My Techniques are a bit off

[Strong power, but the attack speed isn't particularly fast—at least not for a jonin to dodge with ease...]

Nara Ensui deftly dodged incoming strikes while analyzing the situation.

At first, the sheer scale and mobility of the technique startled him—it appeared overwhelming and intimidating. However, it didn't take long for him to understand its mechanics.

The attacks, while swift enough to overwhelm ordinary shinobi, were relatively slow for a seasoned jonin. The mobility came from the massive hair tendrils lashing against the environment, propelling themselves with sheer force. The attacks were straightforward with little variation.

The destructive power was remarkable, and the technique provided excellent defense. The densely packed web of hair could shred incoming kunai or shuriken with ease—literally tear them apart.

In direct physical combat, such a technique might be effective only against tailed-beast-level entities. But...

[Ninja battles are never about raw strength alone.]

Ninjutsu, genjutsu, secret techniques, forbidden arts—there were countless ways to counter such a method. It could prove useful in large-scale warfare, but against a skilled opponent...

Nara Ensui quickly formed seals.

[Shadow Sewing Jutsu!]

A sharp tendril of shadow shot forward, slicing through the strands of hair that lunged toward him.

"Sssshhh!"

The shadow needle grazed Link's cheek, leaving a shallow cut.

Link exhaled heavily, struggling to catch his breath. The exhaustion from repeatedly pushing his body to its limits was undeniable, even with the soldier pills supplementing his energy. The physical toll from such relentless strain, however, was unavoidable.

More troublingly, the timer on his Stand's duration was almost up.

Unlike other shinobi, who needed to carefully control chakra output for prolonged jutsu, Link's techniques bypassed this limitation. They required a fixed amount of chakra, automatically executing without the risk of failure due to miscalculation.

However, this advantage came with a significant drawback: extending the duration of an ongoing technique was exceedingly difficult. While most ninja could feed additional chakra into their jutsu to sustain them, Link had to essentially recast the same jutsu—a task requiring exceptional chakra control.

This was a feat akin to combining two jutsu simultaneously, a skill slightly less challenging than creating a kekkei genkai.

Most would question why anyone capable of such precise chakra control wouldn't simply master dual-release techniques or create a kekkei genkai instead.

[Three...]

[Two...]

Link silently counted down, halting his pursuit of Ensui. All the hair retracted and propelled him back toward his teammates.

[One.]

As the hair coiled back into his scalp, its glossy black color dulled to a brittle, unhealthy gray. Once his hair returned to its normal length, it looked uneven and frayed—a clear sign of the toll it had taken.

This was one of Love Deluxe's quirks. When the Stand's enhanced hair endured significant damage, it would lose its strength and vitality, turning gray and brittle.

Though the hair had continuously grown to mask this effect during the fight, now that the Stand had dissipated, the damage was fully apparent.

Restoring his original black hair would require time for new growth.

"Is... is it over?" Iris stammered, his voice tinged with unease.

Part of him worried their "boss" had gone too far and accidentally injured their jonin instructor. The scale of the destruction was overwhelming.

Ami bit her lip. Any lingering thoughts of revenge or satisfaction from seeing Link struggle had evaporated after witnessing his earlier display. When someone was leagues ahead of you, resentment gave way to intimidation.

[I could probably summon one more Stand with enough rest...]

Link ignored Iris's question, focusing instead on regulating his breathing. He signaled his teammates to prepare for combat, ready to step in as human shields if necessary.

Love Deluxe had been immensely useful. With its immense strength and steel-like durability, it could stand toe-to-toe with some high-level foes. But it drained his stamina at an alarming rate.

Unlike physical Stands, Love Deluxe was an attachment-based Stand, augmenting his hair. Every action it took directly consumed Link's energy. The larger the scale or the more dramatic the changes, the greater the toll on his body.

Even with a soldier pill, his stamina had nearly bottomed out after just one minute of usage.

[A single minute... It's not even as long as a certain someone's "three-minute light show."]

"Tap, tap, tap."

Ensui emerged from the dust cloud, his expression complicated. He glanced at Iris and Ami, both gripping kunai in a defensive stance, before his gaze settled on Link.

The boy's disheveled gray hair and battered appearance contrasted sharply with his cold, determined eyes.

Ensui exhaled slowly and spoke.

"Test over. Congratulations."

[Finally... a genin.]

Link felt a surge of joy at the announcement, though it was quickly tempered by the realization of how low the bar was. His feelings were further mixed by Konoha's subjective evaluation system.

Last year, he had passed the graduation exam and even obtained the bell in Kakashi's test, yet he was sent back to the Academy. This time, he barely scraped through the graduation exam and failed to secure the bell—but he became a genin anyway.

There were no hard standards. The outcome depended entirely on the instructor's judgment.

"Woohoo!" Iris cheered loudly.

Ami lowered her kunai and stole a glance at Link, whose expression remained calm and composed. She sighed softly.

Though she had her flaws—being proud, temperamental, and a bit of a princess—she wasn't foolish. She understood that their success was entirely due to Link's efforts. Without him, neither she nor Iris would have made it.

The realization was humbling.

Ensui retrieved the bells and smiled.

"Let's celebrate. I'm treating you all to barbecue."

~~~

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