The Rain Ninja's Ambush

Takuma pulled a kunai from his pouch, lowered his center of gravity, and pushed off hard. Gravel scattered as he shot forward like an arrow.

The Rain Ninja's pupils contracted. He drew a short blade and raised it to block, but Takuma had no intention of meeting him head-on.

Just before the kunai made contact, it abruptly changed direction and slid along the back of the blade. Amid the shrill scrape of metal, Takuma twisted and swept a kick into the outer side of the scarred man's knee.

The kick struck at an awkward angle. The scarred man winced and staggered back two steps, and Takuma used the recoil to flip backward and open some distance. The whole exchange took no more than a blink.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Shock!"

The Rain Ninja on the left finally couldn't hold back.

A dazzling blue light burst from his arm guard, and an arc of lightning struck toward Takuma's landing point.

Takuma was still in midair. Sensing the Ninjutsu attack, he gritted his teeth and twisted his torso, changing his angle of descent. The bolt slammed into the ground just past his right ankle, sending charred gravel flying against his shin. It stung like hell.

As he landed, a searing pain flared in his right ankle. His Healing Factor immediately went to work, and the numbness faded quickly, but the pain remained.

Takuma grimaced and staggered back three steps, glancing down at his scorched, curled-up pant leg.

"How's this brat reacting so fast?" The Rain Ninja on the left narrowed his eyes. Arcs of lightning crackled across his arm guard again, but this time he was clearly more cautious as he charged it, in no hurry to unleash a second strike.

Takuma retreated toward the Earth Flow Wall and shouted to Tetsu, "Tetsu, extend the wall to block the person on the right's line of sight. Don't let her lock onto any of us."

Tetsu shifted his hand seals. The left side of the Earth Flow Wall extended in an arc, its rough stone surface growing and curving like a living thing until it completely blocked the female ninja's view on the right. The wall cut her off and threw her rhythm.

"Yakumo, how much longer?"

"Almost done." Yakumo didn't look up. Her charcoal pencil raced across the scroll. Most of the circular formation, drawn in ink, was complete, and chakra flowed along the charcoal lines into the paper. "Four seconds."

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

With that, he charged out again.

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

The Rain Ninja hadn't expected him to come after him first. In a panic, lightning flared from his arm guard again, and two arcs slashed toward Takuma in a cross. Takuma didn't stop. He took one of the strikes on his left shoulder.

The stench of burning flesh filled the air.

The fabric over his shoulder blackened and curled. The powerful current pierced his skin and shot straight into his nerves, instantly numbing his entire arm from shoulder to fingertips, as if countless needles had stabbed into him all at once, then been pulled out.

The pain made Takuma's vision go black, but he clenched his teeth and kept moving.

His right hand thrust the kunai toward the Rain Ninja. The other man jerked backward to dodge, but the blade cut his chin, and blood trickled down his jaw.

Taking advantage of the moment when they were close and their positions shifted, Takuma used his recovered left hand to slip an Explosive Tag into a gap in the man's arm guard. At the same time, he stomped his right foot down and hastily formed a hand seal.

"Explode!"

Takuma shouted as he rolled backward. A thunderous boom rang out as the Explosive Tag detonated inside the arm guard, and flames swallowed the Rain Ninja's entire arm.

The shockwave flung him away. His back slammed into a tree trunk as thick as a person's embrace, spiderweb cracks splitting the wood. He slid down the bark and slumped to the ground.

The Rain Ninja directly in front of Takuma had recovered from the blow to his knee. His furious roar shook the leaves and branches, and he charged at Takuma with his short blade.

Takuma was still rolling and hadn't regained his balance. The rush of wind was already at the back of his neck, and he could feel the blade's cold, keen edge against his skin.

"Genjutsu: Painting Realm."

Yakumo's voice came from behind the Earth Flow Wall. The moment she unrolled the scroll, gray mist billowed out, spreading in a fan-shaped arc to cover the entire battlefield ahead.

The mist swept past Takuma and rushed toward the Rain Ninja.

The Rain Ninja's movement stopped dead, three inches from Takuma's back.

The tip of his short blade hung in midair. His knife hand was frozen, utterly motionless.

His eyes went unfocused, and his lips moved slightly as if he wanted to say something but couldn't make a sound.

After rolling to a stop, Takuma glanced back. The Rain Ninja's expression was frozen between terror and confusion, cold sweat beading on his forehead as he sank into the illusion.

Tetsu's Earth Core activated almost the instant the Genjutsu took hold.

The ground beneath the female ninja on the right suddenly collapsed. Just as she was preparing to lock onto a target again, her entire right leg sank into a pit that had appeared beneath her.

Tetsu shifted his hand seals again, and two earthen walls rose at the edges of the pit, clamping around the woman's waist and pinning her in place.

The woman tried to break free, but Tetsu had already blocked the flow of her chakra.

Panting hard, Takuma rushed over and held his kunai against the woman's neck, the tip resting against the skin over her carotid artery.

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

The woman gritted her teeth and looked up at him, her eyes full of resentment and fury.

Takuma searched her waist, pulled out a scroll, and unfurled it to check: the Scroll of Earth.

Tetsu came out from behind the Earth Flow Wall, took a clean bandage from his ninja tool pouch, and tossed it into Takuma's arms.

"Thanks." Takuma caught it with one hand. "That Earth Core of yours was cutting it awfully close. If you'd been half a beat later, that kunoichi would've gotten to me."

"I calculated it."

"Calculated what?"

"You wouldn't get hurt. My Ninjutsu would lock on precisely."

Takuma stared at him for two seconds, then turned to look at Yakumo, who was crouched nearby, recording the battle data on her scroll. "He barely says a word, but he's always calculating things like this in his head?"

Yakumo didn't look up. Her charcoal pencil scratched across the paper. "Mr. Tetsu just can't be bothered to talk. He thinks it wastes time. What do you think got him appointed as my guardian?"

Takuma tucked the scroll away. All they had to do now was reach the Central Tower to pass the second exam, but he knew this had only been an appetizer.

His Spider-Sense had been on low alert ever since he entered the Forest of Death, like a slack string hanging behind his head. It never vanished; it only grew stronger or weaker.

Something far more dangerous than these three Rain Ninja was still lurking deeper in the forest.

"Let's go." Takuma pushed himself up against a tree root and shook his left arm. "We'll find somewhere safe to rest. We can't fight again before dark."

Yakumo put away her scroll and closed its cover. Tetsu finished looting the Rain Ninja's pouches and followed them.

The three of them continued deeper into the heart of the Forest of Death, following the stream. The damp, muffled crunch of rotting leaves sounded beneath their feet. Layer upon layer of branches blotted out the sky, and the deeper they went, the dimmer the light grew.

Takuma led the way, clearing a path, when he suddenly stopped without warning.

His Spider-Sense picked up a trace of someone watching him, incredibly faint, drifting from the dense woods behind and to the side.

The feeling was cold and clammy. It didn't seem like the gaze of an ordinary ninja, but more like something icy slowly crawling over his skin.

He spun around, raising his kunai before him as his eyes swept over the dark woods behind them.

Mottled shadows overlapped and swayed. Between the branches, birds fluttered away in alarm, but there was no one in sight.

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

"...Nothing." Takuma turned back and slipped the kunai into his pouch. "I'm probably imagining things. Let's go."

He quickened his pace, but the cold feeling remained like a thorn buried deep in his mind. His back tightened again and again, and even after they'd walked a long way, the sensation still hadn't faded.

Behind an ancient tree deep in the Forest of Death, a pale face slowly emerged from the shadows. Narrow eyes squinted slightly, and the corner of its mouth curled into an intrigued smile.

Takuma unconsciously touched the two scrolls tucked side by side inside his clothes. His heart was beating faster than it had during the fight.