My Techniques are a bit off

Nonsense. Almost twisted my ankle.

Link kept a straight face. Who would even want a brand-new pair of nunchucks? That hobby was way too niche—just like how Naruto Uzumaki once wrote "limited-edition ramen" on his letter to Santa.

"Come to think of it, it seems like all the ninja squads are back in the village. Even Shikamaru and the others yesterday…"

He thought about the date for a moment and realized it was already mid-June. The Chūnin Exams were just around the corner.

Ever since starting work, his focus had been more on weekly routines rather than the exact calendar date.

With the Chūnin Exams approaching, it also meant the Konoha Crush plan was imminent.

Link's expression grew more serious. The time he had left to grow stronger was running out. If the Konoha Crush played out like in the manga, the village would lose over half its combat strength. The Third Hokage would die, and the ever-opportunistic Danzo would step into the spotlight.

The only silver lining was that Tsunade would return, but everything else was bad news.

At this point, the only wildcard for Konoha seemed to be Link himself.

Could he change the village's fate? Would he be willing to change everything?

"Is that even a question?"

Link pushed himself to run harder, a faint smile forming on his face.

Even if he disliked emotional ties, he had left behind a few things in Konoha that he cared about—more than he was willing to admit.

And Orochimaru… he was one of Link's personal targets.

"Next time we face off, it won't be like before. Strength, speed, reaction time, chakra control…"

"Even if you manage to escape my Five-Element Seal again, this time, I'll be aiming to take your life."

He sprinted with all his might. No slacking off from now on. Starting today, all his training would be doubled. Sleep time could be reduced. If he could master the Mystical Palm Technique before the Chūnin Exams…

Unfortunately, his request to learn an A-rank Earth Release jutsu, Swamp of the Underworld, had been rejected by the two advisors. Their reasoning? He had already been approved for several jutsu before, had no major achievements to justify more, and had even failed an A-rank mission. The rejection letter came just a day after his application.

If only he could've gotten that technique, he'd have had the chance to see how an A-rank Earth Release from Konoha worked.

Maintaining steady breaths, Link finished his two laps. He ignored Lee clutching the nunchucks and crying tears of joy while Might Guy hugged him, yelling about youth and passion.

Instead, Link went home, changed into his medical ninja uniform, and headed to work.

Learning taijutsu didn't mean he had to indulge in their quirks, after all.

…

What seemed like another day of "fishing" and reading in his office quickly changed when he was called to a meeting.

Luckily, medical ninja were always busy. Most of the Jōnin in the department were either developing new medical techniques or medicines. Meetings were short and efficient.

The purpose of today's meeting? With the Chūnin Exams approaching, the department needed to dispatch a medical squad to provide emergency aid to examinees.

The First Medical Corps was chosen to handle the duty. Starting July 1st, the team would remain on standby at the venue from the first day of the exams.

After a brief announcement from the division head, Kanpō, the meeting ended in under ten minutes.

The sudden assignment didn't bother Link much. After a morning of studying medical knowledge, he decided to skip his usual hospital duties.

With only a couple of weeks left, he needed to focus on preparing for the exams.

During lunch, Iris and Ami stopped by to inform him that their new squad had also decided to register for this year's Chūnin Exams.

After eating, the three headed to the Seventh Training Ground for practice. Around 2 p.m., Team 7 arrived.

"Whew…" Link wiped his sweat and put his shirt back on.

To his surprise, all three members of Team 7 showed up. Whether Kakashi was hiding somewhere nearby was another matter entirely.

"Heh-heh!" Naruto grinned smugly, clenching his fists. "I'm here!"

"This guy… His body is strong." Sasuke Uchiha's expression remained cold, but he was genuinely impressed. From the way Link and the other two trained, it was clear they weren't just show-offs.

"Wow, those muscles… If Sasuke-kun's body is like that underneath… Ehehe." Sakura Haruno kept a calm facade, but her imagination had already taken off.

"Sakura and… that guy only came because they heard we're going to spar," Naruto said, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Sasuke. It almost seemed… tsundere.

Link remained calm, gesturing to the open ground. "Come on, Naruto. Show me how much you've grown."

Even if all three of them came at him, Link wouldn't be fazed—unless Kakashi joined in.

"You're going to be amazed, Link!" Naruto said, stretching before forming a hand seal.

"Boom!" A swarm of shadow clones filled the entire clearing.

"No matter how many times I see it, that chakra pool is insane…" Sasuke thought, his Sharingan activating to observe.

"What the heck?" Iris's eyes widened. "Is that a clone jutsu?"

"Idiot, it's the Shadow Clone Jutsu," Ami corrected. "And even for that, this much chakra is…"

"Alright!" The Narutos raised their fists, shouting, "Here we go!" They charged en masse.

Link cracked his knuckles and disappeared.

"Whoosh!"

"So fast!" Sasuke's Sharingan barely caught the movement.

"I can see it, but… it's too fast! My eyes can follow, but my body can't keep up!" His fists clenched tightly.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The sound of shadow clones popping rang out in rapid succession.

When the smoke cleared, dozens of clones had vanished. Link stood behind Naruto's real body, holding him down with one hand.

"Looks like… I'm still a little stronger than you," Link said calmly.

Until Naruto learned to properly harness the Nine-Tails' chakra, his abilities were subpar.

While his chakra reserves were enormous, his control was abysmal. He relied heavily on basic jutsu like the Transformation Technique and Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu. His physical abilities—strength, speed, and taijutsu—were all average for a Genin.

Even during their fight, Naruto had tried using the Transformation Technique for a trick, but his hand seals were painfully slow.

Link let go of Naruto's back and silently analyzed the boy. There was no pride to be taken in this victory—Naruto was, at this point, just a standard hot-blooded idiot.

~~~

Patreon(.)com/Bleam

— Currently You can Read 100 Chapters Ahead of Others!