[ this really… work?]
Iris felt uneasy. After their brief “exge” the previous day, the team had agreed to follow Link’s leadership. Their strategy for the test was to protect their “leader” while he prepared his jutsu, and then watch from the sidelines.
However, Iris had never seen Link’s so-called “jutsu” in a. Fag a jonin oppo, his fidence wavered.
Ami, oher hand, remained calm. She grudgingly aowledged Link’s leadership—he was young, yet posed, intelligent, and strong. Obedience wasn’t an issue, though it didn’t stop her from hoping to see him falter after being humiliated herself.
[A jutsu requiring preparation time, with teammates serving as guards?]
Nara Ensui immediately dised their pn but waited patiently.
Seal, release—
Unlucky.
Link g the red-e miniature tomato with sharp teeth and stubby limbs floating beside him and sighed internally. Despite a year of practice, the randomness of his Substitution Jutsu remained a gring fw.
The summoand earl Jam. When cut and added to food, it could heal the body—though the quality of the ingredients determihe effect. Using Pearl Jam required siderable ary skill, something Link cked. He’d summo during training before, but the Stand’s brief duration re useless for making plex dishes.
Mixing it with water could work in a pinch, but the effect would be greatly diminished. For someone who wasn’t a cook, Pearl Jam ractically useless.
Link dismissed the Stand without hesitation, swallowed a soldier pill, and moved on. Unlike in games, stamina didn’t instantly recover, so preemptive preparation was normal.
Seal, release—
As chakra drained from him, Link’s awareness suddenly lio his… hair.
A flood of sensory input filled his mind—the air’s subtle movement, the warmth of sunlight, even microscopic particles of dust.
[A parasitic Stand that trols hair—Love Deluxe.]
He exhaled with slight relief. Love Deluxe was simple yet powerful, capable of extending his hair into tendrils that could demolish a three-story building or stretch over teers with incredible durability. Its offensive capabilities were formidable.
If he had time to experiment, he might develop the Stand’s potential further—such as its inal owner’s ability to impnt hair on others’ scalps for trol. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the time for research.
Link’s thoughts fshed through his mind as he leapt down from the rock. Bending his knees and eling chakra into his legs, he unched himself toward Nara Ensui at high speed.
[Here he es.]
Nara Ensui inteo gauge Link’s taijutsu first. Based on his versation with Kakashi—
To his surprise, the boy stopped about three meters away, and his hair suddeended, surging toward him like a tidal wave.
[A hair-based jutsu?!]
Ensui easily sidestepped the attack, moving with the agility expected of a jonin. The hair’s speed was underwhelming, and its precision was g; it could only target general areas, not specific points.
“Smack!”
The clustered hair shed the ground, shattering rocks and carvirenches in the earth. Dust billowed into the air.
H midair, Link used his hair as support, f a vast bck web that spanned over thirty meters in diameter. The tless strands flowed like a waterfall, writhing with an almost lifelike motion, probing and weaving through the surroundings.
From the outside, the se was nightmare-indug, especially for those with trypophobia.
Iris stared in stunned silence. [What is this… this teique?]
Ami held back her disgust and took a cautious step back.
[Found you!]
Clusters of hair pouhe ground, propelling Link toward Ensui like a spring-loaded projectile.
Link aimed to close the distance, intending to leave his hair on Ensui’s body. With Love Deluxe, even separated hair retained sensory es to its user. He could trasui’s movements across vast distances—even if it wasn’t enough to trol him.
As long as his hair touched the target, Link wouldn’t have to worry about being deceived by es or ambushed like before.
“Crack!”
A rge tree splintered and fell, f Ensui out of hiding. He evaded with another Body Flicker.
Even as a jonin, Ensui felt a twinge of frustration. Staring at the massive, thirty-meter web of hair, he couldn’t help but feel trapped.
[ a genin really pull this off? Where’s the ice release everyone was talking about?]
Midair, Ensui formed seals. Shadows on the ground morphed into needle-like shapes, slig through the pursuing hair with sharp, precise cuts.
To his dismay, the severed strands tio writhe, crawling along the ground like worms before merging bato the rger mass.
[What an eerie and powerful teique…]
Esg the hair’s grasp with his Shadow Sewing Jutsu, Ensui’s expressirim. This oppo’s wide attack range, mobility, and trag ability made them exceptionally difficult to handle.
[Is it a specialized sensory teique? Or perhaps…]
“Boom! Crash! Crack!”
The forest around them was rapidly reduced to rubble. Trees toppled en masse, dust clouded the sky, and Love Deluxe’s hair whipped up violent winds.
The destru iably attracted attention.
The Seventh Training Ground wasn’t far from Konoha’s residential areas. A massive “creature” nearly thirty meters in size had appeared and was wreaking havoc.
It wasn’t long before every jonin with det sensory abilities verged on the se, surrounding the training ground.
“This seems to be someone’s jutsu.”
“Are they fighting in the vilge?”
“It’s Ensui’s chakra,” firmed Yamanaka Inoichi, his tone serious.
“Should we intervene?”
“What about the Barrier Team?”
Several jonin were ready to step in when Nara Shikaku raised his hand.
“Wait.”
His single word silehe group.
Among the jonin, Shikaku’s authority as the Jonin ander and his retionship with Ensui ensured no one questioned him.
Moments ter, an Anbu appeared before the gathered shinobi and bowed slightly.
“The Seventh Training Ground hosts a jonin-supervised test between Nara Ensui and genin Link.”
“Wow.” Special Jonin Mitarashi Anko whistled in admiration. “Kids these days are wild.”
Kakashi Hatake ruffled his hair but remained silent.
Shikaku frowned slightly, his sharp mind processing the details as he watched the distant, chaotic forest.
“Dismissed.”
