A resolve of iron

The training ground fell deathly silent.

Wind swept dust along the edge of the grounds. Everyone stood frozen, staring at Sasuke lying unconscious on the ground, unable to recover from their shock for a long time.

Lin Chen slowly withdrew his palm, the chakra at his fingertips quietly subsiding.

His face remained so calm that no emotion showed, yet inwardly, he felt none of a victor's arrogance.

In his eyes, Sasuke had never qualified as a true opponent.

He was merely a pawn the Heavenly Dao had pushed to the forefront.

Burdened with hatred over his clan's massacre and clutching his last shred of pride, he was naturally prone to being swept up by emotion and manipulated by fate, becoming a tool for the Will of the World to correct the plot.

The first time, he had forcibly overdrawn his bloodline to awaken his eyes, only for Lin Chen to plunder everything; the second time, he had returned with a temporary buff from the Heavenly Dao, yet the outcome had remained unchanged.

Was it pitiful?

A little.

But Lin Chen could not muster the slightest sympathy.

He understood better than anyone that showing mercy to fate's chosen protagonist meant being cruel to himself.

The Heavenly Dao excelled at laying traps through human compassion. The slightest carelessness could bring a backlash, plunging him back into the irredeemable fate of cannon fodder.

The agony of lying on the ground at others' mercy when he first transmigrated, and his predetermined death in a chaotic battle half a month later, remained vividly etched in his memory.

He had never clawed his way up from the dust by being softhearted.

Plunder, grow stronger, survive.

These were the principles etched into his bones, and he could not waver in them even slightly.

[Ding! The Heavenly Dao's correction has failed again. Fluctuations in the Will of the World are intensifying. Warning: punitive measures will escalate!]

[Notice: The Graduation Exam will begin three days ahead of schedule. Exam difficulty increased. Plot correction intensified!]

The system notifications sounded one after another.

A faint gleam flashed in Lin Chen's eyes, and he sneered inwardly.

Getting desperate.

After backing Sasuke twice and failing both times, even having its temporary blessing of Heavenly Dao power devoured whole by him, the Will of the World could finally no longer sit still.

First, it had sent Root's Anbu to probe him, then pushed Sasuke to his doorstep again and again to deliver opportunities. Now, it was simply altering plot milestones directly and raising the exam's difficulty.

Its methods grew more blatant each time, and more impatient.

But so what?

Whatever opportunities the Heavenly Dao offered, I'll take them all; whatever suppression it sends, I'll devour it instead.

The harsher the suppression, the purer the rule essence he could plunder, and the faster his strength would grow.

Crush me with a Graduation Exam?

Keep dreaming.

This exam, tampered with by the Heavenly Dao, would only become another stage for him to reap opportunities.

Lin Chen lightly tapped the web between his thumb and forefinger, rapidly working through his plans.

According to the original plot, the Graduation Exam tested practical use of the Clone Technique. Under Iruka's protection, Naruto would turn things around using the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique from the Scroll of Seals and graduate successfully.

But now, Lin Chen had already intercepted the opportunity offered by the Scroll of Seals. Without his core trump card, whether Naruto could graduate successfully was uncertain.

With the Heavenly Dao raising the difficulty, it would most likely insert unexpected factors into the exam-

Perhaps stronger opponents in actual combat, perhaps a sudden simulated crisis. It might even secretly arrange personnel specifically to target him, this "plot heretic."

Anyone else would probably have panicked long ago.

But Lin Chen felt only anticipation.

The stronger the opponents and the more unexpected factors there were, the better the targets available to plunder, and naturally, the greater the rewards.

The originally unremarkable Graduation Exam now offered quite a few things to look forward to.

He would not only graduate smoothly, but also use the exam as a pretext to strip clean the reserves of every genius present, the examiners' training experience, and even the "special variables" the Heavenly Dao inserted.

His fingers hanging at his side twitched slightly, and chakra silently completed a circuit through his meridians.

It was warm and robust, without the slightest obstruction.

Exceptional perception grounded in Uchiha ocular power, vast endurance and self-healing granted by the Nine-Tails physique, perception of rules gained from devouring Heavenly Dao fragments, the Five Great Nature Transformations and Sealing Sword Technique plundered from the Scripture Repository, plus Root's max-level stealth and assassination...

In barely over a dozen days, he had gone from a bottom-ranked weakling with meager chakra to combat strength at the pinnacle of elite Chunin.

Such a rate of growth would have astounded the Shinobi World.

But Lin Chen knew very well that this was still nowhere near enough.

Above Jonin was Kage Level, above Kage Level was Six Paths level, not to mention the Will of the World, standing high above and looking down upon the entire Shinobi World.

As he was now, he could easily crush Sasuke and defeat ordinary Jonin head-on, but against a veteran Kage Level powerhouse like the Third, he still fell short.

That was without even mentioning the Akatsuki and the Ōtsutsuki Clan that would appear in the future, or the cross-world threats from One Piece and the Jujutsu World.

The Great World of Merged Heavens had always been fraught with danger. The weak could not even hold on to the right to survive.

He had to grow faster, stronger.

Plunder more opportunities destined for the chosen, devour more power of rules, until he was strong enough to overthrow the Heavenly Dao and truly control his own fate.

Catching the silver-haired figure beside the tree trunk out of the corner of his eye, Lin Chen remained unmoved.

He was fully aware of Kakashi's scrutiny and wariness.

He also understood the Third's attempts to recruit, monitor, and counterbalance him.

Konoha wanted to keep him as a controllable blade, giving him resources and status, then binding him with rules and favors.

Then I'll play along with what they want.

The persona of an obedient, sensible young genius who repaid kindness was very useful.

I'll take the resources and privileges. As for those so-called restraints?

With the Root Max-Level Stealth Technique at his disposal, Konoha's surveillance network was riddled with holes as far as he was concerned.

He could leave when he wanted and stay when he wanted.

When the day came that he was strong enough, Konoha's rules would not confine him, the Shinobi World's established order would not stop him, and the fate of the heavens could forget about shackling him in the slightest.

"Lin Chen."

Kakashi slowly walked over, his voice carrying a hint of complexity beneath his mask. "Sasuke's condition..."

"He was overwhelmed by anger and passed out from exhaustion, that's all."

Lin Chen raised his eyes, his expression open, his tone carrying just the right amount of apology. "I didn't judge the force of my attack properly. I'm sorry."

His manner was proper, his conduct perfectly measured-the very picture of a young genius who remained modest and courteous even after defeating his opponent.

But as Kakashi looked into his calm eyes, his heart sank further.

The Sharingan could see through fluctuations in chakra. He could clearly sense that Lin Chen's emotions had not fluctuated in the slightest from beginning to end.

There was no excitement at defeating a genius, no guilt at injuring a classmate, not even any nervousness at facing a Jonin like him.

He was as still as a bottomless pool of cold water.

Kakashi could not read him.

He could not read this twelve-year-old boy at all.

Lin Chen naturally knew what Kakashi was thinking, but felt nothing in particular about it.

Of course you can't read me.

His trump cards, his goals, his path of defying fate-he had never needed anyone to understand them.

Whether Konoha or the Heavenly Dao, they were merely stepping stones on his way forward.

"The Graduation Exam has been moved up. It starts in three days."

Kakashi gathered his thoughts and spoke gravely. "The difficulty has been increased. Go back and prepare properly."

"All right."

Lin Chen nodded slightly, answering without hesitation.

As he turned and left the training ground, the setting sun stretched his shadow long.

The boy's slender back was straight, his steps unhurried as he walked toward the depths of the sunset.

No one knew that he had already laid out a game of chess in his heart to defy fate.

The one holding the pieces was himself.

Every move led against the heavens.

As for the Heavenly Dao and Konoha, they were merely pieces in this game, his to manipulate at will.