Eight Days Later, M, Forest of Death

  “Shing!”

  Link thrust his kunai into the skull of a massive bear, standing over three meters tall, narrowly dodging a swipe of its giant paw.

  “Thud!” The bear colpsed to the ground, its massive body twitg itently.

  Link pulled the kunai out, wiped it on the bear’s fur, aur to its sheath. The bde was sharp and durable, barely showing any wear after pierg a skull. He couldn’t afford to waste tools like this— it up, and it was as good as new.

  It was no wonder bat-reted missions had such high rewards. Over the past few days, both Iris and Ami had burhrough a siderable amount of ninja tools. Meanwhile, Link, frugal as ever, refused to throw shuriken unless absolutely necessary, relying solely on his kunai for attacks, retrieving and reusing it after every skirmish.

  If this were a mission involving enemy ninja, saving supplies like this would’ve been impossible. It was frustrating that typical mission expenses weren’t reimbursed.

  “ting this one, I think we’re just about done,” Link said, looking up at his two teammates.

  The task of clearing wild animals wasn’t bound by strict quotas. As long as the work seemed suffit, the mission would pass iion. The assig office didn’t require specific proof, but if field mainteaff ter found an abundance of unchecked beasts, the team might face sequences.

  It was a trust-based system. Iively insur Konoha ninja hierarchy, this approach worked well. Who would risk defeg over a few thousand ryo? With a supervising jonin, there was even less cause for .

  Konoha had a surprisingly stific method for estimating wildlife poputions—analyzing tracks, droppings, and the movement patterns of herbivores. The Team Five's task was based on these assessments.

  Link’s question may have been phrased tentatively, but his tone was decisive. After over a month of w together, his teammates had grown aced to following his lead, both due to his petend his calm, anding demeanor.

  The trio stopped near a river to rest briefly before leaving the forest.

  At that moment, Nara Ensui appeared, tug a notebook into his bag. “Well done, everyone,” he said with a smile.

  He wasn’t the type of leader to engage in casual bonding with subordihough responsible and dutiful, his professionalism maintained a certain distance. Ensui saw himself more as a silent guardian than a buddy—despite being in his twenties, his students were just nine and eleven.

  pleting a k mission with no injuries, even if it involved only wild animals, was no small feat for newly minted genin. Their performance firmed the team’s readio operate as a fully funal squad.

  Iris hesitated, as if he wao express his excitement, but ultimately held back. His once-lively, impulsive nature had been tempered by the posed leadership of Link and Ensui.

  Ami sighed in relief. Since her first day as a genin, she’d been quietly pushing herself, unwilling to be the team’s weak link. The praise brought her a rare sense of ease.

  Link remaioic, showing ion to the pliment.

  “Well, see you at the Hokage Building the day after tomorrow,” Ensui said, log the gate behind them. “You’ve worked hard these past few days. Take tomorrow to rest.”

  With that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

  Iris instinctively g Link, intending to signal his departure, but paused when he heard:

  “You two—do you have time this afternoon?”

  “I do,” Ami answered first.

  “Me too,” Iris quickly added, raising a hand.

  Link nodded slightly. “Meet me at Training Ground Seven this afternoon. We’ll start special training.”

  “Special training?” Iris’s voice jumped several pitches. Seeing his teammates look at him, he forced a grin and said, “No need for that, boss. We’re not o being genin anymore.”

  The memory of their first day, which had involved nothing but gettien up, still lingered. As a ninja, he could handle pain—it art of their training—but who liked getting thrashed?

  “We’ve pleted our first k mission,” Link said, gng at him. “ces are, we’ll be sent out of the vilge for the one. Both of you still have a lot to work on. Once we’re outside, there’s a good ce we’ll faemy ninja. I want to help you prepare.”

  During the nine days of hunting wildlife, his teammates had performed detly by genin standards but still had many fws. Issues like uneven chakra trol, ineffit ninjutsu usage, unnecessary movements in bat, and poor cealment of their presence were gring weaknesses.

  Link genuinely wao help them improve. Even if he advao in and the Team Five disbahere was a high ce they’d form a temporary “Link Squad” for missions. He couldn’t be their babysitter forever, unlike Ensui.

  Helping them now was an iment in his future.

  Once everyone reached in rank or found other roles—like w in the hospital, Anbu, interrogation, Barrier Team, or Medical Corps—they’d naturally part ways.

  He had no iion of recruitieammates once he became a in. Finding reliable allies was too uaier to train and mold the ones he had.

  “Thank you, boss!” Iris said after a brief pause, his face lighting up. His straightforward nature left no room for sed-guessing. Having a capable leader willing to help was a clear be.

  “…Thank you, boss,” Ami echoed hesitantly, her reluce stemming mostly from using the term “boss.”

  “Good. See you at two this afternoon,” Link said, cutting off further versation as he turo leave.

  The mission pleted, he po reward himself with a proper meal, wash his bloodstained gear, and his clothes. Days of trekking through the forest had left everything reeking. The blood-stiffened kunai holster was especially troublesome to .

  “Other transmigrators worry about ninja wars, the fate of humanity, or the Otsutsuki ,” he muttered to himself with a sigh. “Meanwhile, I’m stuck dealing with undry and groceries.”

  Bleam