My Techniques are a bit off

"One minute... no time to waste..."

Link paid no mind to whatever the scarred ninja might have been thinking. From the brief clash earlier, it was clear that this opponent wasn't even worthy of a name—a mere small fry. If not for the need to summon a suitable stand to swiftly eliminate all enemies and possibly assist in Nara Ensui's level of combat, he wouldn't have bothered with the effort.

Without the Stand, Link could have handled him easily.

With that thought, he sprinted toward the melee, where Iris and Ami were engaged in close combat. Noticing his approach, the two immediately retreated without hesitation.

Both of them had witnessed the terror of Link's techniques in action. They didn't want to risk being killed accidentally by their own teammate.

"Whoosh!"

Seeing Link walking seemingly unguarded toward them, the Amegakure shinobis had no hesitation. They rushed in to kill him.

In an instant, the hallway was filled with Amegakure shinobi within Link's five-meter range.

"Slash!"

Sharp metal objects erupted from their bodies like blooming flowers, killing them instantly.

They were all just small fry, after all.

Link didn't bother sparing a glance at the corpses littering the hallway. Instead, he turned to his two panting teammates.

Iris and Ami had grown significantly. At only eleven years old, they could now hold off nearly ten Amegakure shinobi together. Though victory was beyond their grasp, they had managed to stall long enough, a feat far beyond the standard for Genin.

The three exchanged no words. With just a glance, they simultaneously broke into a nearby room and leaped out the window.

Next door, the hotel housing the Sunagakure shinobi and Land of Wind merchants was shrouded in smoke, clearly under attack as well.

On a distant street corner, Nara Ensui was locked in combat with a middle-aged man wearing an Amegakure forehead protector. Several of the convoy's samurai were struggling to fend off two Amegakure shinobi, while the Land of Fire merchant cowered behind a cart, trembling violently.

[Hanzo of the Salamander? Or Akatsuki operatives? What are they thinking, launching such a blatant assassination?]

Link's mind raced with questions as he focused his chakra and sprinted toward the battlefield. Spotting an injured ally samurai, he unceremoniously kicked the man out of harm's way.

There was no time for delicacy. Using his newly acquired Stand for wide-area iron manipulation was the simplest and most efficient method. Complex or precise operations would only waste energy.

"Slash!"

The two Amegakure ninjas met the same fate as their comrades, killed by the chaotic eruption of metal from within their bodies.

The Stand's power was terrifying for its first-strike lethality. Without prior intel, opponents had little chance of surviving the initial attack.

"Crash!"

The Sunagakure's hotel erupted in a violent gale, its upper floors disintegrating in an instant.

Link glanced at the destruction but didn't pause, rushing toward the Jōnin-level battle.

The middle-aged Amegakure shinobi, seeing the three Konoha shinobi emerge and two of his comrades fall to bizarre deaths, immediately decided to retreat.

"Whoosh!"

Nara Ensui seized the opportunity, using his Shadow Sewing Technique to disrupt the enemy's escape route. Then, forming seals, his shadow extended to capture the target.

[Shadow Imitation Technique.]

The technique's strength lay in its ability to forcibly control an opponent with sufficient chakra. However, it also restrained the user, making it a teamwork-dependent skill. Earlier, with too many enemies, Ensui had been unable to fully capitalize on it. Now, with allies nearby, he could go all out.

As Link drew closer, the middle-aged shinobi, trapped by the Shadow Imitation Technique, began frantically channeling chakra to break free. The shadow on the ground trembled violently.

Sweat dripped down Nara Ensui's face. Both he and the enemy had been battling intensely, expending significant amounts of chakra. The Shadow Imitation Technique was powerful but energy-intensive, especially against an opponent actively resisting.

Fortunately, neither side had excessive reserves remaining.

Suddenly, the Amegakure shinobi's expression turned desperate as black markings spread rapidly across his neck and body. His depleted stamina and chakra surged back to life, allowing him to break free of the shadow's grip. He turned to flee.

[That's…?!]

The sight sent a jolt through Link's mind, his emotions churning as if struck by lightning.

"Whoosh!"

Another Shadow Sewing Technique briefly blocked the shinobi's path, but he had already entered Link's ten-meter range.

The iron in his blood was forcibly extracted, causing him to stagger mid-sprint. Even so, the curse marks spreading across his skin allowed him to push through the extreme oxygen deprivation. He lunged toward Link, intent on killing him before escaping.

"Slash!"

Long needles pierced through his flesh and skin, freezing him in place.

Yet even now, he refused to die. His muscles pushed back against the needles, bending and breaking them. He began to move again, albeit slowly.

"Whoosh!"

Nara Ensui ended it with one final Shadow Sewing Technique, severing the shinobi's head.

"Thud."

The head hit the ground with a series of dull thumps, rolling a few times before coming to a stop.

Link collapsed to one knee, gasping for air, his trembling hand retrieving a soldier pill to pop into his mouth.

Using the Stand's ability had drained him. Forcibly extracting iron from a Jōnin-level opponent's body to form a weapon had been a massive strain.

The Amegakure shinobi's enhanced physique and chakra interference had severely hampered the Stand's operations. The curse mark's sudden power boost only compounded the difficulty.

In short, his stamina had been depleted to less than five percent. Only years of rigorous training had kept him from passing out on the spot.

"Thud." Thud."

Iris and Ami landed on either side of him, abandoning the merchant to guard their leader.

Nara Ensui, breathing heavily, swallowed his own soldier pill. Confirming that the Land of Fire merchant was alive and the mission still intact, he looked at his three subordinates with relief.

As shinobi, they were tools, meant to sacrifice for the mission. But as a Konoha ninja and their mentor, he couldn't help but feel heartened by the bond and camaraderie between them.

He gripped his kunai and turned to face the approaching figure—

The Sunagakure kunoichi, holding her signature iron fan.

~~~

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