"Someone…" Madara's whisper barely stirred the night. Raizen's eyes scanned the shadows above the treetops, catching a flicker of movement. A lone figure perched high, watching—but unaware of the owl carrying them.
"This one's probably just a guard," Raizen muttered under his breath. "So we handle it quietly."
He shaped a small bird from clay, sliding a Flying Thunder God kunai into its hollow core. In the dark, it flitted forward like any other forest bird. The enemy ninja noticed—but dismissed it at first. Too many birds in the jungle, he thought.
Until the bird landed on him.
Something was off. Birds didn't approach humans like this. Cold sweat ran down the ninja's spine as instinct screamed danger. A breeze carried the metallic scent of sweat, and before he could react, Raizen was already beside him—a shadow born from nothingness.
A chill ran up his neck. He opened his mouth to shout—but his body refused. Fingers froze, lungs burned, and his vision blurred. The realization dawned too late: he had no control. Darkness claimed him.
"What… what kind of jutsu is this?" Madara's voice cracked from the owl above, eyes wide, cold sweat trailing down his face. He watched Raizen appear, then vanish, then strike—faster than the eye could follow.
If the enemy had wielded such a technique against him, he thought grimly, he wouldn't have survived. And now he understood just how much strength Raizen was hiding.
Raizen carefully set the unconscious—or already dead—ninja down. The blood still warm, scent heavy in the night air. Madara tensed; the smell alone would draw more enemies. Every second counted.
Raizen crept forward, silent as smoke, but then the jungle seemed to shift. Clouds blotted out the moon, plunging the earth into darkness. The temperature dropped sharply, and an uneasy feeling gnawed at him. Some ancient predator was watching.
"This feeling…" Raizen murmured. The sixth sense of the ninja world was whispering danger. Something had gone wrong.
Before he could react, dozens of kunai whistled from all directions. His assassination plan had failed, though how the enemy had discovered him was a mystery. The scale of the attack suggested a large, coordinated force. Raizen rolled to the ground, narrowly dodging.
"Earth Style: Yellow Spring Marsh!"
The soil beneath him bubbled and churned. Raizen tried to leap clear—but gravity betrayed him. He sank deeper into the earth just as the detonating talismans on several kunai ignited, sparks flashing like tiny stars of doom.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions ripped through the jungle, scattering birds and sending animals fleeing. Coalition ninjas—from Uchiha and Hyuga alike—rushed toward the epicenter, eyes sharp with anticipation.
And yet…
Raizen was gone. Smoke and debris swirled where he had been. The ground was scarred, shattered—but there was no trace of the boy who had just been standing there.
Disappeared.