Chapter 119: Pragmatic...

Evening, Ninja Apartments

"Knock, knock~"

"Click~" Temari opened the door, seeing Link standing outside. She smiled and teased, "What is it? Here to ask me out?"

Sister, I'm only ten, almost eleven. You're fifteen—practically ancient!

Wait, that's not the point. The idea of a kid my age saying something like "date" feels absurdly out of place.

With a straight face, Link said, "Someone wants to see you." As he spoke, he formed hand seals and activated the summoning technique.

Temari's smile didn't falter, but she instinctively stepped back, muscles tensing. "How do you even know where I live? I—"

Before she could finish, a translucent figure of Baki appeared in front of her. She quickly formed a seal.

"Release!"

"You two can talk it out." Link turned and left. "Twenty minutes. Don't forget to hand over the Blade of Wind technique afterward."

He wasn't interested in eavesdropping on their conversation. Even if he were, it was unlikely he'd succeed—Baki, as a jōnin, might not have the strongest combat power, but his experience and vigilance made it nearly impossible to overhear.

Instead of staying, Link left outright. A trade should benefit all parties to ensure future cooperation. Sacrificing his reputation for one technique or some likely irrelevant intel wasn't worth it.

Baki probably knew more techniques than just Blade of Wind. At least the wind-release techniques Temari used should also be part of his repertoire, creating space for further collaboration.

…

Back in his apartment, Link immediately felt how cramped it was.

Even though he hadn't noticed it before, the moment he thought about moving, the flaws of his cozy little home became glaringly obvious.

A small bedroom combined with a kitchen and dining area felt messy and claustrophobic. The bathroom was tiny, and the bathtub was old and cracked.

"Time to make more shadows."

Link pulled out the tailed beast chakra cubes and got to work.

Though he felt uneasy about the potential for shadows to gain sentience in the future, that was a far-off concern. For now, every new shadow was an additional asset in battle. He couldn't afford to dwell on hypotheticals when the immediate benefits were clear.

The risk was a future problem. Right now, all the shadows were under his control.

And he had over a hundred chakra cubes left. Although some were wasted during experimentation the previous night, the quantity was still far from Naruto's usage of the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu.

As for why some were wasted...

He had been testing how the amount of tailed beast chakra influenced the shadows. The result? No difference.

As long as the chakra reached a minimum threshold, it could create a shadow. Using more chakra didn't make the shadow stronger or increase its stamina. However, falling short of the threshold caused the shadow to collapse shortly after being summoned.

The problem was that he had already cut the chakra into uniform cubes, and each cube contained more than double the required amount. He couldn't divide them further—chakra scalpels could cut but not merge.

After skillfully creating three new shadows, Link felt his energy drain significantly. One of the shadows quickly handed him a soldier pill, which he swallowed. Another passed him water.

"This feels oddly familiar…"

"Black Shadow Corps—yeah, that's your name now."

As he lay on his bed, recovering, he named his growing army of shadows.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

With a flicker of movement, the shadows lifted him off the bed, dressed him neatly, and carried him to the door before retreating back into his own shadow.

Oh, and a couple of shadows stayed behind to tidy up the chakra cubes on the table.

"I can kind of see why nobles like being carried around."

When he opened the door, Temari stood there with a serious expression. She handed him a scroll marked with the kanji for "wind."

"This is the technique we agreed on."

"Thanks." Link took the scroll, offering a half-hearted expression of gratitude before starting to close the door.

"Wait—" Temari pressed her hand against the door. "Can I see Baki-sensei again?"

Temari's straightforwardness was a stark contrast to someone like Asuma, who often hesitated to express himself.

"Maybe," Link replied ambiguously. He was willing to waste chakra summoning Sasuke's parents daily because of friendship and mutual benefit.

But Temari? Besides being the daughter of the Kazekage, she didn't seem particularly valuable. She was, at best, a skilled chūnin, maybe reaching jōnin level in three years.

Besides, once the peace talks ended, she would return to the Sunagakure. They'd have little to no further interaction, so there wasn't much point in building a relationship.

If Gaara had made such a request, Link might have reconsidered.

"If you need more techniques, I can—" Temari started to propose another trade.

"Fine. One summon for every new technique I've never seen before." Link smiled. Fair trade made a difference. He had no issue wasting chakra for an equitable deal.

"You're so pragmatic," Temari muttered, rolling her eyes.

Link thought for a moment. "Or money. That works too."

It wasn't like he wasn't broke—ninja didn't have a stable income outside of missions, and private work was heavily regulated.

"I look like I have money to you?" Temari asked sarcastically. If she had cash, she wouldn't be stuck living in a cheap, remote ninja apartment with her brother.

Her father might be a walking gold mine, but they had arrived in Konoha for war. They hadn't brought much money and were now cut off from their village.

"Alright. Bye." Link nonchalantly shut the door.

Women only slowed down his hand seals anyway.

"Energy's almost back to full…"

He stretched, took a soldier pill in advance, and used Delicate Illness Extraction Jutsu on himself—a good habit to counter the cellular damage caused by repeatedly refining chakra.

Although he wasn't obsessed with immortality, he didn't want to die young either.

After preparing himself, he divided his chakra again, formed hand seals, and summoned another shadow.

Now, nine shadows stood neatly in formation in his small room. Link nodded in satisfaction.

"I'll keep a dozen chakra cubes in reserve. The rest will all become shadows."

~~~

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