The water came down like a collapsing wall.
Reeking of sewer mud, it crashed down from every direction.
The torrent moved incredibly fast.
Spray splashed onto Sen's face, icy cold and even stinging his eyes a little.
That was the water release chakra Second Hokage Tobirama Senju had forcibly drawn out of thin air.
Muffled cracks of breaking wood rang through it.
The thick trunks First Hashirama Senju had grown rolled through the waves like enormous water snakes, charging straight at Sen's chest.
Sen stood amid a heap of broken roof tiles, the mud beneath his feet almost swallowing his wooden sandals.
He took a deep breath of the damp, musty air.
"Sorry, grandpas."
Sen muttered the words.
He raised his dust-smudged hands and vigorously wiped the sweat off them on his trouser legs.
"For the sake of my retirement in Konoha, I'll have to trouble you... to lie back down."
Without so much as blinking, Sen pressed his palms together.
Smack!
The crisp clap drowned out even the crashing waves.
"Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall!"
He barely raised his voice, sounding as casual as someone ordering a bowl of ramen at a noodle shop.
Boom!
At that casual, low shout,
the waterlogged earth beneath his feet instantly burst apart.
Layer after layer of wood shot madly out of the ground like bamboo shoots after rain.
This was no ordinary Wood Locking Wall.
The wood was so dark it was almost black, its surface shimmering with a cold, pig-iron sheen.
Rows of curved wooden pillars interlocked without a single gap, standing immovably before Sen like a pillar that could hold the sea in place.
Bang!
The Third Hokage's Water Shockwave slammed into the black wooden wall like a train barreling along at full speed.
Water exploded into the air, white