"Hah~"

  Li his heart and lungs w hard, his body quickly verting energy into stamina as the soldier pill dissolved rapidly in his stomach.

  In just one breath, he was ba his feet. Though he still looked fatigued, it wasn’t as severe as one might expect.

  The exhaustion he felt earlier was akin to lifting something heavy to the point of muscle failure. But with plenty of energy reserves from his earlier meal, and without signifit activity sihen, he could easily endure another battle.

  More importantly—

  His shadow es became more advantageous the less chakra he had, aill hadn’t pyed his final card.

  “...”

  Nara Ensui swallowed a soldier pill as well, standing resolutely in front of the mert. His silent stance made it clear where his allegiance y as the Sunagakure shinobi approached.

  Their leader, tan Jōnin armor and bbat attire, with his head ed in cloth and red aint across his right cheek, appeared in the clearing with a grim expression.

  “Our nation’s mert was killed,” he said, log eyes with Nara Ensui. “The official overseeing the au and all other participating merts have been sughtered.”

  Turning slightly, his gaze shifted to the Land of Fire mert c behind the cart, his backside exposed. His expression seemed to ask: Why is it that your Land of Fire people are still alive?

  [Forty seds left...]

  Lially calcuted how much time remained for his Stand, Metallica, to remain active. His previous battles had all been quick kills, leaving him with plenty of time to spare. Even Jōnin-level oppos hadn’t been able to withstand his ability to extract iron from their blood.

  Had it not been for the Jōnin’s enhanced physical stitution, chakra reinfort, and his owo manipute iron into solid bdes for extra damage, Link wouldn’t have burhrough so much stamina in the earlier fight.

  In the current situation, if he acted immediately—splitting the Jōnin’s shadow and revealing his trump card—he could likely eliminate all nearby Sunagakure shinobi.

  As for Temari, the future wife of Shikamaru… She’s an enemy. Enemies die.

  But it wasn’t his decision to make. He turo his superior, awaiting orders.

  Nara Ensui gave him a calm look, signaling patience before speaking sternly: “Baki, are you suggesting that this attack is ected to us?”

  Baki...

  Link reized the name. So that’s who he is. He hadn’t expected Ensui to take such a firm stance.

  Link’s muscles tensed as he prepared to form seals at a moment’s notice. The atmosphere grew suffogly teeetering on the edge of flict.

  But before a fight could break out, Baki gestured for his subordio stand down. He gave Link a peculiar look, said nothing, and disappeared with a Body Flicker Teique.

  The Sunagakure shinobi withdrew. Temari was the st to leave, her gaze lingering ohree Konoha shinobi as though itting them to memory.

  “Ensui-sensei?” Link approached with his teammates, his voice ced with curiosity.

  Why had they retreated after pushing things to the point of frontation?

  Before Ensui could ahe Land of Fire mert, now emboldened by the absenmediate danger, began wailing. “Hey, ninja! e protect me!”

  Ensui gave his team a helpless look. “He’s been like this for a while.”

  “Do you hear me? I’m hurt! I’m hurt!” the mert cried, raising a hand to show a minor scrape. He pletely ighe two gravely injured samurai leaning against the cart, barely scious.

  “Thanks to you, we survived this,” Ensui said to Link. “You three will temporarily guard him while I request reinforts.”

  By “him,” he meant the still-panicked mert.

  Link nodded, accepting the responsibility.

  Dragging his tired body, Ensui went to soothe the mert with a few words before anizing the surviving attendants. Under his dire, they moved the injured samurai to the first floor of the adjat hotel. The open street offered no cover, making them easy targets for any further rge-scale jutsu attacks.

  The neighb hotel had been pletely cleared out during the previous night’s massacre. Using its lobby as a temporary shelter aing area wouldn’t be an issue.

  Despite being trained as an assassin, a Jōnin like Ensui dispyed remarkable effi coordinating a group. After finishing his tasks, he leaped onto the rooftop and disappeared into the distance.

  [Not a Body Flicker Teique… Ensui-sensei must be running low on chakra.]

  As Link mulled this over—

  “Boss?” Iris asked hesitantly, still shaken from seeing Link colpse to one knee earlier.

  “I’m fine,” Link said, his breathing now steady. He g his two exhausted teammates, both carrying visible injuries. His tone softened slightly. “You two, check the upper floors for any hidden enemies.”

  Though he wouldn’t risk their safety in such a fined and dangerous enviro, he sent his shadow to apany them, ensuring their prote.

  Once his teammates began their sweep, Link mimicked Nara Ensui’s earlier behavior, staying within five meters of the mert. He silently refined his chakra, ready to form seals at any moment.

  His Stand, Metallica, had long since dissipated, and there was o maintain shadow es or transformation jutsu unnecessarily. With his trained speed at f seals, even a simple jutsu like the Shadow e Teique could be executed instantly if needed.

  About five mier, as his stamina began to drain slightly, he sensed a disturbance upstairs. There were enemies—definitely not allies or civilians.

  Before long, Iris and Ami returned with his shadow in tow.

  "Hah~"

  A heavily injured samurai lying in the lobby suddenly gasped for air before succumbing to his wounds.

  Link didn’t waste chakra attempting to save him. The samurai’s injuries were too severe, ah came swiftly.

  Ami hesitated, gng at the other injured samurai. “Boss, I’d like to…”

  Her gaze lingered on the wounded men, torween her duty and her desire to help.

  As an aspiring mediin, Ami had been studying medie and practig chakra-based healing teiques. While chakra trol for healing wasn’t overly demanding, the decision to expend her resources in this sario weighed heavily on her.