Ambush by the Rain Ninja

Takuma drew a kunai from his ninja tool pouch, lowered his center of gravity, and kicked off the ground. He shot forward like an arrow, sending gravel scattering in his wake.

The Rain Ninja's pupils constricted. He pulled out a short blade to block, but Takuma had no intention of engaging in a head-on clash.

Takuma shifted his kunai's trajectory just before impact, sliding it along the back of the blade. Amidst the harsh screech of scraping metal, Takuma swung his leg and kicked the outer side of the scarred ninja's knee.

The angle of the kick was devious. The scarred ninja winced, his stance buckling as he stumbled back two steps. Takuma used the recoil to backflip and create distance, the entire sequence unfolding in the blink of an eye.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Shock!"

The Rain Ninja on the left could no longer hold back.

A blinding blue light erupted from his gauntlet, and an arc of electricity lashed out toward where Takuma was landing.

Still in mid-air, Takuma sensed the incoming ninjutsu. He gritted his teeth and twisted his waist to alter his descent. The lightning bolt struck the ground, grazing his right ankle. Scorched, fragmented stone sprayed against his lower leg, stinging sharply.

A burning, searing pain flared in his right ankle upon landing. His Healing Factor immediately went to work, and while the numbness faded rapidly, the pain persisted.

Takuma grimaced and retreated three steps, glancing down at his charred, curled pant leg.

"How is this brat's reaction time so fast?" The Rain Ninja on the left narrowed his eyes. The arc of electricity on his gauntlet began to crackle again, but this time, he was clearly more cautious, refraining from firing a second shot.

Takuma retreated until he reached the Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall and shouted to Tetsu, "Tetsu, use the earth wall to block that guy on the right! Don't let her lock onto any of us."

Tetsu flipped through a series of hand seals. The left side of the Earth Flow Wall extended in an arc, the rough rock surface growing and curving like a living thing. It perfectly obstructed the female ninja's line of sight, breaking her rhythm the moment the wall rose.

"Yakumo, how much longer?"

"Almost there." Yakumo didn't even look up. Her charcoal pencil moved rapidly across the scroll, and the circular magic circle outlined in ink was already more than half finished. Chakra was being channeled into the paper along the charcoal lines. "Four seconds."

"Four seconds?" Takuma gritted his teeth. "Fine, I'll buy us five."

With that, he charged out again.

This time, he headed straight for the Lightning Style user on the left.

The latter hadn't expected him to prioritize attacking him. In his haste, the lightning flared from his gauntlet again, and two arcs of electricity slashed toward Takuma in a cross pattern. Takuma didn't stop, taking the hit directly on his left shoulder.

A smell of charred flesh instantly filled the air.

The fabric on his shoulder scorched and curled. The high-voltage current pierced through skin and muscle, reaching his nerves. His entire arm, from shoulder to fingertips, went suddenly numb, as if countless needles had been driven in and pulled out at once.

The intense pain made Takuma's vision go black, but he clenched his teeth and refused to stop.

His right-hand kunai was already at the Rain Ninja's face. The opponent leaned back in a panic to avoid it, but his chin was sliced open, blood dripping down his jaw.

Taking advantage of the close-quarters scramble, Takuma used his recovered left hand to wedge an Explosive Tag into the gap of the opponent's gauntlet. At the same time, he stomped his right foot on the ground and formed a sloppy hand seal.

"Explode!"

Takuma roared as he rolled backward. With a deafening boom, the Explosive Tag detonated inside the gauntlet's gap, the flash of fire swallowing the Rain Ninja's entire arm.

The shockwave sent him flying. His back slammed heavily into a tree trunk as thick as a man's embrace, causing the bark to crack in a spiderweb pattern. He slid down the trunk and slumped to the ground.

The Rain Ninja in front had recovered from the strike to his knee. With a roar that made the leaves in the forest rustle, he lunged at Takuma with his short blade.

Takuma was still rolling and hadn't regained his balance. He could hear the wind of the blade against the back of his neck, his skin clearly sensing the cold, sharp edge.

"Genjutsu: Painting Realm."

Yakumo's voice came from behind the Earth Flow Wall. As the scroll unfurled, gray mist surged out, covering the entire front of the battlefield in a precise fan shape.

The mist passed by Takuma and surged toward the Rain Ninja.

The Rain Ninja's movements came to an abrupt halt three inches from Takuma's back.

The tip of the short blade hung in mid-air, and the hand holding it remained motionless, as if frozen.

His pupils dilated, and his lips twitched slightly, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't make a sound.

After rolling to a stop, Takuma looked back. The expression on the Rain Ninja's face was frozen between terror and confusion, fine beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead as he fell into the illusion.

Tetsu's Earth Core was activated almost the moment the genjutsu was cast.

The ground beneath the female ninja on the right suddenly collapsed. Just as she prepared to re-acquire her target, her entire right leg sank into the suddenly appearing pit.

Tetsu flipped his hand seals again, and two earthen walls rose from the edges of the pit, clamping tightly around the female ninja's waist and abdomen, leaving her unable to move.

She tried to break free, but Tetsu had already sealed her chakra flow paths.

Takuma panted heavily as he lunged forward, holding his kunai horizontally against the female ninja's throat, the tip pressing against the skin over her carotid artery.

"Don't move. It's over."

The female ninja gritted her teeth and looked up at him, her eyes filled with unwillingness and anger.

Takuma searched her waist, pulled out a scroll, and unfolded it to confirm: it was the Scroll of Earth.

Tetsu walked out from behind the Earth Flow Wall and tossed a roll of clean bandages from his ninja tool pouch into Takuma's lap.

"Thanks." Takuma caught it with one hand. "Your timing on that Earth Core was way too extreme. Half a second later and that female ninja would have been on top of us."

"I calculated it," Tetsu said finally.

"Calculated what?"

"You wouldn't be in danger. My ninjutsu would lock onto her precisely."

Takuma froze for two seconds, then turned to look at Yakumo, who was crouching nearby recording combat data on her scroll. "This guy doesn't say a word usually, but is he constantly calculating stuff like this in his head?"

Yakumo didn't look up, her charcoal pencil scratching across the paper. "Tetsu-san just finds talking a waste of time. What did you think he did to become my guardian?"

Takuma tucked the scroll away securely. All that remained was to reach the Central Tower to pass the second exam, but Takuma knew in his heart that this was just an appetizer.

His Spider-Sense had maintained a low-frequency alert since entering the Forest of Death, hanging at the back of his mind like a loose string—never disappearing, only waxing and waning in intensity.

There was some danger far greater than these three Rain Ninja lurking deeper in the woods.

"Let's go." Takuma pushed himself up against a tree root and shook his left arm. "Find a safe place to rest. We can't keep fighting until nightfall."

Yakumo put away her scroll and closed the lid. Tetsu, having finished looting the Rain Ninja's tool pouches, followed behind.

The three of them continued deeper into the heart of the Forest of Death, following the stream. The rotting leaves underfoot made damp, muffled sounds with every step. Above, layers of canopy blocked out the sky, and the deeper they went, the dimmer the light became.

Takuma was in the lead, clearing the path, when he suddenly stopped without warning.

His Spider-Sense caught a hint of being watched—extremely faint, drifting from the depths of the dense forest behind and to the side.

The feeling was cold and sticky, not like the gaze of an ordinary ninja, but more like something icy slowly crawling across his skin.

He spun around, kunai held in front of him, his gaze sweeping across the dark woods behind them.

Dappled tree shadows overlapped and swayed. Between the branches, there was only the sound of birds startled into flight. There was no one there.

"What's wrong?" Yakumo followed his gaze.

"...Nothing." Takuma turned back and put his kunai away. "Maybe I'm just overthinking it. Let's go."

He picked up his pace, but that cold sensation felt like a thorn driven deep into his mind. His spine remained tight, and the feeling didn't dissipate even after they had walked a long way.

Behind an ancient tree deep in the Forest of Death, a pale face slowly emerged from the shadows. Narrow eyes squinted slightly, and the corners of his lips curled into an intrigued arc.

Takuma subconsciously touched the two scrolls resting side-by-side in his pocket. His heart was beating even faster than it had during the fight.