Konoha: Superman template, the spoiled brat becomes strong.

At the same moment, beside the well in the capital of the Land of Fire, Nanaho was sinking the last shard of pottery into the well.

Her fingertips were stained with cinnabar as she traced the first emperor's last words on the pottery shard. With a muffled "thud," the pottery shard touched the well water, and ripples suddenly spread across the entire well.

The water surface cracked open, and a line of golden characters appeared on the well wall: "The shadow is not a god, the people are the foundation."

"It's done." She pulled off the black veil covering her face, revealing her face illuminated by the firelight.

The sound of leather boots came from the street corner, and Shi Ge's secret agents rushed over with torches in hand, their scabbards clanging against the bluestone slabs.

Nanaho, however, spread her arms wide towards the crowd, raising the portraits in her arms high—on the left was a portrait of the Fire Country's daimyo, and on the right was a copy of the shadow puppet in the cave. "Look carefully, everyone!" Her voice pierced the night, "Are you kneeling before a living person, or a puppet controlled by chakra?"

The crowd was in a commotion.

An old woman tremblingly reached for the portrait, but when her fingertips touched the puppet's empty eye sockets, she abruptly withdrew them: "These...these eyes have no warmth."

The swords of the Shige Dark Division were already drawn, and the squad leader was about to reprimand them when a golden column of water suddenly gushed out of the well.

The water jet struck his sword, producing a resounding clang like a bell. "Chakra resonance..." His expression changed drastically. He looked up and saw golden pillars rising from other wells, the entire city's wells echoing the same words, "Blocking the news?"

It's impossible to seal it off!

Chapter 943 If I Were Not the Elected Shadow...

In the council hall of Iwagakure, Onoki was holding half a withered leaf of a spore vine.

His hidden sunglasses slid down to the tip of his nose, revealing his cloudy yet sharp eyes. "The Shadow Replacement Project..." He crushed the withered leaves into powder, "So they even changed my face three times."

"Lord Tsuchikage!" came a voice from outside the door. "The spore vines sent by Sunagakure have taken root in the training grounds!"

Onoki slammed his hand on the table and stood up. Rock Shield Chakra surged from his fingertips and condensed into a transparent rock slab on the dome of the council hall.

When the projection of the late Kage's last words unfolded on the rock slab, all the ninjas in the training ground held their breath. "If I were not the Kage elected by the people..." Onoki's voice was like the wind in a crevice of rock, "I would not sit in this position." He turned and grabbed the token on the table, "Issue my order: Convene a council of Kage in three days, with ten representatives from each village to jointly decide on national policy!"

The thunder still roared in Kumogakure, the Hidden Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning. The Fourth Raikage, A, clutched the spore vine sent by Sunagakure, his knuckles white. "Weak!" He slammed the vine to the ground, then bent down to pick it up again. "But... if the Kage of the Land of Fire are puppets, our attack will be illegitimate..."

Meanwhile, in the puppet workshop of Sunagakure, Chiyo was wiping her kunai by the moonlight.

From the next room came Ebizo's cough, mixed with the soft rustling of papers turning over.

She squinted and saw a shadow flickering on the window paper—it was Hai Lao writing a letter. The sealing wax on the letter paper shimmered with a faint blue hue under the moonlight, much like the secret code of the Imperial Inspector.

“Old man…” Chiyo’s thumb rubbed the blood groove on her kunai. “Do you think I’m senile?” She turned to look out the window; the Mantra Vine was still growing in the distance, casting swaying shadows in the night. “But what you’re going to touch is the foundation of the First Generation…”

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew sand against the window, and Chiyo's ears twitched slightly—the footsteps next door had stopped.

She quickly blew out the candle, revealing a cold smile in the darkness: "Let you jump around for two more days."

The earth veins in the belly of Beiling Mountain are still rumbling, and nine shadow puppets are moving towards the five countries along the chakra trails.

In the shadows, as Ebizo slipped the secret letter between the carrier pigeon's legs, the ink on the paper was still wet: "The Five Kage Abdication System is feasible; contact the Inspectorate immediately..."

Moonlight streamed through the window, casting a shadow on the letter paper, much like a vine about to sprout.

As Chiyo heard the soft flapping of a carrier pigeon's wings from next door, her withered fingers were mixing the last pinch of the First Generation's lingering spores into the core of the tea cake.

The night wind from Sunagakure carried sand into the puppet workshop, and the wrinkles on her forehead were stretched long by the moonlight—the carrier pigeon must have headed towards the direction of the Konoha Inspectorate. Ebizo's choice of time was quite clever, being on a dark night when even chakra tracking would be difficult.

"Old man, do you think I can't see the flaws in this 'abdication system'?" She pressed the tea cake into the carved wooden mold, and the chakra at her fingertips seeped in along the lines, leaving an extremely fine spiral mark on the cake.

This is a puppet technique she improved using the Red Sand Scorpion. The spores are activated when the tea is brewed in hot water, entering the drinker's bloodstream through the tea soup. "For a shadow puppet to take over, it needs a 'legitimate' excuse. You're using 'peaceful transfer' as a fig leaf?"

The aroma of the tea cake mixed with the scent of mugwort wafted through the air. She glanced at the hourglass in the corner—it was three-quarters past midnight, time for the night patrol team of Fengying Mansion to change shifts.

As the maid, wrapped in a black cloth, stepped out with the tea tray, Chiyo whispered in her ear, "The tea should be served warm; that boy Rasa always prefers it half-cold." The maid responded, and the copper bell at her waist jingled in the night, like a fine needle piercing the silence of Ebizo's secret chamber.

Chapter 944 The Position of Shadow

At this moment, in the back hall of Fengying Mansion, Luo Sha was rubbing his throbbing temples.

The desk was piled high with urgent reports from various countries. Byakuya had revealed the truth behind the sudden death of the Fire Country's daimyo, and the Thunder Country's declaration of war was still stained with ink.

As he picked up the teacup, the crisp sound of the celadon hitting the table suddenly changed—fine golden spots floated on the surface of the tea, much like the light when his father's chakra dissipated before his death.

His eyelids felt as heavy as lead as he slumped on the soft couch, and images of old scenes of swirling yellow sand flashed before his eyes.

As a child, he rode on the shoulders of the old Kazekage, watching a puppet troupe perform at a festival; later, his father held his hand as he carved the joints of a puppet, saying, "A Kage's hands must be steady, and even more so, strong"; finally, that night, his father coughed up blood and grabbed his wrist: "The Kage of Sunagakure... must be someone who can see the light within the sand..."

"The position of Shadow cannot be ceded to the invisible hand."

An aged voice pierced through the dream, and Luo Sha sat up abruptly, his teacup clattering to the ground.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating a half-spiraled tea dreg floating in the tea stains—the pattern was exactly the same as the core of the puppet that Granny Chiyo made for Sasori.

He touched the Wind Shadow Emblem at his waist, the cool metal creeping into his heart from his palm.

The next morning, before the fog had lifted, the Kazekage's training grounds were already packed with ninjas.

Luo Sha stood on the high platform, his goggles wet with morning dew, reflecting the throng of heads below. "From this day forward, the position of Wind Shadow will be decided by the Council of Elders and the elected representatives." His voice cut through the wind. "The Shadow is not a divine throne, but someone who stands in the sandstorm to shield everyone from the wind."

The audience erupted in discussion; some young ninjas gripped their kunai tightly, while some old women wiped away tears.

Luo Sha saw Chiyo standing in the front row. She nodded slightly to him, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes held something brighter than the sunlight—the light that he had seen in the old Fengying's eyes before his father's death.

On the broken pillars of Guiyuan Shrine, moss trembled gently in the wind.

Byakuya looked up at the Memory Tree, where pale golden chakra seeped from the cracks in its bark, like blood flowing through veins.

He could clearly sense the Mantra Vines within the five kingdoms: those from Sunagakure had climbed up the outer wall of the academy and formed the character "公" (gong), those from Raikure were wrapped around the scabbards of Kumogakure, and those from Iwagakure were burrowing into the mines along the earth's veins—those vines were spontaneously growing new branches, with "Pay less tax" and "Stop conscripting soldiers" written in chakra on the branches.

"The First Generation said they wanted to destroy the mold; it turns out the mold was the symbol 'Shadow.'" He buried the last fragment of the spore wristband into the tree roots, his fingertips tracing the cracks in the bark. "But what have you hidden?"

Suddenly, a crack appeared in the tree, and a roll of yellowed paper slid out.

The white night unfolds, the ink still smudged: "When all shadows are false, the people shall stand on their own." His pupils contract slightly—this is even more radical than the "Oath of the Shadows of the Nation," and the first generation clearly foresaw the alienation of shadow rights.

The sand swirled around his feet as he took out his newly made sand scorpion puppet and stuffed the paper into a hidden compartment in the puppet's chest cavity.

The puppet's stinger gleamed coldly in the sunlight. He whispered to the puppet's empty eye sockets, "Go wander in the desert, let those who should see see it." The sand scorpion flapped its wings, turned into yellow smoke and disappeared into the dunes, leaving only a string of fine sand grains rolling into the gaps in the trees.

In the secret chamber of the Konoha Inspector, the crystal mirror suddenly rippled.

As he was wiping the mirror, he saw the children of Sunagakure Academy standing on tiptoe to touch the Mantra Vine, the Cloud Ninja of Raikage wielding the vines and hacking at each other, and the miners of Iwagakure weaving the vines into handles for their miners' lamps—these images gnawed at the mirror like maggots, and no matter how much he wiped it with chakra, the vines only grew wilder.

Chapter 945 The Vines Don't Lie

"Impossible!" He grabbed the dagger and smashed the mirror, shards of glass scattering all over the floor.

Each fragment reflected the words "The shadow is dead, the people must awaken," and on the last, smallest fragment, two bloody words appeared: "White Night."

Cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck and into his collar. He staggered and knocked over a teacup on the table.

Tea spilled onto the secret letter, blurring Ebizo's handwriting and revealing an even smaller line of text underneath: "Quickly eliminate Baiye, or the Shadow Replacement Plan will all be in vain."

A strange wind suddenly blew in from outside the window, and a new leaf slapped against the table with a "thud".

Names were written in chakra on the leaves, the ink still wet, as if they had just been blown there by the wind.

The inspector stared at the leaf, his Adam's apple bobbing.

He heard crows cawing in the distance, their cries sounding just like the carrier pigeon from Sunagakure—but this time, which direction should the carrier pigeon fly?

The sand scorpion puppet crawled through the desert for three days before finally stopping in front of a stone platform buried by sand.

With a gentle flick of its tail, the bronze box buried under the sand was revealed.

The lid of the box is engraved with "gifted to the Kazekage by the First Hokage", and inside the box lies half a tenon that fits perfectly into the hidden compartment of the puppet's chest cavity.

The wind swept sand past the puppet's eye sockets, and its tail spikes suddenly rose, pointing eastward—there, the memory tree of Guiyuan Shrine was sprouting new branches, and the tender buds on the branches looked exactly like the outline of someone.

The underground sewers of Guiyuan Shrine smelled damp and musty. Baiye leaned against the moss-covered brick wall, her fingertips lightly touching the surface.

The roots of the Memory Tree, like countless capillaries, penetrated the soil, transmitting the sounds of the outside world through the chakra circuits in his palm—twenty miles to the east, along the edge of a well, a newly sprouted Mantra Vine was winding along the cracks in the bluestone. Suddenly, the patterns on the vines glowed faintly, and the eight small characters "Shadows can be exchanged, words cannot be sealed" seeped out from the veins, as if someone had carved them into the texture of the plant with the tip of a knife.

His Adam's apple moved.

When he planted the spore wristbands three days ago, he only anticipated that the public would be awakened to the suspicion of "shadow doubles," but he did not expect that these vines would "speak" on their own.

The spores, mixed with fragments of the First Hokage's chakra, are now resonating with millions of eyes that have witnessed the distortion of the Shadow Power, condensing scattered doubts into concrete words like a snowball rolling downhill.

“So it wasn’t me guiding them.” Bai Ye lowered his eyes and stared at his palm, where grains of sand from burying the fragments still remained. “They had something they wanted to say all along.”

A faint rustling sound came from the crack in the wall, and the tender buds of the Memory Tree were climbing up his sleeve, forming a small loop around his wrist.

He suddenly recalled the words in the early notebook: "When the mold decays, the clay will naturally mold a new shape." Now it seems that the clay not only needs to be molded into a new shape, but also needs to speak for itself.

A sliver of sunlight shone through the ventilation shaft of the underground waterway, illuminating the remains of the sand scorpion puppet at his waist—the sand scorpion that had been sent to the desert had long since completed its mission and was now maintaining contact with him through residual chakra waves.

The tenons in the bronze box fit perfectly into the puppet's chest cavity, and some ancient resonance trembled in his blood. He could clearly sense that the memory tree of the Guiyuan Shrine was sprouting branches in a certain direction, and the outline of the tender buds... was very much like the face of Hashirama Senju.

"Lord Byakuya."

A deep call came from the depths of the waterway, and Nanaho's figure, clad in black, emerged from the shadows, her hair still glistening with the morning mist of the capital.

She held a roll of drawing paper stained with earthy yellow in her arms. When unfolded, it revealed the crooked strokes of a child: nine black nails pierced through the clouds, and a shadow wearing a straw hat lay in a crystal coffin. Vines sprouted from the cracks in the coffin and entangled the shadow's white hair.

Chapter 946 Meeting Ōnoki

“The blind children say that these are the dreams they ‘see’.” Qi Sui’s fingertips traced the vines in the painting. “Three days ago, I organized a reading session at a dilapidated temple in Xishi. A little girl suddenly grabbed my hand and said, ‘Auntie, the nails are singing on the vines.’”

Now all the children in the capital are drawing this. I had three hundred copies made and mixed into the tea cake packaging paper being sent to the Land of Thunder.

Bai Ye stared at the white-haired figure in the painting, his throat suddenly tightening—the outline bore a striking resemblance to the budding memory tree he had sensed in the bronze box in the desert. "Is there some movement from the Land of Thunder?"

“Ai chopped three vines at the Cloud Village training grounds yesterday.” Nana pulled a charred piece of vine from her bosom, its edges still bearing the marks of lightning release. “But this morning, the gravedigger of Iwagakure started chanting the same ancient phrase.”

I had informants infiltrate the tomb-guarding team, and they said... the saying was, "When the coffin nails loosen, the shadow and bones turn to ash."

The wind in the waterway suddenly changed direction, carrying a rusty smell.

Bai Ye suddenly looked up, and a violent tremor came from the roots of the Memory Tree—at the scene of the "Shadow People's Council" in the Land of Earth, there was a crisp sound of metal colliding with rocks.

"How did the meeting with Ohnogi go?" he asked.

Nanaho shook out a secret report from her sleeve. The handwriting was made with shellac ink unique to Sunagakure: "An old miner dug out a fragment of 'Shadow Replacement No. 3' from a mine collapse. It was engraved with Shige's experimental number."

Onoki's surface was melted down, leaving a fragment sealed in the Shadow Tower's cellar. "She paused," the informant said, noting that the shape of the tea stains spreading on the tablecloth when Onoki crushed the teacup...resembled the roots of the Memory Tree.

Bai Ye's knuckles pressed against the wall, leaving a bluish mark on the moss.

Shi Ge's infiltration was deeper than he had anticipated, from shadow puppets to consciousness infiltration; this network had long since reached the bottom of the five kingdoms.

The spread of the True Word Vine was merely the first cut that tore open the net.

“It’s time to go see Onoki.” He stood up, sand pattering off his boots. “But before that…”

"Wait." Nana suddenly grabbed his sleeve, her gaze sweeping over the sand scorpion puppet at his waist. "Ebizo hasn't returned to the ancestral home for three days in a row."

Chiyo sent three ANBU to investigate yesterday, and they only found half a piece of incense ash in the corner of the courtyard—"She lowered her voice," it was "a special incense offered by the Sunagakure Shrine for summoning spirits."

Bai Ye's pupils contracted slightly.

Ebizo appears neutral, but in reality, he has been laying a trap in Sunagakure for twenty years.

Not returning home for three consecutive days means either he's meeting with an important person, or...

“I sent the sand scorpion to the desert to lure him into action.” He stroked the puppet’s stinger. “Have someone keep an eye on Chiyo.”

If she goes to the shrine tonight...

"Understood." Nana rolled up the drawing paper again, turned and disappeared into the depths of the waterway. As her footsteps faded into the distance, a low laugh followed, "Do you think Ebizo has been meeting with Shige's people these past three days, or digging into the secrets of the First Generation?"

Bai Ye did not answer.

He gazed at the darkening sky outside the ventilation shaft; the tender buds of the Memory Tree glowed green in the twilight, like a sign that something was about to emerge from its cocoon.

The cawing of crows came from the direction of Guiyuan Shrine; this time, the carrier pigeons should be flying towards Sunagakure.

Outside the waterway, the evening breeze stirred up a few fallen leaves, one of which drifted into Bai Ye's palm.

The words "Ebizo, abandoned village in northern sand" are written in chakra on the leaf surface. The ink is not yet dry, as if it was just brought there by the wind.

He crushed the leaves, the fragments mixed with sand falling into the drain and flowing along the roots of the Memory Tree towards the Sand Village.

In the distance, the sound of evening drums could be heard. Suddenly, the Memory Tree of Guiyuan Shrine shook off a string of new buds, each bud glistening with dewdrops that shone like eyes in the twilight.

Chapter 947 It's not just the people who need to wake up.

Bai Ye looked into those eyes and said softly, "It's not just the people who need to wake up."