Recaps

Team 7 concluded its mission in the Land of Waves after Lin Chen defeated the creatures from a spatial rift, while Konoha and other factions reacted to the growing threat of world fusion. As Team 7 headed back to Konoha, Lin Chen prepared to exploit the coming chaos and confront whatever stood in his way.

• Kakashi sent Konoha a report about the spatial rift and otherworldly threats, and Lin Chen learned that the Shinobi World's Heavenly Dao had marked him for intensified suppression.
• Kakashi arranged for the beasts and unconscious pirates to be sealed and taken to Konoha, while Gato's forces collapsed and Tazuna thanked Team 7 for saving the Land of Waves.
• Lin Chen tested his newly integrated powers on a reef as the wounded Zabuza and Haku fled the coast, weakened by the essence he had taken from them.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Konoha to conceal information about other planes, prepare for the Chunin Ninja Exams, and monitor coastlines and spatial weak points.
• Pain chose to watch Lin Chen rather than eliminate him, while Orochimaru resolved to study Lin Chen and the otherworldly powers.
• At dawn, Team 7 set off for Konoha, with Naruto talking excitedly, Sasuke silently training, Sakura checking their supplies, and Lin Chen leading the group.

After Team 7 returned to Konoha, Kakashi reported the Land of Waves crisis to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who established village-wide defenses and granted Lin Chen special-grade cooperation authority. An urgent report of a level-two rift on the western border arrived just as the meeting ended.

• Kakashi brought Team 7 back to Konoha, where heightened security and strict secrecy rules showed the village was on alert.
• A Root ninja brought Lin Chen into the Hokage’s office while Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke waited outside.
• Kakashi described the Land of Waves rift, its threats, and Lin Chen’s abilities to Hiruzen Sarutobi and the elders.
• Lin Chen warned that rifts would keep multiplying, and Hiruzen announced patrols, a Disaster Response Squad, research efforts, and revised Ninja Academy training.
• Hiruzen granted Lin Chen special-grade cooperation authority, and Lin Chen agreed to help with high-risk rift crises.
• An urgent report announced that a level-two rift had opened on Konoha’s western border, where beasts and three otherworldly martial artists had pinned down an Anbu squad.

Kakashi and Lin Chen rushed to a Level Two Rift on the Land of Fire’s western border, where a badly wounded Anbu squad faced powerful beasts and pirates. Lin Chen plundered the pirates’ origins and rescued the battlefield, but four high-level Sea King Beasts then surrounded him.

• Kakashi and Lin Chen hurried to the western border after a Level Two Rift appeared, finding a valley shrouded in cursed energy and chakra-suppressing seastone dust.
• Kakashi assessed the three enemy forces: four High-Level Mutated Sea King Beasts, two Cursed Spirit Mutant Beasts, and three East Blue Elite One Piece who had trapped the surviving Anbu.
• Lin Chen intercepted the pirate leader’s Armament Haki punch and used his plundering power to drain the leader’s Haki and physique, then incapacitated the other two pirates with Spirit Vision.
• Kakashi tried to restrain the Sea King Beasts with Water Release and Sealing Jutsu, but they smashed through his barrier.
• The four Sea King Beasts charged Lin Chen, while his devouring domain neutralized the rift’s seastone suppression and cursed energy corrosion.

Lin Chen absorbed the forces of the Level Two Rift and reached initial Kage level, then effortlessly devoured a disaster-class Sea King and Special Grade Cursed Spirit that forced their way into the valley. Kakashi reported the threat and Lin Chen’s power to Konoha as the Anbu secured the site.

• Lin Chen absorbed the valley’s otherworldly enemies and gained perfected armament haki, a Sea Kings physique, a cursed technique domain, and immunity to seastone suppression, stabilizing at initial Kage level.
• Kakashi warned that stronger beings remained inside the expanding Level Two Rift, and Lin Chen sensed mature Sea Kings and a Special Grade Cursed Spirit trapped beyond its barrier.
• A mature mutated Sea King and a Special Grade Cursed Spirit core forced their way through the rift and attacked the valley.
• Lin Chen trapped the attackers in his Omnidirectional Devouring Domain and drained their essence, killing the Sea King and erasing the cursed spirit core.
• Kakashi sent an encrypted report to Konoha and called for the valley to be sealed, while the Anbu secured the remains and restrained the pirate prisoners.

After Lin Chen reached Kage Level by defeating the enemies from a Level Two Rift, Konoha, Orochimaru, the Akatsuki, and Zabuza and Haku reacted to his rise. Lin Chen left the sealed rift with Kakashi, ready to confront the coming upheavals on his own terms.

• Hiruzen revoked Konoha’s covert surveillance and risk plans for Lin Chen, granting him the highest operational freedom and access to the village’s resources.
• Orochimaru studied evidence from the rift and grew eager to see how Lin Chen would affect the coming Chunin Ninja Exams and Konoha Crush.
• Pain rejected Konan’s suggestion to probe Lin Chen, choosing instead to watch the rifts expand and wait for the Shinobi World’s order to collapse.
• Zabuza and Haku sensed Lin Chen’s Kage Level presence and abandoned hope of ever taking revenge on him.
• Kakashi told Lin Chen that the rift had been sealed off and security deployed, and Lin Chen agreed to return to the village before declaring he would enter the next conflict on his own initiative.

After returning to Konoha from defeating the Level Two Rift calamity, Lin Chen received extraordinary authority from Hiruzen Sarutobi as the village prepared for an escalating invasion from other planes. The chapter ended with the system warning that a Level Three Rift would open at Sunagakure’s border in three days.

• Lin Chen returned to Konoha, where the village’s forces treated him with deep respect after learning he had reached Kage level and quelled the Level Two Rift.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi granted Lin Chen the village’s highest special grade access and final authority over matters involving Myriad Realms Rifts, then warned that a Level Three Rift was imminent.
• Lin Chen assured Hiruzen Sarutobi that Konoha would not be destroyed while he was there.
• Orochimaru studied Lin Chen’s combat data and planned to test his limits, while Pain and Konan discussed the upheaval in the Shinobi World and continued monitoring the rifts.
• At the Training Ground, Naruto celebrated Lin Chen’s return, Sakura admired him, and Sasuke struggled with the gulf between their strength.
• The system detected a Level Three Spatial Rift set to manifest on Sunagakure’s border in three days, with high-ranking outsiders, Sea Kings, and special-grade Cursed Spirits expected to emerge.

Lin Chen waited out the three-day warning as the five great hidden villages prepared for a Level Three Rift, while Akatsuki and Orochimaru watched for their own advantage. When the rift opened over Sunagakure’s border and unleashed a massive force of Sea Kings, cursed spirits, and pirate Commodores, Lin Chen arrived alone to face them.

• Lin Chen visited Konoha’s restricted archives, dismissed its techniques as useless to him, and spent the next three days lying low.
• Sasuke pushed himself through relentless training as Lin Chen’s Kage Level strength weighed on him, while the five great hidden villages mobilized for the coming Level Three Rift.
• Rasa and the other village leaders placed their hopes in Lin Chen, while Pain watched to judge his strength and Orochimaru planned to collect specimens from the rift.
• A thousand-foot Level Three Rift opened at Sunagakure’s border and unleashed three mature Sea Kings, eight special-grade cursed spirits, and ten elite Commodores.
• Lin Chen arrived alone above the battlefield, received the system’s tenfold critical plunder notification, and declared that he would empty the rift.

Lin Chen used his Omnidirectional Devouring Domain to defeat the Level Three Rift’s vanguard and absorb their powers. With stronger enemies and treasures still inside, he approached the rift and decided to enter it himself.

• Three Sea Kings, eight Special Grade Cursed Spirits, and ten pirate commodores attacked Lin Chen while Sunagakure’s shinobi watched in despair.
• Lin Chen spread his domain, freezing the attacks and stripping away the enemies’ powers and origins.
• The eight Cursed Spirits vanished, the three Sea Kings died, and all ten commodores lost their abilities and fell to their knees.
• Lin Chen absorbed the harvested origins, strengthening his Kage Level foundations and nearing the intermediate stage.
• The system revealed that stronger enemies and rarer treasures remained inside the rift, so Lin Chen stepped toward its gate to enter.

Lin Chen entered the Level Three Rift alone and devoured its strongest fighters, breaking through to the Kage Level intermediate stage. He returned to Sunagakure as the rift collapsed, while the other factions reconsidered the balance of power and their plans.

• Lin Chen entered the Level Three Rift while Rasa, Orochimaru, Pain, and Konan watched from outside.
• The rift’s lord-class Sea King Beast, two Calamity Sea King Beasts, Grudge Aggregation, and three vice-admiral-class pirates attacked Lin Chen together.
• Lin Chen’s Devouring Domain drained and annihilated every high-ranking enemy in the rift, then harvested the remaining source power.
• Lin Chen broke through to the Kage Level intermediate stage and unlocked localized cursed-energy armament and embryonic Conqueror’s Haki pressure.
• Lin Chen left the rift without touching its spatial core, and the rift collapsed after he returned to the desert above Sunagakure.
• Rasa abandoned the idea of keeping Lin Chen in check, Orochimaru reconsidered the Konoha Crush plan, and Pain recognized that the Shinobi World’s old order had become obsolete.

After Lin Chen destroyed the Level Three Rift’s invading forces in Sunagakure, Rasa and the other villages accepted his supremacy. As Lin Chen returned to Konoha, the great villages and major factions changed their plans in response to his overwhelming strength.

• Rasa thanked Lin Chen for saving the Land of Wind and pledged Sunagakure’s cooperation, while Lin Chen told him to guard the borders and flew back to Konoha.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi gave Lin Chen unrestricted access to Konoha’s resources, ended surveillance and control measures, and ordered the other villages to follow Lin Chen’s decisions on rift-related matters.
• The leaders of Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure watched the battlefield recordings and abandoned hopes of challenging Konoha’s new dominance.
• Pain ordered the Akatsuki to suspend its plan and forbid operations against Konoha or Lin Chen.
• Orochimaru recognized that Lin Chen’s strength could not be replicated and decided to rewrite the Konoha Crush plan and wait for higher-ranking rifts.

Sasuke lost hope of ever matching Lin Chen and resolved to seek forbidden power, while Lin Chen returned to Konoha as the Chunin Ninja Exams approached. Lin Chen prepared to make the exams a display of his supremacy.

• Sasuke trained obsessively, but reports of Lin Chen's overwhelming achievements convinced him that his efforts could never close the gap.
• Kakashi told Sasuke he had no chance of catching up to Lin Chen, crushing Sasuke's remaining hope.
• Sasuke rejected Konoha's orthodox path and decided to pursue Orochimaru's forbidden techniques and other dark powers.
• Lin Chen returned to the training ground, drawing the awe of the gathered ninja and the attention of Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi.
• Lin Chen looked toward the Chunin Ninja Exams venue and declared that the final contest would show what it meant to reign supreme alone.

Lin Chen’s presence overshadowed the Chunin Ninja Exams as the Five Great Shinobi Villages’ young fighters gathered in Konoha. When he entered the venue, the assembled geniuses fell silent and submitted to his overwhelming presence.

• Kakashi announced that the Chunin Ninja Exams would begin the next morning, and Naruto and Sakura resolved to do their best while Sasuke sank deeper into darkness.
• Lin Chen dismissed the exams as an inconsequential farce and left the training ground.
• The young ninja of the Five Great Shinobi Villages gathered in Konoha under orders not to provoke or challenge Lin Chen.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the unusually calm venue, while Zetsu observed from hiding and Orochimaru postponed his plans to study Lin Chen.
• Lin Chen entered the examination venue, silencing the crowd and making Gaara and the other village geniuses bow their heads in fear.

Sasuke became consumed by his desire to gain power equal to Lin Chen, abandoning his faith in Konoha, his squad, and the orthodox ninja path. After accepting Orochimaru’s Cursed Seal and briefly being restrained by Sakura, he chose darkness again as Lin Chen opened the Chunin Ninja Exams.

• At the exam venue, Sasuke watched Lin Chen command the talents’ reverence and became obsessed with obtaining power that could rival him.
• During the written examination, Sasuke copied the answers with his Sharingan and dismissed the efforts of Naruto and Sakura as meaningless.
• In the Forest of Death, Sasuke broke away from his squad to seek Orochimaru, then willingly accepted the Cursed Seal despite Naruto’s resistance.
• After the Otogakure squad attacked, Sasuke’s cursed chakra drove him to fight viciously until Sakura’s embrace briefly restored his clarity; he then pushed her away and chose power over his bonds.
• Lin Chen calmly told the gathered candidates to begin, and the Third officially announced that Konoha’s Chunin Ninja Exams had started.

The Chunin exam’s battle royale began under Lin Chen’s overwhelming influence, while Sasuke watched him instead of joining the fight. When a Kumogakure contestant attacked, Sasuke’s Cursed Seal erupted and he crushed the opponent with dark power, leaving the arena stunned.

• The villages’ contestants assembled cautiously as Lin Chen’s presence kept even Orochimaru’s Otogakure pawns from acting.
• The examiner announced an individual battle royale, and the gathered geniuses began fighting for advancement.
• Naruto and Sakura entered the melee, while Sasuke stayed still and fixed his attention on Lin Chen.
• A Kumogakure genius attacked Sasuke, triggering his Cursed Seal and spreading its dark markings across his body.
• Sasuke seized the attacker’s fist, broke his bones, and forced him to his knees, stopping the nearby fighters in shock.

Sasuke embraced the Cursed Seal’s darkness, but Lin Chen ended the Preliminary Exam battle by immobilizing every contender and draining their chakra with his Devouring Domain. He withdrew the domain after declaring the fight over, leaving the younger generation terrified of his power.

• Sasuke’s dark power erupted, and Orochimaru watched with excitement as he called Sasuke the perfect dark pawn.
• Lin Chen spread his Devouring Domain across the battlefield, freezing every contender and draining their chakra.
• Gaara, Naruto, Sakura, and the other contenders found themselves powerless, while Orochimaru recognized Lin Chen’s ability as Plane Authority.
• The domain suppressed Sasuke’s Cursed Seal and deepened his despair and obsession with Lin Chen.
• Lin Chen withdrew the domain and declared the farce over, leaving the field’s contenders in awe and fear.

Lin Chen’s domain subdued the Chunin Exam arena, leaving every contender unable to fight and prompting Konoha, Orochimaru, and the Akatsuki to avoid confronting him. Sasuke chose to abandon his bonds and pursue forbidden power, while all contestants advanced to the Forest of Death trial.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi and the assembled Konoha shinobi recognized Lin Chen’s overwhelming authority, while Orochimaru indefinitely shelved the Konoha Crush.
• Pain ordered the Akatsuki to lie low and forbid all activity involving Konoha until Lin Chen reached the pinnacle of Kage Level.
• The Genin recovered from Lin Chen’s domain, and Naruto, Sakura, Gaara, and Sasuke each confronted the gap between themselves and Lin Chen.
• Sasuke decided to sever his bonds and pursue the darkest forbidden power, and Kakashi realized Sasuke had willingly embraced the abyss.
• The proctor announced that every contestant had advanced to the next round, with three days of rest before the Forest of Death trial.
• Sasuke vowed to reach godhood through darkness and someday stand on equal footing with Lin Chen.

During the three-day break, Konoha, Orochimaru, and the Akatsuki prepared for the Forest of Death examination while Sasuke embraced the Cursed Seal and turned further from Konoha. The second examination began with Lin Chen at the forest entrance and Sasuke poised to follow his dark path.

• The Third Hokage ordered ANBU and Jonin to guard the Forest of Death, watch the Otogakure squad, and protect Team 7, especially Sasuke Uchiha.
• The other villages told their examinees to focus on survival, while Temari and Kankuro kept cautious and Gaara watched the forest as a trial of strength.
• Orochimaru secretly filled the Forest of Death with barriers, traps, and Cursed Seal arrays as he prepared to push Sasuke into darkness.
• Zetsu watched the forest from above for the Akatsuki, while Pain stayed in seclusion and Konan monitored Konoha.
• Naruto trained, Sakura prepared tactics and medical contingencies, and Sasuke spent the three days embracing the Cursed Seal and cultivating brutality; Kakashi failed to reach him.
• The three-day rest ended, and Lin Chen stood at the Forest of Death entrance as the second examination and Sasuke's path toward defection began.

The second round of the Chunin Exams began in the Forest of Death, where Sasuke entered the trial consumed by darkness and intent on breaking from the Will of Fire. Lin Chen followed into the forest, suppressing its dangers effortlessly as the trial’s schemes proved powerless before him.

• The examiner announced that teams had three days to obtain matching Heaven and Earth Scrolls, while the other villages avoided conflict and Team 7.
• Naruto urged Sakura and Sasuke to work together, but Sasuke, consumed by his Cursed Seal and dark ambitions, charged into the forest alone.
• Naruto and Sakura hurried after Sasuke, leaving Team 7 divided in purpose despite remaining together.
• Lin Chen surveyed the hidden plots and dangers surrounding the forest, including Orochimaru’s traps and the Akatsuki’s surveillance.
• Lin Chen entered the Forest of Death, and his presence suppressed the miasma, beasts, traps, and forbidden techniques around him.

Lin Chen annihilated the enemies from the Level Two Rift and absorbed their Origins, breaking through to Kage Level. As the rift showed signs of expanding and stronger threats stirred within, Kakashi saw Lin Chen as the Shinobi World’s decisive trump card.

• Lin Chen devoured four Sea King Beasts and two Cursed Spirit Mutant Beasts, while the three pirates were also eliminated or incapacitated, ending the threat from the Level Two Rift.
• Lin Chen absorbed the battle’s plundered Origins and broke through the limits of Elite Jonin to reach Kage Level.
• The four surviving Anbu Ninja recovered from their wounds and regarded Lin Chen with awe, while Kakashi recognized the scale of his power.
• Lin Chen’s Haki, physique, Cursed Energy, and Seastone Resistance matured, and he demonstrated that Haki, Chakra, and Cursed Energy could coexist within him.
• The Level Two Rift continued to tremble as stronger presences stirred beyond it, but Lin Chen remained confident he could defeat whatever emerged.

During the Chunin Exam, Sasuke accepted Orochimaru’s Cursed Seal and slaughtered the Otogakure shinobi in an isolated barrier, rejecting Naruto and Sakura’s bonds as powerless. Lin Chen watched without intervening, while Sasuke’s descent into darkness continued under the belief that forbidden power could help him catch up to a god.

• Three Otogakure squads trapped Sasuke in a barrier that blocked sound and surveillance, while Naruto and Sakura prepared to defend him.
• Sasuke told Naruto and Sakura to stay out of the fight and questioned whether their bonds could give him the strength to catch up to Lin Chen.
• Sasuke unleashed his Cursed Seal, embraced its pain, and ordered the Otogakure shinobi to attack.
• Sasuke’s strength surged toward jonin level, and he brutally killed the attackers as Naruto and Sakura watched helplessly.
• Orochimaru praised Sasuke’s transformation, while Zetsu observed that Sasuke had become a pawn of darkness.
• Lin Chen arrived outside the barrier and chose not to interfere, regarding Sasuke’s struggle to reach him as futile.

Lin Chen effortlessly erased Orochimaru’s barrier and suppressed Sasuke’s Cursed Seal, then condemned Sasuke’s pursuit of darkness as another cage. Sasuke took Lin Chen’s words as proof that he had to escape the Shinobi World entirely, and resolved to defect from Konoha and seek forbidden power.

• Lin Chen’s arrival shattered Orochimaru’s High-Level Forbidden Barrier, stunning the Otogakure ninjas, Orochimaru, and Zetsu.
• Lin Chen dismissed Sasuke’s Cursed Seal power as inadequate, and Sasuke angrily defended his choice to follow the Dark Demonic Dao.
• Lin Chen said Sasuke was chasing an imagined shortcut and used the laws around him to suppress the Cursed Seal chakra.
• Lin Chen called both light and darkness cages within the Shinobi World, then left Sasuke behind.
• Sasuke concluded that he had to escape the Shinobi World, and his resolve to defect from Konoha became final.

After Lin Chen left, Orochimaru decided to use Sasuke’s rejection of the Shinobi World’s “cage” to pursue a path to transcendence, while Akatsuki observed Konoha’s collapse from within. Sasuke rejected Naruto and Sakura’s pleas to remain with Team 7, leaving them behind as he chose to pursue power elsewhere.

• Orochimaru ordered the Otogakure ninjas to retreat and resolved to use Sasuke’s darkness to seek transcendence.
• Zetsu reported that Sasuke’s convictions had been shattered and that Akatsuki’s plan had advanced sooner than expected.
• Naruto pleaded with Sasuke to stay in Konoha and grow stronger together, while Sakura gave up trying to persuade him.
• Sasuke said Konoha was a cage that could not give him power and declared that he would not stay.
• Sakura accepted that Sasuke had made his choice, leaving Team 7 divided in the forest clearing.

Gaara’s despair over Lin Chen’s overwhelming power triggered a full Tailed Beast rampage that turned the Forest of Death into a battlefield. As Orochimaru and Zetsu saw an opportunity in the chaos, Lin Chen watched from safety and decided to quell it.

• Gaara’s repressed despair erupted into a partial Tailed Beast transformation, and his quicksand overwhelmed Kankuro and Temari’s attempts to stop him.
• Gaara’s rampage spread across the northern forest, forcing Genin from every village into a desperate melee for survival.
• Naruto and Sakura reacted with fear to Gaara’s rampage, while Sasuke watched with disdain and dismissed the chaos as meaningless.
• Orochimaru used the turmoil as a chance to pursue Sasuke, while Zetsu told Pain that the Shinobi World’s disorder had created an opportunity.
• Lin Chen remained untouched by the destruction and decided to end the chaos with a thought.

As Gaara’s rampage turns the Forest of Death into a battlefield, Lin Chen suppresses the entire catastrophe with a thought and brings the Chunin Exams to a halt. Sasuke witnesses Lin Chen’s power, and his resolve to defect from Konoha and pursue godhood grows stronger.

• Gaara loses control of Shukaku, unleashing a sandstorm that devastates the Forest of Death as the exam contenders and reinforcements struggle to survive.
• Orochimaru uses the chaos to advance his plans for Sasuke, while Zetsu watches and anticipates Konoha’s collapse.
• Lin Chen extends an invisible domain across the forest, freezing everyone and suppressing Shukaku’s power until Gaara’s Tailed Beast Chakra fades.
• The contenders, Orochimaru, and Zetsu are struck with fear by Lin Chen’s authority, while Sasuke becomes more determined to leave Konoha and seek transcendent power.
• Lin Chen walks through the battlefield, declares the farce over, and withdraws his domain, leaving the forest silent and the future of the Shinobi World altered.

The second stage of the Chunin exam ended after Lin Chen’s overwhelming power shattered the candidates’ convictions. Sasuke accepted Orochimaru’s influence and defected from Konoha, while Orochimaru and Akatsuki prepared to exploit the turmoil.

• After Lin Chen left, Gaara stood numb and hollow as Kankuro and Temari recognized that he had lost his reason to live.
• Orochimaru decided Sasuke was the ideal vessel for pursuing transcendence and sent snake-shaped chakra toward him, while Zetsu reported the trial’s results to Akatsuki.
• Naruto urged Sasuke to return to Konoha, but Sasuke rejected him and accepted Orochimaru’s dark guidance.
• The examiner announced that every candidate had passed the second stage, though none celebrated.
• Back in Konoha, Sasuke removed his forehead protector and village emblems, then resolved to break free of Konoha and defect.