"S!"

  Sakura Haruno's face showed her surprise. She had expected a heated battle but didn’t anticipate it ending so quickly.

  "He’s incredible… but Sasuke-kun…"

  She turo look at Uchiha Sasuke, whose expression had darkened as he ched his fists and looked down.

  "Darn it! I didn’t eveo use my secret teique!"

  Naruto Uzumaki rubbed his sore shoulder, where Link had grabbed him. He wasn’t upset about losing but was frustrated that he couldn’t even show off what he had worked so hard to achieve.

  After pleting the Land of Waves mission and feeling aplished, he hadn’t expected to lose just as quickly as when he first entered Link.

  That lingering dissatisfa fueled a growing desire to get stronger as he looked at Link’s calm, smiling face.

  "Use your secret move! Let us see it!" Iris said, his tone carefree.

  "Iris!" Ami scolded, her voice sharp. "A 'secret teique' is a ninja's most important asset. Asking about it ht is rude."

  "Heh heh heh!" Naruto grinned, f a hand seal. "Let me show you my ultimate move!"

  "Poof!"

  Smoke swirled, and when it cleared, a beautiful, stily an appeared. She wi Iris and blew him a kiss.

  "Pfft—!"

  Iris's nose erupted in a torrent of blood.

  Ami turned bright red, looked away, and muttered, "Su i jutsu…"

  Sakura Haruno reflexively g Ami. She still cared about how her peculiar cssmate, who had once apologized to her out of nowhere, perceived her.

  "Damn you, Naruto!" she thought, seething internally.

  Link, for his part, sighed and averted his eyes. When he saw Naruto preparing the seals earlier, he had guessed what was ing.

  Sasuke, who had been ready to step in and challenge Link himself, froze at the sight of his teammate’s eous dispy.

  The anger he’d felt at being overshadowed dissipated, repced by a wave of embarrassment.

  They were from the same team, after all. What if people thought he endorsed this kind of behavior?

  "Hmph." Sasuke let out a sharp scoff to mask his disfort and swiftly turo leave. His steps were a bit hurried and uneven as he left the training ground.

  The sound of his departure jolted Sakura back to reality. Flustered, she quickly chased after him. "Sasuke-kun, wait for me!"

  Link g Sasuke's retreating figure.

  "That kid was about to jump in earlier. As one of the st Uchiha and one of the more rational ones, he’s worth recruiting…"

  "Poof!"

  Naruto dispelled the transformation, looking at his retreating teammates. He hesitated, thinking about following them, but seeing Sasuke in the lead made him drop the idea.

  Hands on his hips, he gri Link. "How was that, Link? Impressive, right?"

  "Hmm…" How should he even respond?

  As Link sidered how to tactfully express his opinion, a thought struck him.

  Would his ability reize the Sexy Jutsu as a jutsu and mutate it? If so, it might provide insights into how mutated jutsu worked.

  After all, Sexy Jutsu was just an advanced version of the Transformation Teique, requiring the same seals and produg a simir effect. The difference was Naruto's unparalleled "field research," which made the result exceptionally lifelike.

  "This jutsu…" he muttered without thinking. "It’s… quite iing."

  "…" X3

  "I must have misheard… or misuood…” Ami thought, her mind reeling.

  Naruto blinked in surprise, then broke into a wide grihrew an arm around Link’s shoulders, his voice loud and cheerful. "I knew you had good taste, Link!"

  "He must be trying to fort that idiot," Ami reasoned, her inner self scrambling to make sense of things.

  Naruto leaned in and whispered spiratorially, "Wao teach it to you…?"

  "This idiot should stay far away from our Boss!" Ami thought, her temper fring. She g Iris, who was still whistling ily to cover up his earlier rea.

  "Iris too. Definitely should keep a distance!"

  …

  Two days ter, Konoha Library.

  "Medial Formus… found it."

  Link pulled a book from the shelf and added it to the growing sta his arms. The mediinja library didn’t have everything, so he had to e to the main library for meneral books.

  After all, no skilled mediinja would rely solely on chakra-based teiques. Knowledge of basic pharmacology and treatmehods was essential.

  Link, however, was an outlier.

  "Potent Medies and Their Effects… Induced Responses… Got it."

  Bang a t stack of books, Link carried them to a nearby table.

  "Alright, let’s get started."

  Taking a deep breath, he plunged into the sea of knowledge.

  To be ho, this wasn’t his first time doing this. Initially, the sheer volume of information was overwhelming, but with time, he forced himself to adapt.

  After all, a transmigrator wasn’t omnipotent, and his unique ability had its limitations. Simply knowing how to fight wasn’t enough to succeed in this world.

  A ninja who didn’t use their brain would be stuck as a Genin forever.

  Poison was an incredibly potent on in this world, capable of ending fights with a siouch. With Sunagakure—one of the most poison-specialized vilges—ing for the in Exams, knowing how to teract poisons was vital.

  Moreover, Link had pns to create a superior version of soldier pills and develop potent stimunts. After all, in a desperate battle, taking a pill might be the only way to survive.

  As he immersed himself in the books, the sound of approag footsteps interrupted his focus. A figure stopped in front of him.

  Link assumed it was just another library visitor, but when the person didn’t move, he looked up.

  "I want to challenge you."

  Uchiha Sasuke stood there, his arms at his sides, his tone cool and serious.

  "Shh." Link raised a fio his lips, signaling for quiet. Then, in a low voice, he said, "Before challenging someone, shouldn’t you introduce yourself?"

  Sasuke frowned but lowered his voice. "I’m Uchiha Sasuke, and I’ve e to challenge you."

  As he spoke, his fidence seemed to falter. He had prepared himself to face a strong oppo, but the setting—a quiet library—sapped his momentum.

  "Damn it, why did it have to be in a library of all pces?" Sasuke thought, frustrated.

  For the first time, he found himself envying Naruto’s brash, straightforward attitude.

  Bleam