8:30 AM.
A fine rain began to fall from the sky.
Rohan Kishibe looked at his watch by the roadside. It was almost time for their meeting. Through the rearview mirror, he saw Kujo Jotaro and Koichi Hirose emerge from around the corner.
Rohan Kishibe got out of the car and greeted them.
Jotaro gave him a slight nod, and Koichi waved his arm with a smile.
Just then, Rohan Kishibe heard Yoshikage Kira's scream. He turned and happened to see a bloody, half-detached front tooth falling.
Noticing Rohan Kishibe's astonished expression, Jotaro and Koichi jogged over. Following his gaze, the three of them saw—
Yoshikage Kira being brutally beaten by marbles.
In the original story, Rohan Kishibe and Jotaro arrived at this intersection one after another.
The more people there were, the more disadvantageous it was for Linto. Linto had thought he could force Yoshikage Kira to retract Killer Queen before Jotaro and Koichi arrived. Now it seemed...
"Luck" was still on Yoshikage Kira's side.
Marbles struck Yoshikage Kira one by one. He curled up, looking at the approaching Jotaro and the other two through the gaps in his arms. Blood streamed from his head, yet he laughed wildly.
8:31 AM.
Sensing something was wrong, and with two reliable companions by his side, Rohan Kishibe chose to activate Heaven's Door to read Linto's memories.
The three learned Yoshikage Kira's identity together.
An explosion that shook their souls occurred.
Rohan Kishibe, Jotaro, and Koichi died.
Second Loop.
Linto returned to 7:31 AM.
He stood by the window, reflecting on the events of the first loop.
"It's not just a matter of luck."
Linto wouldn't attribute everything to "luck."
The idea of Plan A was sound; it was the execution that had flaws.
If this body were tougher, if his arm strength were a little greater, he might have had a chance to kill Yoshikage Kira before Rohan Kishibe got close or Bites the Dust activated.
Linto looked up at the ceiling.
Use cat grass?
After a moment of thought, Linto slowly shook his head.
Cat grass's destructive power was indeed greater than the marbles Linto threw.
But it was slower and had too many uncontrollable factors.
Now, Rohan Kishibe, Jotaro, and Koichi had fallen victim.
In subsequent loops, according to fate's certainty, they would die at 8:31 AM.
This meant he couldn't use them for a "gamble" anymore. If these three were taken out at a crucial moment, Linto would be left staring at Yoshikage Kira.
If Yoshikage Kira retracted Killer Queen, Linto would be the one to die.
As for Josuke and Okuyasu, who arrived a step later...
Linto couldn't "expend" them easily.
They were his final trump card and defense.
Once Josuke and Okuyasu were also killed by Bites the Dust, Linto would be next.
"Let's try Plan B."
Having summarized the situation from the first loop, Linto pushed open his bedroom door and walked out in response to Hayato Kawajiri's call.
Yoshikage Kira was still grooming himself in front of the mirror, humming a tune, until—
He met Linto's eyes.
Yoshikage Kira was still very sharp. With a smile at the corner of his lips and a look of caution, he leaned closer and said in a low voice, "Did someone get killed by Bites the Dust? Who? Was it—"
Before he could finish, Linto slapped his hand away, grabbed a piece of bread from the table, and ran out of the house.
Behind him, Yoshikage Kira's arrogant laughter echoed.
Perhaps, in his eyes, Bites the Dust was an invincible ability.
It would kill all enemies unfavorable to him in repeated loops.
But Yoshikage Kira hadn't expected that Linto wouldn't go far.
8:15 AM.
Linto found a few bullies robbing students on the street corner.
"It'll be you guys."
Bang, bang, bang!
Marbles flew, and the bullies were knocked to the ground.
Linto chased away the children being robbed and said to the bullies:
"My name is Hayato Kawajiri, I'm eleven years old, and a man named 'Yoshikage Kira' is impersonating my father and living in my house."
This was Linto's envisioned Plan B.
Since Bites the Dust could go back an hour, and Yoshikage Kira's new ability awakened last night, did that mean Linto could manipulate the timing and keep rewinding until before Yoshikage Kira was shot by the "arrow" and gained the ability of Bites the Dust?
Theory established, practice began.
The big pink cat appeared again with a thunderous roar.
Bites the Dust activated.
A strong sense of weightlessness occurred, and Linto felt like he was falling into an abyss. He closed his eyes, waiting for the sensation to disappear. He opened his eyes and looked at the clock.
7:30 AM.
It wasn't the expected 7:15 AM. Time hadn't moved forward.
Third Loop.
Linto walked out of the room and went to the kitchen first. With Hayato Kawajiri's surprised look, he took the teapot and a cup and returned to the table. He poured himself a cup of hot tea.
Yoshikage Kira met Linto's gaze, his smug expression vanishing again. He leaned closer, about to make a sarcastic remark.
Linto placed his index finger on his lips.
"Shh—"
"Go away, I'm thinking."
Veins bulged on Yoshikage Kira's forehead. He wanted to slap the kid, but for some reason, his front teeth always ached whenever he thought of acting.
Plan A and Plan B were the methods Linto had previously devised to break free if he "became Hayato."
But plans were just plans.
From the beginning, Linto had designed them with Little Momo's physical condition as the template.
After all, they were of similar age.
But actually becoming Hayato, he realized how exaggerated the physical condition of children in the Hokage world was. The gap between them was too vast.
"Is there no other way?"
Linto drank his tea, thinking carefully. After breakfast, he put on his school bag as usual and left the house.
As fate dictated, Yoshikage Kira put a hat on him.
"Thanks," Linto said.
Yoshikage Kira's mouth twitched. He followed Linto again, but seeing Linto keeping his head down the whole way, Yoshikage Kira's hunched back gradually straightened.
He felt like he had been fooled.
This kid seemed to have gone through a few time reversals, so his mindset had improved a bit.
But similarly, he couldn't find a way to break the loop, which was why he kept his head down, lost in thought.
Yoshikage Kira's footsteps silently crept up behind Linto, and he narrowed his eyes, saying:
"This morning... has been repeated many times, hasn't it?"
"Let me guess, who have you blown up?"
"Rohan Kishibe? Kujo Jotaro? Or perhaps..."
"Everyone?"
Yoshikage Kira smiled, not loudly, not arrogantly, but with an undeniable sense of triumph.
He glanced down at his watch.
8:22 AM.
"How exciting. Let me see who you've blown up."
Suddenly, Linto, who had been silent, raised his head.
"You won't be able to see."
"What?"
"Because I've thought of a way to deal with you."
Linto slowly raised his head: "As long as I find 'that person,' it will be the key to breaking Bites the Dust."
Yoshikage Kira saw the certainty in Linto's expression, and his heart felt as if it were being squeezed by a large hand.
He was about to speak when he saw Linto casually grab a passing woman and point:
"He is Yoshikage Kira."
Bites the Dust activated.
Yoshikage Kira understood what Linto was doing—
Using the rewind!
As long as he randomly killed pedestrians whom Yoshikage Kira didn't care about, Linto could keep returning to this morning.
Countless repetitions meant countless instances of thinking, planning, and trying!
They were sucked into the abyss of Bites the Dust.
Yoshikage Kira shouted in panic, "Bastard! What do you think human lives are?!"
"The chips to defeat you."
Linto pointed at Yoshikage Kira: "I will push you into the abyss of despair before all these deaths occur."
Fourth Loop, commencing.
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