This look...

  Link instantly thought of a very famous character from the inal story:

  Kurenai Yuhi.

  It really seemed to be her, but where were the pursuers? Shouldn't they already be—

  "Rustle, rustle."

  Link snapped his head toward the swaying bushes in the distanbsp;

  Nara Ensui gripped a kunai tightly. "Stay on guard," he ordered. Before his words had fully settled, he flung the kunai forward.

  "Thud, thud, thud!"

  Three kunai flew in a triangur formation through the undergrowth, slig leaves from branches before embedding deeply into tree trunks.

  The frontation had officially begun.

  Someone had definitely followed them. Whoever it was had araordinary ability to mask their presence, disappearing instantly and hiding in the shadows.

  Ensui didn't rush forward. Calm and posed, he stood protectively in front of his rade, holding a kunai in one hand while carefully sing their surroundings.

  Link formed a hand seal, releasing a e Teique, and positioned himself in front of the female ninja, who he presumed to be Kurenai. Time passed slowly, and an invisible tension pressed on him, making it harder to breathe.

  "Is this killing i?" He gritted his teeth.

  In real bat, there was no time to leisurely form hand seals or prepare jutsu. Ambushes, stealth, and assassination defined a true shinobi battle.

  Should he summon his substitute now? If the enemy didn’t appear, he’d just waste chakra. His e’s timer was steadily tig down.

  "If we keep stalling, she’ll recover enough to fight. But why is the enemy deying as well?"

  "Swish!"

  Out of nowhere, an umbrel shot from the undergrowth, not aimed at them but at the sky. It opened mid-air, releasing a flurry of needles that spun and rained down like a deadly storm.

  [Ninja Art: Senbon Shower]

  Ensui reacted instantly. With a single hand seal, he took a deep breath—

  "Fwoosh!"

  A gust of wind roared forth, scattering the needles in all dires. Trees snapped and splintered as the force of the wind cleared a path.

  [Wind Release: Great Breakthrough]

  "Swoosh!"

  As Ensui cast the jutsu, a figure emerged from the grouh him. A kunai shimmering with an eerie light was thrust toward his thigh.

  [Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Teique]

  Link moved to assist, but before he could act, Ensui’s body dissipated with a "poof!", repced by mist. At the same time, the attacker also exploded into a spsh of water.

  Shadow e. Water e.

  Even in that fleeting moment, Link caught a clear glimpse of the attacker’s headband: the four vertical lines representing Amegakure.

  The presence of a shinobi capable of engaging Ensui firmed that the enemy was at least jonin-level.

  The csh betweewo jonin was far from fshy. Simple teiques were exged initially, followed by a blur of hand-to-hand bat so fast that Link could barely follow. Gradually, their battle moved farther and farther away.

  "The power and speed of fully unleashed jonin… terrifying," Link thought. He quickly pushed aside his awe and focused entirely on maintaining viginbsp;

  As the two jonin distahemselves, Link couldn't shake a sense of foreboding.

  Ensui’s pn was clear: stall until the female ninja could recover enough to tribute, ensuriher a successful defense or retreat. But why was the Rian jonin also deying?

  "Whoosh!"

  A sharp sound of air splitting came from Link's rear right.

  Surprisingly, Link’s nerves calmed. When faced with a direct attack, his instinct was to steady himself. He barely moved, only tilting his head slightly to face the attacker.

  "Bam!"

  Link’s body was sent flying, shattering mid-air into pieces—leaving his head behind.

  The attacker, another Amegakure shinobi, froze momentarily upon seeing the severed head remain in pce. Instinctively, they disrupted their chakra flow, trying to dispel a potential genjutsu.

  "Poof!"

  The e dispersed, and Link took the opportunity. With the enemy distracted, he lunged with a kunai.

  "Squelch!"

  The kunai sshed across the enemy’s arm, blood spraying. Before they could escape, their vision blurred. A pair of crimson eyes filled their field of view, growing rger and rger.

  Their head drooped, body still.

  The female ninja stood up, swiftly decapitating the immobilized enemy. With practiced precision, she unfurled a scroll, sealed the severed head within, ahe headless body colpse to the ground in a pool of blood.

  "Well done," she said warmly.

  Link, his face tense, g the lifeless Rain shinobi before looking up at the calm, posed woman who had just executed her oppo. He dusted off the footpri on his bad formed another e Teique.

  "She must have recovered long ago—or perhaps she was never as exhausted as she let on," Link thought, grimag internally. "Adult shinobi… no, veteran shinobi are unbelievably ing."

  He didn’t rush to summon his substitute or assist his teacher. Intervening in a battle between jonin would only spell disaster for someone of his level.

  "Don’t worry about Ensui," the woman said, her tone oddly soothing, as if addressing a child.

  Moments ter, Ensui reappeared beside them with a soft "swish." Nodding, he simply said, "Let’s go."

  As for the enemy… they were most likely dead.

  While Ensui might ck fame in the shinobi world, the jonin title from a major vilge like Konoha carried signifit weight.

  Smaller vilges like Amegakure might have skilled individuals, but their jonin often fell short pared to the elites of the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Many were more akin to special jonin or elite in in ability.

  For someone like Ensui, defeating a no-name Amegakure jonin wasn’t particurly challenging. He didn’t eveo use advaeiques like Shadow Sewing Jutsu, likely to serve energy and maintain secrebsp;

  Returning to Tanzaku Town, the female ninja visibly slowed, her exhaustion now evident. Yet, she still moved swiftly enough to match Link, who was doing his best to keep up.

  Once back, Ensui finally allowed a faint smile to grace his usually stoic face. Ruffling Link’s hair, he said, "Good job. Get some rest."

  Then, with the female ninja in tow, he vanished with a "poof."