The Day, the Venue fold Priegotiations
Uheir st mission in the Land of Rivers, where bodyguards had to wait outside, this time, all guards were assigo different rooms within the venue.
“His actual body was the one on his back—I didn’t realize until...”
Iris reted his embarrassi, his toed.
The puppet user, clearly a Sunagakure shinobi, carried a puppet on his baaturally, Iris assumed that targeting the main body was the right approach. With his enharength and speed after training, he fidently engaged, even using two illusionary es as decoys to fuse the enemy.
The oppo appeared to move sluggishly, so Iris thought he had the advantage. But as he struck, the "main body" split open, revealing a puppet that grabbed and subdued him.
He romptly knocked unscious.
Iris’s choice to attack wasn’t wrong; targeting the puppet user's body was logical. However, his attack was overly direct, g variety, and he hadn’t gathered enough information about his oppo.
[Still too rash, despite some improvement...]
Link silently analyzed Iris’s fws. In summary, Iris’s impulsive nature persisted, and his approa bat remained somewhat careless.
Frankly, if Link had been in Iris’s pce against Kankurō, the outight not have been much better. Iris cked decisive teiques and was unremarkable across the board.
His taijutsu was average, with no standout skills. He relied on physical strength but cked expertise in ninjutsu enjutsu. In short, he was a bnk ste—a “starter edition ninja.”
[Kind of like... a younger Mizuki.]
Ami, by trast, had one advantage: her ambition to bee a mediinja had honed her chakra trol. This allowed her to read execute teiques faster in close bat. Against Temari (who hadn’t yet opened her fan), she mao hold her ground briefly.
“I’m sorry, boss,” Iris mumbled, clearly ashamed.
[As expected, a true background character with little potential.]
Link wasn’t surprised. He accepted the reality calmly and replied, “It’s fine.”
“But—” Iris began, only to be interrupted.
“I said it’s fine.” Link locked eyes with him. “You didn’t disappoint me.”
Disappoi only arises from hope. Without hope, there’s no room for disappoi.
That was why he always regarded Iris and Ami as expendable shields.
Iris fell silent, crestfallen. Ami, standing nearby, remained quiet. Both were too caught up in guilt to notice that Link’s words carried no frustration or disappoi—only indifference.
Deep down, they wondered:
Had they lived up to the effort their leader ied in them? Could they keep pace with him? Or...
Would he leave them far behind?
“Good m!”
Temari’s sudden arrival broke the tense silence. “How are you three?”
Since Sunagakure and Konohagakure were both tasked with guarding the same mert, they were stationed in the same spacious room, though they kept to opposite ers.
Liurned her greeting with a cold stare. In his eyes, Temari was an enemy now and would remain one during the uping Konoha Crush pn.
Enemies were best dealt with permaly.
“So handsome, yet always so aloof,” Temari remarked with a sly smile. “Keep that up, and you’ll scare off all the girls iure.”
As she spoke, Gaara stood in the distance, gring murderously at Link, his face twisted in anger. Beside him, Kankurō nursed a bruised cheek—the aftermath of being kicked aside by Nara Ensui.
The room's atmosphere was tense, given the ret skirmish. No one was eager to escate things further.
…
Later That M, After the Meeting
The two groups followed the mert’s ente back to the Inn.
During the debrief, Nara Ensui addressed his team bluntly: “The mert might indeed have ulterior motives.”
“This m, he was the first to suggest selling the gold mio Sunagakure. He even offered a price lower than what he initially paid.”
His expression was grim. Ninja rarely interfered with their employers’ decisions. After all, wealthy merts and nobles were vital sourissions, ofteo intricate works of retionships and influence. Offending one could jeopardize future work.
A mert capable of issioning an A-rank mission was already entrenched in the upper echelons of power. Such missions often involved matters affeg eions or vilges.
Abandoning an A-rank mission wasn’t an option. For ninja, tools of their ts, to reje employer was inceivable.
“Stay vigint,” Ensui cautioned, his tone heavy. Theuro his duties.
…
Three Days Earlier, the Mert’s Inn in the Land of Fire
“Huh? Wasn’t this Inn here yesterday?”
A drunken gambler staggered to the entranotig the emptiness inside, he boldly walked in.
“Anyone here?” he called out, his voice eg in the eerie silence.
As he wandered deeper into the Inn, his unease grew. Still, fatigue and drunkenness dulled his senses. He only wao find someone, book a room, and sleep before returning to the o that night.
“Anyone?” Reag the sed floor, he paused, suddenly alert to a strange smell.
“Blood...?”
His foggy mind cleared instantly. Bloodshed in the Land of Fire’s territory was a dangerous provocation.
Following the st with growing dread, he reached a half-open door. Taking a deep breath, he pushed it open.
Inside, bodies y sprawled across the floor—some dressed as samurai, others in pin clothes. At least a dozen corpses littered the room, the se devoid of signs of struggle.
In the ter sat the wealthy mert, adorned in a vish kimono. His head lolled to one side, lifeless.
The gambler swallowed hard.
“Gulp.”
Bleam
