The whole world was stunned

In Sunagakure's desert, the sweeping winds had died away.

The last dark afterimage of the rift in the sky vanished completely. Clear blue skies stretched out once more, and warm sunlight spilled over the vast yellow sands, slowly soothing the ravaged battlefield.

Yet the pressure lingering between heaven and earth refused to fade.

It was neither the aftermath of a Ninjutsu eruption nor the shock of brute physical force, but the residual force of rules rooted above dimensions. It was the imperial presence radiating from nascent Conqueror's Haki, weighing heavily over the entire border of the Land of Wind, making all things and all living beings bow their heads and hold their breath.

High in the sky, Lin Chen's white robes remained spotless. The black-and-white streams of energy around him quietly withdrew, his Cursed Energy armament and Haki coating receding entirely. He seemed to have shed every edge and returned to the appearance of an ordinary boy.

But only the people of Sunagakure who had been there themselves knew just how terrifyingly that dozen-odd seconds of overwhelming domination had overturned everything they understood.

Fourth Kazekage Rasa slowly stepped forward across the sand, golden dust quietly circling him. This steady-tempered Kage Level powerhouse, who had governed Sunagakure for decades, now walked with a barely perceptible solemnity and restraint. He stopped ten paces from Lin Chen rather than approaching rashly, bowed slightly, and offered the most formal and respectful salute in the Shinobi World.

"This Level Three Rift catastrophe engulfed the border of two nations and brought disaster across a thousand-mile radius. Thank you for intervening, saving the countless lives of the Land of Wind, and averting the Shinobi World's destruction."

Every word was sincere, without the slightest falsehood.

As the Kage of a village, he had never bowed in thanks to any peer or junior. Even before the Konoha Sannin or the peak Kage Level figures of successive generations, he had always stood as their equal, neither servile nor overbearing.

But today, he yielded with wholehearted conviction.

Without Lin Chen's intervention, in less than half a day, the torrent of high-ranking Exotic Beasts from the Level Three Rift would have swept through all of Sunagakure, slaughtered its villagers, leveled its desert fortresses, and finally spread to the Five Great Shinobi Villages, unleashing world-ending chaos.

One thought settled the fate of the world; one man quelled its peril.

Such a debt, such strength, deserved for him to set aside all his pride as a Kage and bow in respect.

At the sight, countless Sunagakure shinobi below bowed even more respectfully, none daring to look directly at the white-robed figure in the sky. The rumors circulating among the villages about a "heaven-defying boy from Konoha" had ultimately been insubstantial. Only by witnessing that absolute, dimension-transcending domination firsthand could they understand what it meant to be a true powerhouse capable of holding the world in check.

Lin Chen's gaze swept lightly over the bowing Rasa, his voice calm and even. "It was my duty. There is no need for such ceremony."

For him, subduing rifts had never been about saving the people of the Shinobi World. It was merely harvesting Origin along the way and clearing obstacles from his path. Ending this approaching catastrophe of a chaotic age was also the first step toward taking control of the board.

Rasa straightened, looking at the boy before him with a complicated gaze, and asked quietly, "May I ask what arrangements you have next? With Myriad Realms Rifts appearing frequently and powerful enemies from beyond our realm emerging one after another, Sunagakure is willing to cooperate fully with Konoha and await your orders."

Those words declared Sunagakure's stance once and for all.

It abandoned the confrontation among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, voluntarily bowed its head, and willingly became subordinate.

From that moment onward, the order of the Shinobi World was completely rewritten. Konoha stood supreme, while the other four villages were reduced to supporting roles.

"There is no need to make special efforts to cooperate." Lin Chen shook his head lightly. "Just guard your borders. When higher-ranking rifts appear, I will intervene."

With that, he said no more. His figure shifted slightly, turning into a streak of pure white light that shot through the sky, crossing a thousand miles in an instant as he sped toward Konoha.

Graceful and composed, he clung neither to accomplishments nor to power, yet carried the supreme confidence to stand above all villages.

Rasa stood upon the yellow sands, watching the figure disappear into the horizon in an instant, silent for a long time.

"Twelve years old, Kage Level Intermediate Stage... beyond the rules of the Shinobi World..."

"From this day onward, the Shinobi World will have no balance of powers. Only Konoha will reign supreme. Only Lin Chen will reign supreme."

While Lin Chen was flying back through the sky, the upper echelons of the entire Shinobi World had already erupted into an uproar.

Emergency meetings began one after another in the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Countless urgent intelligence reports, battlefield recordings, and energy fluctuation records circulated rapidly among each village's leadership.

The Top-Floor Secret Room of the Hokage office building, Konoha, Land of Fire.

The Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sat upright in his seat. The pipe in his hand had long since gone out, and his eyes were filled with profound shock and relief. On the table lay the complete battlefield intelligence on the Level Three Rift, transmitted in real time by the ANBU. Every line of text, every record, overturned his decades of understanding of the Shinobi World.

In a dozen-odd seconds, seven high-ranking overlords had been wiped out.

In the snap of a finger, a torrent from beyond their realm capable of crushing the combined forces of the five great Kage Level powers had been annihilated.

After the battle, he had broken through, consolidated his Kage Level Intermediate Stage strength, unlocked the imperial pressure of Conqueror's Haki, and gained control of rule-level power.

Such combat strength could no longer be defined within the bounds of the Shinobi World.

"In my lifetime, I have witnessed the chaos of the Warring States, the First's rise to godhood, and the rise of the Sannin... yet I have never seen anyone so heaven-defying." Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed softly, his voice filled with emotion. "Having Lin Chen alone is worth more than ten thousand Konoha troops."

Beside him, the two elders, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, had long since lost their usual composure and solemnity. Their faces were shaken, their breathing slightly quickened.

Previously, they had worried that Lin Chen was too powerful to keep in check, fearing that he would one day escape their control and overturn Konoha's order.

Now, those concerns seemed utterly laughable.

From beginning to end, he had never paid any heed to Konoha's power, rules, or checks and balances.

He was not Konoha's blade, but the lodestar of a chaotic age, a player standing above the Shinobi World.

"Send out my orders immediately." Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly spoke, his tone exceedingly solemn. "Grant Lin Chen unrestricted access throughout the village. Konoha's treasury, Forbidden Technique archives, and secret-domain resources are to remain permanently open to him, without conditions."

"Cancel all surveillance, reporting requirements, and control measures directed at him. Every action he takes represents Konoha's highest will."

"Also, notify the other four great hidden villages. From now on, in all matters involving Myriad Realms Rifts and calamities from beyond our realm, Lin Chen's decisions will be the sole standard. Every village must cooperate unconditionally, without the slightest defiance."

Order after order placed Lin Chen at the very pinnacle of the Shinobi World, his status above the Five Kage, truly allowing one man to hold all villages in check.

Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure all fell into deathly silence.

The Kage Level powerhouses and senior elders of each village watched the battlefield recordings sent back from Sunagakure. Every one of them was speechless, with nothing left in their hearts but endless horror and helplessness.

The Kekkei Genkai, Secret Techniques, Tailed Beasts, and combat strength they took pride in were like children's games before Lin Chen's rule-based Plunder, unable to withstand a single blow.

With the end of the Level Three Rift, the order of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, once filled with undercurrents and mutual checks, collapsed completely.

No one dared covet Konoha's accumulated resources anymore. No one dared stir up conflict or war.

Before the age of chaos had begun, the order was already settled.

The Akatsuki's great hall, Amegakure.

The sounds of wind and rain lingered through the dim, empty hall, while a cold atmosphere weighed heavily over it.

Pain sat upon the raised dais, his Rinnegan glimmering faintly, piercing through ten thousand miles of space as though he could still see the white-robed figure overwhelming countless enemies on Sunagakure's battlefield.

"Twelve years old. Kage Level Intermediate Stage. A domain of rules. Imperial pressure."

His low, cold voice slowly echoed, carrying an unprecedented gravity.

Konan stood to one side, her expression solemn. "Leader, his rate of growth has already exceeded our predictions completely. At this rate, before we can gather all the Tailed Beasts and complete our plan, he may be able to quell the chaos of the myriad realms alone, completely blocking our path to reshaping the world."

Pain remained silent for a long time. A faint light shifted in his Rinnegan before he slowly spoke. "Suspend the plan."

"For the time being, all probing and operations against Konoha or Lin Chen are forbidden."

"Kage Level Intermediate Stage is still not his limit. There is no ceiling to his growth. As we are now, the Akatsuki cannot contend with a powerhouse of the myriad realms who commands rules."

Restraint, concealment, observation.

For the first time, the Akatsuki willingly sheathed every edge and backed down completely.

An underground laboratory in Konoha.

Dim green light flickered, and countless experimental vessels trembled faintly. Orochimaru stood before an enormous light screen, his fingertips brushing lightly over Lin Chen's combat data. The fervor in his emerald serpentine eyes had almost burned itself out, leaving only profound gravity.

"Nascent Conqueror's Haki... rule-level devouring... a perfect transformation across every system..."

He murmured under his breath, a rare trace of wariness in his voice.

He had originally believed he could still glimpse some of the mysteries of Lin Chen's Origin and attempt to replicate his heaven-defying constitution. But the battle at the Level Three Rift had made him recognize the gap completely.

That strength could not be explained by constitution, talent, or bloodline.

It was dimensional domination, the favor of the rules of the myriad realms, a unique anomaly in the heavenly order.

"The Konoha Crush... must be completely rewritten."

Orochimaru ran the tip of his tongue over the corner of his mouth, deeply suppressing the obsession in his eyes. "Acting rashly would only bring utter destruction."

"Perhaps... lying low, observing, and waiting for higher-ranking rifts to appear is the only way to survive."

Orochimaru, who had roamed the Shinobi World, acted without restraint, and feared neither heaven nor earth, felt fear for the first time and willingly reined in all his ambitions.