Reina's squad tore through the corridors, their footsteps echoing like war drums against the stone walls. The original infiltration plan was long abandoned — stealth had given way to pure survival.
Raizen wasn't surprised. He'd seen this coming the moment Reina insisted on "improvising."
The deeper they descended into the basement, the heavier the air grew — thick with dust, chakra residue, and the thunder of pursuit above them. Dozens of footsteps pounded overhead, shouts overlapping as guards organized the chase. The whole compound was on alert now.
"They know we're here," Aika hissed, but no one needed the reminder.
Raizen's mind was already racing. If we run into anyone guarding the scroll, we're done for. Even a single trained genin could hold them off long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
He glanced at Reina, who was still leading the charge with reckless determination, and exhaled sharply. No time to argue. Think.
His mind began sorting through possibilities — traps, diversions, even decoys. None of them were ideal. If a guard was stationed by the scroll, he'd be stronger than all of them combined. Catching him off guard would be nearly impossible.
Maybe I could stay behind… buy them time, he thought, his pace slowing for half a heartbeat before he shook the idea off. No. Alone, I'd get crushed.
But maybe—just maybe—if he paired up with Aika's summons or Karui's close-range speed, they could create an opening. A flash distraction. Enough for Reina to grab the scroll and escape before backup arrived.
It wasn't a perfect plan.
It wasn't even a good one.
But it was all they had.
The group finally reached the third and final floor.
A long corridor stretched before them, lit only by a few flickering lamps. Dozens of branching halls snaked off into darkness — it wasn't a basement. It was a labyrinth.
Reina: "Damn it… why would they build a maze down here?"
No one answered. The silence pressed in, broken only by their shallow breathing and the distant thud of footsteps echoing above them.
Raizen stepped forward and pressed his hand to the floor. Lightning chakra sparked from his fingertips.
Raizen: "Lightning Release: Pulse Thread."
Thin arcs of electricity unraveled from his hands, snaking across the ground and walls, weaving into the cracks and corners of the maze.
He closed his eyes — his breathing slowed.
The world around him lit up in his mind's eye.
He could feel everything: Reina's anxious pulse, Karui's simmering irritation, Aika's nervous energy.
Above them, several chakras burned brighter — the pursuing genin. Even the weakest of their signatures outclassed Reina or Karui, and one pulsed almost as strong as his own.
Raizen (thinking): We don't stand a chance in a head-on fight.
Then — a faint flicker. Far ahead, east-northeast.
A chakra presence, stable, unmoving.
Raizen's eyes snapped open.
Raizen: "Northeast. The scroll's that way."
The others followed his gaze — straight into a solid wall.
Aika: "You sure about that?"
Raizen didn't answer. He unrolled a small sealing scroll, channeled chakra through it, and several explosive tags popped out.
He grabbed one, slapped it onto the wall, and stepped back.
Raizen: "Clear out."
The tag hissed — BOOM!
The explosion shook the entire floor, dust and debris raining from the ceiling.
⸻
Above them…
Pursuing Genin #1: "What the hell was that?!"
Pursuing Genin #2: "Those brats are blowing through the maze. They're trying to shortcut to the scroll!"
Pursuing Genin #3: "Move! If they find it first, we'll fail this entire exercise!"
Footsteps thundered down the stairwell.
⸻
Back with Reina's team…
A hole now gaped where the wall had been — leading into another corridor. Raizen didn't hesitate. He sprinted forward, setting another tag against the next obstruction.
Karui: "I love your explosions, Raizen, but if you keep this up the whole building's coming down!"
Raizen (grimly): "Then we'll just have to reach it before that happens."
He slammed his palm down.
BOOM!
The second explosion roared through the maze, shaking the floor beneath their feet. Bits of rubble rained from above as they pressed on, smoke and lightning crackling in their wake.
Guarding Genin: "What the hell is going on…?"
The lone genin stood at the heart of the maze — the final line of defense between intruders and the scroll.
Then he heard it.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Explosions echoed down the corridor, each one closer than the last. The lights above flickered, dust raining from the ceiling. He tightened his grip on his kunai, stance lowering. Whoever was coming wasn't subtle.
Boom!
Another wall went down.
He braced himself.
BOOM!
The last barrier before him erupted — a thunderous blast of smoke, rubble, and lightning dust that sent shards across the hallway.
The genin shielded his eyes, blinking through the haze. His vision blurred from debris, but he didn't need sight — his instincts screamed danger.
Someone was rushing him.
He raised his kunai just in time. Clang!
Reina's blade met his in a burst of sparks. She pressed forward, teeth clenched, but the genin's strength overwhelmed her. He twisted, deflecting her strike upward, and drove his foot into her chest — crack! — sending her crashing backward.
As Reina flew through the air, another figure vaulted over her — lightning dancing across his hands.
Raizen: "Lightning Style — Sparking Shuriken! (雷遁・閃輪手裏剣!)"
Five glowing shuriken tore through the smoke, spinning with crackling trails of blue light.
The genin reacted instantly, kunai flashing — but something whistled past his ear.
Another kunai? From behind?
His eyes darted, split between the incoming lightning and the phantom threat at his flank.
He hesitated. Just for a heartbeat.
That was enough.
One of Raizen's shuriken struck his thigh — crack! — electricity surged through his leg, paralyzing it with a sizzling snap.
The genin staggered.
Karui: "Got you now!"
She blurred forward and slammed a heavy right hook into the back of his head — thud!
He reeled, dizzy, just as Reina recovered, charging in with her blade drawn to finish him off—
But poof!
The genin's body dissolved in a burst of smoke.
Reina: "Substitution?!"
He reappeared several meters away, already mid-hand seal.
Genin: "Water Style — Stormy Blockade!"
Water burst from his palms, flooding the corridor in a roaring surge. The current tore through debris, rushing toward the trio like a collapsing wave.
Raizen: "Not good!"
He pulled a massive tag the size of his head from his pouch, slammed it on the floor, and poured chakra through the seal.
Seal Art — Pulse Barrier!
A translucent dome of lightning chakra flared to life, holding back the flood with a hissing crackle.
Water crashed against it, sending ripples across the barrier.
Karui: "Persistent bastard!"
Reina: "Raizen — status on the pursuers!"
Raizen knelt, forming quick seals.
Raizen: "Lightning Style — Lightning Web! (雷遁・雷網!)"
Crackling threads erupted from his palm, latching onto the surrounding walls and floor like a spider's web. His eyes flicked open as chakra signatures lit up in his senses.
Raizen: "They're on the third floor. Coming fast. Two, maybe three minutes out."
Karui: "Damn it! What's taking Aika so long? We're screwed if she doesn't—"
Before she could finish, a sharp crack split the air.
A blade pierced straight through Raizen's barrier, grazing past Karui's hair and embedding in the wall behind them.
Raizen: "Duck!"
The trio dropped instantly as the genin burst through the breach, sword drawn.
Reina was already moving — her blade clashed with his in a flurry of sparks. Raizen's threads shot forward, snaking across the floor toward the genin's legs.
The genin twisted and flipped back, dodging the first few lashes, parrying Reina's attacks in tight arcs. Lightning danced through the narrow corridor as Raizen's threads struck again — one finally coiling around the genin's wrist.
Raizen: "Got him!"
Karui darted in with a fierce combo, fists and feet blurring. Raizen tugged the thread to throw the enemy off balance — each pull giving Karui an opening.
Thud! Crack! Wham!
Her final blow sent him stumbling.
Raizen surged lightning through the thread — ZZZTT! — shocking the genin with a burst of current.
He cried out in pain, body convulsing.
Reina appeared behind him in a flash.
Reina: "End of the line."
She struck the back of his neck with the hilt of her sword.
The genin's eyes rolled back, and he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
Silence.
Only the hum of Raizen's threads filled the hallway.
Karui: "One down… but the real trouble's still coming."
Raizen looked toward the trembling walls — the sound of boots and shouting echoing from above.
Raizen: "Then we'd better move. Now."
The final explosion tore through the hallway, shaking the ground beneath their feet. Smoke filled the air, and as debris rained down, a pale mist spread from Raizen's position.
Raizen: "Genjutsu — Mist Veil."
The air rippled with chakra. A thick haze bloomed from the blast site, clouding the entire corridor in a ghostly fog.
The guarding genin inside the chamber staggered, clutching at his eyes as his vision distorted — shapes blurred, sound muffled, and shadows bent out of rhythm.
It was just enough.
From within the haze, Aika and her summon, Lanjer, darted silently across the floor, wings folded to mute their hum. The monkey landed on the pedestal, snatched the exam scroll, and clung to Aika's hair as they vanished into the mist.
⸻
But outside the chamber, Raizen's team waited, hearts pounding.
Reina: "Why's it taking her so long…?"
Karui: "I don't know, but the genin above us— they're closing in!"
From behind — echoes.
Dozens of footsteps. Shouts bouncing off stone walls. The sound of metal scraping and boots hitting water.
Karui (panting): "Damn it, we're screwed! How are we supposed to fight that many?"
Reina: "We can't. We're completely outmatched. Where the hell is Aika!?"
They sprinted faster, desperate to create distance. But the pursuing genin were faster — their chakra signatures were closing the gap with every second.
Then, finally—
Aika!
She came into view, sprinting from the mist with Lanjer clinging to her shoulder. The monkey clutched the scroll tight, its tail wound through her hair. Two enemy genin chased close behind, kunai drawn.
Raizen's instincts kicked in. He skidded to a halt and tore two seals from his pouch — one the familiar Pulse Barrier Seal, the other a dark blue tag laced with Keiro's intricate markings.
Reina: "Aika! Get ready to transport us!"
Aika didn't even look up; her hands were already flying through a flurry of seals, chakra swirling at her fingertips.
Raizen turned and slapped the first seal onto the ground behind them.
Seal Art: Pulse Barrier!
A crackling dome of blue light surged up, cutting off the passage and halting the oncoming squad.
Without hesitation, he darted past Aika — who was still forming signs — and hurled the second tag toward her pursuers.
The blue tag pulsed once. Then the air thickened.
Raizen: "Weight Seal — full output!"
A heavy pressure crashed through the hallway like a wave. The two genin chasing Aika stumbled, knees buckling as gravity tripled. The floor beneath them cracked. Even the dust seemed to hang in the air.
Aika (gritting her teeth): "That's… a lot of chakra, Raizen!"
Raizen: "I'm aware!"
He sprinted back toward the others, the weight seal still humming behind him.
But the enemy wasn't done.
Behind the barrier, the pursuing genin were already charging their own jutsu — the wall of chakra flickering under strain.
Reina: "They're about to break through!"
Karui: "Aika, hurry! We can't hold them off!"
Raizen spun, forming rapid hand signs of his own.
The barrier trembled — then shattered with a concussive blast.
BOOM!
Lightning and wind chakra surged through the breach in unison.
Genin #1: "Wind Style — Great Breakthrough!"
Genin #2: "Lightning Style — Electromagnetic Murder!"
The combined jutsu roared down the hall, a spiraling storm of blades and voltage.
Raizen's eyes widened — and for a brief instant, something flashed within them. His pupils constricted, a faint ring of light rippling outward like a pulse.
Time seemed to slow.
The crackle of lightning became a faint hum.
He could see the chakra arcs within the attack — every current, every wind vector.
Then the moment passed.
Raizen (thinking): What… was that?
He moved on instinct, pulling out his last two barrier seals — slapping them together and flooding them with chakra.
Raizen: "Seal Art — Twin Pulse Barrier!"
A dome of interlocked seals erupted before him, brighter than before — but when the storm hit, the barrier shattered instantly, disintegrating in a blast of blue shards.
The combined jutsu tore through the wreckage, streaking toward Raizen like a lightning-fueled hurricane. He froze for half a second — stunned, out of chakra, nowhere left to run.
Reina: "Raizen!"
The attack screamed toward him, filling the corridor with light.
Raizen's panic surged — he turned and bolted, sprinting for his team. The energy rushed behind him like a tidal wave of static.
He looked back once — it was almost on him.
A blur of light reflected in his eyes.
And then—
Aika: "Reverse Summoning Jutsu!"
She slammed her palm into the floor, seals erupting beneath their feet.
A surge of smoke burst outward, engulfing the entire team just as the lightning-wave hit.
BOOOOM!
The explosion collided with the smoke, scattering light and debris in every direction—
And when the dust cleared, the hallway was empty.
The team was gone.