Recaps

Lin Chen repeatedly plundered the abilities of rivals, Root operatives, and enemies while resisting Konoha’s attempts to control him. After Team 7’s Land of Waves mission exposed the merging of other worlds, a spatial rift opened and brought new threats into the Shinobi World.

• Lin Chen plundered Morino Kenta’s abilities, won the Academy assessment, and caught Naruto and Sasuke’s attention as the Heavenly Dao marked him as an anomaly.
• Lin Chen seized the Scroll of Seals, defeated Sasuke and Root operatives, and accepted Konoha’s special training while secretly pursuing his own aims.
• Lin Chen plundered the Scripture Repository and disrupted attempts to steer Naruto and Sasuke, then passed the altered Graduation Exam and became a genin.
• Lin Chen joined Team 7 under Kakashi, passed the bell test, and accepted an escort mission to the Land of Waves.
• Lin Chen absorbed foreign energies from a shipwreck and devoured a mutated sea beast and its Cursed Spirit as Team 7 encountered signs of other worlds merging.
• Lin Chen defeated Zabuza and Haku’s forces at Gato’s warehouse, plundered their abilities and foreign artifacts, and saw a spatial rift open over the sea.
• Four Mutated Sea Beasts and two pirates emerged from the rift, and Lin Chen killed them and plundered their abilities before Kakashi prepared to report the event and an Akatsuki observer departed to inform its leader.

Lin Chen’s power over the Myriad Realms Rifts made him Konoha’s decisive force, while his growing dominance pushed Sasuke toward forbidden power and defection. After Lin Chen ended Gaara’s rampage during the Chunin Exams, Sasuke accepted Orochimaru’s guidance and resolved to leave Konoha.

• Kakashi reported the Land of Waves rift, and Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Konoha to prepare for further rifts while granting Lin Chen special authority over high-risk crises.
• Lin Chen defeated the enemies emerging from a Level Two Rift near Konoha’s western border, absorbing their powers and reaching Kage Level.
• Lin Chen entered and cleared the Level Three Rift at Sunagakure, then returned after breaking through to the intermediate stage of Kage Level.
• As the Chunin Ninja Exams began, Sasuke accepted Orochimaru’s Cursed Seal and grew increasingly determined to obtain power that could rival Lin Chen.
• Lin Chen used his Devouring Domain to freeze and drain the exam contenders, ending the battle royale and deepening Sasuke’s despair over their strength gap.
• During the Forest of Death trial, Sasuke rejected Naruto and Sakura’s help, slaughtered Otogakure attackers with his Cursed Seal, and resolved to escape the Shinobi World after Lin Chen suppressed it.
• Gaara lost control of Shukaku and devastated the forest, but Lin Chen spread his domain across the battlefield and suppressed the rampage.
• Orochimaru offered Sasuke a path to transcendence, and after the examiners declared all candidates passed, Sasuke removed Konoha’s emblems and resolved to defect.