a butterfly emblem at the girl's waist—it was Nanaho. The leader of the Fire Country's secret agents was not even wearing a headband at the moment, and the ends of her hair were covered with stardust, clearly indicating that she had been traveling all night.

“Sōjirō has been temporarily suspended.” She lifted the front of her cloak, revealing a sealed scroll she clutched tightly in her arms, her knuckles white from the force. “But of the seven vice ministers in the cabinet, five are his old subordinates whom he brought from the merchant caravan.” The scroll tapped softly against the well's edge. She crouched down, her hair brushing against the back of Hakuya's hand. “This is his newly signed ‘War Preparedness Finance Order’.”

Bai Ye took the scroll, and the moment his fingertips touched the sealing mud, his Wood Release Kekkei Genkai felt a burning pain, as if it had been scalded by fire.

The moment the page unfolded, his breath caught in his throat—the chakra fluctuations in the ink were exactly the same as those when Utara used his seal. "War economy..." His thumb slowly traced the clause "Military assets transferred to private chambers of commerce," "Using the pretext of war preparedness to drain the national treasury, and then laundering it into private property through chambers of commerce."

But money alone isn't enough...

“He wants to activate the National Lifeline Array.” Nana suddenly interjected, her voice so soft it was as if she were afraid of disturbing the night. “Three days ago, I went through some old files. The first daimyo’s notes mentioned that the National Lifeline Array needs ‘living blood tax’—not gold or silver, but the fate of the people.”

War instills fear in the people, fear breeds resentment, and resentment, solidified into form, becomes the perfect sacrifice. "Her nails dug deeply into her palms," I used to think when investigating cases that as long as corrupt officials were caught, the country would be cleansed...

Bai Ye looked up at her.

The girl's eyes glistened in the moonlight, but there were no tears, only a stubborn, burning redness.

He suddenly remembered the way she stood under the cherry blossom tree in the wind of Iron Lotus Valley three days ago, hesitant to speak—at that time he thought her worries were out of fear of danger, but now he realized that she was afraid that she would have to venture out alone again.

"So he replicated his teacher's ritual." Bai Ye rolled up the scroll again and tucked it into his pocket. "Utara failed back then because he couldn't control the core of the formation."

But with the cabinet as cover, Sojiro used 'legal' decrees to push the people onto the altar... "His knuckles pressed against the well wall, and his wood-elemental roots emerged from the cracks in the bricks, like countless green veins," Nanaho, have you seen a map of the capital's underground sewer system?

"Underground pipe network?" Qi Sui was taken aback, then realized, "You mean..."

"The core of the National Vein Array is underground." Bai Ye's voice was as deep as if a stone was pressing down on it. "When the city was first built, the core of the array was buried at the confluence of underground rivers, using underground water veins as a guide."

Sojiro needed to clear these obstacles to rebuild the ritual site. "He suddenly stopped, his roots twitching violently against the well wall—the clear sound of a hawk flapping its wings came from afar; the Five Kage's orders had arrived."

At the same time, at a border post station thousands of miles away.

Onoki's cane struck the bluestone slab heavily, causing half a drop of water to splash out of the teacup.

He squinted his cloudy old eyes and looked at Ebizo kneeling opposite him.

The Sand Village advisor's white beard billowed in the night wind, like a lingering mist. "Lord Tsuchikage, Sand Village can share the secret correspondence between Sojiro and the Amegakure merchants, but you must admit..."

"The real threat isn't the ninjas, it's those who hold power without lifting a finger." Onoki chuckled, catching the spilled tea in his hand and grinding it between his fingertips. "I've been a Kage for fifty years, do you think I can't see that?"

But if we kill all these pests, who will manage the grain?

Chapter 907 Underground Pipeline Network

Who will conscript men?

"We can't exactly send ninjas to collect taxes, can we?" He suddenly turned to look east, the direction of the capital hidden behind the clouds, "But what if someone else does it for us..."

A faint smile appeared on Ebizo's lips.

He knew who Onoki meant by "someone"—the white-haired ninja who always lurked in the shadows, the variable who could make the Five Kage re-examine the power structure. "Three days later, a caravan from Sunagakure will pass through the Red Mulberry Forest outside the capital." He pushed a copper bell engraved with sand patterns across the table. "The bell contains the latest map of the underground network. Sojiro's men have set up a barrier at the entrance to the underground river, but..."

“But Wood Release can break it.” Onoki finished for him, his withered fingers pinching the copper bell. “Alright, I grant your permission.”

As the moonlight began to slant, the roots of the wooden canopy in the dry well suddenly trembled.

Bai Ye withdrew his senses from the ground and his gaze fell on the butterfly-shaped short sword at Qi Sui's waist—a relic left by her father, the former head of the secret agents. "At midnight tonight, the guards at the entrance to the underground river will change shifts." He unbuttoned his coat and stuffed the scroll and copper bell into a hidden pocket. "Qi Sui, go back to the secret agents' headquarters and pass on the evidence of Sojiro's transfer of military funds to the various Kage."

"You're going to the underground pipe network?" Qi Sui grabbed his wrist, her fingertips as cold as ice. "There's a barrier there, and..."

“I have the blood of the First Generation.” Bai Ye grasped her hand and placed half of the spore wristband into her palm. “If I don’t return in three hours, activate the spores and transmit the location of the ritual site to the Five Shadows.”

Remember, don't trust anyone, including...

"Including you?" Qi Sui suddenly laughed, but tears fell down her cheeks. "Mr. Bai, I stopped believing in my former master a long time ago." She let go of her hand, the faint light of the spore wristband reflecting the reddened corners of her eyes. "But I believe in you."

Byakuya turned and walked toward the dark hole in the well wall, where the Wood Release: Roots had already drilled a passage just wide enough for one person to pass through.

Just as he was about to bend down, he suddenly heard the sound of paper rubbing behind him—it was a note that Qi Sui had secretly slipped into his cloak, the ink still wet, which read, "I'll be waiting for you at the exit of the underground river."

A faint sound of flowing water came from underground, mixed with the soft sound of wood-style roots piercing through the rock.

Bai Ye touched the copper bell in his arms, sensing the flow of underground water veins creeping into his mind along the roots.

He took a deep breath and disappeared into the darkness. The passage behind him slowly closed, like the earth gently closing its eyes.

The musty smell of the underground pipe network, mixed with the fishy odor of the underground river, rushed into my nostrils.

White Night clung to the damp rock wall, Wood Release roots seeping from his fingertips like a group of silent snakes, burrowing into the water along the cracks in the rocks.

He could clearly sense that the chakra fluctuations of the patrolling puppets were sweeping across the sky along a fixed trajectory—three puppets, two carrying kunai and one carrying a detection scroll, would converge at the bend ahead every seventeen breaths.

“Seventeen breaths…” he murmured in a very low voice, his knuckles pressed against the stone wall, and his roots suddenly accelerated, spreading ripples on the water’s surface in sync with the undercurrent.

The puppet's detection scroll glowed with a ghostly blue light, but was scrambled into gibberish the instant it touched the water's surface.

Taking advantage of the lull, he crouched low and darted around the bend, the moss on the soles of his boots scraping against the stone bricks with a faint sound—a sound swallowed up by the roar of the underground river, like a leaf falling into a deep pool.

After passing through three stone arches, the stench suddenly intensifies.

Bai Ye's pupils narrowed to pinpoints—ahead, strings of mold hung from the cave ceiling, tinged with a bluish-gray hue in the gloom. Beneath the mold, hundreds of skeletons were stacked in a bizarre spiral, each skeleton's sternum embedded with half a wooden slip. Using the glowworms he carried, he could see the slips densely inscribed with: "Borrowed three shi of grain in the spring of the Dingwei year, interest compounded to repay five shi in the autumn," and "Conscription order of the Wushen year, those who desert will have their land confiscated."...

Chapter 908 Gathering Energy for the Nation

“Pillar of Public Wishes…” His fingertips lightly touched the skeleton at the top, which was the skeleton of a child. The wooden tablets between the ribs were still stained with wet ink. “So it wasn’t resentment that was used as offerings, but these ‘contracts’ crushed by the system.”

Spores seeped from the fragments of the wristband, like a cloud of silvery-blue mist, seeping into the crevices of the skeleton.

In an instant, images of memories exploded before his eyes—

At the altar in the dead of night, Sojiro, dressed in a gold-embroidered kimono with his hair ornament askew, held a lacquer box in his hands.

His fingertips were stained with blood as he drew twisted runes on the pillar of bones, chanting urgently: "I will forge my throne from the suffering of the people; I will clear my name in the name of war... That fool Utara only knew how to use brute force back then, but I have the cabinet, I have decrees, and these contracts are the best chains!"

Once the national energy array is complete, and chakra flows into my body through the government's command network, who can still accuse me of greed?

This is 'gathering energy for the nation'!

The moment the image shattered, Bai Ye's fingernails dug deeply into her palm.

He finally understood Sojiro's cunning—Utara used violence and blood sacrifice, but he used "legal" debts and conscription orders to make the people carve the blood of sacrifice on the contracts themselves.

Destroying this pillar is merely cutting off the visible evil, but as long as the government's decree network remains, new "pillars of public opinion" will grow back like weeds.

“We must make the system backfire.” He crouched down, placing his palm on the foundation stone at the base of the bone pillar. The power of the First Hokage’s Wood Release surged into the rock layer like a living thing. “Reverse the Root Meridian… push the chakra that should have gathered in his body back to the original owner along the ‘chains’ of these contracts.”

The roots grow wildly underground, intertwining and twisting with the patterns of the national vein array.

As the last bit of Wood Release power was injected, he heard a muffled sound from above—it was the chakra fluctuation from Soujiro's activation ritual.

A secluded mansion somewhere in the capital.

Sojiro's hand, which was gripping the activation seal, suddenly trembled. He could clearly feel that the chakra that should have surged into his dantian like a hot spring was instead like fire scattered by a headwind, rushing in all directions along invisible lines.

"Impossible!" He overturned the table, teacups shattering on the floor. "The barrier was set up by the best ninjas of Amegakure; the core of the barrier couldn't have been broken..."

"My lord!" A servant's trembling voice came from outside the door. "A child in the West Market, who had been coughing up tuberculosis for three years, suddenly sat up and wanted to eat sweet cakes; the old woman in the South Alley has scabbed over the festering sores on her legs... The people are all saying it's 'the backlash of the curse from Daming Prefecture'..."

Sojiro's face turned deathly pale instantly.