Evening, Ninja Apartments.

  "Step."

  Link stopped in his tracks as Uchiha Sasuke emerged from the apartmerance.

  “So, do you still want to challenge me now?” he asked, using the word “challenge” instead of “spar.”

  Sasuke lowered his head and remained silent for a long moment.

  The feeling of beied by someone he had once dismissed as inferior… it was unbearable.

  "If I'm this weak… easily surpassed by others… how I ever take revenge on that man?"

  “ you…” Sasuke finally spoke, his voice strained. Fortunately, Link didn’t mock or interrupt him, allowing the quiet atmosphere to help him overe the hardest part. “…show me how to receive your training?”

  After fully admitting his plea to someone younger but stronger, Sasuke raised his head, his expression resolute.

  For power, for his weak self, for vengeahere was no shame in doing whatever it took. Such shame was nothing pared to the pain he had already endured.

  “A price, huh?” Link chuckled. "You really are a naive kid, thinking that such help es with a price…"

  He stepped closer, standing in the fading sunlight. With a warm smile, he said, “We’re rades in the vilge. If you want to get stronger, e to Training Ground Seven tomorrow afternoon.”

  "rades…"

  Sasuke gazed at Link, bathed in the gentle light of the su. His lips trembled, and something stung his eyes. He recalled Naruto’s words earlier, looked away, and stepped out of the shadows of the apartmerance.

  In a low voice, he said, “Thank you.” With that, he quied his pad left.

  "Naive kids—sometimes, what’s free is the most expensive," Link thought, his smile fading into something faint and inscrutable as he stepped into the shadows of the ninja apartment.

  Sasuke, for all his hatred and ambition, was still too normal before entering Itachi again. His cold exterior but warm ade him far too susceptible to emotional bonds.

  Unlike Iris and Ami, whose growth potential was limited, Sasuke’s potential was enormous. With a bit of nurturing, he was guarao bee Kage-level. When Itachi eventually returo "help him awaken" and gift him the Eternal Mangekyō, Sasuke’s power would surpass most Kage.

  A deeply emotional and highly talented new ally— “It’s decided; it’s you.”

  Link’s mind was already drafting a training pn for Sasuke. In the world of Naruto, even Orochimaru knew how to manipute loneliness aions to trol Kimimaro, yet he ed to apply the same tactics to Sasuke.

  What a waste.

  "Now, I’ll take him for myself, Orochimaru."

  …

  The day, afternoon, Training Ground Seven.

  "Huff… huff…"

  Sasuke panted heavily, his body screaming in pain and exhaustiorangely, he felt the physical disfort peeling away, repced by an odd dissonance from the lingerial strain.

  “This is…?!”

  With his sharp mind, Sasuke quickly realized something was amiss. If his physical pain and fatigue could vanish so easily, theically, he could…

  “This is my secret teique,” Link said, removing his hand from Sasuke’s shoulder. Smiling, he added, “If possible, could you keep it a secret for me?”

  He didn’t truly expect Sasuke to keep the secret. After all, the existence of Delicate Illness Extra was bound to leak eventually—whether through the extraordinary growth of Iris and Ami or the miraculous recovery of Nara Ensui, who would likely protect Konoha during the Konoha Crush.

  Rather than trying to keep it hidden, Link chose to use this teique te bonds and build loyalty. After all, sharing a secret was one of the fastest ways tthen a retionship.

  “Got it.” Sasuke didn’t explicitly promise but nodded calmly.

  "No wohose twrowing so fast. If I had such a teique… maybe I could catch up to that man soon…"

  His eyes burned with determination. Ign his mental fatigue and skipping any ce to catch his breath, Sasuke gritted his teeth and threw himself bato training.

  “This guy… Boss, are you sure we trust him?” Iris muttered, watg Sasuke. "Cold, moody types like him don’t seem reliable at all."

  Ami, standing nearby, shook her head. “Trust Boss’s judgment, idiot.”

  She g Sasuke, who his soul into his training. “He looks like someone who has something he absolutely must achieve, even at the cost of his life. Seeing him work this hard makes me feel ashamed of myself.”

  Iris snorted but got to his feet. “I won’t lose to him!” He rushed off to resume his training.

  "What a fool," Ami muttered, ughing softly. Her gaze lingered on Sasuke, whose restrained expression had shifted to one of fervent iy.

  "Haruno Sakura likes someone like this. She’ll never get any response from him."

  With that thought, Ami also stood up. “Alright, if I want to bee a in, I have to give it my all.”

  As the three traiirelessly, Link flipped through a book, his expression calm.

  He was on the verge of mastering Mystical Palm Teique. The teique had been lingering in his thoughts, pelling him to perfect it before the in Exams.

  He also o accelerate his efforts to create a special energy pill. While Delicate Illness Extra could restore physical dition, it couldn’t replenish stamina.

  For now, stamina exhaustion remaihe biggest bottlene his training.

  …

  As evening fell, Iris and Ami left the training ground, gasping for air and clutg their empty stomachs. They both g Sasuke, still training with ferocious determination, and shook their heads in disbelief.

  “Man, this guy is just too intense…” Iris muttered.

  “Boss, want to grab some ramen with us?” Ami asked, patting Iris’s arm. “Our eating habits are starting to mirror yours.”

  Iris grinned and rubbed his growling stomach. “Boss, let’s leave him here. We’ll grab food, and it’s ooday.”

  “No,” Link replied, turning a page in his book without looking up. “You two go ahead. Don’t be te tomorrow afternoon.”

  He g Sasuke from the er of his eye.

  “I want to see how far his determination will take him.”

  Bleam