My Techniques are a bit off

"It's not a problem yet."

Uchiha Sasuke's voice was steady, though he was sweating slightly. Despite his opponent being a considerably weaker kunoichi from the Otogakure, her sound-based genjutsu forced him to rely on chakra refinement to activate his body and dispel the illusion to secure victory.

Refining and gathering chakra naturally caused the curse mark to become active again.

However, the active curse mark only inflicted pain; it didn't impair his movements or corrode his body and consciousness.

Link nodded and silently waited in the background as the eight remaining participants went to draw lots.

The final matchups were as follows:

1. Naruto Uzumaki vs. Temari

2. Rock Lee vs. Gaara

3. Sasuke Uchiha vs. Shikamaru Nara

4. Shino Aburame vs. Dosu Kinuta

In other words, if Naruto won, he would face the victor between Rock Lee and Gaara. If Sasuke won, he would face the winner between Shino and Dosu.

It was a knockout format.

"This is completely out of order…"

Link compared the matchups to his knowledge of the original story and couldn't help but find the situation somewhat amusing.

"What a hassle…" Shikamaru Nara sighed, his expression exasperated. Facing the most famous prodigy of this year's batch was clearly going to be troublesome.

Rock Lee, on the other hand, jumped in excitement, evidently thrilled with the matchups.

"What's this supposed to be—"

Naruto Uzumaki, however, was visibly dissatisfied. Fighting a girl, even if she was a kunoichi, felt awkward to him.

Sasuke Uchiha showed no reaction, stepping back into the crowd. He had little to no interaction with Shikamaru and only remembered him as the lazy classmate who often avoided trouble.

After being effortlessly defeated by Link during training at the practice field, Sasuke had completely lost interest in opponents of similar rank.

His long-term goal was to kill Itachi Uchiha; his short-term goal was to catch up to Link.

"Well then, everyone, good work. See you in a month—dismissed." The Third Hokage's announcement marked the end of the meeting, and the ninja dispersed in small groups.

Sakura Haruno glanced worriedly at Sasuke as he walked away with Link.

"Sasuke…"

…

Ten minutes later, in the medical room.

"My chakra… it's disappearing—"

Sasuke Uchiha reported, his tone calm.

So, part of the Mystical Palm Technique's ability is to dispel natural energy. The sensation of repelling something was actually chakra infused with natural energy.

Link pressed his palm against the curse mark, a look of realization crossing his face. After a few minutes of testing, he confirmed one aspect of the Mystical Palm Technique's capability.

Merely placing his hand near the mark caused it to become inert. The initial sensation he felt with Anko's curse mark, as though something was being pushed away, turned out to be the repulsion of natural energy. Sasuke's feedback about his chakra disappearing clarified everything.

Natural energy and senjutsu chakra were not the same. Link abandoned the hypothesis that his hand could touch high concentrations of natural energy.

Natural energy was omnipresent but imperceptible to him. Even if the Mystical Palm Technique dispelled it, he wouldn't notice. What he had been sensing all along was senjutsu chakra, chakra infused with natural energy.

Additionally, his ability to sense this wasn't derived from the Mystical Palm Technique itself but from his innate half-sensory ninja skills.

In summary, the Mystical Palm Technique's partial ability was to forcibly dispel natural energy and senjutsu chakra.

"This really seems like a technique designed for dealing with Sage Mode users…"

Link's first thought was this, though he suppressed his emotions. He conjured a chakra scalpel, ready to proceed.

Though the curse mark might aid in further developing the Mystical Palm Technique, the priority was to destroy Orochimaru's means of resurrection. There were plenty of people with curse marks to study later, including Jūgo, who was naturally capable of entering Sage Mode.

"!"

Sasuke Uchiha's eyes widened slightly when he saw the chakra scalpel, though he remained much calmer than Anko had, not even flinching.

"This type of chakra scalpel won't touch your physical body," Link explained as usual before starting to cut into the curse mark's chakra structure. In a calm tone, he asked, "Sasuke, why do you seek power?"

After half a month of training together, a foundation of friendship had been established between them. It was time to delve deeper.

If he didn't act quickly, both Orochimaru and Itachi Uchiha would set their sights on his newly recruited "shield."

"Revenge," Sasuke replied succinctly. "I want to kill that man—"

"Itachi Uchiha, correct?" Link deliberately mentioned the name, noting how Sasuke's muscles tensed.

"Are you interested in hearing a story?" he asked in a lighthearted tone.

Sasuke remained silent.

"Before the founding of the Konohagakure," Link began, having already prepared his words, "there was an era of endless war, where the Senju and Uchiha clans, the two strongest ninja clans, were constantly at odds."

Sasuke's head lifted slightly, his eyes filled with curiosity. The story's beginning already felt unusual to him.

This young ninja, even younger than him, seemed to know things about that era. Was it pure fabrication?

As Sasuke looked at him, Link removed the last trace of chakra from the curse mark, stepped back, and said, "Try gathering chakra now."

Sasuke focused on refining his chakra, then touched the now-inert curse mark. "I can't feel it at all anymore."

"Do you want to hear the rest of the story?" Link asked with a smile.

After a moment's hesitation, Sasuke remained seated. "Go on."

Link took a seat across from him and continued recounting the tale of the Senju and Uchiha clans—how they clashed, how Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha formed a bond, and how Hashirama chose to spare Madara, sacrificing himself to preserve their friendship.

As he spoke, it felt as if Link had witnessed the events firsthand, standing behind history.

Sasuke listened quietly.

The story of the Senju and Uchiha uniting to form the Konohagakure wasn't a secret. However, the circumstances surrounding the Uchiha's inclusion in the alliance left him feeling uneasy.

Still, he refrained from interrupting or objecting.

When it came to those he cared about—his comrades—his tolerance was much higher. For now, avenging the Uchiha's honor was secondary to his goal of killing Itachi.