Nighttime, Hospital

  “Whew~”

  Link withdrew his hand from Nara Ensui’s chest, exhaling deeply.

  [Finally, some progress...]

  Popping a soldier pill into his mouth, he felt a sense of relief. Four applications of the Delicate Illness Extra Teique, each using over half his chakra reserves, had begun to yield visible improvements.

  Unlike regur medical treatment, which required careful pnning to avoid deformities during regeion, this teique simply extracted illness or injury. Once removed, the body naturally returo a “normal” and “healthy” state.

  Damaged muscle tissue and misaligned bones had already started to revert to their inal form.

  “Ugh...” Nara Ensui groaned faintly, his eyelids fluttering open.

  “Link...” His voice was raspy.

  As soon as he spoke, a sharp pain radiated through his chest. His lung, punctured by the Kusanagi Sword and further damaged by the forced use of Shadow Sewing to restrain it, had been shredded. Surviving was a miracle owed to Link’s earlier life-saving teique that barely sustained his breathing.

  Even with medical team intervention and debridement surgery, Ensui's body barely maintained basi. His shoulder had suffered massive tissue necrosis due to freezing, and his lung was still fragile with newly regeed ses. Attempting to speak loudly only risked reopening his wounds.

  “Cough, cough, cough!” Violent coughing brought blood spilling from Ensui’s mouth.

  Ign his fatigue, Link immediately infused chakra into his hands and pced them on Ensui’s chest.

  “Whew... whew...” As the chakra worked its magisui’s breathing gradually stabilized. After a moment, he weakly pushed Link’s hand away, his voice faint and hoarse. “Don’t waste your chakra.”

  Even as an injured jōnin, he uood his dition perfectly. A mere infusion of chakra could only provide temporary relief—proloreatment was futile.

  “How are Iris and Ami?” he asked.

  “They’re back safely. The vilge’s reinforts arrived in time,” Link answered without g credit, instead attributing their survival to the vilge’s support.

  Ensui’s lips curved into a weak smile. Looking at his student, he managed a difficult but heartfelt grin. “Good work.”

  Link turned away, staring at the wall. “The doctors say you might not be able to work as a ninja anymore.”

  “I figured as much.” Ensui accepted this calmly. When he had taken on the bait role during the mission, he had already prepared for the possibility of never waking up.

  Being alive and ba the vilge was already more than he had dared hope for.

  “Well, not being a ninja anymore means I’ll have plenty of time to find someoo settle down with. Maybe even start a family...” he said lightly.

  “I’ll heal you.”

  “I believe you.”

  As Link’s footsteps faded down the hallway, Ensui gazed at the ceiling, a bittersweet smile spreading across his face.

  [Kids... so troublesome.]

  …

  The Day – Training Ground Seven

  “Drip, drip, drip.”

  Soured off Link as he leaned against a rock, catg his breath. No matter what happened, he refused to let his daily training pse.

  Since being reborn into this world, he had resolved to bee stronger. With his mother’s early passing and his father’s strict training, Link had been forced to grow up quickly.

  His past self—an easygoing, aimless shut-in—was worlds apart from the hardened individual he had bee. Survival had taught him to shed traits that held him back.

  At first, his goal was simply strength. Later, upon disc his mutated chakra teiques, he shifted his focus to mastering as many jutsu as possible. This eventually gave way to an ambition to rise through the ranks: in, jōnin, and ultimately, Hokage, granting access to all the vilge’s secrets.

  The thought of stealing forbidden scrolls or defeg from the vilge had crossed his mind. But he dismissed it as unnecessary.

  First, the risks of failure far outweighed the potential rewards. Sed, Konoha provided him with prote and resources—there was o gamble wheructured ninja system already paved the way.

  Yet along this path, he fouain burdens almost too heavy to bear.

  [In the end, it’s always just me...]

  Rubbing his rumbling stomach, Link stood and looked up at the high noon sun. After wiping away his sweat and putting on his jacket, he left the training ground alone.

  Not long after, he arrived at Ichiraku Ramen. After pg his order, he stood by the vending mae, p what to drink. He wanted something sweet but wasn’t in the mood for soda.

  As he deliberated, a hand suddenly appeared, him a of sweet red bean soup.

  “This is for you!”

  Turning, he saw Naruto Uzumaki grinning widely, his eyes squinting with joy.

  Liated for a moment before accepting the drink. “Thanks.”

  Back at the table, Link remarked, “Your trag skills are still terrible.”

  “Uh, well...” Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

  That m, Naruto had spied on Link’s training at Ground Sevehen trailed him all the way to Ichiraku Ramen—ly a "tal" enter.

  “Ugh, Naruto! You said you were busy, but you’re just here eating ramen!” Sakura Haruno’s voice rang out as she entered with Sasuke Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake in tow.

  Kakashi naturally sat beside Link, his tone zy yet cheerful. “What a ce—fancy seeing you here again.”

  The word “ce” cked any siy.

  Naruto sat beside Link, with Sasuke and Sakura on his other side, effectively boxing Link in.

  As the three newers pced their orders, Sakura chatted about their test mission. Naruto pined about having to do more b low-rank tasks the day. Sasuke listened quietly, his expressioral.

  Kakashi watched the lively group with a smile.

  “Thud.” A bowl of extra-rge ramen ced before Link. He looked up, fused. “Ueuchi, this isn’t—”

  “When you’re feeling down, nothis a special bowl of extra-rge ramen!” Ichiraku grinned, giving a thumbs-up. “It’s on the house!”

  Link g the bowl of ramen, topped with golden tempura shrimp. Just as he was about to express his thanks, Kakashi interjected dryly:

  “If that’s your idea of a special treat, please don’t biving me one...”

  Kakashi really did hate tempura.

  Bleam