Based on the manga, the Amegakure ninja sent to participate in the in Exams were all wiped out.

  The manga depicted two groups of Amegakure ninja: one group wore respirators, and the other wore raincoats without respirators. This was enough to show that internal flicts within the Land of Rain had already surfaced.

  What followed was the death of Hanzō of the Samahe former pilr of Amegakure. Akatsuki would then successfully take over Amegakure, sshing a line across their forehead protectors. And then…

  (he respirator-wearing Amegakure ninja attacked Naruto’s team, while the raincoat-wearing ones were killed by Gaara.)

  "With their abilities, even if they don’t succeed in this year’s in Exams, they’ll definitely make it year."

  Nara Ensui seemed unbothered. He khe capabilities of his other two subordinates. While their profi ninjutsu, taijutsu, asu was still not particurly strong, their growth after the enter with Orochimaru was astonishing. He had no doubts about their potential to bee in.

  As for being Special Jōnin or Jōnin?

  Fet it for the few years.

  "Remember to exercise more, Ensui-sensei. You’ve been sg on your training tely," Link said, letting go of his teacher. Apart from some twisted bones and internal tissue yet to heal, Ensui was in excelleh overall.

  The only issue was that his body fat pertage had skyrocketed over the past two months, and his muscles had signifitly shrunk.

  "Hehe..." Nara Ensui chuckled awkwardly. Haviired from the precarious life of a ninja, he now enjoyed a cushy lifestyle funded by vilge payouts and subsidies. Life was a bit too fortable.

  He wasn’t just sg off—he had barely exercised at all for two entire months, except for the first few days after being discharged from the hospital.

  In peaceful times, the most threatenis were high-level missions. The vilge didn’t impose maris on its ninja. It wasn’t wartime, so living a little indulgently didn’t affect much.

  "I’m heading out. I’ll che again tomorrow afternoon," Link said. His lips curled slightly as he g his teacher, but he quickly smoothed his expression and turoward the door.

  "Hey, Link," Ensui called after him. Seeing his student turn back, he gave a thumbs-up and smiled. "I don’t know why you’re w so hard to get stronger…"

  "But keep it up."

  Link looked back for a few seds before turning away and walking on.

  …

  "Mm."

  "Refine chakra, release, cut…"

  "Huh?!"

  Link had assumed he was about to fail again, but to his surprise, the chakra he released onto the rabbit suddenly vanished.

  In its pce, a semi-transparent light-blue scalpel materialized in his hand. The handle was tangible, but the bde was ethereal and pierced the rabbit's body without causing any harm.

  "Squeak squeak!" The rabbit, already aced to the "kind hands" of its caretaker, huffed in dissatisfa when the healing abruptly stopped.

  "A chakra scalpel... but why isn’t it hurting the rabbit?"

  Liedly sliced through the rabbit’s body with the bde. The semi-transparent bde passed effortlessly through flesh, while the solid handle merely s chubby rear, causing the rabbit to wobble but not i.

  "What’s the point of this thing…?"

  After healing the rabbit’s final wound, Li hop away and stared at the faint blue scalpel in his hand, his face full of fusion.

  "Wait, chakra... scalpel…"

  A thought struck him. Holding the scalpel in one hand, he released a stream of chakra with the other. The bluish-white chakra extended a few timeters from his palm before dissipating.

  He carefully brought the scalpel closer to the released chakra. To his amazement, the previously harmless bde easily sliced through the chakra.

  For Link, it was a surreal sensation. He felt nothing as the chakra was cut, not until aire k was severed. Only then did he notice the loss of trol over that portion of his chakra.

  The severed chakra fell like cotton dy before quickly evaporating into the air.

  "So it really is a chakra scalpel..."

  Link began brainst potential uses for this teique. Cutting chakra sounded intriguing, but its practical applications seemed limited. Severing chakra didn’t his use or trol unless aire portion was cut off.

  Under normal circumstances, ninja didn’t release raw chakra into the enviro—it was always extracted and immediately verted into teiques. Pure chakra in its raw form was rare unless he could get close enough to sever it directly within the oppo’s body…

  Wait. There are cases where chakra is released externally!

  Tailed Beast cloaks. Lightning Chakra Mode... Susanoo?!

  Tailed Beasts were essentially entirely posed of chakra, weren’t they?

  Link’s thoughts raced. If he had the ce, could he cut off a k of a Tailed Beast and seal it as a power source?

  What’s more, the severed chakra didn’t vanish immediately. It lingered momentarily before dissipating. Could he use sealing scrolls to capture and ter absorb it?

  He immediately tested this by cutting off a piece of chakra and trying to catch it with his hand.

  No luck. The moment the severed chakra touched his hand, it disied even faster.

  He didn’t even feel a physical sensation.

  "Of course. Non-solidified chakra isn’t tangible, so it’s normal that I ’t i with it…"

  Unfazed, Link grinned. He might not be able to preserve his chakra, but what about the tangible chakra of Tailed Beasts or Susanoo?

  Both were maions of solidified chakra. He wouldn’t take much—just a small slice...

  After all, in the manga, how many Susanoo structs were utterly destroyed, wasted even? He could collect those fragments and figure out a use for them ter.

  Who knew how long such a resource could st? It might even bee a revolutionary energy source, driving advances in chakra-based teology.

  "I wonder if Tailed Beasts feel pain. Surely cutting a small piece wouldn’t hurt... Maybe I could raise two and occasionally trim them for energy…"

  The mere thought had Link practically drooling.

  He was desperate for chakra. No matter how much effort he put in, even with a few advantages, his reserves were ughable pared to true monsters—barely a fra of their capacity.

  "Tailed Beasts really are dangerous beings... They must be preserved."

  Link wholeheartedly agreed with Hashirama Senju's philosophy. If only he could protect a couple himself—either by raising them or by st a few pieces daily.

  Bleam