Stepping into Kage Level

What ordinary people saw as certain death was, to Lin Chen, nothing more than nourishment delivering itself to his doorstep.

Without moving his feet, he raised his eyes and swept an indifferent gaze over the enemies approaching from every direction. Both arms rose together, striking left and right. Without hand seals or any buildup, twin devouring forces born of his Origin erupted.

In the space to his left, two pitch-black devouring beams pierced the air with precision, instantly penetrating the black-mist cores of two Cursed Spirit Mutant Beasts. Shrill, grating spiritual wails rang through the air as visible layers of black mist collapsed, dissolved, and disintegrated. Their previously unanswerable Cursed Energy corrosion and incorporeal spiritual forms meant nothing before absolute Origin Plunder. The mutant beasts' core Origins were extracted in an instant, and their bodies scattered on the wind like spent ashes, leaving not a trace behind. All their pure intermediate Cursed Energy surged into Lin Chen's body, where it was instantly refined and absorbed.

To his right, facing four charging high-tier Sea King Beasts in midair, Lin Chen gently pressed his palm downward.

Hum-!

An invisible devouring field instantly solidified, enveloping an area over a dozen meters across.

The four Sea King Beasts charging at full speed froze in midair at once, their immense forward momentum forcibly cut short. Their limbs stiffened, their jaws gaped, and their roars caught completely in their throats. The seastone scales on which their dominance depended rapidly lost their luster, and their hard keratin layers swiftly softened. The pureblood Sea Kings Origin flowing through their bloodlines, the intermediate Cursed Energy parasitizing their bodies, and the brute physical strength accumulated through years of slaughter were being frantically stripped away and plundered by the devouring field.

Unwilling to perish, the largest Sea King Beast churned the black mist around its body into a frenzy, attempting to detonate its internal Cursed Energy in a desperate counterattack. But this final struggle proved futile. The moment its raging Cursed Energy leaked out, it was drained and dissolved, only accelerating the loss of its own Origin. In just two breaths, this high-tier exotic beast, powerful enough to crush an Elite Jonin, suffered shattered bones and sinews. Its body shriveled and crashed heavily to the ground, its life extinguished.

The remaining three Sea King Beasts followed in succession, powerless to resist the absolute suppression of the rules.

Less than five seconds passed between the ferocious encirclement and total annihilation. There were no dazzling Ninjutsu exchanges, no fierce physical clashes. From beginning to end, there was only pure Origin deprivation and dimensional suppression. These dangerous enemies, which had rampaged under otherworldly rules and perfectly countered the Shinobi World's fighting power, were erased from existence without even earning the right to touch the hem of Lin Chen's clothes.

In an instant, every dangerous combatant that had spilled from the Level Two Rift was eliminated. Four high-tier Sea King Beasts, two Cursed Spirit Mutant Beasts, and three high-tier fighters from One Piece with Advanced Armament Haki—not one escaped. The seastone dust filling the valley dispersed completely, the chilling, bone-corroding cursed mist was swept away, and the Chakra restriction suppressing the entire area vanished. The barren, deathly still mountain forest slowly regained its vitality.

The four surviving Anbu Ninja stood frozen, dumbfounded and unable to recover for a long time. The certain-death crisis against which they had fought desperately and helplessly had been completely resolved in a mere instant by this twelve-year-old Konoha Genin alone. The enormous disparity left them deeply shaken.

Kakashi stood to one side, his understanding completely overturned, his shock growing ever stronger. At this moment, he fully understood that Konoha's unprecedented grant of Special Grade Collaboration Authority to Lin Chen was no act of favoritism or preferential treatment, but the single best solution to the upheavals across the myriad realms. Before the otherworldly crisis sweeping through the Shinobi World, Lin Chen was its only final trump card.

Lin Chen raised a finger and lightly touched the rift patterns lingering in the air. Vast quantities of high-tier Origin rapidly integrated within him. The Advanced Armament Haki, Pureblood Sea Kings Physique, intermediate Cursed Energy Technique, and perfected Seastone Resistance plundered in this battle all took root in his flesh, condensing into form.

The barrier to his combat strength shattered. He broke free of the constraints of Elite Jonin and stepped firmly across the threshold of Kage Level.

The lingering valley winds howled. Exotic beast remains and unconscious fighters from One Piece littered the ground, silently testifying to the absurdly overwhelming outcome of this battle. Throughout the Level Two Rift's suppressive domain, the otherworldly rules that could leave Elite Jonin scrambling and force special jonin-level combatants into desperate struggles had utterly failed before Lin Chen. Ninjutsu counters, Chakra suppression, physical domination, Cursed Energy corrosion—all the logic of combat that ordinary people abided by had become meaningless. He himself was the natural bane of every threat from beyond their world.

At this moment, Kakashi's heart was filled with profound shock. Earlier, he had poured out his Chakra, relying on Sharingan predictions and successive Water Release techniques, yet had nearly exhausted himself merely holding off a single Sea King Beast. Against the seemingly invincible Cursed Spirit Mutant Beasts, he had been entirely without a solution. Yet in Lin Chen's hands, these powerful enemies that had left Konoha's elites helpless were like ants. Without gathering power or forming hand seals, he could devour them with a thought, dismantling all their Origins and crushing them to death. That fighter from One Piece with Armament Haki and special jonin-level combat strength in particular had possessed physical toughness and overbearing brute force sufficient to clash head-on with any Elite Jonin in Konoha. Even if Kakashi had fought him at full strength, it would inevitably have been a dangerous, vicious battle with an uncertain outcome. Yet the Haki and physique that fighter had painstakingly cultivated throughout his life had failed to damage even the slightest bit of Lin Chen's flesh before all his accumulated power was drained in an instant, leaving him crippled.

This was no longer a disparity in talent or level, but absolute suppression across dimensions.

The four Anbu Ninja slowly rose, clutching their wounds and breathing heavily. All astonishment faded from their gazes as they looked at Lin Chen, leaving only the utmost awe and reverence. Within this despairing domain of restriction, this youth had single-handedly crushed all the darkness and forcibly reversed the certain annihilation awaiting them all.

Meanwhile, another tremendous surge of power erupted within Lin Chen. The vast quantities of Origin plundered through the tenfold critical multiplier thoroughly tempered his body. His fully formed Advanced Armament Haki was black and restrained, weighty and overbearing, its quality far surpassing the crude attainments of East Blue fighters from One Piece; pureblood Sea Kings' sinews and bones reshaped his physique, covering his flesh and organs with an invisible, resilient barrier that ordinary ninja tools and exotic beasts' claws could no longer harm in the slightest; his intermediate Cursed Energy Technique could be released and withdrawn at will, with black-mist corrosion and spiritual devouring fully under his control; perfected Seastone Resistance took root completely, leaving nothing in the world capable of restricting his Chakra or suppressing his strength.

Boom-!

A tremendous aura, devoid of Chakra fluctuations yet far beyond the limits of Elite Jonin, swept through the entire valley. The three pure Origins of physique, Haki, and Cursed Energy blended perfectly, constructing a stable and formidable Kage Level foundation. The chaotic otherworldly energy lingering in the surrounding space surged madly into his body like rivers returning to the sea, instantly devoured and purified without a trace remaining.

Lin Chen slowly raised his palm. With a slight movement of his fingertips, three colors of energy-pitch-black Haki, icy Chakra, and shadowy Cursed Energy-wound around one another, shifting at will and blending in coexistence without the slightest conflict or obstruction.

"I've fully stepped into Kage Level."

Lin Chen murmured softly, his tone calm and even, without the slightest wild joy.

This was merely the starting point of his journey through the myriad realms.

The Level Two Rift suspended ahead still trembled faintly. Its spatial patterns writhed constantly, showing faint signs of expansion. Increasingly savage beast roars came from deep within the rift, along with the vague auras of powerful beings slowly awakening. This was enough to prove that the true reserves of this Level Two Rift extended far beyond the small fry that had just spilled out.

But only indifference and control remained in Lin Chen's eyes, without the slightest fear.

Now, he possessed the absolute strength to crush every threat within the Level Two Rift. Whether high-tier Sea Kings, Special Grade Cursed Spirits, or otherworldly powerhouses wielding top-tier Armament Haki emerged next, any who dared set foot in the Shinobi World would become stepping stones and nourishment on his path to the summit.

Kakashi slowly stepped forward, gazing at the still hideously twisted Spatial Rift. His expression remained grave, but the gaze he directed at Lin Chen's back held an unprecedented sense of security.

At this moment, he became utterly certain that as long as Lin Chen stood in Konoha, even if every Myriad Realms Rift opened, countless enemies invaded, and chaos overturned the world, the Shinobi World would possess an absolute trump card that would never fall.

Lin Chen raised his eyes slightly, his gaze piercing layers of distorted spatial barriers to look toward the unknown otherworldly realm deep within the rift.

Winds rose across the myriad realms, and the age of chaos truly began.

From this moment on, every upheaval, every crisis, and every opportunity beyond this world lies within my grasp.